Family of Late Allman Brothers Bassist
Protests Bridge Renaming
By Eric Schumacher-Rasmussen
03/22/2001
vh1.com
The city of Macon, Ga., will name a
local bridge for late Allman Brothers
Band bassist Berry Oakley, an honor
Oakley's family would just as soon
avoid.
The bassist's sister, Candice Oakley, said she's worried the
bridge's new name will bring more visitors to her brother's
nearby grave, which is next to original guitarist Duane
Allman's grave. Allman died in a motorcycle accident in
1971, and Oakley was killed in a crash the following year.
"My real concern is protecting the integrity of the
gravesites," Oakley said, adding that someone has already
tried to dig up one of the vaults. "The city of Macon wants
to market and profit from this, but they don't want to
protect the graves."
Oakley said neither she nor Berry Oakley's daughter was
consulted about naming the bridge. Georgia State Sen.
Robert Brown, who sponsored the naming resolution in the
legislature, said he doubts the honor will result in any
more visitors to the gravesites.
"Anybody who has the kind of macabre disposition to
desecrate a grave has got issues that aren't going to be
deterred or encouraged by something like this," Brown
said. "I just don't see the connection." He added that the
bridge is more than a mile from the spot where Oakley
and Allman are buried.
Oakley said that she tried to stop the naming, but that
she was told the state Department of Transportation didn't
need permission, despite the fact that the resolution
called for family members to be contacted.
"There are four surviving members of the original band,"
Oakley said. "Name it Gregg Allman Bridge or Dickey Betts
Bridge. They're still alive, and they've got lawyers."
A spokesperson for the Allman Brothers Band had no
comment Wednesday, March 21.
The bridge will be officially named at a ceremony on
Saturday, March 24, when a downtown street will also be
renamed Duane Allman Boulevard.
The graves of departed rock stars often become meccas
for fans - and sometimes playgrounds for vandals.
Last summer in Orange Park, Fla., vandals broke into the
tombs containing the remains of Lynyrd Skynyrd singer
Ronnie Van Zant and guitarist Steve Gaines, pulling out
Van Zant's casket and spilling some of Gaines' ashes. |
