I've been spinning this a LOT lately and I just thought it was important to any fan of Gregg to be reminded that if you don't have this in your collection, you would be advised get on it soon. The remaster was released in 2019 and it's a very reasonable $16.29 at Amazon.com. As always, Bill Levenson's production is just sterling. Disc one features the original 8 tunes remastered along with 8 alternate "early mixes" of the same tunes, a total of 16 cuts on disc one. Nice to hear the sound upgraded of course, but the alternate takes don't really expand much at all from the originals. But disc two is where this compilation REALLY gets good, 18 more tracks for a total of 34. Much of disc two is just Gregg solo picking on an acoustic and singing. Soulful, beautiful, just FINE. And Levenson's production makes it sound like Gregg is sitting in my living room. Disc two is so good that I decided to list it below for you including some liner notes. Just amazing that there are three different takes on These Days on disc two but Gregg does such a completely different version each time that it actually sounds fresh each time. He obviously really loved that Jackson Browne tune and he nearly always did it live with his solo band.
LAID BACK REMASTER, DISC TWO (2019)
1. Never Knew How Much (demo)
2. All My Friends (demo)
3. Please Call Home (demo)
4. Queen Of Hearts (demo)
5. God Rest His Soul (solo guitar & vocal demo)
6. Rollin' Stone (Catfish Blues) (solo guitar & vocal demo)
7. Will The Circle Be Unbroken (solo guitar & vocal demo)
8. Multi-Colored Lady (solo guitar & vocal demo)
9. These Days (solo guitar, piano & vocal demo)
10. Shadow Dream Song (solo guitar & vocal demo)
11. Wasted Words (previously unreleased mix featuring Johnny Winter, Berry Oakley and Buddy Miles)
12. These Days (alternate version w/ pedal steel guitar)
13. Multi-Colored Lady (rough mix)
14. These Days (rough mix)
15. God Rest His Soul (rehearsal)
16. Midnight Rider (rehearsal)
17. Song For Adam/Shadow Dream Song (solo guitar & vocal demo)
18. Melissa (live @ The Capitol Theatre)
It is real good.
Gregg Allman said not long before his death Laid Back was his baby. So proud of it and it was his best selling solo album. Almost a million copies.
He mentioned he was very proud of Low Country Blues too but Laid Back was his baby.
Gregg had two albums to earn Gold Records (500,000 plus). Laid Back and I'm No Angel.
A few years before his death when asked what his favorite ABB album was he said Idlewild South. Said it has all real good songs. But just a few months later he said it was Eat A Peach.
Those guys would make mistakes in interviews.
Gregg said the first time he saw Derek Trucks play was in Miami when they were there recording Enlighten Rouges. Derek was playing at a bar in town. Enlightened Rouges was recorded late 1978 early 1979. Derek was born in 1979.
Just the other day I was watching an interview with Dickey that Ralph Emory was doing in 1986 and Ralph asked Dickey when did he wrote Blue Sky and was it for an Indian woman?
Dickey said it was, a Native American woman he married and Dickey said he wrote Blue Sky in 1974.
I bought Eat A Peach in February 1972 and Blue Sky was on it so I'm not sure how that works. Wrote a song in 1974 but it's on a 1972 album.
Early mix of Gregg's masterpiece. ( If this song had not been rejected for Brothers and Sisters, apparently Laid Back would have never been recorded).
Telling the full story of this album was one of the real pleasures of writing Brothers and Sisters.... and Highway Call, too. Can't wait to get it ou and discuss it with you all.
@alpaul: Looking forward to reading your next book Al. Amazon says it will be available on July 25th.
I've been spinning this a LOT lately and I just thought it was important to any fan of Gregg to be reminded that if you don't have this in your collection, you would be advised get on it soon. The remaster was released in 2019 and it's a very reasonable $16.29 at Amazon.com. As always, Bill Levenson's production is just sterling. Disc one features the original 8 tunes remastered along with 8 alternate "early mixes" of the same tunes, a total of 16 cuts on disc one. Nice to hear the sound upgraded of course, but the alternate takes don't really expand much at all from the originals. But disc two is where this compilation REALLY gets good, 18 more tracks for a total of 34. Much of disc two is just Gregg solo picking on an acoustic and singing. Soulful, beautiful, just FINE. And Levenson's production makes it sound like Gregg is sitting in my living room. Disc two is so good that I decided to list it below for you including some liner notes. Just amazing that there are three different takes on These Days on disc two but Gregg does such a completely different version each time that it actually sounds fresh each time. He obviously really loved that Jackson Browne tune and he nearly always did it live with his solo band.
LAID BACK REMASTER, DISC TWO (2019)
1. Never Knew How Much (demo)
2. All My Friends (demo)
3. Please Call Home (demo)
4. Queen Of Hearts (demo)
5. God Rest His Soul (solo guitar & vocal demo)
6. Rollin' Stone (Catfish Blues) (solo guitar & vocal demo)
7. Will The Circle Be Unbroken (solo guitar & vocal demo)
8. Multi-Colored Lady (solo guitar & vocal demo)
9. These Days (solo guitar, piano & vocal demo)
10. Shadow Dream Song (solo guitar & vocal demo)
11. Wasted Words (previously unreleased mix featuring Johnny Winter, Berry Oakley and Buddy Miles)
12. These Days (alternate version w/ pedal steel guitar)
13. Multi-Colored Lady (rough mix)
14. These Days (rough mix)
15. God Rest His Soul (rehearsal)
16. Midnight Rider (rehearsal)
17. Song For Adam/Shadow Dream Song (solo guitar & vocal demo)
18. Melissa (live @ The Capitol Theatre)
I believe that much of what you point out on disc two was from the "One More Try" release that became very hard to find because it was released on the revitalized Capricorn label (at the time) and Gregg was upset having it tied to any form of Capricorn and had its distribution pulled.
"My friends say I'm ugly I got a masculine face." Tom Waits
@oldcoot: I'm a bit confused by your post. If Gregg was upset about One More Try being on Capricorn, why in hell did he release One More Try on Capricorn? I thought Gregg pulled On More Try from the market because he was not happy with some of the material on it. But obviously Gregg didn't have any say in that this time around, he'd been deceased for two years by the time the Laid Back remaster was released. For whatever reason, I'm just so glad that this material saw the light of day because it's very, very good. FYI the remaster is on Mercury Records.
Alan Paul: Any comments regarding why One More Try was pulled from distribution?
Side note: I'm sure Alan Paul will go into this subject more extensively in his new book. But the remaster liner notes have some very interesting information. At the time he made Laid Back, Gregg was not real happy with Capricorn's meddling. Basically Gregg knew that Capricorn would want some artistic control regarding Laid Back, and Gregg wanted total artistic control. Deering Howe was the reason Gregg was able to achieve that. Howe, a good friend of Gregg's, was an inheritor to the International Harvester farm equipment fortune. In other words, Howe was quite wealthy. Gregg asked Howe if he would be willing to support him financially while he made Laid Back which would release him from Capricorn's grip regarding any control over the record. Howe agreed but requested that he get production credit. Interesting that Howe did not get production credit, the original release says "Produced by Johnny Sandlin and Gregg Allman." Howe got only a minor mention in the liner notes: "Special Thanks to Ed Freeman; Robb Wilson; Phil Walden; Berry Oakley; Deering Howe; Macon, GA; Bill Biuso and Mama A. All strings and horns arranged by Ed Freeman. Orchestra conducted by Ed Freeman."
@alpaul: Any comments on why One More Try was pulled from distribution?
@robslob My 1973 vinyl copy of Laid Back is on Capricorn. But the list of people to thank including Deering Howe is exactly what you have. I remember that name from 1973 and wondering who he was.
Not long after Enlightened Rouges came out on Capricorn, Dickey sued Capricorn Records for over $1 million for back royalties and won. This and other legal and sales problems put Capricorn into bankruptcy and ownership of all their masters and albums passed to Polydor which I think owns Mercury Records.
Polydor released the Allman Brothers Band catalog after the bankruptcy. If you wanted a new copy of Eat A Peach or a CD version, it then was on Polydor.
In the 1990's Capricorn was able to get some of those titles back and I think that angered Gregg. I do recall Gregg get some compilation release of his order stuff stopped.
1991 saw the release of an Allman Brothers Band compilation album "1969-1979 A Decades Of Hits" which surprised everyone because it sold over 2 million copies.
On his blog back then Butch Trucks posted about that release and it selling so many copies. It had a couple of tracks from the first album, Idlewild South, Fillmore East, Eat A Peach, Brothers and Sisters and a track off Enlighten Rouges. All Capricorn albums but because of the bankruptcy, the tracks were owned by Polydor and the band members didn't get a dime off of over 2 million copies. But the song writers got royalties of course and Butch claimed Gregg and Dickey made over a million each of that compilation release and he got zero.
Butch also complained he should have gotten a royality off In Memory of Elizabeth Reed as he spent some time writing the drum parts. But Dickey wouldn't allow it and Butch was pissed at Dickey as he told the story. And Dickey should have shared Madness From The West from Reach For the Sky with Butch too. It wasn't on this release though
I remember writing on Butch's blog asking why he didn't go to Duane and he wrote back that he did complain to Duane Allman but Duane sided with Dickey and Duane said who ever brought the song to the band is the writer and any changes the band makes is arrangements. That is why Berry Oakley writing the bass intro and line for Whipping Post and Butch giving Whipping Post a new time signature didn't count toward a writing credit.
Butch wrote back then he was going to explore opportunities as to how he too can make extra money off the band like Gregg and Dickey do.
Then by 1996 Butch was complaining Dickey was continually opposed to mixing Allman Brothers business with Butch's personal business ventures. Could that be part of why Butch was so angry at Dickey for the rest of his life? After Dickey was removed from the band Butch did move to get the band's next studio album on Flying Frog but eventually Gregg and Jaimoe voted no and Butch was pissed at them.
Could be why Butch was opposed to the band recording anymore albums. Butch wrote once that Hitting The Note didn't sell well and the money for the ABB was live shows.
Gregg later said the ABB would do another album and WITHOUT Butch Trucks if necessary but it never happened.
No long before Gregg's death he was asked by a writer about Queen of Hearts being one of his best songs and is it true you actually wrote it for the Allman Brothers. Gregg said he did but someone was opposed to it being on Brothers and Sisters so it pisses him off and he literally broke into the Capricorn studios to start a solo album featuring Queen of Hearts. The guy said " Who was opposed?" And Gregg said "That was a long time ago so I don't want to get anything started but his initials are Butch Trucks!!"
I guess all this drama between Gregg and Butch and Butch and Dickey and Dickey and Gregg will all be covered in Alan Paul's book about Brothers and Sisters.
B&S was the number one album in the US for 5 weeks in a row and sold over 5 MILLION copies and made the Allman Brothers the number one American band in the US. But there was so much disagreement between certain band members they got sidetracked with solo albums and tours and Cher and by the time they got to the follow-up to Brothers and Sisters, Gregg just didn't care about the ABB that much and in his book Gregg wrote he wasn't prepared for Brothers and Sisters to do that well. It caught him off guard and he earlier predicted it wouldn't sell that well.
I have no way of knowing but it seemed Gregg got mad about Brothers and Sisters becoming such a hit.
Can't wait for Alan Paul's book as it promises to lay it all out about the huge success of B&S, the solo albums and tours etc. Sould be interesting to anyone like me who was puzzled as to how the ABB backed out on the heels of becoming the number one band rather than pressing forward. In 1974 they had no record and only performed 15 shows!!!! It was mostly Gregg then Gregg and Dickey on tour with their solo records.
I don't have inside information, but I heard similar. Gregg - ever the perfectionist - soured on the idea of releasing raw rehearsal and alternate takes and changed his mind.
The alternate takes and mixes I can take or leave, but I'm really glad the solo acoustic performances on One More Try eventually saw the light of day again (and I'm glad I've had my copy all these years since). It certainly sounded like Kirk and Alan put a tremendous amount of work into compiling and packaging OMT.
One More Try and Searchin' for Simplicity were both released in Fall 1997, and OMT hogged my player I pretty rarely spun Searchin'. But in 1997, it was just nice having new Allman-music out there since the band was in a state of transition and creative drought.
@robertdee:
"Not long after Enlightened Rouges came out on Capricorn, Dickey sued Capricorn Records for over $1 million for back royalties and won. This and other legal and sales problems put Capricorn into bankruptcy and ownership of all their masters and albums passed to Polydor which I think owns Mercury Records.
Polydor released the Allman Brothers Band catalog after the bankruptcy. If you wanted a new copy of Eat A Peach or a CD version, it then was on Polydor."
Never knew any of that, thanks for the info.
@robertdee:
"Not long after Enlightened Rouges came out on Capricorn, Dickey sued Capricorn Records for over $1 million for back royalties and won. This and other legal and sales problems put Capricorn into bankruptcy and ownership of all their masters and albums passed to Polydor which I think owns Mercury Records.
Polydor released the Allman Brothers Band catalog after the bankruptcy. If you wanted a new copy of Eat A Peach or a CD version, it then was on Polydor."
Never knew any of that, thanks for the info.
All of my early 1990s ABB CDs were Polydor reissues, which was eventually absorbed by Universal Music. However, briefly in the 1997 during Capricorn's first brief resurrection (when they signed Widespread, Mule, Aquarium Rescue Unit, etc) they began reissuing its 1970s catalogue again after Mercury moved from Sony to Polydor. I was so excited to finally get a copy of Johnny Jenkins' Ton-ton Macoute on disc.
Mercer University has since re-opened the studio and added a pretty cool museum - I definitely recommend going, I got to play Otis Redding's piano.
@alpaul: Looking forward to reading your next book Al. Amazon says it will be available on July 25th.
Thanks. That is correct. Preorders are actually really helpful for a variety of reasons, and signed copies available through the Big House, or my local Words bookstore.
@alpaul: Any comments on why One More Try was pulled from distribution?
Man, it was really complicated and not one issue. To the best of my memory/knowledge and without consulting Kirk, who was truly in the middle of it from both ends, there were two primary issues, both of which were in some part due to how long it took them to get the thing out. It was probably two years from when Kirk and I completed our work until it came out. And things changed in the meantime. Two primary things - again to the best of my memory, without reconfirming. I would not enter this in testimony or write it in a book for that matter.
1. Phil Walden convinced Polygram to let him put ABB reissues out on his newly revived Capricorn label and One More Try happened to be next in line. They were all really mad about this for a lot of reasons, including just not having control/being able to make that decision themselves. In that regard, OMT was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. In addition:
2. Gregg didn't like some of the tracks. He thought alternate tracks were left behind for a reason and he didn't like the idea of demos and imperfections being released. I think he had signed off on all of it, actually, but in the intervening years, he cleaned up. Remember, it was on the shelf for a long time. It seems clear that his ideas about this changed a bit in later years. Again, wrong place, wrong time.. or maybe right place, wrong time.
I really don't know how much 1 mattered over 2 or visa versa, but the end result was this beautiful package I worked on with Kirk and anxiously waited two years to be released almost immediately went out of print and it was a drag. I MEAN, IT SUCKED. Which doesn't mean Gregg was wrong per se, either, because an artist has the right to control his art, but I wish he could have understood how much so many people valued hearing those tracks and loved the imperfections/rough drafts.
Dick Latvala told me that Dicks' Picks started because he was making selection for official releases and it became impossible to get band signoff, because everyone heard the flaws, Phil worst of all. So him having a series where he had complete control became the msart way to get stuff out.
Feel very fortunate to have OMT - it was plain to see the research & labor of love that went into it, & fully agree Alan that those alternate versions are Gems - esp Gregg, Johnny S & Bonnie B doing that spare soulful WLorDraw
Gregg wanted total artistic control. Deering Howe was the reason Gregg was able to achieve that. Gregg asked Howe if he would support him financially while he made Laid Back which would release him from Capricorn's grip regarding any control over the record. Howe agreed but requested that he get production credit. Interesting that Howe did not get production credit, only a minor mention in the liner notes
he was in the Brothers & Sisters gatefold photo, that was a cool perk - Howe was a good friend of the band’s, Duane stayed at his NY pad in late October 1971 b4 flying back to Macon….
🤙really looking forward to Alan’s book
I recall reading in Johnny Sandlin's book what a frustrating process recording Searching for Simplicity was for him, which was around the same time. After months of trying to get Gregg in the studio as he was going in and out of sobriety, Gregg took the tapes to Tom Dowd to finish to finish up the album which was a bit of a dagger to Sandlin. I'm not surprised to hear the same affected OMT.
Rob, Allen's post seems to answer the questions, there were several issues playing into it. I do recall Lana posting back then that if you wanted a copy of OMT, you needed to act quickly because it was being pulled from availability.
"My friends say I'm ugly I got a masculine face." Tom Waits
After months of trying to get Gregg in the studio as he was going in and out of sobriety, Gregg took the tapes to Tom Dowd to finish to finish up the album which was a bit of a dagger to Sandlin.
Johnny also mentioned emphatically in his book getting the short end of the stick when at the last minute the band removed him as Idlewild South producer in favor of Tom
Nope, there may be 2 versions of SFSimplicity out there, but Johnny’s work on it - the Duck Tape mix - for every reason is the one to have
Didn't Tom Dowd leave Eat A Peach before it was completed in Miami because of other commitments and Johnny Sandlin was asked to step in and finish it?
I think Johnny mentioned the emotion he felt as he mixed and put the final touches on Stand back, Little Martha and Blue Sky because it was not only the last things Duane Allman recorded but the last time Duane played. And Johnny put a lot of work into Eat A Peach, work that Tom Dowd did not complete before leaving the project.
Johnny, if I remember correctly, was so surprised and hurt when he saw the album ready for release, an album that sold over 2 million copies, and Johnny only got a "special thanks" on the credits rather than billing as co-producer?
I think it was Phil Walden's decision. And that Phil moved distribution of Capricorn albums from Atlantic to Warner Brothers may have been why Tom Dowd left Eat A Peach uncompleted and could not produce Brothers and Sisters which is billed as produced by Johnny Sandlin and The Allman Brothers Band.
After months of trying to get Gregg in the studio as he was going in and out of sobriety, Gregg took the tapes to Tom Dowd to finish to finish up the album which was a bit of a dagger to Sandlin.
Johnny also mentioned emphatically in his book getting the short end of the stick when at the last minute the band removed him as Idlewild South producer in favor of Tom
Nope, there may be 2 versions of SFSimplicity out there, but Johnny’s work on it - the Duck Tape mix - for every reason is the one to have
I must say that I far prefer to listen to Johnny's "Duck Tape Mix" of Searching For Simplicity ... more raw and bluesy than Tom's polished commercial release
After months of trying to get Gregg in the studio as he was going in and out of sobriety, Gregg took the tapes to Tom Dowd to finish to finish up the album which was a bit of a dagger to Sandlin.
Johnny also mentioned emphatically in his book getting the short end of the stick when at the last minute the band removed him as Idlewild South producer in favor of Tom
Nope, there may be 2 versions of SFSimplicity out there, but Johnny’s work on it - the Duck Tape mix - for every reason is the one to have
I must say that I far prefer to listen to Johnny's "Duck Tape Mix" of Searching For Simplicity ... more raw and bluesy than Tom's polished commercial release
I much prefer the final album, the Duck Tape mixes sound like outtakes to me. But, to be fair, they might be unfinished.
Gregg's vocals definitely sound like scratch tracks here and Jack's slide is buried in the mix:
Sounds little less alive than the final mix
Tom Dowd wouldn't take over Idlewild South at the Capricorn studios in Macon. The sessions moved to Miami because of that.
Track 6 was recorded in New York with Joel Doren producing. Tom wasn't available and in 1970 the band did 307 shows and only had a few days to spare everytime they got in the studio.
Some of the Macon recordings got on the album Idlewild South but Tom Dowd is billed as producer except for track six.
Track six I think is the one which Dickey refused to participate because the studio didn't have any windows. It's Please Call Home.
I understand all the vocals were done in Miami including Berry Oakley singing Hoochie Coochie Man and all six of them, Duane, Gregg, Dickey, Berry, Butch and Jaimoe singing "People can't you feel it? Love is everywhere" on Revival.
Dick Latvala told me that Dicks' Picks started because he was making selection for official releases and it became impossible to get band signoff, because everyone heard the flaws, Phil worst of all.
That right there is the funniest thing I have read in a long time. Thanks! Every time Phil opens his mouth it's a flaw LOL! The Dead's vocals are so god awful yet they are so popular that it's like they spawned an entire genre of Jam Bands who can't sing at all. I confess that I used to criticize Gregg as I thought his Hammond chops weren't even close to the skill level of the rest of the ABB at their respective instruments. It wasn't until Gregg died that I much more deeply understood the importance and value of his VOICE. Gregg was a virtuoso at singing, and he is dearly missed.
@joe_the_lurker: I think Gregg's strength as an organist was that he "put the icing on the cake" as he once said himself. He always knew he was playing with some of the greatest guitar players around anywhere and he never stepped on their toes. That was true for the entire existence of ABB........I mean, what band had a better combo of guitar players from 2000-2014 than Warren Haynes and Derek Trucks? He played to them and behind them, and he was very good at it. And yes, I agree 100% with your assessment of Gregg as a vocalist. Simply put, one of the best ever.
