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Posted on Friday, January 08, 2010 - 07:26 AM |
By: Ed Condron
For: The Asbury Park Press
As Gregg Allman approaches his twilight years, the vocalist-keyboardist is picking his spots. Allman, 62, who has been a road warrior for much of his life, is taking it easier.
"I think I've earned that right," Allman said. "I've knocked down the Allman Brothers dates. I still enjoy it, but traveling is a *****. There is no other way around it. I love to perform. I love getting up in front of a crowd. It's the greatest but going from city to city is not my favorite thing in the world."
Don't expect Allman to emulate blues legend B.B. King, who can't get enough of the road even though he's a diabetic octogenarian, or country icon Willie Nelson, who is 76 and constantly on tour.
"Good for those guys," Allman said. "If they want to tour at that age, more power to them. Everyone is different. I just don't see doing this as much when I'm really old. But I'm not that old yet so I'm doing some shows."
Allman will be stepping out for his "Gregg Allman and Friends" jaunt, which stops Saturday at Harrah's Resort Atlantic City. He'll be flanked by a bunch of talented pals, including vocalist Floyd Miles, guitarist Scott Sharrard bassist Jerry Jemmott, keyboardist Bruce Katz, saxophonist Jay Collins and drummer Steve Potts.
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Posted on Thursday, January 07, 2010 - 03:22 PM |
By: Melissa Ruggieri
For The Richmond Times Dispatch
His voice is soft and grainy, as if he just finished gargling with a shot of whiskey.
He's friendly -- a little flirty, even -- as he talks about the wonderful Christmas he had with his kids at his Savannah, Ga., home and his pre-concert ritual of listening to Muddy Waters or Howlin' Wolf.
But don't think for a second that Gregg Allman is a relic, a legend of his time who now spends his years coasting on the magic of the Allman Brothers Band catalog.
Throughout the years, Allman, 62, has kept his namesake band relevant and organic, with the awe-inspiring Derek Trucks (nephew of original Allman Brother Butch Trucks) joining in 1999 and Gov't Mule founder Warren Haynes returning in 2001.
The band's ritualistic string of shows every March at New York's Beacon Theater -- moving elsewhere for the first time this year -- is the kind of destination event few rock bands can instigate.
But, though Allman loves his history, he doesn't necessarily need it.
He's putting the finishing flourishes on a new solo album, 14 tracks recorded in 11 days with ace producer T-Bone Burnett. But before he tackled the studio, the singer with 13 years of sobriety behind him kicked another habit.
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Posted on Wednesday, January 06, 2010 - 08:50 AM |
By: Dave Itzkoff
For: The New York Times
No rock ’n’ roll tradition lasts forever. Bob Dylan plugged in his guitar. Kiss (temporarily) washed off its face paint. And now the Allman Brothers Band is leaving the Beacon Theater.
On Tuesday night the Allman band, whose annual routine of residencies at that Upper West Side theater once seemed as permanent as the bathroom-wall graffiti at CBGB, announced that when it came to New York in March, it would not appear at the Beacon, where it has played 190 shows over the past 20 years.
Instead the band will perform at the United Palace Theater in Washington Heights, having lost its longtime Manhattan home to another group.
“Cirque du Soleil came and bought it out from under us,” Gregg Allman, the band’s singer and keyboard player, said in a telephone interview.
“It’s a drag,” Mr. Allman added. “But one monkey don’t stop no show.”
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Posted on Friday, October 02, 2009 - 10:42 AM |
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While Struggling With Life Offstage, Gregg Allman Helped Redefine Rock-and-Roll
By Ernest Suarez
Special to The Washington Post
Friday, October 2, 2009
In the appendix to his masterpiece "The Sound and the Fury," William Faulkner succinctly summarized the plight of his heroine, Dilsey, and her family: "They endured."
The same could be said of Gregg Allman, whose life saga resembles a Southern gothic novel. He lost his father, who was robbed and killed when Allman was 2 years old. He survived the deaths of his brother Duane and bass players Berry Oakley and Lamar Williams. He has weathered several marriages, including a widely publicized, tumultuous relationship with Cher. He has battled drug addiction and recently underwent a life-threatening bout with hepatitis C.
Yet he has endured life's affronts and convulsions to create some of the 20th century's most remarkable music and discover genuine happiness. In 1995 Allman and the Allman Brothers Band were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, cited for having achieved "a level of technical virtuosity and musical literacy that was relatively new to rock & roll." The Allman Brothers Band performs Tuesday at Merriweather Post Pavilion.
Allman, who has been drug-free for 14 years, chuckles and explains why he left a Los Angeles-based studio in 1968 and hitchhiked across the country to join Duane in Macon, Ga. "The music they wanted me to make in L.A., it was too white," he recalls.
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Posted on Friday, January 09, 2009 - 11:05 PM |
By: Ross Cat
For: Best of NY
Concert Preview: GREGG ALLMAN & Friends
SENECA ALLEGANY CASINO
Saturday January 10th
MIDNIGHT RIDER…..As the clock struck twelve on New Year’ s Eve it marked the 40th anniversary of the immortal mythology of the ALLMAN BROTHERS BAND. Florida bred Southern kin GREGG and DUANE ALLMAN fused the Jam Base Rhythm & Blues Rock Band in 1969; leaving an enduring imprint in the annals of American Music with their inspired improvisational vision spanning their dynamic four decade career.
While tragedy would rear it’s ugly head for the first of many times with the untimely death of DUANE ALLMAN on October 29, 1971; younger brother GREGG would keep the Brotherhood alive through thick and thin as the ABB reached the summit of superstardom with their induction to the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame in 1995.
GREGG ALLMAN, who just turned 61 in December, is a consummate Rock ‘n’ Roll Road Warrior continuing to tour full-throttle, cascading his soulful gritty voice from behind his patented Hammond B-3 throne navigating the “Dreams” he and DUANE envisioned.
Rolling Stone Magazine recently recognized GREGG ALLMAN as one of the Top 100 Singers of All Time; in the article SHERYL CROW is quoted as saying, “Even in his earliest recordings he sounded like he’d already lived a thousand lifetimes”
The GREGG ALLMAN & Friends tour will be spreading some holiday cheer at the Seneca Allegany Casino this Saturday Night. It’s a safe bet that this band of accomplished musicians will be “Playing Up a Storm”, so if you have one more silver dollar left from the holidays this is one show you won’t want to miss.
The Rock Rapport had the honor to once again speak with GREGG ALLMAN from his home in Georgia as he was preparing to celebrate the Christmas season with his family before heading out on the road.
Ross CAT- Thanks so much for taking time out for the Rock Rapport. First off GREGG we’re glad to hear that you’re enjoying a full recovery from you’re various ailments throughout 2008.
GREGG- I’m feeling great and lookin forward to gettin back out with some of my old friends for this holiday tour. I just had some melanoma spots removed from the sun but they were benign so I’m sporting a couple of shiners. Now that you mention it 2008 did kick my ass but I’m a survivor, I beat the Hep C and finally took care of my sciatic nerve in my leg, after all that I’m feelin great.
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