The Allman Brothers Big House Museum

Since we are exploring miracle locations in the area, we went to the The Allman Brothers Big House Museum the other day. This place is in Macon GA, a place that we have been several times and tried to like.

The Big House Museum is a very interesting time capsule of the early 1970’s which is lovingly preserved by the Big House Foundation. It has a link which is referenced below.

There was an admission charge, which we paid so that you don’t have to.

Back Story–The Allman Brothers Band

Dear Generation Z:

Back in the stone age, it became a thing to get out of your mom’s basement and do things physically, in person, rather than sit around and surf social media.

One of the things young people liked to do is learn to play a musical instrument. We know that you’d never go so far to do this now. For you, if you want to listen to music you just do streaming. At that time, however, there was no streaming. This was the days even before the I-pod, so there was no endless source of other peoples’ music.

In the case of the Allman Brothers, a couple of brothers, who were born in Nashville, set out to make their own music. They had some ability, but also spent a lot of time just hanging around in various places in the Southeast, getting their act together.

Duane, in fact, had worked his way into being a session guitarist at FAME studios, in Muscle Shoals. This is important to the story.

By this, what we really mean is playing music, for and in front of people. A lot of times it was for free, until they developed a style and some ability. In this era, we might very well think that this is just the opposite of what we mean when we say “get your act together.”

Reasons not to be like the Allman Brothers

A couple of things before we get too much farther along.

You’d have to say that these fellows became bad examples.

The Big House is the place in Macon where a lot of this sort of came together as an entity. The brothers moved into this place along with 15 or more of their roadies, friends, girlfriends, and hangers on. They had begun touring at the time, and in the process this house was where a lot of their very famous songs were written and rehearsed.

Also, at this same time, they got into some trouble. At one point four of them had to enter rehab for heroin addiction. In 1971, Duane, the elder brother, wrecked his motorcycle and was gruesomely killed.

He was only about 25 at the time.

So that was this place. The epicenter of a lot of hell raising, bad behavior and mayhem. But, as sometimes happens, it was also the epicenter of a lot of creative energy.

By the way, if you, Gen Z, spent every night sitting around the park in the middle of Madison playing free concerts and doing drugs, the cops would run you off. If we tried to host a group of 15 people at our place, we’d be violating our R1 zoning.

So in a very real sense, it’s illegal to have that much creative energy now. Sorry we did this to you. The world is a less colorful place for it.

Actually a lot of this was illegal at the time.

The Allman Brothers Big House Museum

This is a very tidy Tudor style house, constructed in 1900, and restored beautifully. Even if you don’t know or care who the Allman Brothers were, the house alone might be worth it.

This place has lovely stained glass and architectural features, along with some lovely old furniture that is from various periods in the past. The kitchen, in which “Ramblin’ Man” was written, as well as the rehearsal room, as well as some of the bedrooms have been laid out and cared for.

Also, the place is packed with a collection of souvenirs, memorabilia, concert posters, and guitars which were used in many of the band’s very famous hits.

If you are a fan of beautiful guitars, by the way, this place is has an extensive collection with some beautiful examples. The museum might be worth it from that standpoint as well. Some of these were bought back from the various pawn shops in the area.

They give you a little tour map, and also a map of some spots around Macon where the group made their mark, as the case may be.

Hippie Time Capsule

You would also have to say that the period clothes, electronics, and other gear is a well-kept time capsule of life in the early 70’s. What is a pity is that the “Wind Bag” which is the ancient Winnebago that the group toured in was not around. They played over 300 live concerts a year for awhile. Road food, bad habits.

You’d have to say that the star that shone so brightly also burned out in a hurry. The group had split up by 1982, and a lot of the members are not around anymore. Gregg, the prototypical rocker that once was with Cher, passed away in 2017 at age 69.

The Big House Foundation

This organization has managed to accumulate a lot of the gear, original clothes, memorabilia and fun stuff from this era, and keeps the grounds tidy. They also rent out the place for corporate events and that kind of thing, and there’s a gazebo in the back with a feral piano and some sound equipment. This in case you want to live out the dream and perform at this lovely spot.

They also run the website and the board of directors are some of the ironic high hats in the community, although we would love to know if the foundation President, Mr. C. Brown Edwards who is a lawyer, bailed the group out of the joint from time to time back in the 70s’ and is doing it for the fond memories.

The Allman Brothers Big House Museum

Did the irony escape us that the creative home of the Allman Brothers is handicap accessible, and has some signs to encourage social distancing and being respectful? Also, do we for a minute believe that this beautiful place was so well organized in 1971? No, we can assure you that there was trash, junk cars, loud music at all hours of the night, and as we said, bad behavior.

Whatever else you think of the bad habits and other destruction, that is what it was in those days.

You know who we feel sorry for? The neighbors right next door. They’re the people that need to be writing the book.

Be that as it may, this is an example of one of the things we like, which is human effort. One of the things we have noticed, because we are around a few, is that people that are exceptionally “gifted” tend to work at it. These young fellows spent countless hours rehearsing, hanging out in parks playing free concerts, and in a general way, working at their trade.

Did this spill into the realm of “fanatical obsession?” Maybe so. They “worked” very hard to be what they were.

One of the really interesting things about this place is that you can make a connection with immortality. It’s not for everybody of course. Your immortality may be slightly different, and there are no guarantees.

Keys to becoming Immortal

Dear Gen Z:

Before you drop out of school, have your mom buy you a guitar and start hanging out in the park, playing music at all hours, you should think about this:

There are four or five main ingredients to success. You have to have some talent, as defined somehow. It’s also helpful to have some physical attributes, which in the case of a rock guitarist is some natural dexterity and ear for music, along with rock star appearance. You need a high level of determination and/or resources to make it work. Also, at some point in the day, you need connections.

Actually it’s not just rock star. These attributes are helpful in any career.

You can have a pretty good career in just about anything with 3 out of the 4, the most important of these might be connections. We will share the sacraments and have a chat around the fireplace on this topic.

Duane, with his contacts in the studio, and Hollywood, and Nashville, knew a lot of people and when it became known that he was getting a sound together, people found him.

Gen Z Disclaimer

So before you and your crew assemble your garage band in the park, take this into consideration.

Also we still say, that if you intend to go to the park, sit around and get loaded on heroin, this is a bad idea anywhere but especially in Madison, so don’t give up your day job.

Backroad Travel and also the Ultimate Southern Music Road Trip

Oh yeah just in case we forget, the “Ultimate Southern Music Road Trip” features Macon. This is one of the stops, as is Jacksonville and the Home of Trisha Yearwood.

Someone could have a pretty nice day trip, leaving the Firefly after breakfast, driving the couple of hours to Macon, and touring this museum, which opens at 11.

If you wanted to stop for lunch at one of the spots downtown, you could do that too. You could even stop by the Home of Trisha Yearwood on the way back, if you were so inclined.

We do enjoy putting people onto a nice day trip if we can.

Links and References

The Band

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Allman_Brothers_Band#cite_note-FOOTNOTEPaul201432-25

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duane_Allman

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramblin%27_Man_(The_Allman_Brothers_Band_song)