Drummer / Percussionist Birthday Calendar
Butch Trucks, born Claude Hudson Trucks on May 11, 1947 in Jacksonville, Florida, is an American drummer, best known as a founding member and one of two drummers in The Allman Brothers Band.
In 1969, Trucks helped form The Allman Brothers Band, along with Duane Allman (guitar), Gregg Allman (vocals and organ), Dickey Betts (guitar), Berry Oakley (bass), and fellow drummer Jai Johanny Johanson (aka Jaimoe). Having two drummers in the band developed a rhythmic drive that would prove crucial to The Allman Brothers sound. Trucks lays down a powerful, conventional drum groove while the jazz-influenced Jaimoe adds a second layer of percussion and ad lib cymbal flourishes — seamlessly melding the two drummers into one syncopated sound.
After years of reportedly "financial strife," Trucks committed suicide and died by a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head on January 24, 2017, in West Palm Beach, Florida; he was 69 years old.