Chattanooga Times Free Press reporter Barry Courter conducted an online interview with Gregg Allman in which he talked about the end of the Allman Brothers Band, the re-launching of his solo career and the future.
Q: The Allman Brothers Band played its final show last December; does this feel like the beginning of something brand new, and are you excited about what the future holds? Does it have that starting over kind of feel or more of simply an extension of what you've always done?
A: Remember, I've had a solo career for well over 40 years now, so it's not really all that different to me. There's just no bouncing back and forth from band to band anymore. I am very proud of how the Allman Brothers finished up; we did it on our own terms, and we went out on top. I never wanted us to become a parody of ourselves, and I know my brother would have approved. It's over now, and I'm very happy to be focusing on my solo career. I'm having a blast, man.
Q: I also know from conversations with Derek Trucks and Warren Haynes that they both had high praise for their time with the band. How was it for you knowing the end was coming, and did you consider reforming it and continuing on with a new ABB?
A: I knew around the time of our 40th anniversary shows back in 2009 that the end was coming; I think we all knew it. Most everyone wanted to do other things, and that was fine by me. As it stands right now, there are no future plans for the Allman Brothers.
Q: Over the years, you've done your own solo work and work with the Gregg Allman Band, so this latest phase is not new. In your mind, are they drastically different animals? Does one allow you do to do some things you can't or wouldn't with the other?
A: The biggest difference is that with my band there is only one cook in the kitchen, if you follow me. With the Allman Brothers, you had three or four people trying to stir the pot, and let me tell you, that complicated things. There's a lot less drama in my band, and boy, that makes things easy.
Q: Are there Gregg Allman songs that you didn't play with ABB that you would now play with the new group, for example? If so, do you mind sharing an example?
A: There are several actually, but the best example has to be "Queen of Hearts." That's an interesting story; while we were working on the "Brothers and Sisters" album, I brought "Queen of Hearts" into the studio. I thought it was pretty good, but I couldn't get anybody to really listen to it. I kept after it, but eventually I was flat-out told that the song just didn't say anything. Boy, that was all it took; my solo career was launched right then and there. I started working on "Laid Back," my first solo album, and it's gone on from there. That rejection was the best thing that ever happened to my career, so "Queen of Hearts" is a song that is still very special to me.
Q: Are their any other new projects on the horizon?
A: We have a live CD coming out this summer from a smokin' show my solo band did down in Macon, GA, in 2014, and I still have plans to cut an album made up of only my songs. The credits will read, "All compositions by Gregory L. Allman." I'm working on lots of things, man, and I've never been happier.
He's like your senile uncle that tells you the same story every time you see him.
I, for one, am happy for Gregg that he is in a good place in his life. I don't understand the hostility.
The credits will read, "All compositions by Gregory L. Allman."
I, for one, am happy for Gregg that he is in a good place in his life. I don't understand the hostility.
It's not hostility. It's weariness.
Looks like the questions were cut & pastes from hundreds of previous interviews. The answers were also templated.
The good news is Gregg's band is doing a lot of tour dates, and the musicians & band are really really good. Seems since the Brothers have split, Gregg's band is doing more ABB material and less of his other originals & covers. Preference is for some new originals, but at this stage I'll take any songs the band plays.
So what was the final ABB show in December?
So what was the final ABB show in December?
As soon as I read that I figured Gregg would correct him.
Everything in Moderation. Including Moderation.
If they keep asking the same questions seems pretty reasonable he'd give the same answers.
This quick interviews like this just promoting a show are going to all be the same. The only time they ever have a bit of difference would be a long form interview with a national publication.
Gregg is rarely a good interview. The best line in this interview is "The biggest difference is that with my band there is only one cook in the kitchen". Which is fine, except he isn't the musical director in his own band so unless he is referring to Jay Collins with this quote.
That said, I look forward to the show he is promoting with this interview next week. Jaimoe and Jack Pearson are appearing at the same festival in Chattanooga so hopefully they will sit in.
A: Remember, I've had a solo career for well over 40 years now
Q: Are there Gregg Allman songs that you didn't play with ABB that you would now play with the new group, for example?
Any questions as to why Gregg doesn't like doing interviews?
Irony = People who rarely if ever are interviewed throwing peanut shells at a GA interview.
Gregg lives in his own peanut shell.
Gregg is rarely a good interview.
Gregg might be the worst interview ever. You can tell he hates doing it.
Name any celebrity interview that was worse than what Gregg put out there a couple of years ago on Pierce Morgan, on Howard Stern...
Awful.
Um, let's see...Crispin Glover?
😛
Gregg is rarely a good interview.
Gregg might be the worst interview ever. You can tell he hates doing it.
Name any celebrity interview that was worse than what Gregg put out there a couple of years ago on Pierce Morgan, on Howard Stern...
Awful.
That Pierce Morgan one was just painful. And someone actually posted here that it was Morgan's fault.
Everything in Moderation. Including Moderation.
I wish you people could have been in my shoes the night I witnessed Gregg, maybe it was "Gregory" , talk to a little boy who had just been to that night's GAF concert with his Dad.
Kevin & I were walking to our car after the show. We had been late to get to Orlando, several hours from home, and were directed to an out of the way parking area when we arrived at the last minute to a packed parking lot .
Great show, Ive always loved GA's solo shows from the first one in NYC when I was kid. We were happy exiting, heading to the car, when we realized the bus was in the same remote area of the parking lot.
A throng of fans were gathered a ways away, lined up hoping for autographs etc. by a side door around the corner, screaming for Gregg, when GA jumped out of the bus and headed toward Kevin & I.
Kevin takes off, turning back to say "wait here"..honestly, I was a bit star struck caught/ off guard, then again, I wasn't going no where, ya know? Not even with Kevin lol. Id been near enough to Gregg many times, at clubs, party, but this was dif, he was coming over to talk :O
2 near identical biker chicks looking like they washed their faces with sandpaper came oozing out of no where, smiling "Gregg" and he does a v-line for the twins, no questions asked.
Oh well, where's Kevin? then I see Kev coming back from car, waving the insert of EAP cd. Yes! autograph, what was I thinking..mybad, I love autographs..
That was when I noticed the little boy standing behind me, great big eyes staring at Gregg like he was a god, the Dad beaming at his son , same look in his eyes.
Im not one to be fast on my feet, but my competitive side wasnt going to lose the op for an autograph to 2 road worn biker chicks, again, mybad.
In my softest NY /FLA voice , I all but whispered "Gregg, this little boy wants an autogrpah, and it is a school night" I swear, I saw totally dif persona then what we get on stage, in interviews, in that forsaken book, which truth is, disappointed me.
Gregg looked me in the eyes, not the usual slit eyed " one of Dickey's girls" look I usually get, no, he looked so humble, he nodded thanks to me, damned near tripped over his own 2 feet to get back to the little boy.
A whole new Gregory Id never seen before, strode back to where the little boy was standing, in front of me now, he needed a little push toward Gregg, his stare had turned to disbelief I love kids, it was a nice moment in time.
So Gregg starts speaking to the little boy, oh, a long time, 30 minutes, maybe more, and he was brilliant, kind , and funny all at the same time. Drawing the boy out of his shell, making him laugh, blush, it was great, was fun.
It really hit, me, this is the Gregg his friends and family and band mates know, this is a whole different person, and no wonder they love him.
So the bus motor started whining louder, the biker chicks were giving me the stare down , oh boy, Im a magnet for that kind of **** ..
Gregg gave me this nod , not nice like he'd been with the boy, more like, duh, what do you want? I shoved that EAP cd insert at him NY fast, my new little boy friend still standing there with a giant smile on his face, handed Gregg his sharpie, GA signed the insert, the only thing left to say was thank you and your welcome. Then GA turned, he puffed up like a peacock, the moment was gone. He looked like he was back on stage again, waving to the crowd, then jumped back on his bus right into Stacy's arms.
It was back when he was married to Stacy, she was on the bus steps waiting for him and I could see her smiling, and see she was so proud of him at that moment.
like everyone else, Gregg is multi facetted, maybe more so. I choose to see him like I saw him that night.
The endless interviews sound more like ads , he has something to sell. His life, his art, is also a business with bills to pay.
Bills to pay? I have bills to pay. With all due respect to you, I find it hard to believe that he does.
Everything in Moderation. Including Moderation.
every business has bills to pay, has responsibilities to employees. Tax , licensing and insurance alone is often enough to break the bank in my experience as a business owner.
To be fair to all, the interviewer was likely a late 20 - early 30-something who has little idea of who Gregg or the Allman Brother's Band are. He/she probably got assigned the interview and then hit the internet - read the Wiki and perhaps the last few interviews done on Gregg.
At the same time - what do you really want/need to know about him? He's got a best-seller out there and there have been several other books in the past few years.
Thank you for that story, Carol. I could visualize it in my head. You have a nice way of crafting a story.
Nice story Carol..I posted the interview just to get some spark on this forum..I wish Gregg would give a little more details about some songs or something about the album,I know not too long ago he posted a picture of him and Bill Evans together in the studio. Which I think is a musical match made from heaven . didn't Gregg play a new song or 2 early on in the year on his tour,maybe January..one song had a title of my only true friend or something?
I posted the interview just to get some spark on this forum..
I think Gregg's creative fire has gone out and has been out for some time. Read the interviews, he seems content to "be in charge" of his own band. No one to push him, no griping about who is and who is not writing, fans happy to hear "Melissa" "Midnight Rider" & "I'm No Angel" for the umpteenth time. He has "Made it" and he has earned it, but until I hear some new compositions with the complexity and thought of "Come and go blues" or "oncoming traffic" I will consider his lethargy to be contagious, songs like "Floating Bridge" just are not cutting it for this fan.....
Can everyone stop loosing their sh1t? This is just a local market preview for a show, it's not an exclusive. It's fluff.
It used to be that local papers needed fluff to promote their local events. A lot of these stories/interviews/previews would be recycled, in one way or another, in each local market. Don't read each one expecting anything revelatory - they are for people who vaguely remember Cher's rock 'n roll husband from the 1970's and might be looking for something to do with weekend.
I think Gregg's creative fire has gone out and has been out for some time. Read the interviews, he seems content to "be in charge" of his own band. No one to push him, no griping about who is and who is not writing, fans happy to hear "Melissa" "Midnight Rider" & "I'm No Angel" for the umpteenth time. He has "Made it" and he has earned it, but until I hear some new compositions with the complexity and thought of "Come and go blues" or "oncoming traffic" I will consider his lethargy to be contagious, songs like "Floating Bridge" just are not cutting it for this fan..
I'm not saying you need to see Gregg's band over and over like a Beacon ABB residency, but Gregg's band was the highlight at Wanee for me (hardly the first time I'd seen him solo). Sometimes musicians just want to play music, writing songs can be a lot of work, and Gregg's band sounds great (though I'd prefer more of his solo material in the set list).
writing songs can be a lot of work
Exactly.
I have no doubt Mr.Allman can still write one hell of an album..He is working,having fun and his fans enjoy hearing those songs,I get that...But to be honest those songs Big V listed are absolutely boring for a lot of his faithful to hear at every show..He is my all time favorite singer,their would be absolutely no shame for him to have say Scott Sharrard and warren write songs for him to sing.
Can everyone stop loosing their sh1t? This is just a local market preview for a show, it's not an exclusive. It's fluff.
I'm not saying you need to see Gregg's band over and over like a Beacon ABB residency....Sometimes musicians just want to play music and Gregg's band sounds great (though I'd prefer more of his solo material in the set list).
Agree 100%.
Gregg's band is outstanding and he does sound great.
I'm in this for the music not for interviews.
who cares about this bullshit indeed...keep playing Gregg!
I have no doubt Mr.Allman can still write one hell of an album..
I do, although I would love to hear it.
Scott Sharrard and warren write songs for him to sing.
If he can still do it, why does he need their help?
I posted the interview just to get some spark on this forum..
Spark it may have,but his whole issue is absurd.
I think Gregg's creative fire has gone out and has been out for some time. Read the interviews
I'd rather hear the music,his band,his voice...the interviews-not sure that matters.
Everyone is entitled to opinion.....but at one point people will be missing his music when its gone....I'm just so happy Gregg is here...that beautiful voice...I'm grateful for what I have...I don't need every artist to be meeting my personal needs...heck,if I want great output of new music I rely on Dylan...Gregg,Leon.C,S,N,the Stones,etc....the old timers...I'm happy the music I've had for many years...it's still her...that's a great joy...it's a treat to have folks like Gregg who continue to bring so much delight....
It seems every time Gregg's name comes up the same complaints are made over,over,over..(TTB redux! haha!)and then again...cool...I have no problem if repeating your opinion is pleasurable,but for me,I'm just happy to have Gregg around playing the wonderful music he has written and covered.
[Edited on 6/4/2015 by dadof2]
Sometimes musicians just want to play music
No, they have to keep writing new material that no one buys, and the ones that do complain that it's not as good as the old stuff and go get a beer when the new stuff is played live. 😛
Gregg has wrote and released 2 songs in the last 12-13 years...he boasts about all these new songs he has been writing..Big v warren is a hell of a song writer and musician and happens to be a good friend to gregg.
[Edited on 6/4/2015 by fender31]
