There is a new interview on ultimate classic rock with derek to check out..here is a question that was asked to him.
All of the albums you’ve made with your various projects, you only made one studio record with the Allman Brothers. Would you have liked to have done more?
Yeah, I think it would have been nice for that incarnation of the band to have done more, but it just never seemed to be in the cards. I mean, sh–, I have a studio behind my house and we could easily record a band that big. And there was talk about it; we almost made it happen. But there was just kind of an aversion inside the band to doing studio records, and I don’t know what that was. Because I thought Hittin’ the Note was good, but it definitely wasn’t the best that that band had in it. There was more great songs if we had focused on it.
But I think, by that point, there was just this sense that you tour and then you tour and then you tour. [Laughs.] It was just this kind of routine and everybody had so much going on outside of it that it was hard to focus that energy. But you know, I would have welcomed the challenge had it come and I know that Warren [Haynes] would have.
I’m pretty sure that between me and Warren and maybe Jim Scott – who did our first few [Tedeschi Trucks Band] records – but just me and Warren and whoever down in our studio, there could have been a pretty definitive record made for that band. But you know, you can’t force it sometimes.
Can you see yourself crossing paths with Warren at a future date for some sort of project?
I don’t know if that thing will ever happen. I’m pretty sure that won’t with the Allmans.
Read More: Derek Trucks on His New Tour, Working With Eric Clapton and His One Allman Brothers Regret: Exclusive Interview | http://ultimateclassicrock.com/derek-trucks-interview-2015/?trackback=tsmclip
[Edited on 7/11/2015 by fender31]
Jack Pearson also regrets the lack of studio activity during his tenure.
It makes one wonder if the business guys (band management et al) did any marketing research to see if such a venture would be profitable or if the band was just too ... uninspired to pursue such projects. Butch, Gregg and others have rightfully stated that the band's real power and draw was in live shows (performing). I get that, but what about a live recording of NEW material? As an outsider (certainly an uniformed and ignorant outsider) I wonder why the band couldn't/didn't attempt a project along the lines of Jackson Browne's, "Running on Empty" - new material recorded live and in rehearsals.
Along with no webcasts, DVD or "packaged" live recordings of their final Beacon stand (refer to the (Grateful) Dead's marketing of their swan song performances) - it gets back to the discussion of "money left on the table". Coulda-woulda-shoulda. 😉
The band had/has bad management and also bad contracts in the early days. I think that is a big key to why we get almost nothing as far as new and retro releases.
I think a new album never happened because once Dickey was gone Gregg would have had to step up and start writing songs again. I think the public and many fans would reject a new Allman Brothers Band album if Warren wrote 90% of the songs, many would see it as just be a Mule/Warren album. A new ABB album would need at least 50% of the songs written or co-written by Gregg for it really to be an ABB release and Gregg hasn't been a prolific songwriter in 40+ years. I think that is a big reason why there was only one studio release in the last 18 years of the band.
Dereks never made a secret of that.I think he mentioned it a couple of times shortly after announcing leaving.
Who knows why they never recorded.It seems like it was up to Greg ultimately & his health was poor for awhile,he had his side project,they created Peachfest,maybe he thought it would hurt their legacy,maybe he didn't think the current band lineup would last..who knows...
It was kinda sad for the fans though....if it was a good album anyway.
Since HTN came out 12 years ago, Gregg has only written one song: "Just Another Rider."
He was in two world-class bands, of which he was the leader of both, and neither one played a single new Gregg Allman composition in almost a decade and a half. That is a pretty solid indication of why the band didn't record: Gregg just doesn't write anymore. You can't have an ALLMAN Brothers Band album with no ALLMAN originals.
Since HTN came out 12 years ago, Gregg has only written one song: "Just Another Rider."
He was in two world-class bands, of which he was the leader of both, and neither one played a single new Gregg Allman composition in almost a decade and a half. That is a pretty solid indication of why the band didn't record: Gregg just doesn't write anymore. You can't have an ALLMAN Brothers Band album with no ALLMAN originals.
The why did we hear Soulshine and Rocking Horse 4,259 times? 😛
I keed, I keed... 
I know for the longest time Butch was against recording a new studio album and I think Gregg "wanted" to.I think it was 2013 before the Beacon run Butch was saying in a interview gregg had new songs ready to go..but it never happened..maybe it was just a ploy to get the fans in the seats. Who knows with this band though,anything can change at any time. I personally would love to see them do a reunion with 2 new guitar players. At least dusk till dawn,Bag End,Egypt and spots of time did make it in the rotation.
maybe he thinks the writing of the 80's & 90's sucked..which it did and he'd just rather have airplay of the early Duane period compositions. It may not hurt that more royalties on that airplay would help him,but that would be cynical to think that. Maybe he just prefers that period,I know I do. Only he knows the answer.
But it seems like a sore point to the newer members of the band,even if they rarely expressed it.I just happened to watch an interview with Warren where he politely mentioned the same thing,and I know Oteil was talking about leaving well before the split. Who knows what goes on behind those closed doors and with the mgmt of these bands. Not to slight him but,Gregs a Brand on his own now and may just be following direction given him.
I don't blame the management for this one - or other things that we get (or at least I get) frustrated about.
If Gregg, Butch, and Jaimoe wanted to record a new album, they would have.
I suspect the same is true regarding archival releases from the Duane era, the Atlanta Pop vid, webcast and DVD from the final shows. If those three REALLY wanted it to happen, it would have happened.
based on what we know about DTB, TTB, Mule, and WHB, Derek and Warren would have happily gone along with it.
They made their money playing live. a new studio record would not have yielded them much cash for their time and effort.
Probably not, but it sure would have added to their legacy...
Pops 42, I think Gregg' s last solo album sold well. I think an Allmans album could have sold as much as that.
Derek and Warren still release studio albums, as did Gregg, so they must have SOME belief in studio albums.
I agree that they easily could have done a Running On Empty style mix of new songs as live stuff and sound check recordings, with little effort.
I don't know if you can call this a regret, but it wasn't his fault they didn't take him up on the possibilities of recording at their studio.
Basically get over it at tis point. The music that Derek, Susan and Warren are making are beyond what was possible with the Allman Brothers Band.
I perfectly understand everyone's disappointment at the lack of new material from the most recent lineup. I wanted more too. But in no way does the lack of new material diminish anything Gregg, or the whole band, has done. Gregg has a proven track record of Hall of Fame worthy catalog of original material....something only the best of the best of the best can say. He seemed to stop writing in 2003, at 56 years old, to focus only on touring. Isn't this actually a brilliant visionary decision? It's well known in the music industry nowadays in the digital age, that studio records don't turn profits - touring, however, is the real cash cow. It wasn't always that way, but it is now in the digital age.
With that being said, it doesn't justify the lack of new material being presented on stage. A studio album release isn't required to write and perform new music. I wish we would've heard new originals every year they toured, but I wouldn't have needed them released in a studio album version. Having them on boots is sufficient. Meanwhile, the fans get new tunes, and the band doesn't waste money on an album that doesn't sell.
He seemed to stop writing in 2003
😮
A new ABB album would need at least 50% of the songs written or co-written by Gregg for it really to be an ABB release .....
Really?
I get that there had to be an Allman in the band for the name to continue but a quota of songwriting credits?
Seven Turns and Shades each had one GA co-writing credit; WIAB four co-credits out of ten. Even HTN doesn't reach the 50% quota. All of those albums work pretty well for me.
It all depends what you expect and want from an ABB album, I suppose. For me, Dickey was always the strongest writer, although many of his best were instrumentals rather than "songs".
And the instrumental playing was high on the list of priorities, Gregg's songs and singing much less so.
But I realise that for others these were major elements.
An album of new WH compositions, band collaborations and covers would have worked just fine for me!
[Edited on 7/13/2015 by Shavian]
He seemed to stop writing in 2003
😮
I think he stopped writing professionally around 1975, he kept it as a hobby until 2003.
I don't know if you can call this a regret, but it wasn't his fault they didn't take him up on the possibilities of recording at their studio.
Basically get over it at tis point. The music that Derek, Susan and Warren are making are beyond what was possible with the Allman Brothers Band.
Nah, I'll never get over it.
I really needed another album from them 🙁
I don't get the idea that an Allman Brother's Band record would have to be made up of any percentage of songs by Gregg. It's a band and it would be a band effort. If his input only amounted to vocals and keys that would be fine (with me). Any input on lyrics or composition would certainly be a plus.
As a fan, I'm okay that they decided or opted to be primarily a live act over the past 20 years. But seeing the abundance of talent on every instrument - and the often stated idea that Gregg was sitting on a pile of songs just makes a fan scratch his head over the absence of new recordings.
To this idea of the expense of recording - several members have sufficient recording studios in their own back yards. I believe the idea that studio recording costing so much comes from the way that so many bands have recorded in the past, which is to basically show up at the studio with NO ideas and do all the writing there. Rehearsals, sound checks and even shows are certainly other ways to work new tunes out (we heard many of the songs on Hittin the Note for several years before that album was recorded).
The biggest cost of an album is the PROMOTION. Airplay, ads in major magazines and other print, social media and TOURING. How much attention did the band give to any of these areas over the past 10 - 20 years?
As an avid follower of this band over the last 20 years, trying to find an underlying logic or rationale for any management, recording, touring, etc decisions is a fruitless effort. Expectations should always be kept at a minimum.
20 posts and no mention of Yoko???? It has to be a record.
I'm a borken record but here goes.......It was a huge lost opportunity.
I have to believe that some time focusing on songwriting (like they did before HTN was released) could have yielded some more Allman/Haynes or Allman/D.Trucks tracks to go with some of the newer stuff that was already being played by the band (Dusk Till Down with Gregg singing and Spots of Time)....plus record a couple old, not-obvious blues covers. They could have also invited some "friends of the firm" like Jack Pearson, Mike Mattison to work on ideas with Gregg or Warren.
Jack could have played on a couple tracks to honor his service to the band and it would have been a great way to come full circle with Thom Duchette and Chuck Leavell on a track or two as well.
Two of their best ideas were inserted into other songs, but could have been individual tracks with vocals (the Derek/Oteil instrumental break added into Rockin Horse and the newer Warren coda put on No One To Run With. You could practically hear Gregg coming back in sing on top of the chord structures of those.
I think it hurt the legacy of the final lineup not to put out one more strong album and I believe it was in them.
No doubt Tim,What a waste of talent not utilized having derek,Jack P and oteil on more studio albums.. I guarantee you if Gregg were to call up any 3 of those guys and said "hey,you wanna play on the New Gregg+ friends album,they would be there for him.
As an avid follower of this band over the last 20 years, trying to find an underlying logic or rationale for any management, recording, touring, etc decisions is a fruitless effort. Expectations should always be kept at a minimum.
!
And to think that some people actually blamed the Allmans creative stagnation on Warren and Derek focusing too much on their other bands! When I worked at HTN I always had to shake my head at people who thought that if Derek wasn't spending so much touring with Clapton, or working with DTB, then the ABB would have a new album out by now.
It's particularly interesting to see Derek bring up a common theme on this website over the years, than the band could have recorded an album at Derek's home studio. It certainly sounds like Derek was up for that, but other people in the band weren't willing to seize that opportunity.
There were members of the ABB holding up the creative process over the past decade, but it sure wasn't Derek or Warren.
And to think that some people actually blamed the Allmans creative stagnation on Warren and Derek focusing too much on their other bands! When I worked at HTN I always had to shake my head at people who thought that if Derek wasn't spending so much touring with Clapton, or working with DTB, then the ABB would have a new album out by now.
It's particularly interesting to see Derek bring up a common theme on this website over the years, than the band could have recorded an album at Derek's home studio. It certainly sounds like Derek was up for that, but other people in the band weren't willing to seize that opportunity.
There were members of the ABB holding up the creative process over the past decade, but it sure wasn't Derek or Warren.
As far as the original members go, they fired the ABB creative force in 2000.
They had plenty of creative force with Warren and Derek, as far as I'm concerned.
There was no lack of creativity in the Allman Brothers Band over the past 15 years. It's just a shame that creativity wasn't better documented.
Sure, if you listened to literally every single Allman Brothers show from 2004 to 2011, like I did, you could find out about gems like Egypt. But the average casual ABB fan never had the chance to own a nice, concise document of the second half of the Warren/Derek years.
I really enjoyed the interview. thanks for posting. just wishing i was going to show Fri, but once again... no dice.
would love to read a review of this traveling circus. sounds like everybody is just rockin it out, and having a good time among themselves. Mini Festival Express, sans the train. Lawdy, i'd love to be a fly on the wall if this crew ever got that big bottle of whiskey they dumped all the acid in, and rode for a day & a half!!!! yowsa!!!
