Joe Dan Petty: Age 52 | Cause Of Death: AIRPLANE CRASH/ HELICOPTER

Grinderswitch

(Died 8 Janurary 2000, Macon, GA)

Longtime Allman Brothers Band guitar tech and former Grinderswitch bassist Joe Dan Petty was killed in a plane crash Saturday (1/8/00) near the Herbert Smart Airport in Macon, Georgia… The accident occurred about 2:45 in the afternoon after the pilot reported fuel line problems and was attempting to land the aircraft in an opening. Also aboard the plane was an unidentified second person, thought to be a friend of Joe Dan’s and fellow pilot. It’s not clear who was piloting the plane at the time of the accident.  Joe Dan received his pilot’s license about a year ago and had owned the plane for two years… Grinderswitch: Working in the commercial shadow of better-known acts, they counted as fans members of the Marshall Tucker Band and a lot of other musicians who felt they deserved a break. The group failed to emerge as much more than a  top regional act and an opener for the Allmans and Charlie Daniels, among others, despite recording seven album between 1972 and 1982, first for Capricorn and later for Atlantic. — Bruce Eder, All Music Guide.

Fuller Up The Dead Musicians Directory

Joe Dan Petty

Joe Dan Petty
Age: 52
Died: January  08, 2000
Cause Of Death: AIRPLANE CRASH/ HELICOPTER

Obituary

Joe Dan Petty, Allman Brothers' Guitar Tech, Killed In Plane Crash

Petty led the battle to get a roadie into the Rock Hall of Fame

By Mark Lewis Longtime Allman Brothers Band guitar tech and former Grinderswitch bassist Joe Dan Petty was killed in a plane crash Saturday (1/8/00) near the Herbert Smart Airport in Macon, Georgia. The crash took place only hours after tickets to the Allman Brothers Band’s legendary annual month-long stint at New York’s
Beacon Theatre went on sale.

Petty, who received a pilot’s license a year ago, was in his own plane with friend and co-pilot Ronald Turpin, 57. Before the plane went down at 2:45 p.m., one of the two men reported problems with the fuel line and attempted to land the plane. According to an Allman Brothers Band web site, it’s unknown which man was piloting the plane.

From 1972 to 1982, the fifty-two year-old musician played on six albums with Grinderswitch, a bluesy Southern rock outfit that was considered soulful and solid, despite never gaining the national popularity of the Allman Brothers or Canned Heat.

Posting his remembrances to the Allman Brothers Band site, Dru Lombar, lead vocalist and guitarist with the band, called Petty “a man of great character, always fair, always honest and always willing to stand up for what he believed in. I learned a lot about being a man from him.”

Petty was also remembered by the Allman Brothers road crew as the one who had the idea to get roadie Red Dog Campbell inducted into Cleveland’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame. Petty reasoned that great musicians and songwriters were there, so why not the people behind the scenes who fixed the equipment, set up the gear and made the music possible? Campbell hasn’t been inducted yet, but the crew is still encouraging people to write the Hall and change music history.

Red Dog, along with the rest of the extended Allman family, will pick things up for the band’s traditional month-long run at the Beacon Theatre from March 9-25. After polling 3,000 fans about which nights they preferred to hear the band, the group elected to play Thursdays, instead of Sundays, along with gigs on Monday, Tuesday, Friday and Saturday.

According to Amusement Business, if the band sells out all the shows, it will have sold out the theater 89 consecutive times.

Published: Wed Jan 12, 2000 at 17:40:13 Pacific Time
Writer: Mark Lewis for Livedaily.com

The Sky is Crying…

Dear Family,

There is tragic news to share. Joe Dan Petty, the Allman Brothers Band’s much-loved brother and guitar technician, was killed Saturday (1/8) as the private plane he was aboard crashed about a mile from the Herbert Smart airport near downtown Macon.

The accident occurred about 2:45 in the afternoon after the pilot reported fuel line problems and was attempting to land the aircraft in an opening. Also aboard the plane was an unidentified second person, thought to be a friend of Joe Dan’s and fellow pilot. It’s not clear who was piloting the plane at the time of the accident. Joe Dan received his pilot’s license about a year ago and had owned the plane for two years.

Joe Dan is survived by his wife Judi. Please extend your love and prayers to Judi and all those who loved Joe Dan … and embrace him as his journey continues..

If you would like to provide a remembrance, Judi requests that in lieu of flowers, please make a contribution in Joe Dan’s name to:
The Methodist Home for Children

304 Pierce Ave.
Macon, GA 31204
(912) 738-2230 or (912) 722-6430

There’s a Forum to collect your thoughts and remembrances of Joe Dan:

http://www.allmanbrothersband.com/cgi-bin/netforum/abb/a/3–334

He’d recently celebrated his 52nd birthday.

Take care and know that you are loved,

Lana, Rowland, and the ABB

Biography

Grinderswitch

All-Music Guide

Grinderswitch was a white blues-rock band that never rose above being a second-tier Capricorn Records act, not remotely as popular as the Allman Brothers or the Marshall Tucker Band. But Dru Lombar (vocals, guitar, slide guitar), Larry Howard (guitar), Stephen Miller (keyboards), Joe Dan Petty (bass), and Rick Burnett (drums) built a loyal following in the tens of thousands playing music that was influenced by British blues outfits like John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers, Cream and T.S. McPhee’s Groundhogs, but also the real article, especially Albert King and Booker T. and the MG’s — Lombar sounded more Black than any White rock singer you’ve ever heard. They could have been a more soulful and exciting competitor to Canned Heat, but they weren’t lucky enough to appear in hit festival movies or get the right single out at the proper time. Working in the commercial shadow of better-known acts, they counted as fans members of the Marshall Tucker Band and a lot of other musicians who felt they deserved a break. The group failed to emerge as much more than a top regional act and an opener for the Allmans and Charlie Daniels, among others, despite recording seven album between 1972 and 1982, first for Capricorn and later for Atlantic. — Bruce Eder, All Music Guide

Buy or Hear the Music

-- Grinderswitch

01. Kiss The Blues Goodbye
02. You’re Gonna Miss Me When I’m Gone
03. How The West Was Won
04. Pickin’ The Blues/I Ain’t Got The Blues No More
05. Stoop Down Baby