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Gregg Allman

Gregg Allman's most visible contribution to rock music is as lead singer, organist, and songwriter within the Allman Brothers Band, founded by his brother Duane (d. 1971) in 1969. He has never threatened to eclipse the band that carries his family name, but he has found occasional success and popularity with his solo work, which is distinctly different, more soulful and less focused on high- wattage virtuosity.

Allman's instrument is the organ, and he is most effective, when he is in top form, as a singer. His first instrument, ironically enough, was the guitar, and he took it up before his older brother Duane did. But Duane learned it better and quickly eclipsed Gregg. Where Gregg did excel was on the organ and as a singer (a role Duane was never comfortable with), which proved important but not at the center of a group that became famous for its 40-minute instrumental jams and three-hour sets. Through their early efforts, in bands like the Allman Joys and the Hour Glass, they shared the spotlight, with Duane taking the lengthy solos and Gregg fronting the band and offering Booker T. Jones- type keyboard playing. Liberty Records signed the Hour Glass and tried making Gregg into the focus of their efforts during the late '60s, but it never quite worked.

When the Allman Brothers Band was organized, the flashy (and vital) instrumental moments belonged to his brother and Dickey Betts and, later still, Warren Haynes. Gregg's songs, however, including "Whipping Post" and "Midnight Rider," were among the group's notable originals during its classic period, 1969-1972. Beginning with Brothers and Sisters, Betts' songwriting and singing assumed increasing prominence.

It was during the period that Brothers and Sisters was burning up the charts that Gregg Allman emerged as a solo artist with his first album, the critically well-received hit Laid Back, which put the softer, more serious, soul- and gospel-tinged side of his work in sharper focus. A tour followed, which yielded a live album that was also a success. This first period of solo popularity was interrupted by a combination of professional and personal conflicts; the Allman Brothers Band toured extensively and struggled to come up with a follow-up to Brothers and Sisters, and Gregg Allman began a relationship with Cher, the ex-wife and singing partner of Sonny Bono, which resulted in a tumultuous series of marriages and divorces for the two. These activities were played out amid Allman's well-publicized drug problems, which culminated with his testifying against a band employee in a federal drug case, which, in turn, led to the temporary but extended dissolution of the Allman Brothers Band.

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7
Album Review

Allman Brothers Band: Syria Mosque Pittsburgh, PA January 17, 1971

Read "Syria Mosque Pittsburgh, PA January 17, 1971" reviewed by Doug Collette


On the surface, The Allman Brother Band's Syria Mosque Pittsburgh, PA January 17, 1971, would appear to be just another in a long line of live releases featuring the original six-man lineup of the archetypal Southern blues- rockers. It is, however, markedly superior on many fronts. Granted, this title hardly renders obsolete ABB's seminal concert release At Fillmore East (Capricorn, 1971). And while the audience recording that is The Final Note (ABBRC, 2020) does not compare favorably to ...

17
Reassessing

At Fillmore East

Read "At Fillmore East" reviewed by John Coltelli


A Band of Brothers... 50th Anniversary Allman Brothers At Fillmore East Recently, while excavating at an archeological dig better known as the Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame in jny: Cleveland, Ohio an intrepid tourist lingered long and hard at a find containing the remnants of a long forgotten tribe once known as The Allman Brothers Band. A band of brothers if you will. These ancients in a modern world were known for utilizing wooden sticks, ...

5
Album Review

Allman Brothers Band: The Final Note - Painters Mill Music Fair, Owings Mills, MD 10-17-71

Read "The Final Note - Painters Mill Music Fair, Owings Mills, MD 10-17-71" reviewed by C. Michael Bailey


The obvious significance of The Final Note -Painters Mill Music Fair, Owings Mills, MD 10-17-71 is evident in the title. This was the last performance by guitarist and Allman Brothers Band founder Duane Allman before his motorcycle-related death 12 days later. An audience recording made on a 60- minute cassette tape by radio music journalist Sam Idas, the performance sounds exactly like that, an audience live recording, probably like the myriad of similar recordings made of the Grateful Dead by ...

3
Album Review

Allman Brothers Band: Trouble No More: 50th Anniversary Collection

Read "Trouble No More: 50th Anniversary Collection" reviewed by Doug Collette


The gold-embossed lettering on the front and back cover of the roughly 5" by 7" slipcase enclosing the Allman Brothers Band's box set Trouble No More belies its otherwise generic art work. Yet the graphic design isn't all that gives the lie to an otherwise positive first impression gleaned from 50th Anniversary Collection. A glance at the sixty-one tune track-listing plus a cursory perusal of Kirk West's stellar photos inside the eighty-eight page booklet are also somewhat deceiving: while this ...

4
Album Review

Gregg Allman: Laid Back Deluxe Edition

Read "Laid Back Deluxe Edition" reviewed by Doug Collette


Gregg Allman's first solo album, Laid Back (Capricorn, 1973), is the ideal candidate for a Deluxe Edition reissue and remaster. Not only is the record an exquisite, one-of-a-kind piece of work in its original form, but the backstory is eminently worth telling as it sheds light not only on the creation of the album itself, but the fundamental relationship, at the time of the recording, between the Allman Brothers Band and its surviving namesake. Kudos to the curators, ...

7
Live Review

The 2017 Laid Back Festival: In The Spirit of Gregg Allman at The Northwell Health at Jones Beach Theater

Read "The 2017 Laid Back Festival: In The Spirit of Gregg Allman at The Northwell Health at Jones Beach Theater" reviewed by Mike Perciaccante


The 2017 Laid Back Festival: In The Spirit of Gregg Allman The Northwell Health at Jones Beach Theater Wantagh, NY September 24, 2017 Gregg Allman co-founded and curated the inaugural Laid Back Festival. That festival began as a single day celebration in August of 2015 and was held at the Jones Beach Amphitheater in Wantagh, NY. Allman, the Doobie Brothers, Bruce Hornsby and the Noisemakers, Jaimoe's Jasssz Band and City of the Sun played that ...

1
Album Review

Gregg Allman: Southern Blood

Read "Southern Blood" reviewed by C. Michael Bailey


Music made at the end is always necessary listening. It may not be the best, prettiest, most, but it is obligatory if, for no other reason, as a final act of respect for the artist. Examples of compelling music made at the end of an artist's life are manifold. From classical composition, late Mozart, in particular his Clarinet Concerto in A major, K. 622 (1791--composed three months before his death), not to mention his Requiem, K. 626 (1791--unfinished at the ...

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1

Career

Finding & Maintaining Your Creative Hustle: Lessons From Gregg Allman

Finding & Maintaining Your Creative Hustle: Lessons From Gregg Allman

Source: HypeBot

In a hard look at creative motivation, David Deal looks at the creation and inspiration through the lens of famous artist Gregg Allman, a master of the 'creative hustle' and how his philosophy can be applied by those seeking success in the music industry today. Guest post by David Deal of Superhype When an idea comes to you in the middle of the night, do you act on it, or do you yawn, roll over, and return to the arms ...

1

Obituary

Southern Rock Icon Gregg Allman Dies At 69

Southern Rock Icon Gregg Allman Dies At 69

Source: HypeBot

Allman Brothers co-founder and rock icon Gregg Allman has died at aged 69.  Allman died quietly at his home in Savannah, Georgia, according to a statement posted to his official website.  Allman has  struggled with many health issues over the past several years. It is with deep sadness we announce that Gregg Allman, a founding member of The Allman Brothers Band, passed away peacefully at his home pic.twitter.com/8g0pAT3kky — Allman Brothers Band (@allmanbrothers) May 27, 2017  "Gregg considered being on ...

Festival

19th Annual Pleasure Island Seafood, Blues & Jazz Festival

19th Annual Pleasure Island Seafood, Blues & Jazz Festival

Source: Chris M. Slawecki

Carolina Beach has been entertaining families for decades with its nostalgic charm and tagline to “stay original.” The live music scene in this seaside North Carolina town is a big draw for residents and visitors alike. Music lovers can enjoy the sounds of local bands, traveling musicians and popular music festivals day and night at many Carolina Beach hangouts. Famed Southern rocker and lead singer of The Allman Brothers Band, Gregg Allman will call the area home when he headlines ...

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Award / Grant

Gregg Allman Named International Artist of Year; See Complete List of Maple Blues Awards Winners

Gregg Allman Named International Artist of Year; See Complete List of Maple Blues Awards Winners

Source: Something Else!

Gregg Allman was named international artist of the year, while New Brunswick bluesman Matt Andersen was named the year's top acoustic act, male vocalist and entertainer at Canada's 15th Maple Blues Awards ceremonies overnight. Ottawa's MonkeyJunk earned awards for best electric act, best recording and best drummer. Saskatoon native Suzie Vinnick won the best songwriter and best female vocalist awards. Nominees for the annual Maple Blues Awards are chosen by a panel of more than 50 experts; winners are then ...

71

Festival

Robert Cray Band Replaces Gregg Allman at Bluestock

Robert Cray Band Replaces Gregg Allman at Bluestock

Source: JamBase

ROBERT CRAY BAND REPLACES AILING GREGG ALLMAN Bluestock is excited to announce the addition of the Robert Cray Band to the festival's inaugural lineup, following the cancellation of the upcoming Gregg Allman tour. Upon his doctor's orders, Gregg Allman is unfortunately being forced to cancel his August 26 through September 15 concert dates due to an upper respiratory condition. Treatment is going to involve several days of hospitalization and 4׬ weeks of bed rest at home. Allman continues to recover ...

145

Recording

T Bone Burnett: Benefit Album W. E. John, E. Costello, Gregg Allman

T Bone Burnett: Benefit Album W. E. John, E. Costello, Gregg Allman

Source: JamBase

T BONE BURNETT PRESENTS: THE SPEAKING CLOCK REVUE OUT OCTOBER 18 ON SHOUT! FACTORY On October 18 Shout! Factory will release T Bone Burnett Presents: The Speaking Clock Revue, an album showcasing 11 performances from a benefit concert at New York's famed Beacon Theatre that Burnett orchestrated last year with Participant Media. Proceeds from album sales, as with the live show, will benefit The Participant Foundation, to support the inclusion of music and arts education in public school systems. In ...

155

Performance / Tour

Steve Miller Band: Spring Tour Featuring Gregg Allman

Steve Miller Band: Spring Tour Featuring Gregg Allman

Source: JamBase

NEW STUDIO ALBUM LET YOUR HAIR DOWN IN STORES ON APRIL 19 The Steve Miller Band will kick off a series of theater and small arena dates through the South and East Coast, this month, featuring special guest Gregg Allman. The spring tour outing begins Saturday, April 16, with the band's first show at the Allman Brothers' Wanee Music Festival in Florida. Following, is an eight-date run of shows in support of the Steve Miller Band's new studio album Let ...

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Performance / Tour

Gregg Allman: Solo Dates

Gregg Allman: Solo Dates

Source: JamBase

TOUR STARTS APRIL 19 IN CHARLESTON, SC; LOW COUNTRY BLUES OUT NOW Rounder Records is excited to announce the first leg of Gregg Allman tour dates since the triumphant release of the universally acclaimed Low Country Blues. The album is Allman's first solo record in 14 years for the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame legend, and it gave him his highest chart position ever when it debuted at #5 on Billboard's Top 200. T Bone Burnett produced the album ...

79

Recording

Gregg Allman - Low Country Blues (Rounder, 2011)

Gregg Allman - Low Country Blues (Rounder, 2011)

Source: Music and More by Tim Niland

Organist, occasional guitarist and singer Gregg Allman has seen a fair amount of ups and down during his lengthy career, none more serious than the serious health problems that required a liver transplant last year. But Allman is nothing if not a survivor, and delving deeply into the blues he has recorded an excellent album that marks a hard won victory over adversity. He knows the blues well, both musically and personally and that really shows in the music, as ...

199

Recording

Gregg Allman - Low Country Blues (2011)

Gregg Allman - Low Country Blues (2011)

Source: Something Else!

By Nick DeRiso You can't fault Gregg Allman his nostalgia on Low Country Blues. Legendarily restless, he's still a man, and the leader of a band, that's been through a great deal. Just as importantly, this record's hat-tips to blues, R&B, gospel and jazz only underscore how each provided uniquely American spices in the Allman Brothers Band's bubbling Southern-rock synthesis. Still, listening to Allman's first solo outing since 1997's Searching for Simplicity, you're stuck by how much Low Country Blues ...

Big Band of Brothers
composer / conductor

Photos

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Syria Mosque...

The Allman Brothers Band Recording Company
2022

buy

Trouble No More: 50th...

Universal Music Group
2020

buy

The Final Note -...

Allman Brothers Band Recording Company
2020

buy

Laid Back Deluxe...

Mercury Records/UMe
2019

buy

Southern Blood

Rounder Records
2017

buy

Low Country Blues

Rounder Records
2011

buy

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