Ginger Baker was never my favorite, but he was part of the group Cream that opened the door to what we did. They were the first band to really get into improvisation. They were an absolute necessity to what came later. – Butch Trucks
The Allman Brothers 1969 to 1971… were all about… jumping off the cliff… Just taking music and being adventurous with it. – Butch Trucks
Donald Trump has been horrendous, saying things are bad because of Muslims or Mexicans. This is exactly what happened in the 1930s in Germany, and it’s gonna get worse. – Butch Trucks
I don’t think we listened to any rock n’ roll at all in the early days. It was Miles Davis and John Coltrane 95% of the time. – Butch Trucks
There’s always going to be a percentage of the kids out there who want to hear people who can actually play and sing. – Butch Trucks
Once we started headlining at the Fillmore East, we were free to play all night, at least for the second set. ‘Whipping Post’ could get lengthy. – Butch Trucks
I’m enjoying the hell out of playing straight. It seems to be the case with everybody. We’re having a lot more fun. The energy is going into the music now, instead of all the side trips we got into in the ’70s. – Butch Trucks
When we started, it was so intense: it was like a religion. And when you played with Duane Allman, you either gave it your all or you got out. – Butch Trucks
I have the distinction of being the only member of the Allman Brothers who has never missed a single show. I have played every single show the Allman Brothers have ever played. – Butch Trucks
I’ve gotta be the only father begging his son to leave a six-figure job to go play in a rock n’ roll band! – Butch Trucks
After being away from it for so long, it’s really nice to go out and have 10- or 15,000 people show up and enjoy it. It leaves you with a very good feeling. – Butch Trucks
Our approach is more the jazz approach, where you learn to play your instrument as well as you can, develop your craft, and then communicate with each other. That’s the focus, not trying to give some message or entertain or have a good light show or whatever. – Butch Trucks
For a long time, our only mode of travel was an Econoline van. Eleven of us, with nine sleeping in the back on two mattresses. – Butch Trucks
As long as all four of my limbs keep moving and I can still sit up straight and play hard rock and roll for 2 and a half to 3 hours, I’m gonna keep doing it, and I’m gonna do it the way I do it. – Butch Trucks
Back when Napster first came along, I started telling everybody Napster was like shooting yourself in the foot because you’re stealing music. The record companies don’t pay for us to make records – the bands do. – Butch Trucks
When we’re playing, when we’re really, really going… you’re just in the moment. You’re not thinking about yesterday, tomorrow, or anything else. The brain gets out of the way. Your body just does what it knows how to do, and it’s just… it’s like a religion. – Butch Trucks
After ‘Win, Lose or Draw’ we were workin’ on another album that nobody’s ever heard, and it’s a good thing nobody heard it. – Butch Trucks
We would work up a tune that would make me learn a drum pattern I hadn’t played before. In the early stages, the pattern wouldn’t just fall into place, and I would start thinking about it. And the more I thought about it, the worse it would get. – Butch Trucks
To be honest, I don’t listen to much music! I’ve been so engrossed in it my whole life that when I drive around in my car, I’ll listen to college lectures on philosophy and literature and world history, things like that, to kind of catch up on the college experience I missed. – Butch Trucks
Playing live is really the art form. You’re a lot freer, a lot looser. You’ve got people there that can give you feedback, and then you can play off of that. There’s so much more energy. – Butch Trucks
A lot of these guys come up and say, ‘Man, you were my influence, the way you thrashed the drums.’ They don’t seem to understand I was thrashing in order to hear what I was playing. It was anger, not enjoyment – and painful. – Butch Trucks
