Preordered!
Ordered the Kindle.
Wasn't sure if there was an autopen option.
):-p
Thank you. Was just coming up here to share this story. I cannot wait to share it with you all... though I have to wait until July 25. 
No autopen option but you can buy a signed copy from my local Words bookstore.
Really looking forward to this book. It was the period where the Allman Brothers Band for a couple of years was as big as Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd.
Brothers and Sisters was number one out of 200 albums on the Billboard chart for 5 WEEKS and worldwide sold over 7 million copies. Over 4 million in the USA .
And the band was headlining and selling out the largest venues here coast to coast and in England.
Yet the band began to loose the brotherhood and became distant to each other except for Chuck, Lamar and Jaimoe.
In Gregg's book he was excited and optimistic Laid Back would be a big album and doubted Brothers and Sisters would do well. Definitely not as well as Eat A Peach. Oddly in his book, Gregg Allman seems to have not liked this sudden rise to the top shelf and said the entire band was caught off guard and not ready for that kind of success. Duane and Berry were crucial to laying the groundwork for this level of success but were not there to see it which bothered Gregg. Gregg seemed to me , especially after he met Cher, to want to run from it.
So with this deep dive by Alan Paul we should find out the actual story of Gregg's reaction and others and why the band after reaching the top even if unexpectedly, let it slip away and break up in just a couple of years.
I guess Scooter Herring was the straw that broke the camel's back for the break up but there has to have been so much more behind the scenes that drove the band into folding and separating so darn soon after hitting the big time in rock and roll.
In later years they were still the big draw band for the individual members but they never came close in tours and especially record sales to what happened in 1973.
Thank you. Was just coming up here to share this story. I cannot wait to share it with you all... though I have to wait until July 25.
Will this be available in the UK, Alan?
RE: UK. It will certainly be available as an import. No UK publisher has picked it up yet but I hope they do. if you have any ideas, send them my way!
As for signed books, a couple of people messaged me to ask for more details.
Words is in maplewood, NJ, but you can order online. I'll sign and they will go out a day or two before release date:
Thanks!
So smooth, jazzy and fluid. And a very different feel than the original band. Chuck, Lamar and Jaimoe are very plugged into that jazz bag!
DICKEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Looking forward to reading the book but I hope that Alan uses a different picture for the cover. The picture on this link is from the 1975 Win, Lose, Draw tour that had it's moments, but overall was not nearly as good as the Brothers and Sisters tour. https://relix.com/news/detail/new-york-times-best-selling-author-alan-paul-to-release-deep-dive-into-the-allman-brothers-bands-brothers-and-sisters-era/
GREGG!!!!
Looking forward to reading the book but I hope that Alan uses a different picture for the cover. The picture on this link is from the 1975 Win, Lose, Draw tour that had it's moments, but overall was not nearly as good as the Brothers and Sisters tour
I think you're splitting hairs here.
@porkchopbob The Brothers and Sisters tour was much longer and involved more shows than 1974 and Win, Loose or Draw. I think 15 shows is all they did in 1974 but all were in huge venues and sold out. The Win, Loose or Draw tour was interesting in that they apparently never played two nights in a row. The tour was divided up into several legs with weeks off between them with the last leg actually in 1976 and the last show was in Roanoke, VA at the Coliseum there in May of 1976. Shortly afterwards the Scooter Herring bust went down and Dickey and Butch resigned saying they would never work with Gregg again. In 1978, 2 years later, they were working with Gregg again. Also they all had their own limousines and rented a jet airliner and stayed in the best hotels. Gregg says in his book they had a pack of roadies and they had roadies too. Because of the tremendous success of Brothers and Sisters they were averaging $100,000 a show. But they blew so much money on the tours there wasn't that much left for the four partners to divide which was very upsetting to all four. That is why I'm excited about Alan's book. It will be interesting to see why after becoming as big as the Rolling Stones and the Who, exactly why it only lasted two years then collapsed into a breakup. The solo tours and albums were ill timed too. Of course Gregg was already committed to his solo album and tours before Brothers and Sisters surprised everyone with it's incredible success because of being extremely irritated about Queen of Hearts not making Brothers and Sisters.
The picture on Alan Paul's upcoming book is a slightly different shot of the one inside the gatefold on Wipe, The Windows, Check The Oil, Dollar Gas. The guys are dressed the same and in the same positions.
I'm not sure what year that was taken.
I saw several shows in 1973 with Nashville being the best. Man did they leave a trail of smoke. It wasn't as exciting as the original band to me but it was rocking and more jazz and of course the country flavored songs which I found out years later irritated Butch. Butch was embarrassed a number of modern county bands were trying to sound like the Brothers and Sisters lineup as that was Dickey's sound not the sound the original band was doing.
The Win, Loose or Draw tour features Dickey's solo album's song Long Time Gone with Chuck Leavell singing the second verse and Midnight Rider beginning with the version on Laid Back then it shifts to the Idlewild South version. I enjoyed that part of the Win, Loose or Draw shows I saw.
The Win, Loose or Draw tour features Dickey's solo album's song Long Time Gone with Chuck Leavell singing the second verse and Midnight Rider beginning with the version on Laid Back then it shifts to the Idlewild South version. I enjoyed that part of the Win, Loose or Draw shows I saw.
Saw them on that tour at the old Ritchfield Coliseum in Cleveland in November 1975. A group of friends hitchhiked the two hours from our college in Pennsylvania to Cleveland and stayed at a friend's college dorm.
I don't remember Muddy Waters opening but the Brothers set was amazing.
We got so stoned before the concert I have to admit I fell asleep in my seat for a few minutes during the opening act but had the perfect music buzz by the time ABB hit the stage.
RE: UK. It will certainly be available as an import. No UK publisher has picked it up yet but I hope they do. if you have any ideas, send them my way!
As for signed books, a couple of people messaged me to ask for more details.
Words is in maplewood, NJ, but you can order online. I'll sign and they will go out a day or two before release date:
Thanks!
Looking forward to reading the book but I hope that Alan uses a different picture for the cover. The picture on this link is from the 1975 Win, Lose, Draw tour that had it's moments, but overall was not nearly as good as the Brothers and Sisters tour.
RE: Using a more time appropriate photo.
THERE ARE ALMOST NO USABLE GROUP SHOTS FROM 1973-74. I challenge you to find one and send my way. It's really, really crazy but they just didn't pose for group shots.. there is not one on Brothers and Sisters... Neal preston chased them around the whole Cameron Crowe reporting trip and never could get them to pose until the last show in Hawaii and the photos are not good. It's not Neal's fault. They are not arrayed properly, never all looking at the camera, etc. I've been looking at era photos a lot for the last few months and longer, and they just don't exist.
I hope there is a lot written about the actual music. I am always fascinated by this line up and especially how Chuck transformed the band.
Sounds frustrating Alan, looking forward to reading the book!
RE: Using a more time appropriate photo.
THERE ARE ALMOST NO USABLE GROUP SHOTS FROM 1973-74. I challenge you to find one and send my way. It's really, really crazy but they just didn't pose for group shots.. there is not one on Brothers and Sisters... Neal preston chased them around the whole Cameron Crowe reporting trip and never could get them to pose until the last show in Hawaii and the photos are not good. It's not Neal's fault. They are not arrayed properly, never all looking at the camera, etc. I've been looking at era photos a lot for the last few months and longer, and they just don't exist.
The above image was always my favorite from the B&S era. But it Being so horizontal would not work in your front cover layout you have right now. Looking forward to reading it when it comes out!
I like this version of that shoot too.
Yeah, that's a cool photo, but not a book cover for a lot of reasons, from the horizontal orientation to the shadows, to the fact that NO ONE is looking at the camera. Their lack of group photos in this era is really quite astounding. Try to think of another band with a similar situation.
@masbama I have one of the band lined up outside during the Win, Loose or Draw tour. Dickey is on the far left looking down at a cigarette he is smoking.
Speaking of Dickey, here is one of four outstanding songs he wrote for Brothers and Sisters.
I understand this track has Dickey on dobro and vocals, Chuck on piano, Lamar on standup acoustic bass, Butch Trucks on percussion and Tommy Talton on acoustic guitar. Then Dickey and Butch at the end slapping their knees with Butch laughing at the fade. No Gregg or Jaimoe on this. Years later we found out Butch didn't like the songs Dickey wrote and resented how Dickey's larger influence on the band changed it's sound and began to inspire county bands. I'm guessing this will be covered in Alan's new book.
What a coincidence, here I am, a Brit, staying with my son here in Maplewood & I visited Words bookshop only last week, and yes, One Way Out, was on the shelf! Really looking forward to the the next book especially the Laid Back period and album.
@budiggle Ha ha. Thanks. My hometown store! Say hi next time you're visiting.
This is not only one of the best songs on Brothers and Sisters, but one of Gregg Allman's best original compositions. Berry Oakley on bass and he is thumping!!!
Another real fine track from Brothers and Sisters. Apparently Gregg Allman wrote words for this as my August 1973 first shipment of Brothers and Sisters lists the song as Early Morning Blues written by Gregg Allman. That was changed to Jelly, Jelly by Trade Martin.
This is excellent play and singing by Gregg and it's excellent by the rest of the band too.
Another real fine track from Brothers and Sisters. Apparently Gregg Allman wrote words for this as my August 1973 first shipment of Brothers and Sisters lists the song as Early Morning Blues written by Gregg Allman. That was changed to Jelly, Jelly by Trade Martin.
This is excellent play and singing by Gregg and it's excellent by the rest of the band too.
I agree 100%. Great song! I did not however care for the rendition that the last version of the band was playing when they dusted it off somewhere around 2004. It completely lost the feel that the original had. I love the live version on WTWCTODG. Dickey's slide solo that ends the song was REALLY good.
