Gregg Allman will open up an unprecedented 10-night residency at New York’s City Winery this Sunday, and the singer sat down with The Wall Street Journal for a new interview in which Allman opens up about his recent health scare that took him off the road, his naiveté about publishing rights when he first came into the business and how he and the Allman Brothers Band are in talks to set up a major-city reunion tour.
Allman recently returned to the stage at his Laid Back Festival at Colorado’s Red Rocks in late September after being sidelined by pneumonia for over a month, and he went into detail about the treatment he received, including his eight bronchoscopies. “I had a little talk to the surgeon before we started and I said ‘Listen now. I’m a singer,’” Allman says. “And he said ‘I know, I bought your records.’ I said ‘Please, just be as careful as you can.’”
Allman also talked about learning about his vocal chords after seeing them on the screen at the doctor’s office. “You see exactly where the songs come from,” he says. “[The doctor] said ‘Man, you have amazingly great looking vocal chords for as hard as you sing.’ He said ‘I expected to see an old ragged American flag, after blowing in the wind. But they’re as smooth as they can be.’”
The conversation turned to the early days of Allman and his band, when the group didn’t know anything about publishing rights and how much money they should make, giving up the rights to their manager Phil Walden. “It’s not good to talk about people who have passed away, but the first two, three, four years, he took all my publishing,” Allman says. “I remember when we first signed, I went and asked my brother about it. He said ‘Man, I don’t know. All I know is they’re feeding us!’ That was way back in the beginning. I went ahead and signed. But then I met Dr. John. He said ‘You stupid bastard!’”
Finally, Allman returned to the often discussed possibility of a reunion tour for the Allman Brothers Band, who officially disbanded in late October 2014 with a final run at New York’s Beacon Theatre. “Been talkin’ about it recently…having a tour,” he says. “Major city tour. Been talkin’ about it, now let’s get that straight. Nothing signed in blood yet.”
I trully hope a ABB reunion tour won't materialize and i also hope that somebody can convince Gregory to squeeze less Gregg Allman & Friends concerts into a month of touring. Less shows and longer intervals in between. Health should be his biggest priority. The ABB went out with a bang. Don't tarnish the legacy of being one of the best live bands since the invention of electricity.
I trully hope a ABB reunion tour won't materialize and i also hope that somebody can convince Gregory to squeeze less Gregg Allman & Friends concerts into a month of touring. Less shows and longer intervals in between. Health should be his biggest priority. The ABB went out with a bang. Don't tarnish the legacy of being one of the best live bands since the invention of electricity.
what exactly would they do that would tarnish their legacy? the band already had like 20 members and did shows with people filling in for drunk/drugged out/medical reasons plus shows where greg or dickey shouldn't have been on stage for those same 3 reasons but were
...and had they gone out with that being the last memory, then you are correct there would be no legacy to tarnish. However, that isn't the overriding legacy of the band. The last 20+ years or so of the band helped erase the majority of those bad memories that were associated with the band in most fans eyes.
While they didn't go out with the farewell tour they deserved they went out playing great shows and had an incredible finale. No need to revisit it and write a different ending.
They'll never go out on as high a note as those last run of concerts in Oct. 2014. But if they reunited just adding Gregg to Les Brers - and Gregg was even quasi-functional - they could play a run of shows that wouldn't tarnish their legacy one bit. The Les Brers shows this fall were Allman Brothers Band quality - no question about it.
They'll never go out on as high a note as those last run of concerts in Oct. 2014. But if they reunited just adding Gregg to Les Brers - and Gregg was even quasi-functional - they could play a run of shows that wouldn't tarnish their legacy one bit. The Les Brers shows this fall were Allman Brothers Band quality - no question about it.
X2
Gregg on the B3 & Katz on piano. The rest of the band A+.
Would love to see this happen.
They called their last show as such and in the last at bat hit it out of the park.
You don't get many finales that work out so well.
Call it something else if you regroup, but let the official ABB legacy stand as is.
IMO
Go out like Jordan with the Bulls, not Jordan with the Wizards....
In the meantime, I do realize that any talk about a reunion is going to be "good for business" for any of it's surviving members so suspect the amplitude of the conversation will only increase as long as Gregg is still playing.
And while Led Zeppelin type money isn't going to get thrown at these guys, eyes wide open that financial incentives will play a major part in the decision making.
They'll never go out on as high a note as those last run of concerts in Oct. 2014. But if they reunited just adding Gregg to Les Brers - and Gregg was even quasi-functional - they could play a run of shows that wouldn't tarnish their legacy one bit. The Les Brers shows this fall were Allman Brothers Band quality - no question about it.
X2
Gregg on the B3 & Katz on piano. The rest of the band A+.
Would love to see this happen.
X3 I would also love to see this.
Finally, Allman returned to the often discussed possibility of a reunion tour for the Allman Brothers Band, who officially disbanded in late October 2014 with a final run at New York’s Beacon Theatre. “Been talkin’ about it recently…having a tour,” he says. “Major city tour. Been talkin’ about it, now let’s get that straight. Nothing signed in blood yet.”
As happy as I am that Gregg is healthy, I gotta believe Derek & Warren are through and the ABB is in their rear view mirror.....
Really c'mon now, there are so many half-versions of the ABB out, and in reality, that is what is left.
I would rather prefer the damn good band from before to some reunion tour that looks like Lynyrd Skynyrd circa 2016 with Gregg forgetting the lyrics.
It's over, let it gooooo
I really think Jack pearson should be brought in to do it, I bet warren would join them. They really need some new original music if this happens.
Forget it!
I, for one, would jump for joy to be able to see The Allman Brothers Band one more time at WaneeFest, with Derek and Warren, Jack and Warren, Dickey and Warren, Dickey and Jack, you get the picture. I love The ABB and I'm unashamedly selfish about it. Bring it on, fellas!
If Dickey and Jackie P are added I'm all in.
I, for one, would jump for joy to be able to see The Allman Brothers Band one more time at WaneeFest, with Derek and Warren, Jack and Warren, Dickey and Warren, Dickey and Jack, you get the picture. I love The ABB and I'm unashamedly selfish about it. Bring it on, fellas!
X2
As life is short and opportunities shrinking for this scene, one more go would warrant a travel for me. If one holds past experiences in life as relevant to the quality of new life experiences, the capacity for enjoyment becomes problematic. Simple is, if you go and enjoy it, then I guess you did! If you don't then oh well, you're not that damaged from it.
I, for one, would jump for joy to be able to see The Allman Brothers Band one more time at WaneeFest, with Derek and Warren, Jack and Warren, Dickey and Warren, Dickey and Jack, you get the picture. I love The ABB and I'm unashamedly selfish about it. Bring it on, fellas!
X2
As life is short and opportunities shrinking for this scene, one more go would warrant a travel for me. If one holds past experiences in life as relevant to the quality of new life experiences, the capacity for enjoyment becomes problematic. Simple is, if you go and enjoy it, then I guess you did! If you don't then oh well, you're not that damaged from it.
x3
who wouldn't want to hear great music?
Les Brers plus Gregg will make everyone smile. Les Brers was best show since 10/27 (my last show) and would go again, again. Great news that the bad is even considering a reunion and who cares what the incarnation looks like.
I, for one, would jump for joy to be able to see The Allman Brothers Band one more time at WaneeFest, with Derek and Warren, Jack and Warren, Dickey and Warren, Dickey and Jack, you get the picture. I love The ABB and I'm unashamedly selfish about it. Bring it on, fellas!
X2
As life is short and opportunities shrinking for this scene, one more go would warrant a travel for me. If one holds past experiences in life as relevant to the quality of new life experiences, the capacity for enjoyment becomes problematic. Simple is, if you go and enjoy it, then I guess you did! If you don't then oh well, you're not that damaged from it.
x3
who wouldn't want to hear great music?
Exactly. X4.
You can hear and they can make great music without unretiring the ABB name.
I asked Warren yesterday if this interview with Gregg was true. He said no such talk has happened. He does not see a reunion happening at all and he would not want to do it.
Gregg is truly the P T Barnum of rock and roll.
You can hear and they can make great music without unretiring the ABB name.
Exactly!
I asked Warren yesterday if this interview with Gregg was true. He said no such talk has happened. He does not see a reunion happening at all and he would not want to do it.
That's quite a turn around from his comments a year or so ago. That said, any interview with Gregg you have to know he's just pulling things out of the air in some of his responses. He's still living a pre-internet mindset when it comes to interviews when it was far more difficult to fact check and follow up.
[Edited on 11/5/2016 by WarEagleRK]
Maybe Butch and Gregg would prefer the 2 guitarists from Les Brers.....
Anyway, while Gregg is playing a lot of dates, I'm glad it's not a brutal travel schedule. The man needs to take care. What is the latest word on the due date of his album?
He's still living a pre-internet mindset when it comes to interviews when it was far more difficult to fact check and follow up.
Close.... I think he is just "Gregg Allman" living legend & leader of the ABB and still believes "Things happen" just because it is what he is used to. He is probably resistant as Hell to any kind of change and the other band members (Guitarists) have just had enough....They are experiencing success on their own and have zero need for all the drama I am only guessing Gregg brings with him....The current GAB, works, because he is in complete control and the band members need the money and appreciate the work. That being said (or written) I for one will be surprised/shocked as hell if anyone but Butch and Jaimoe "jump" on this bandwagon.
I was surprised by Warren's comment as well. I asked him this when I met him in Binghamton before the Mule's gig there. I know he has always left the door open to the possibility but he was very sure that it would not happen and that he was not interested either. The implication was Gregg likes to talk out his ass. 
[Edited on 11/5/2016 by Spiritof76]
Stick with Gregg Allman & Friends, Gregg...........the current version is a GREAT band and suits your varied styles perfectly.
ABB went out on an extremely high note with their final shows in 2014............now let it rest.
I asked Warren yesterday if this interview with Gregg was true. He said no such talk has happened. He does not see a reunion happening at all and he would not want to do it.
That's quite a turn around from his comments a year or so ago. That said, any interview with Gregg you have to know he's just pulling things out of the air in some of his responses. He's still living a pre-internet mindset when it comes to interviews when it was far more difficult to fact check and follow up.
[Edited on 11/5/2016 by WarEagleRK]
I don't think it's a turn around. Saying the door is open simply means it's not closed. These guys are all still active musicians, and there's no real bad blood between them, so in that respect, yes, the door is open. But does Warren, Derek, or Gregg for that matter, want to stop what they're doing to bring ABB back just 2 years after their farewell gig? Not by a long shot. Not to mention, I think we've all learned to take what Gregg says in interviews with a grain of salt. Hell, these days, I just flat out don't believe him.
You'd think Gregg's manager would pull him aside and say "you know, maybe back off on saying anything about writing new songs, getting back with the ABB, or back in the day a new ABB album".
However, if Gregg or this band had decent management there might be a whole lot more revenue and more product out on the market.
