Gregg Allman Tributes Pour In – Read Warren Haynes’ & Dave Schools’ Eulogies

Following today’s loss of Gregg Allman both Warren Haynes (his former bandmate) and Dave Schools of Widespread Panic posted lengthy and heartfelt tributes on their Facebook pages.  ..

From Warren Haynes’ Facebook page…

RIP Gregg Allman – I am at a loss for words. I was moved by Gregg’s voice when I first heard the Allman Brothers Band in 1969. I was nine years old. I had not even picked up a guitar yet but thanks to my to older brothers I had been exposed to a lot of great soul music with the best singers in the world. But this was something different. This music was making a deep emotional connection with me even though it was too complex for me to really understand. Somehow, though, it had this “common man” quality that allowed that music to connect with people on so many different levels without analyzing the ingredients that went into it-soul, blues, rock, country, jazz-all mixed together in a way no one had ever done before. And on top of it all was this beautiful voice that could be soothing, terrifying, mellow, angry, and amazingly natural and soulful all at the same time-and instantly captivating. It drew me in. It drew us all in.

Over the next few years I would begin to play guitar as everyone of my music loving friends became Allman Brothers’ freaks. That music spoke to anyone who heard it but in the South it resonated with us. It spoke volumes. It brought a voice to people like myself in the midst of some confusing, ever-changing times. Here was this group of Southern hippies with an integrated band coming out of the Deepest South with equally deep music on the heels of some extremely deep changes. We didn’t realize how heavy that was at the time but we sure realized how heavy the music was. Every guitar player in every Southern town was listening to the Live at Fillmore East record and worshipping at the altar of Duane Allman and Dickey Betts. But the icing on the cake was always Gregg’s voice. That’s what separated the ABB from being a band that only connected with music freaks. Women whom previously had only listened to the radio would tolerate the long jams to get to the parts where Gregg melted their souls with that angelic voice. It turned casual music fans into fanatical fans who were discovering a new multi-dimensional music that a few years prior wasn’t even in existence. And it was all due to Gregg’s voice-and the songs.

He wrote these amazing songs that were as natural as his voice was. The words and melodies felt so perfectly unpretentious and, when delivered by him, made an emotional connection that only happens when music is genuine and honest. I learned an enormous amount about singing and songwriting from him-most of it before we ever met.

I am truly honored to have been fortunate enough to have written many songs with him and equally honored to have traveled the world with him while making the best music the world has ever known. I will never, ever take that for granted. And on top of all that-he was my dear friend.
My fondest memories will always be of Gregg, myself, and Allen Woody sharing a tour bus together-listening to great music and laughing our asses off mile after mile. Traveling- like life- is so much better when you’ve got friends to share the experience with. I’ve lost too many lately and this one is gonna be hard to get past. There is some comfort in knowing that millions of people all over the world feel the same way.

I love you Gregory – WH

Dave Schools posted the following on Facebook..

Some immediate words on the passing of a legend….

I knew who Gregg Allman was decades before I ever met him. In my experience Gregg was one of the first sSuperstars of Rock and Roll: I first heard about him because he was marrying Cher and I couldn’t have been more than 8 or 9 years old when he became front page news because of this union of celebrities.

And I mention Gregg and Cher’s nuptials not to lessen the impact his music and the impact he himself would eventually have on me but to illustrate the fact that Gregg was one of an elite group that included Mick Jagger, Jimi Hendrix, Jerry Garcia, and David Bowie: they were actual newsmakers. Newsworthy enough to have left an impression on a young boy from Virginia whose best friend was already that Rock and Roll sound despite being a full 8 or nine years out from buying my first Allman Brothers LP (Fillmore East of course).

Of course I heard Midnight Rider and One Way Out on the local radio but it wasn’t until I received a well-loved copy of the Fillmore East live record that my ground was literally shaken. The album was in constant rotation as I played my little beginner’s Hondo P-bass copy and tried to keep up with that fierce locomotive of a rhythm section. And yes, the band sure could hit that note.

But it was Gregg’s voice that really got me. It carried the burden of all human experience: pain, sadness, joy, world-weariness and love. It seemed like a mismatch that this pseudo-elfin wisp of a blonde man could put forth such a powerful sound fraught with the weight of the world and do it night after night. I can’t imagine the burden he bore in order to sing with such intent.

And years later, when I wound up meeting Gregg in person I was surprised at how cowed I was despite his naturally disarming personality. To my core I was shaken by being in the presence of his greatness…he was so much more than an elder statesman and fellow musician. His effect on me took some time to get over.

Bits and pieces of the “Gregg effect” lingered in me when I was lucky enough to sit in with ABB. All it took was the first line of Dreams to rattle me off of that repetitive goose egg of a bass line and elicit looks of amusement and “gotcha” from Derek or Butch. And Jaimoe would just laugh and laugh and laugh.

I will recount one of my favorite Gregg moments: I had gone to Lakewood Amphitheater in Atlanta to see ABB and, as it often happened, Oteil Burbridge sauntered offstage between songs and handed me his bass. So onstage I went to play the tune Rockin’ Horse. We were deep into the jam when Gregg finally looked over my way, saw me, looked back at his keys, then looked back again with shock and surprise on his normally stoic face. An actual double take! For once I got him. Later Gregg told Warren Haynes, “I like the way that big ol’ boy plays the bass.” SCORE! It’s a precious moment I will always treasure it along with so much more too numerous to mention.

So to Gregg: thank you for the music and thank you for teaching me about the blues. More importantly, thank you for being a brother. You were always welcoming and sweet to me. You were always thoughtful and soft-spoken and carried yourself with an aloofness that only your closest friends knew was an actual shyness (and perhaps a bit of amusement at how ludicrous the hugeness of the whole “rock star thing” really was – but like it or not you were the epitome of a rock star). Thank you for trying to come down to my level even though I will never be able to see you as anything other than a superstar – one of the brightest in my sky. Thank you for guiding me in your own way as a teacher whether you knew it or not. The impact you have had upon my life and the way I work my music is undeniable.

And to those who loved Gregg: my heart is with you. I have no other words that can temper or lessen the pain that you must be feeling today.

In closing I will say that Gregg holds a special place amongst another elite group: Those who have written songs that are guaranteed to make me cry. There are only four in this group and without mentioning the other three I will say that it’s Melissa that starts the waterworks. Every single time I hear this beautiful song the tears just come. I think I’ll go listen to it now.
-das