By Joseph L. “Red Dog” Campbell
www.legendaryreddog.com

The fictional band Stillwater from last year's hit movie Almost Famous was supposedly based in part on the real-life Allman Brothers Band of the early '70s. In the movie, plenty of drug taking and groupie groping went on, but according to the new book by longtime Allman roadie Joseph L. “Red Dog” Campbell, reality was even wilder.

Red Dog's self-published book of anecdotes (or “tails,” as he has dubbed them) focuses mostly on the band's early days. The writing is rough, and the book clearly could have used more editing, but it is compelling nonetheless. Red Dog recounts his and the band's incessant drug abuse, brushes with the law, communal lifestyle, and sexual adventures with women of all shapes and sizes. In reading The Legendary Red Dog: A Book of Tails, one cannot help but be amazed that so perpetually stoned a group of musicians managed to create such brilliant music.

The book gives a good taste of the band's lifestyle but offers disappointingly little on the deaths of Duane Allman and Berry Oakley, both of which occurred during the period covered. In addition, more information about the day-to-day nuts-and-bolts experiences of being a roadie would have been nice. Still, Red Dog's memoir (available through his Web site) makes for fascinating reading.