cover image Midnight Riders: The Story of the Allman Brothers Band

Midnight Riders: The Story of the Allman Brothers Band

Scott Freeman. Little Brown and Company, $22.95 (343pp) ISBN 978-0-316-29288-7

Among the most popular and innovative American rock groups of the last few decades, but also among the most fraught with infighting and scandal, the Allman Brothers band has had a turbulent history, and freelance journalist Freeman's well-written and meticulously researched band bio is an engrossing read. Describing with equal candor the group's greatest triumphs--its unique fusion of blues, rock and country music traditions, and its claim to have put ``Southern rock'' on the map--and greatest tragedies--the untimely deaths of frontman Duane Allman and bassist Berry Oakley, Gregg Allman's perennial substance abuse problems, the band members' various failed marriages (most famously, Gregg's to Cher)--Freeman's account is sympathetic and unflinchingly candid, and is supplemented by balanced assessments of each Allman Brothers album. Photos not seen by PW. (Feb.)