Racism was ever-present in Duane Allman’s life from an early age. Daytona Beach in the early 1960s wasn’t a place where white boys brought Black friends into restaurants. Van Harrison watched Duane Allman do it anyway—and fight back when he got pushback.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ “Duane had a sense of social justice. We were spending time with Black musicians, and in those days that's not the kind of thing that regular white southern boys did. ⁠We got taken down verbally for doing that a few times we went into some restaurants where they did not want us to bring our Black friends in with us. ⁠One time we had a confrontation. We told 'em to shove it up their ass. These were the friends that we had and these were the guys we were working with. It was normal for us." Van Harrison (left)⁠