Derek Trucks Remembers His Uncle Butch Trucks

Guitarist Derek Trucks spent time performing with his uncle Butch Trucks when the pair were both members of The Allman Brothers Band, including the group’s final performance in October 2014. Derek has shared a lengthy tribute to his late uncle Butch who passed away last week at the age of 69.

Published by Rolling Stone, Derek recalls his earliest memories of being taken to visit his father’s brother Butch. He talks about the first time performing with his uncle Butch (“Statesboro Blues” he thinks) when the elder Trucks brought along Gregg Allman, Warren Haynes and Allen Woody to see an adolescent Derek perform.

Derek goes on to describe the impact Butch had on his approach to life and music. “Playing with Butch in the Allman Brothers, there were gears I didn’t know existed,” Derek said. “You realize that there are new parameters – we can take this shit pretty deep … The way he played is the way he lived: ‘Fuck it, we just charge.’”

Here’s more from Derek on Butch:

He would switch from being a bandmate to an uncle from time to time, especially in the Dickey period and then when the band was trying to figure out what it was. His idea of advice was, more than anything, advice that Duane would dole out. That was Butch’s M.O. with everybody. He was always spreading the gospel of Duane. The first handful of years and the magic that created the whole thing – Butch was constantly trying to keep that alive.

Duane was obviously a messiah figure for those guys. And when he died [in 1971], it left such a massive hole. They kept the idealist part of the music alive the whole way. But that’s part of the beauty and tragedy of that band. The spirit and joy of the music was able to survive. But I don’t think everything else grew at the same rate. It’s a strange thing. I think about it a lot. Duane’s presence was so massive for Butch. It wasn’t some unspoken thing. He would bring it up.

A lot of Butch’s influence on me was just the mindset he had, that Duane instilled in him, which was, “Don’t fucking get onstage and give less than what you’ve got. And that might not be enough either.” Butch would tell me about Duane turning around to him on stage and saying, “If you give me anything less than a hundred percent, I will come back there and beat your ass.” That’s always been my M.O. with any band where I’ve been leading the charge.

Read Derek’s full tribute to Butch at Rolling Stone.