Eat a Peach

Eat a Peach is an album by the American rock band the Allman Brothers Band, released on February 12, 1972, by Capricorn Records. A double album, it was produced by Tom Dowd and serves as the band's third studio album and second live album due to its mixture of live and studio recordings. Following their artistic and commercial breakthrough with the July 1971 release of the live album At Fillmore East, the Allman Brothers Band got to work on what was originally intended to be their third studio album. But on October 29, 1971, lead and slide guitarist Duane Allman, group leader and founder, was killed in a motorcycle accident in the band's adopted hometown of Macon, Georgia, making it the final album to feature him.

Eat a Peach contains studio recordings from September–December 1971 at Criteria Studios, Miami—both with and without Duane Allman—and live recordings from several of the band's 1971 performances at the Fillmore East. The album includes the extended half-hour-long "Mountain Jam", which was long enough to take up two full sides of the original double-LP. Other highlights include vocalist Gregg Allman's performance of his brother's favorite song, "Melissa", plus Dickey Betts' "Blue Sky", which went on to become a classic rock radio staple. The album artwork was created by W. David Powell and J. F. Holmes at Wonder Graphics, and depicts the band's name on a peach truck, in addition to a large gatefold mural of mushrooms and fairies. The album's title came from a quote by Duane Allman: "You can't help the revolution, because there's just evolution ... Every time I'm in Georgia, I eat a peach for peace".

On release Eat a Peach was an immediate commercial success and peaked at number four on Billboard's Top 200 Pop Albums chart. The album was later certified platinum and remains a top seller in the band's discography.

The Allman Brothers Band had struggled to achieve commercial success in their two and a half years on the touring circuit; their first two studio albums, The Allman Brothers Band (1969) and Idlewild South (1970), had debuted to only modest sales. Despite this, they had achieved significant acclaim due to their live performances, which included extended jam renditions of songs. The band's third release was a live album, titled At Fillmore East, and represented their artistic and commercial breakthrough: it immediately received solid sales upon its July 1971 release and went gold some months later. In about a "three-or-four-week period", the band quite literally went from "rags to riches", and were able to pay their debts to manager Phil Walden and record label Capricorn Records.

Although suddenly wealthy and successful, much of the band and its entourage now struggled with substance abuse, which included instances of heroin addiction. Four individuals—group leader Duane Allman, bassist Berry Oakley, and roadies Robert Payne and Joseph "Red Dog" Campbell—checked into the Linwood-Bryant Hospital for rehabilitation in October 1971. Their addictions had begun to affect their performances and matters seemed to only be getting worse, according to many involved. The clinic was deemed a "joke" and a "nuthouse" by Payne and Red Dog, and was later described as more of a psychiatric ward, as true rehabilitation clinics were several years away. All involved (including Duane) struggled to keep off the substance in the ensuing days. Despite his struggles, Duane fueled the band's passion to get better and end their addictions: "Duane was so happy and full of positive energy. He was always like that unless he was just totally wasted. He was the leader, the great soul, and he kept saying, 'We are on a mission and it's time for this thing to happen,'" said Linda Oakley. "He was moving forward, and that energized everyone else. Everyone fed off of that."

On October 29, 1971, Duane Allman, aged 24, was killed in a motorcycle accident a day after returning to the band's home of Macon, Georgia from an extended tour of concert gigs. Allman was exceeding a safe speed at the intersection of Hillcrest Avenue and Bartlett Street as a flatbed lumber crane approached. The flatbed truck stopped suddenly in the intersection, forcing Allman to swerve his Harley-Davidson Sportster motorcycle sharply to the left to avoid a collision. As he was doing so, he struck either the back of the truck or the ball on the lumber crane and was immediately thrown from the motorcycle. The motorcycle bounced into the air, landed on Allman and skidded another 90 feet (27 m) with him pinned underneath, crushing several internal organs. Though he was alive when he arrived at the hospital, despite immediate emergency surgery he died several hours later from massive internal injuries. The loss devastated all who knew him, just as At Fillmore East climbed into the top 15 of the national album charts.

We thought about quitting because how could we go on without Duane? But then we realized: how could we stop?

Several weeks before the gold certification of At Fillmore East and their rehabilitation, the band headed to Miami's Criteria Studios to work on their third studio album. Once again they'd be working with producer Tom Dowd, whom had been instrumental in the successful recording and production of At Fillmore East. The band laid down the initial tracks for "Blue Sky". The band saved money on studio time by writing and debuting songs on the road. The band worked on three songs: "Blue Sky", an instrumental titled "The Road to Calico" (which would eventually develop into "Stand Back", with added vocals) and "Little Martha", the only song solely credited to Duane Allman. The band laid down these three songs and went back on the road for a short run of shows, and at this point several checked into rehab. After Duane's death, the band held a meeting on their future; it was clear all wanted to continue, and after a short period, they returned to the road. Drummer Butch Trucks later said, "We all had this thing in us and Duane put it there. He was the teacher and he gave something to us—his disciples—that we had to play out."