Bonus Episode: A Murder On Tour, Southern Bands and Brother Bands

DISGRACELAND - Exactly Right and iHeartPodcasts

This bonus episode of Disgraceland dives into a previously untold story from Allman Brothers Band history: the 1970 murder of promoter Angelo Eliotta

Key takeaways

• Touring in a band can drive individuals to extreme psychological states, as illustrated by Twigs Linden Jr.'s murder conviction being overturned due to temporary insanity.

Main topics

• Twigs Linden Jr.'s murder of promoter Angelo Eliotta
• Temporary insanity defense in a 1970 court case

Notable quotes

"I needed to make my point. I'm paraphrasing, but that's what's reported he had said."

"Touring in a band will literally drive you crazy."

Conclusion

This bonus episode reveals a dark yet fascinating chapter in rock history—the murder of a promoter by an Allman Brothers road

Transcript preview

Speaker 1 (0:01) This is exactly right. Double Speaker 8 (0:11) Elvis. Speaker 5 (0:13) I'm Nancy Glass, host of the Burden of Guilt Season 3 podcast. This is a story about a horrendous situation that destroyed two families. It's a scorched earth war that shows just how far someone will go to get what they want. Speaker 1 (0:29) Cindy said I had to choose between the truth and my family, and I had to choose the truth. Speaker 5 (0:34) Listen to Season 3 of Burden of Guilt on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Speaker 4 (0:43) Betrayal Weekly is back with brand new stories from threatening text messages disturbing a small Midwestern town. It was from an unknown number. Who else is getting these messages? Why did it start with us? To long cons and stolen identities. Who Speaker 6 (1:00) lies about being this sick? This was the last time I ever believed a word she said. Speaker 4 (1:06) Listen to Betrayal Weekly on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Speaker 1 (1:35) Darcy Carden, Sherry Oteri, Anna Faris, Dave Franco, Madeline Klein, Adam Scott, T.S. Madison, and more. Listen to Dear Chelsea on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Speaker 8 (1:54) Hey, Discos. Need a little more Disgraceland in your life? Just a touch to get you through? Yeah, me too. This is the podcast that comes after the podcast. Welcome to Disgraceland, the afterparty. Speaker 7 (2:20) Welcome to the Disgraceland bonus episode, a little thing we like to call the after party. This Speaker 8 (2:24) is the show after the show, the party after the party, the bridge to get you from one full episode of Disgraceland to the other, the backyard to dig into the dirt. Our mission to uncover the truth and to confront the myth, to reclaim the story on this bonus episode, we reveal the murder from Allman Brothers Band history that didn't make it into this week's full episode. Speaker 2 (2:42) Plus, your take on the greatest Southern bands of all time, a conversation on the greatest brother bands of all time, and a review of next week's new episode on Alice Bag, Speaker 8 (2:53) front woman for LA punk band The Bags, or Bags, excuse me, and Speaker 2 (2:57) protector of an LA punk scene that was being threatened by... serial killers plus we get into your emails comments dms and as always a whole lot of rosie this is the podcast for the musically obsessed the outsiders the Speaker 7 (3:09) independent thinkers who know that the best history is the history that gets buried disgrace land is where i tell the stories they didn't want told the kind you'll end up telling someone else all right discos let's get into it Speaker 2 (3:32) Touring in a band will literally drive you crazy. Allman Brothers band attorney John Speaker 8 (3:37) Condon Jr. proved that in a court of law in 1970. Now, I've toured in bands, and a lot of you have as well, and most of you know people who have toured, and you've heard the stories. The road is tough. The road won't just kill you. It will, like the man said, drive you crazy. Even the most successful artists get driven into a state of isolation on the road. Even the most disciplined are tempted. The healthiest succumb to unhealthy habits. You know what's out there. Drugs, sex, bad food, and a lack of suitable toilet Speaker 2 (4:10) options. It's enough to make a rambling man take up a straight job, I tell you. But back in 1970, the Allman Brothers Band. Like many before them and many after, they wanted their slice of the rock and roll pie and they weren't going to be denied. So they were touring in a shitty little Winnebago across the Midwest. And when they made their way to New York, they were well frazzled. The band's itinerary had them in Chicago one night, Long Island the next, and then hightailing it west and north again to play in Buffalo the next night. When they got there, they went on late in Buffalo. But when they did go on, they Speaker 8 (4:47) did burn the house down. Not literally. The literal violence would come later that evening when the band attempted to get paid by the promoter. The promoter, a guy by the name of Angelo Eliotta, told Allman Brothers bassist Barry Oakley that the $1,000 guarantee that the band is supposed to get paid that night was not going to happen. He said, the promoter said, that the band went on late. So he was only going to pay them $500. Now, Oakley, the bass player, relayed this message to the Allman Brothers' road manager, a dude by the name of Twigs Linden Jr. You know the scrawny little road manager from Almost Famous? The dude with the long hair, leather vest, and cowboy hat? Put some Christ on a cross muscle tone on that dude. Give him a Sam Elliott mustache and spray him with an air of I don't give a fuck and you'll have a picture of Twigs Linden Jr., the Allman's road manager. Twigs was, in a word, badass, a 1970s road managing badass. Twigs had come up looking after other Georgia artists like Otis Redding and Little Richard. And they don't make them crazier than Little Richard on or off the road. Okay. And maybe all those one-nighters that the almonds were up to, maybe they'd caught up to Twigs on that very night. Or maybe he was just bloodthirsty. Maybe he just needed to blow off some steam. When the bass player Oakley told Twigs that the promoter, Aileota, was stiffing them on half their pay, Twigs confronted Aileota, and Aileota told Twigs to go fuck himself. Twigs pulled out the 10-inch fishing knife that he kept sheathed on his hip, and Aileota rushed at him. The two then fell, grappling to the floor. They were on the club, rolling around, and only one of them got up. Allman Brothers band, Twigs, Lyndon Jr. He's the one who got up. Angelo Eliota, the promoter, he remained bleeding on the floor. He was stabbed by Twigs. Twigs sat on a bar stool. Fuck him, was what he was reported to have said. And he watched Eliota then bleed out. He then said, let them give me the electric chair. I needed to make my point. I'm paraphrasing, but that's what's reported he had said. Within an hour, the promoter was dead. Twiggs didn't resist arrest. Allman Brothers attorney John Condon Jr. gambled when this went to court. The attorney for Twiggs opted for a bench trial, meaning that there would be no jury, that the judge alone would decide his client's fate. I didn't even know this was possible, but it turns out it is or it was. So the attorney then, Condon, this guy Condon, he pleaded temporary insanity for Twiggs Linden Jr. He said that the road manager was Speaker 2 (7:37) made crazy by the road. And that's why he killed that dude. Look at this group of long-haired, drug-addicted freaks my client has to look after, Your Honor. You'd go crazy too. Like, literally, this is the argument. He didn't say this exactly, but he did argue a version of this. He even brought in almonds basist. I have a hard time saying almonds. Almonds basist. Barry Oakley, the guy we were talking about earlier, he brought him up on the stand to discuss his dope habit. Okay. The lawyer also produced a list of Speaker 7 (8:12) age of consent for minors in each state. It's 1970, your honor. The age of consent in some states is only 14 years old. How am I going Speaker 2 (8:22) to keep these guys sane? Are you fucking kidding me? This happened like literally. Speaker 2 (8:31) arguing that the age of consent is less than 18 in some of these states that they're traveling in. So the 37-year-old road manager is driven crazy. Speaker 2 (8:42) I mean, that's crazy enough, but the crazier thing here, guys, is it worked. Okay, the judge ruled that Allman Brothers road manager John Condon Jr. was temporarily insane when he killed Angelo Aliotta. Twigs Linden Jr. was not guilty by reason of temporary insanity, thus proving that touring in a rock and roll band can literally make you crazy. Twigs did six months at a psych ward as his punishment. And then he got out and he once again hit the road with the Allman Brothers. He died in 1979 in a skydiving accident when his chute failed to open. Maybe Twigs Speaker 8 (9:20) was crazy after all, because only crazy motherfuckers skydive. This story was not in this week's episode on the Allman Brothers band, but I wanted to share it with you guys because it's, well, you guessed it, crazy. All right, speaking of crazy, why are bands with brothers in them the craziest? Oasis. Black Crows, Allman Brothers. Zeth and I are diving into the antics and craziness from brother bands and the great music that these brother bands have made throughout