As a contributor to The Post and Courier, South Carolina's largest newspaper, I profiled dozens of popular musicians, including Gregg Allman, leader of the Allman Brothers Band.
Gregg Allman trades 'Brothers' for 'Friends'
by Michael Lovett
Publication: The Post and Courier, February 5, 2005
As co-founder of The Allman Brothers Band, Gregg Allman has done as much for rock-'n'-roll music as anyone else living.
Between a divisive quarrel with ABB co-star Dickey Betts, two failed marriages to Cher and a hard-fought victory over substance abuse, he also has done quite a bit for the gossip columnists.
Like so many of his aging rock-'n'-roll peers, however, Allman has abandoned his shooting star in favor of a happy home life, a poodle named Jasmine and a low-key solo tour.
Accompanied by his "Friends" (Robben Ford on guitar, Willie Weeks on bass, Neil Larsen on keyboards, Steve Potts on drums, Floyd Miles on percussion, Jay Collins, Chris Karlic and Jim Seely playing horns), Allman plays The Charleston Music Hall on Saturday night.
The sold-out show will focus on obscure selections from his marginally successful solo career, as well as feature solo highlights such as "I'm No Angel," and new arrangements of his best ABB compositions such as "Whippin' Post" and "Midnight Rider."
Speaking with Preview by telephone from Binghamton, N.Y., where the snow was falling and the roads were icing, Allman sounded like somebody's grandfather. He worried about the driving conditions and yearned for the sunny South. He also discussed his craft, which is all the better for the wear. Some highlights from the conversation follow:
Preview: You're often associated with the Hammond B3 organ, but you also play a good deal of guitar. How do you see yourself as a guitarist? What role does the instrument play in your songwriting and performing?
Allman: I write most of my songs on the acoustic piano and the acoustic guitar - very few on the Hammond.I just play acoustic guitar. A ways back, I bought me a Strat (Fender Stratocaster electric guitar) and a big amp. I hit one chord on that thing and it just about blew my pants off. I sold it the next day, got rid of it. (Playing electric guitar) is like having a dragon on a leash.Plus, on this tour I've got a great guitarist, Robben Ford, so he handles the electric guitar. His whole thing is he plays real fluid - one note glides into the next. It's so smooth it almost sounds like a steel guitar.
Preview: So you're pretty much just handling rhythm?
Allman: Pretty much. On some songs, like "Midnight Rider" or an old song called "Multicolored Lady," I'll do some pattern picking and things like that. Other than that though, it's pretty much just straight rhythmic strumming.
Preview: I get a kick out of the song "Neighbor, Neighbor" (from the 1997 solo release "Searching for Simplicity"). The lines, "Bad news travels/I travel too/Something bad's gonna happen to you," would set any nosy neighbor straight. Did you have a specific neighbor in mind when you recorded that one?
Allman: (Laughs) Ah, you know, that's an old Jimmy Hughes song from Muscle Shoals. That's a good old song. I guess we've all had our trouble with the neighbors. I won't name any names. But thanks for reminding me about that song. I hadn't thought about it in awhile. Maybe I'll show that one to the guys and we'll put it in the set.
Preview: Sometimes I'll get into the conversation, "If you could have been at any one concert, which would it have been?" Mine is The Allman Brothers, The Band, and The Grateful Dead at Watkins Glen in 1973. Care to reminisce?
Allman: Well, you know, that place was such a madhouse (Editor's note: 600,000 fans showed up and the toilets flooded.) I didn't stay around for the jam. I took the first chopper out of there. The rest of The Brothers, they all stayed and jammed, but I had just had my wisdom teeth pulled, and I wasn't feeling too hot.
The one thing that sticks with me about that show, they put us up in a no-tell motel, one of those long motels where people go to meet discreetly and they don't bring no luggage. The place was all rundown. ... That's what I remember most.
We went on during the daytime, and I can remember staring out at something like half a million people, all sitting together focusing on the stage. Boy, that's a lot of energy. If we'd played during the nighttime, it'd have been cool, because you can't see 'em all in the dark. But between (the size of the crowd) and my wisdom teeth, it had a bad effect on my whole mood.
I didn't stick around, but I would've loved to jam with The Band. The Band, they named them right - they sure as hell were The Band. I always loved their music.