It was a Boeing 720, and this guy from Daytona, Toby Roberts, who had managed the Escorts for a while back in the day, talked us into getting it. Toby had a whole bunch of irons in the fire, and one of them was leasing aircraft, so we figured for our first tour after Brothers and Sisters we’d make a change. This particular jet was burgundy and gold, and had been leased in the past to the Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin. Finally, Elton John bought it, and he painted little clouds and cartoon things all over and put “Elton” on the tail. The layout of that plane was in-fucking-credible. It had two bedrooms in the back, with round beds and grizzly bear blankets. Every eight feet in the cabin, there was a TV monitor, and halfway down was a long bar. The first time we walked onto the plane, “Welcome Allman Bros” was spelled out in cocaine on the bar. At the end of the bar was a Hammond, a set of drums, and some amps, so we could jam if we wanted to. From August ’75 through May ’76, we did forty-one shows.
