Macon, Georgia, Central City Park, Georgia Music Hall of Fame, Capricorn Records Recording Studio, Macon City Auditorium, Capricorn Records Offices, Medical Center of Central Georgia, H&H Restaurant with Mama Louise, The Big House.
Looks can be deceiving. I lived there from 1976 to 1993. There is a nice historic district and the actual downtown isn't too bad. However, the rest of the city/county is crime and poverty ridden shit hole. Concealed carry is considered a must. Besides the Allman related sites such as the Big House, Rose Hill Cemetery, etc. the only other things in the area worth seeing are the indian mounds and Air Museum down the road in Warner Robins.
Sadly, The Brothers' first group house upon arriving in Macon in April of '69, 309 College Street, is in the process of being demolished (or may be entirely razed by this point). I saw photos of the demolition elsewhere on the Web--I can't remember where now. It's a shame it couldn't have been saved. If you could swing by there, Indianracer, you could show the folks the portico of the house next door, which is where they are seen standing on the front cover of their first album.
At 3:04 the large building in the distance on the left side of the screen is the Medical Center of Central Georgia, the hospital Duane Allman and Berry Oakley were taken to after their crashes and died. Thats just one building you can see but it consists of 7 or 8 large buildings and is the 2nd largest hospital in Georgia. It was called the Macon Hospital and was much smaller in the early seventies.
OK, part 2 has the Capricorn offices on Cotton Ave., spoke too soon. Did not know that a bldg. on Broadway (from part 1) was also part of Capricorn. Nice video going up Vineville Ave. to the Big House. See on RU-vid a concert by Stillwater raising money for the Big House in recent years.
Thanks SO MUCH for this remarkable tour of Allman Brothers' history! I just (moments ago!) finished the book written Duane's daughter, Galadrielle and it is so neat to see all of these sites...I also watched your video of the crash sites of both Duane & Berry Oakley. So haunting. Thanks so much for posting these videos. I have loved ABB for many years and have seen many shows-not from when Duane was alive...I am not that old:) and this is a real treat for a fan!
Have you been to Duane's grave yet? After he died we would go down and visit for a bit..I will never forget that day he wrecked that motorcycle. He has a beautiful stone, shape of a guitar if I remember correctly. Nice area of the cemetary too. I loved H and H restaurant..great sweet tea.
Downtown Macon was always for the most part pretty desolate. Pretty place, though. The road Indian stops several times at the un-synchronized lights, is Cherry Street, one of the better streets with restaurants and shops. Not far from where he turned left at the City Auditorium, up to the right, is where Rose Hill Cemetery is and the guys are buried. That area on "the bluff" overlooking the river and downtown, has the Hay House, College Street, the 1842 Inn, Mercer Univ., Bond Street, a really nice area on that bluff..
Thanks for this info. If you ever get up to Atlanta there are, of course, some Allman Brothers sites that your viewers may find of interest. You probably know about them: the stone steps of the old Expo pavillion in Piedmont Park, where the Brothers gave free concerts in '69 and '70 (the Hampton Grease Band were also frequent performers there); and the Old Atlanta Municipal Auditorium, where they played several times and the famous 1970 photo of Duane and Berry was taken on the back fire escape.
Thanks for putting up your new postings, Indianracer, I very much enjoyed your previous postings. Macon looks like a lovely town. I just saw the Trucks/Tedeski Band in Roanoke, Va., this past weekend. Terrific show and I always catch 'em when I can. i took some time to chat with Derek's dad, Chris (Butch's brother for those who don't know him), down at the merchandise table a bit--what genuinely nice folks.
I believe when you are passing Capricorn and H&H and after that turn you made to get over to Hardeman Ave. that turns into Vineville Ave., the poet Sidney Lanier's house is up in there. A lot of that area has been covered up by college students attending Mercer.
@aarfeld The house next door is called "Beall's 1860", it is or was a restaurant/bed&breakfast, think they have a website. Will try to go buy and do a video when I get a chance.
@aarfeld At the 5:00 minute mark of this video where I am stopped at the red light, that is College St., 309 is 2 blocks to the right, 309 was torn down about 6 months ago, my friend owns the house across the street and says 309 was owned by a Dr. Valentine. A lady tried to buy the house for a number of years and he finally sold, she hired contractors to restore the home but they informed her it was beyond repair and the house was condemned and torn down.
@indianracer111 that's "by" and not "buy" on my previous comment, was in a hurry. The lady bought 309 for $150,000 and then had to tear it down, my friend who lives across the street says 309 was the most beautiful house on the street. It had been damaged by fire on two different occasions, If you search "Beall's 1860" on yahoo.com you will come up with a couple of hits, look for Macon or Mercer University in the results.
COOL VIDS, THAT SUZUKI IS A GREAT RIDE TO VIDEO THE CITY WITH, LOVE ALL THE GREAT MACON SOUND BANDS, JUST AN INCREDIBLE PIECE OF HISTORY.....GOOD ON YA, FOR POSTING THESE HISTORIC GLIMPSES OF TIME!
