As sad is the news of Gregg Allman’s passing, it’s only slightly more sobering than the thoughts of how many years he has seemed to live on borrowed time. Descriptions of his drug use in Scott Freeman’s Brothers bio Midnight Riders may be exaggerated, but there’s no denying Gregg’s own harrowing account in his book My Cross to Bear of the complications arising from his 2010 liver transplant. And what’s left unsaid in both hard and softcover versions of Alan Paul’s history of the Allman Brothers Band One Way Out, may well have been borne out in the last three year’s of Allman’s life. But that’s only a roundabout way of speaking to just one aspect of a life lived of and for the blues, the high points of which are in proportion to the low.
The Allman Brothers Band – University of Vermont February 1971: After becoming transfixed by the playing of the original Brothers lineup as they opened for the Chambers Brothers at Patrick Gym just weeks prior to recording At Fillmore East, it was altogether startling to be awakened from the trance woven during “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed,” by the ominous attack of Berry Oakley’s bass intro to “Whipping Post.” Yet even after the near-savage savage intensity of Duane Allman and Dickey Betts’ guitar work, matched by a propulsive churn from drummers Jaimoe and Butch Trucks: Gregg’s final wail was blood-curdling.
The Allman Brothers Band – Saratoga Performing Arts Center June 1973: After a prolonged delay following the opening act, during which time cuts from the yet-unreleased Brothers and Sisters played on the venue’s PA, Gregg cut a wraith-like figure running to the mike brandishing a guitar, seemingly possessed as he simultaneously apologized for the late start and promised to make up for it. It was Dickey Betts who led the lineup including keyboardist Chuck Leavell and bassist Lamar Williams through an absolutely spectacular performance, comparable to that captured on the ABB archive title Nassau Coliseum Uniondale, NY: 5/1/73, but when the namesake of the band sang “Stormy Monday,” the open-air shed in upstate New York felt like late night/early morning in a Southern blues club.
The Allman Brothers Band – Macon City Auditorium 2/11/72: This complete recording of one of the very rare performances by the five-man lineup of the Allman Brothers is unfortunately a somewhat unheralded release from their archives. On hometown turf just shy of four months after the fatal accident that claimed the life of their founder, Duane Allman, the quintet played with a vengeance from start to finish, without sacrificing the delicate dynamics that distinguished their musicianship. If there was any doubt the group would carry on in the wake of “Skydog”’s tragic death, this show alone put those fears to rest, punctuated as it was at the dramatic conclusion to a positively demonic rendition of “Whipping Post,” when Gregg intoned a declaration of faith “Oh don’t you know—There ain’t no such thing as dyin’!”
The Allman Brothers Band -Hartford Civic Center 1974: From his seat on the stool where he was perched most of the concert, guitarist Dickey Betts had a reasonable explanation for the virtually lifeless nature of the Allman Brothers’ first performance of two in Connecticut on their ‘Summer Campaign 1974′: he was suffering the after-effects of dental work for which he was still medicated. Yet as vexing was the sluggish likes of that night’s “Ramblin’ Man,” and as painful as it was to watch Jaimoe in a back brace at the rear of the stage during set break trying to walk off his own discomfort, it was hardly more disturbing than seeing how much assistance a shaky Gregg Allman needed to both ascend and descend the steps to his seat at the keyboards on the stage.
Gregg Allman & Friends -Higher Ground South Burlington, Vermont 10/17/06: The bandleader’s mid-show reading of Bob Dylan’s “Just Like A Woman,” heavy on the Hammond B-3 organ, conjured up a dark but church-like intensity that not only compelled a full house in the venue’s larger room to stop and listen intently, it stole the show back from erstwhile ABB guitarist Jack Pearson, whose playing (with and without slide) provided such decorative ornamentation throughout the single extended set.
The Allman Brothers Band -Beacon Theatre, New York, NY 3/27/2009: After observing the necessity to cancel the prior year’s annual spring run while Gregg Allman continued treatment for HepC, the Allman Brothers’ daunting take on the rarely-played “End of the Line, ” from 1991’s Tom Dowd-produced studio album Shades of Two Worlds, was indicative of the band’s renewed vigor and, by extension, that of their namesake figurehead. With his shoulder-length blonde hair hanging loose as if to intentionally recall his turbulent past, watching Gregg Allman caterwauling about the old days, was akin to seeing a ghost, though he hardly sang like one: as a guttural cry here and a gentle croon there (in addition to occasional hand-claps and sly smiles) were sure signs of his (re) commitment to life and music.
The Allman Brothers Band -Beacon Theatre March 18, 2005: One of the highlights of latter day Beacon history took place during this run when Gregg sat solo at a grand piano to delivering a deeply stirring offering of his overlooked but nonetheless haunting original “Oncoming Traffic;” never formally issued in studio form, it was included on the splendid anthology One More Try (available only for a short time before its recall) as well as The Gregg Allman Tour live set. Allman then played an acoustic guitar for old roommate Jackson Browne’s “These Days” the beautifully bittersweet reading accentuated by with Warren Haynes’ tasteful, subdued fretboard .
Gregg Allman & Friends- Flynn Center for the Performing Arts, January 14, 2011: Not nearly so memorable as the aforementioned Vermont show, Gregg Allman’s mid-winter performance in the Green Mountains nevertheless suggested he brought a definite sense of self-renewal with him from his home in the Deep South. He and his Friends executed a well-wrought set list on the Flynn Mainstage, playing with an understated ardor that mirrored the leader’s naturally laid-back demeanor. The casual observer might quarrel with Allman’s diffident attitude toward show business trappings, such as the introductions of his band rushed at the encore, but that befits a musician not wholly comfortable in the spotlight as the bandleader, even when, as on this cold night, he was in support of a studio album, Low Country Blues, to be released just days later.
The Allman Brothers Band – Beacon Theatre March 24, 2012: In retrospect, Gregg Allman’s early departure from the stage, following a bluesy take on Bob Dylan’s “Down Along the Cove” within an arresting acoustic interval that opened this second set, was an eerie harbinger of things to come. A later announcement explained his absence was due to back problems that in fact caused him to miss the next night’s show entirely, but until that point he had acquitted himself admirably on a clutch of compact numbers that opened the show, sliding in and out of his vocals with a confidence and panache that belied his flubs on the lyrics of “Blackhearted Woman” earlier in the evening
All My Friends: Celebrating the Songs and Voice of Gregg Allman January 10, 2014: Proof that hindsight can be equally acute and well-timed, it’s not really necessary to have been present at this star-studded event because the DC/DVD package of a show overseen by Don Was carrys impact of one kind of another at virtually every turn. The emotional undercurrent of the evening becomes most palpable with the dual performance of Allman and Jackson Browne during “These Days” and “Melissa:” they embrace the forlorn air of the most predictable selections in the setlist apart from the songs by the Allman Brothers; yet on “Dreams” and “Whipping Post,” the full ensemble works up a head of steam in such short order, they too transcend preconceptions and expectations.
The Allman Brothers Band – Beacon Theatre, New York, NY March 21 & 22, 2014: Originally scheduled to be the final two shows of The Allman Brothers Band’s 2014 Beacon Theatre run, those dates were subsequently superseded with the announcement of additional performances. However, the distinction returned to the Friday and Saturday concerts when Gregg Allman’s affliction with bronchitis caused the rescheduling of the final four appearances. The founding member and vocalist/songwriter’s absence would seem to be quite an insurmountable liability, yet the remaining members of the group, with some more than able assistance from, among others, saxophonist Bill Evans and Wet Willie frontman Jimmy Hall, ultimately offered two of the most memorable shows in recent years at the Broadway venue. The courageous selection of material like “Ain’t Wastin’ Time No More” echoed in the vacuum left by the author.
In contrast, to the resourceful approach applied that spring, Gregg’s erratic behavior over the following summer and fall called into question the autumn rescheduling of the group’s final shows back in New York City and no doubt figured into the failure of the group and their organization to mount an effective summer farewell tour. A cyclical pattern of canceled appearances emerged in the following months, though not always with reasonable explanations, until serious health issues afflicting Allman were confirmed in the next two years.
Though observations and reactions were mixed at the time, Gregg did shore up some hope with an abbreviated acoustic duo set, in collaboration with guitarist Scott Sharrard, at the Laid Back Festival stop in September of 2016 at Colorado’s Red Rocks Amphitheater, And, in an act of poetic justice, Gregg Allman made a full-fledged return to the concert stage, ultimately his last, in Atlanta Georgia on October 29th.
Subsequent tour dates later in the fall of 2016 were postponed til the following spring and summer, but in March of 2017, the artist’s website announced he would not be touring for the duration of the year. Perhaps it was the foreboding sound of that edict that gave birth to rumors of his death a month or so before his actual passing over Memorial Day Weekend.
As fitful an end as was this sequence of events, it carried a dual logic in keeping with so many of the contradictions Allman wrestled with during the course of his life, equal testament to the hardy constitution long-time Allmans tour manager and photographer Kirk West ascribed to Gregg (during conversation at a Les Brers show in Rutland Vermont in September of 2016), and Gregg’s begrudging admission near the end of his autobiography that he’d be wise to heed his doctor’s orders.
One Response
I was at that concert .. a friend from GA had turned Me on to them while in High School in 1970. The Brothers took the stage opening for The Chambers Brothers with people still entering the hall..