VirtualWoodshed's video: Duane Allman - Part 3 - I Am Yours

For the next installment in our continuing series on the late Duane Allman, we’re going to step away from the blues for a moment to focus on Duane’s melodic sensibilities. By September of 1970, Duane Allman was a seasoned studio ace having played on dozens of sides by a diverse roster of artists. A quick listen to most of his work up 'til that point reveals Duane’s familiarity with the blues and his ability to cut loose over minor key vamps. But when Eric Clapton asked the 23 year old Allman to sit in with his new band Derek and the Dominos, Duane would be faced with learning some of the most challenging material he had ever played. “I Am Yours” is a haunting up-tempo rhumba ballad that, with the exception of the Robert Johnson intro lick, is well outside the 12-bar blues idiom. Despite not being able to draw from his usual arsenal of licks, Duane called on his experience as a session player and rose to the occasion with one of the most brilliant performances of his career. Though the song resolves to C major, the melody is in A minor. This presented a unique challenge to Duane who preferred to play slide in open E tuning (low to high E-B-E-G #-B-E.) Given the jazz-like chord structure of this piece, I think it’s likely that Duane probably sat down and deliberately composed a part that he felt would work over the song. Note the ascending line that follows the melody perfectly and answers the lyrics with a breathtaking response on the high E and B strings. In fact, much of Duane’s part is played in the very highest register of the guitar which is extremely challenging to do with a slide; even the most subtle movements can cause the notes to go wildly sharp or flat. Duane’s uncanny delicacy and expressiveness when playing in this register are on display throughout. But what I find most amazing is the note selection. Though a decidedly non-blues composition, the lead guitar is instantly recognizable as Duane Allman by his accent of chord tones. This is especially evident on the non-diatonic 2 chord (D major) and the turnaround chords of the song (Bmin7b5 to E7.) Combine all this with Duane’s vocal-like tone and you’ve got a slide guitar piece for the ages. It’s well known that the guitars on the Layla album were mostly played through Fender Champ amps. So for this recording I used the “small tweed combo” model in Garageband with a little bit of slapback delay and dialed it in to get as close to Duane’s sound as I could. Duane’s part is on the left and mine is on the right for comparison purposes. Please comment, I’d love to hear from other slide geeks out there. Wail on!