Artists

Forty Years of the Allman Brothers

Back in the 1970s, photographer Kirk West was just a self-described “hippie with a camera” and a diehard Allman Brothers Band fan who traveled to see his favorite Southern rock group whenever he could. He became such a fixture that the band invited him backstage and to studio sessions, and in 1989, West joined the crew as an assistant tour manager. “I was only supposed to work for three weeks,” he says, “and it ended up being twenty-one years.” Decades of exclusive access later, West has amassed a private photography collection unlike any other. Finally, he’s letting the rest of us peek behind the curtain in a new coffee table book, Les Brers: Kirk West’s Photographic Journey with the Brothers.

January 15, 2016

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Gregg Allman during a tour stop in Indiana, August 1986.

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Gregg Allman during a tour stop in Indiana, August 1986.

Photo: Kirk West

Band members pose for a Rolling Stone photo shoot in Bradenton, Florida, April 1990. Kirk West photographed them over the magazine photographer’s shoulder.

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Band members pose for a Rolling Stone photo shoot in Bradenton, Florida, April 1990. Kirk West photographed them over the magazine photographer’s shoulder.

Photo: Kirk West

A Memphis, Tennessee, photo shoot for the Shades of Two Worlds album, March 1991.

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A Memphis, Tennessee, photo shoot for the Shades of Two Worlds album, March 1991.

Photo: Kirk West

Blues vocalist Junior Wells sings with the Allman Brothers Band at the Kingston Mines in Chicago, May 1979.

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Blues vocalist Junior Wells sings with the Allman Brothers Band at the Kingston Mines in Chicago, May 1979.

Kirk West

Gregg Allman and friends ride through the Black Hills in Sturgis, South Dakota, August 1990.

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Gregg Allman and friends ride through the Black Hills in Sturgis, South Dakota, August 1990.

Photo: Kirk West

The band in West Memphis, Arkansas, March 1991.

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The band in West Memphis, Arkansas, March 1991.

Photo: Kirk West

Guitarist Dickey Betts with his black Labrador retriever, Bill, in Tallahassee, Florida, 1989.

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Guitarist Dickey Betts with his black Labrador retriever, Bill, in Tallahassee, Florida, 1989.

Photo: Kirk West

Gregg Allman performs for the “Seven Turns” video shoot at Silvercup Studios in New York City, 1990.

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Gregg Allman performs for the “Seven Turns” video shoot at Silvercup Studios in New York City, 1990.

Photo: Kirk West

Dickey Betts’s hat and guitar for the “Seven Turns” video shoot at Silvercup Studios in New York City, 1990.

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Dickey Betts’s hat and guitar for the “Seven Turns” video shoot at Silvercup Studios in New York City, 1990.

Photo: Kirk West

Gregg Allman in a Memphis, Tennessee, studio with producer Tom Dowd, March 1991.

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Gregg Allman in a Memphis, Tennessee, studio with producer Tom Dowd, March 1991.

Photo: Kirk West

Butch Trucks performs at Alpine Valley Music Theater, Wisconsin, August 1981.

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Butch Trucks performs at Alpine Valley Music Theater, Wisconsin, August 1981.

Photo: Kirk West

The setup at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Colorado, July 2004.

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The setup at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Colorado, July 2004.

Photo: Kirk West

Gregg Allman at Alpine Valley Music Theater, Wisconsin, June 1980.

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Gregg Allman at Alpine Valley Music Theater, Wisconsin, June 1980.

Kirk West

Eric Clapton performs with the band at the Beacon Theater in New York City, March 2009.

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Eric Clapton performs with the band at the Beacon Theater in New York City, March 2009.

Photo: Kirk West

West took this picture for the album An Evening with the Allman Brothers Band in front of the Orpheum Theatre in Boston, May 1993.

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West took this picture for the album An Evening with the Allman Brothers Band in front of the Orpheum Theatre in Boston, May 1993.

Photo: Kirk West

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