Alan Paul's Blog, page 12

A review of the Fox Box

A taste of the music on the Fox Box, with “Can’t Lose What You Never Had”:



I reviewed the Fox Box for Relix and am sharing here. I just saw that the full set is on sale at Amazon for $77.

The Allman Brothers Band

Fox Box (Peach Records)

Hardcore fans were excited to hear about the remastering and re-release of the Allman Brothers Band’s entire September 24-26, 2004 run at Atlanta’s Fox Theatre. It’s one of the most revered stands in the band’s final stage, from Warren Haynes’ March, 2001 return until their final show on October 24, 2014, both at New York’s Beacon Theater.

The band was in consistently excellent form throughout 2004’s 35th anniversary tour, still energized by the fresh material on 2003’s Hittin’ The Note. Everyone was in good shape, the vibes seemed peaceful and the band settled into the Fox, which had all the advantages of the Beacon but with a more laidback feel and without the clutter that the parade of New York guests sometimes brought to the stage.

The shows were released by the then-nascent Instant Live program without much packaging or fanfare. The new releases feature a remastered audio mix as well as tightening up of the song spacing. All three shows are available for download individually or together as an 8-CD set. If you already have the shows, you’ll want to consider getting the new version. The sound improvement is significant and the packing includes essays and a collection of Kirk West photos.

Photo – Derek McCabe

These three shows also have a unique feature: of the 53 songs performed, there is only one repeat, “Dreams,” played each night, with a different soloist: Derek Trucks, Warren Haynes and Jack Pearson, whose version is mind-bending. Pearson was an Allman Brother from 1997-1999, a brilliant guitarist who sadly never recorded with the band, making his appearances here very welcome. The only other guests are Susan Tedeschi, guitarist Vaylor Trucks (Butch’s son) and keyboardist Rob Baracco. They all slide in and enhance without distracting, which is as it should be when a band is flying this high.

You can order the  Fox Box  or learn more by clicking on this link.
 
Looks like they can be order individually  as well, at least digitally via Amazon. Check ’em out:
1. Fox Box: 3 Nights Live at Fox Theatre in Atlanta, Ga (September 24, 2004)
2. Fox Box: 3 Nights Live at Fox Theatre in Atlanta, Ga (September 25, 2004)
3. Fox Box: 3 Nights Live at Fox Theatre in Atlanta, Ga (September 26, 2004)

My Gregg Allman obit for the Wall Street Journal

I wrote the Wall Street Journal obituary for Gregg just over a month ago. I have to say that in such times, going to work is a great relief even as it is a stress. Like most large news organizations, the WSJ keeps obituaries of celebrities on file and I wrote the original version of this a year earlier. It was the first time I had done this and it was really weird and very disturbing. In fact, I could not do it until I changed it all to present tense I put it back in past tense after I was done.  Right after Memorial Day, I wanted to take a look and I did some updates. I didn’t think about it too deeply but it would seem my instincts were sadly accurate.

I share it here for the record. Everything is at it ran, including the photos and captions, which were not selected by me.

Gregg Allman, Singer and Songwriter Most Well Known for the Allman Brothers Band, Dies
Musician with deep roots in folk, rock and R&B was 69 years old

“Gregg Allman performing in 1974. PHOTO:ZUMAPRESS.COM”

 

Gregg Allman, a singer and songwriter who combined his world-weary sensibility with Delta blues, folk and R&B influences in memorable songs such as “Midnight Rider” and “Melissa,” died Saturday at his home near Savannah, Ga. He was 69 years old.

Often called the greatest white blues singer, Mr. Allman and his brother, Duane, were the namesake members of the Allman Brothers Band, which was founded in Jacksonville, Fla., in 1969 and inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995. The band went on to survive deaths, discord and two breakups to play a triumphant last concert in October 2014.

MORE ON GREGG ALLMAN

Musicians, Friends Pay Tribute to Gregg Allman
Gregg Allman Plans His Solo Future (July 29, 2015)
A Midnight Rambler Back in the Big City (May 21, 2012)
Allman’s Latest Blues Were a Source of Hope (Jan. 13, 2011)

The Allman Brothers Band’s distinct style combined the Grateful Dead’s love of improvisation with a more disciplined approach. They were hailed as the creators of Southern Rock, a genre and label the band scorned even as it spawned other groups, such as Lynyrd Skynyrd and the Marshall Tucker Band.

Mr. Allman, who had hepatitis C, had a liver transplant in 2010 and suffered sporadic health problems in subsequent years. He performed regularly until his final show in October 2016.

Gregory Lenoir Allman was born Dec. 8, 1947, in Nashville. His brother Howard Duane was 11 months older. In 1949, their father, Army First Lt. Willis Turner Allman, was murdered. Seven years later, their mother Geraldine, who died in 2015 at age 98, moved to Daytona, Fla., where she encouraged her sons’ interest in music, buying Gregg a Sears Silvertone guitar when he was 11.

“I got the guitar and Duane got a motorcycle,” Mr. Allman said in a 1997 interview. “It didn’t take Duane long to start stealing my guitar and we fought over it so much that my mother bought him one as well. Then there was not only peace in the family but we started playing together.”

Gregg Allman performed at the Americana Music Association awards in Nashville in October 2011. PHOTO: JOE HOWELL

 

By the time Gregg graduated from high school in 1965, the brothers were established stars on a competitive local circuit and began touring the Southeast as the Allman Joys. In 1967, the manager of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band moved the group to Los Angeles, where they were distressed to watch their record label choose their new name (the Hourglass), their material and even their clothes. Duane left after one failed album, making his way to Muscle Shoals, Ala., where he became a sought-after session player, recording with Wilson Pickett and other soul stars, while Gregg remained in Los Angeles.

By March, 1969, Duane had assembled a new band featuring Dickey Betts, a second lead guitarist with a knack for great melodies and love of Western swing; Berry Oakley, a bassist who fancied psychedelic rock; and J. Johnny “Jaimoe” Johnson and Butch Trucks, two drummers experienced in R&B and folk rock, respectively. Gregg was the final member, adding both a soulful voice and great original songs, including “Dreams,” “Not My Cross to Bear” and “Whipping Post,” which would soon become a landmark rock recording. Gregg’s singing and songwriting were infused with a weary fatalism that belied his age of 21 and were central to the Allman Brothers Band’s style.

The band moved to Macon, Ga., and released two albums, a self-titled debut and its follow-up, “Idlewild South.” Now considered classics, both failed commercially, but the Allman Brothers Band toured relentlessly, breaking through with 1971’s “At Fillmore East.” The live recording captured the Allmans in all their sonic fury, with just seven songs spread over four vinyl sides. Duane was killed in a motorcycle accident on Oct. 29, 1971, just four days after the album was certified gold. He was 24.

Many presumed the band would peter out without their de facto leader, but 1972’s “Eat A Peach,” featuring Duane’s final recordings, more Fillmore tracks, and several songs recorded after the guitarist’s death, was a hit. In 1973, the band released “Brothers and Sisters,” which became their best seller, fueled by Mr. Betts’s “Ramblin’ Man.” The next year the group was the top-grossing live band in the country.

Gregg Allman with Cher in Beverly Hills, Calif., circa 1977. PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES

 

Gregg Allman married Cher in 1975 and their on-again, off-again relationship made them tabloid celebrities. A year later, the Allman Brothers Band broke up, cracking under the strain of stardom, allegations of financial mismanagement by their label and manager and Mr. Allman’s plea-bargained testimony in a crew member’s drug trial.

The group reunited from 1978-1982 and then again in 1989 for a twentieth-anniversary tour. Infused with several younger members, the group toured heavily and recorded three strong studio albums from 1990-1994, even as Allman continued to struggle with drug and alcohol addiction. He entered rehab the morning after the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

The group went through several personnel changes, parting ways with Mr. Betts in 2000. The lineup featured guitarists Derek Trucks and Warren Haynes from 2000 until their final shows. The band ended on a high note in October 2014 with a run at New York’s Beacon Theatre, where they had played 239 sold-out shows starting in 1989.

Allman’s solo career began with the 1973 album “Laid Back,” and he continued to perform with his own band after the Allman Brothers’s final show. His last album was 2011’s “Low Country Blues.” He recorded an album, tentatively titled “Southern Blood,” with producer Don Was in Muscle Shoals in 2016. Last March, Allman was married for the seventh time, to the former Shannon Williams. He is survived by his wife, five children and his niece, Duane’s daughter Galadrielle Allman.

—Alan Paul is the author of One Way Out: The Inside History of the Allman Brothers Band

Jaimoe’s Jasssz Band going strong

Junior and Jaimoe. Photo Allison Murphy

Rather unexpectedly, Jaimoe is the last of the original Allman Brothers Band members still performing regularly. Just looking at that sentence is so sad that I can’t even dwell on it, so let’s get positive: his Jasssz Band is terrific and Jai himself is playing his ass off.

Last night they played their monthly residency at New York’s Iridium club and it was as fine a show as I’ve ever seen this 7-man band put on, and I’ve seen a lot, and enjoyed them all. Jaimoe was on fire all night, playing unusual fills that spurred terrific solos by everyone while keeping everything moving with his usual swing. He also spoke to the crowd more than usual and seemed to be truly enjoying himself. Afterwards, he was in great spirits. So, to all the people asking me in various forms how Jaimoe’s doing, there’s your answer. He’s responding to sadness and tragedy the same way the Allman Brothers Band has since 1971: wasting time no more.

Speaking of which, Junior Mack always slays “Ain’t Wasting Time No More.” I’ve heard him sing it with the Allman Brothers at the Beacon on a show Gregg missed and I’ve heard him sing it right next to me as recently as a couple of weeks ago at Suzy Que’s, an electrifying moment for me. Last night he played it beautifully, and lucky for you I videoed almost the entire song, and it is at the bottom of this post. Check it out, and let me know if you can pick up how many Allman Brothers songs he quotes in his extended solo. This was the first JJB show since Gregg’s May 27 death and it sure felt like they were all feeling extra inspired. Exciting new directions for the band.

As far as I can tell, these are their currently scheduled upcoming shows. You should really catch one if you can and I definitely think that the Iridium shows in particular are worth traveling for.

Friday, 6/30, Fall River, MA

7/12, The Iridium

8/10-12, Peach Festival

8/16, The Iridium

8/31, with the Marcus King band, Daryl’s House, Pawling, NY

9/13, The Iridium

9/21, Liad Back Festival, PNC Arts Center, Holmdel, NJ

9/23, Laid Back Festival, XFinity Theatre, Hartford, CT

9/24, Laid Back Festival, Jones Beach, Wantagh, NY

10/18, The Iridium

“Aint Wasting Time No More” > 

John Mayer on Bob Weir – exclusive

Photo – Jay Blakesberg 

Looking forward to seeing Dead & Company again tomorrow (Saturday 6/24), even at CitiField. In honor, my interview with John Mayer about playing with Bob, from last year when I wrote a Guitar World cover story on Bob.

How would you describe Bob’s guitar style?

Bob’s approach to guitar playing is sort of like Bill Evans’ approach to piano was. He’s a total savant. His take on guitar chords and comping is so original, it’s almost too original to be fully appreciated until you get deep down into what he’s doing. Bob doesn’t hear 1-3-5 when it comes to stacking a chord. He thinks in substitutions. I think he’s invented his own vocabulary where a lot of times the root note isn’t at the bottom of the chord, it’s somewhere in the middle of it. It’s a joyous thing to play along with.

Were there any elements of his playing that you didn’t or couldn’t fully appreciate before learning the Dead catalogue and playing him with nightly?

Absolutely. Until you play with Bob in real time, you don’t understand how fun and vibrant it is to play with and against him. What I mean by that is that there’s this perfect push/pull happening, where he knows how to flow with you and then kind of swirl around you. That’s what makes the guitar section of the band sound so huge; it’s like he’s figured out precisely how to “fan out” against the backdrop of the rhythm section. He’s the harmonic engine of the band.

How has playing with Bob impacted your own playing?

I’ve certainly learned how to sit and let the music happen for a bit without pushing it forward. It was a huge education for me to go back and listen to tapes where I thought we had held too long on one vamp or idea, only to find that we hadn’t even gotten started diving into it at the point I would have thought there was nothing left to discover. Bob’s a gold prospector that way. And he’s brave and patient and fearless, and that’s been a ton of fun to follow his lead.

Don Was on Warren Haynes

Don Was produced two tracks on Gov’t Mule’s Revolution Come… Revolution Go . I interviewed him about this for my Guitar World cover story, but could only use a quote or two. Here’s a bunch more. You probably know this, but Don has produced the Rolling stones, Bonnie Raitt, Van Morrison and so many other great artists.

How long have you known Warren?

I’ve been aware of him and had somewhat of a relationship since I produced the Black Crowes 20-some years ago. They were all buddies and he was around some. But I’ve gotten to know him a lot better over the past few years. We’ve done a number of live events together and we’ve become buddies. We played on some tribute shows, including All My Friends for Gregg Allman, and that led to us doing The Last Waltz  shows in New Orleans last year and then the whole tour and, man, was that fun. Playing with him has just been such a thrill.

Why? What does he do that makes it so much fun?

By design I stand right by his open back amplifier, so I can hear him as well as possible and just follow him. The amp is positioned for me and Terrance Higgins [drummer] to hear him on top of everything. He plays stuff that inspires everyone in the band and if you just ride the crest of his wave, you can surf on that for three hours. He plays all this stuff that’s really generous; it’s open and invites you to add to the conversation. He really leads you on a journey; he knows how to build a song and a solo and he leads and listens at the same time. He’s really driving the bus but in a way that makes everyone in control at the same time. The opposite of that is someone who plays a whole lot of notes and doesn’t inspire you to play anything because they are only looking for a backing track.  That’s what a self-indulgent guitar player is.

Warren’s playing is open, generous and incredibly expressive. He’s like a very inspiring orator, who is incredibly communicative every time he speaks. Warren is like that as a guitarist/ He’s playing in rarified air. There are very few people who can do what he does, especially the whole package of being an improviser, a bandleader, and a structuralist. And I’m only talking about his guitar playing here!

What did you learn about him and/or Gov’t Mule working in the studio?

Well, Warren is a really good record producer and the first thing I asked him was, ‘What do you want me to do this for?’ But I think it’s hard to produce yourself and I get that. He wanted my perspective and input.

As for Gov’t Mule, I guess I didn’t realize how great of a band they are. They have the kind of telepathic communication and understanding of one another’s ideas and instincts that mark all great bands. The musical conversations happening in Gov’t Mule are vivid and highly cooperative and really intense. It’s the kind of thing you can’t just rehearse your way into. It’s chemistry and it comes from great players who really listen – and from years of playing gigs together.

How is Warren the same and different on stage and in the studio?

That’s really interesting. He’s a great improvisational musician and he understands the value and importance of spontaneity but at the same time he’s extremely professional. He has a high performance ethic. You have to find the balance between spontaneity and creativity on stage and brilliant improvisation and structure. Warren is very organized and he labors over setlists and creating a framework where everyone can soar and shine.

It’s similar in the studio, where you want fresh performances but also to maintain critical judgement of what you’re recording. He manages to straddle both of those very difficult balances perfectly, because he has strong left and right sides of his brain operating simultaneously and that’s incredibly rare. So, on stage, he values both freedom to improvise and wants everyone to do so brilliantly, he wants structure – and he achieves it by being incredibly organized so everyone is working in a framework. And in the studio it’s a similar dynamic; that organization pays dividends.

These guys were tracking live and mostly keeping solos and doing just a couple of takes, and it’s very old school and done with utmost professionalism.

You mentioned that Gov’t Mule is a real band. What is the studio dynamic like in that regard? Is everyone contributing ideas and parts?

Oh yes! Warren has got leadership charisma. That comes across to the audience but also to the musicians. He’s a guiding presence without having to be too verbal. He’s the undisputed but undeclared leader of the band. It’s something in his character where it just happens. It’s comforting to have someone doing that – to have a natural born leader. So onstage, I just look up to him when it’s time to end a song. I feel it coming and know he’s going to get out of it gracefully. Just open one eye and watch his movement it’s going to be fine. That’s an incredibly comforting presence to have on stage and it’s the same in the studio. Everyone in that band has input and no one is telling anyone what to play but it’s a great feeling to have someone that everyone is looking to for guidance at key moments.

Just like being a creative expressive musician is a gift not a craft, I think leadership is the same thing and he’s got both in abundance.

Betts on Looking Good

Foto – Kirk West

I came across this little nugget in an old Dickey Betts interview and thought you’d enjoy.

Do you think that a big problem with the video age is that bands now have to look as good as they play?

Not necessarily, because looking good doesn’t mean you have to be a sex star in leather pants and a torn tank top. I think that someone playing their ass off looks pretty damned good.

Complete 2015 interview with Gregg Allman

Photo – Derek McCabe

In 2015, I interviewed Gregg for the Wall Street Journal as he was promoting the release of his two-CD live album, Back To Macon, GA. The story caused a bit of a stir, because of Gregg saying that he would like to see and pay with Dickey Betts again. That was great, but it also obscured the fact that it was a really good interview!

  I present it here in much fuller form, for the first time. Enjoy.

The band sounds really strong and the arrangements are excellent on the new album.

Thank you! I’m real happy with it. Scott [Sharrard, guitarist and Musical Director] has been doing a great job. And I think its even better now than on the record because there are three people that I have changed and I wish they were on it. The piano player I now have is Pete Levin, who is just, oh man! He’s a little more Leon Russell and Billy Preston He’s a hell of a Hammond player, which he does when I play guitar.

And I lucked into the tenor player and trumpet player from Bobby Bland’s old band. And they can do it, man. Arthur Edmaiston on tenor and Marc Franklin on trumpet… and, man, they can do it. They’re all horn arrangers. All three of my horn players – Jay Collins has been with me a while  – are arrangers, which makes the communication between them and them and me spectacular. You can’t ask for better.

Bobby Bland was one of your real idols.

Oh yeah!

So what does it mean to you have some of his guys in your band?

Everything! [laughs] I’m always bugging them and asking them questions. “How’d Bland take care of this? What did he do about that?” [laughs] I don’t wear it out, but when it comes to Bobby Bland, hell I was one of his biggest fans. I’ve got his whole collection out in my Vette.

What about him blew your whistle so much?

Taking nothing away from Ray, who is the high priest, but Bland’s two mentors or idols were Nat King Cole and Perry Como. Man, he was a crooner. He dug Jerry Butler and people like that, who did slow songs, the male Sade’s. Music to make love by. Bland’s stuff really just touched me. And the Joe Scott Band that backed him; you talk about an orchestra! Joe Scott arranged some of the most incredible songs.

My fiancée is going to be 27. When I met her, she already dug Bland, Muddy, Howlin Wolf, Little Walter, Sonny Boy and I thought, “Man, how strange for a 23 year-old.” That was a part of the attraction, a big part. Since then, I’ve been able to turn her onto all this stuff, and old movies, and Basel Rathbone and Sherlock Holmes and it’s been so much fun.

But back to the band… what really put the fire into it, and it took me about seven and a half years to find all them guys, was Marc Quinones, when he came over form the Allman Brothers and also my bassist Ronny Johnson, who is of New Orleans. He resides there but is not from there.

  What about Marc made such a difference?

Well, he injects some salsa in the band, whatever kind of music you’re playing. And I found Stevie Potts, from Memphis also and he is just a dynamo, He’s got forearms like Popeye. In fact, that’s what I call him and between him and Quinones and Ron Johnson, the Witch Doctor. He’s always got these little gadgets that fix you, these home remedies and I swear they work, but that’s another whole story. Between the three of them, oh Lord, man. We go for stuff that makes you feel like you’ve got to move part of your body or there’s something wrong with you. That’s the way it was with Sly Stone, man I mean, God what a genius that cat was. Sly and the Family Stone that was man… I mean… come on!

And you play a Ray Charles and a Wilson Pickett song on this new album. Do you see yourself in that lineage?

Well, I don’t know. I never was one much to make notches in the ladder. Don’t get me wrong: I’m grateful for every gold record, Grammy and good review I’ve ever gotten. I love it, but I’m so into what I’m doing that the other stuff comes after.

I just got this beautiful BMI award, the first songwriting award that I think I ever got. They had it out in Vegas and there must have been 3,000 people there and that meant they work for BMI somewhere and they had this whole thing for me… You talk about nervous as a whore in church! I’m telling you, man and they gave me this gorgeous award for songwriting, this big hunk of black marble with this beautiful silver design. Wow, it was just so incredible. And that one meant a lot to me, because like I said, I don’t recall getting a lot of awards for songwriting.

As for my legacy, I don’t know if after I’m dead they’ll put me up there with Ray and Bland and Stevie Wonder and Muddy. They are my heroes and if they do, I would certainly be honored. I mean, really honored. But if they didn’t I’ve had a ball anyway, just being able to try to perfect something – many things. Writing songs is such an adventure. You just got lost in it. It’s like filming a movie but 10 times faster. And so if I never got those kinds of accolades, it wouldn’t matter because I got to play with all these people I mentioned, except for Howlin’ Wolf.

And now B.B. King has passed, which is such a loss.

Oh it really is. I knew him so well. My mother knew him. He ate dinner over at our house once, my mom’s house. We’d see him back in the day and I’d go back to his dressing room to say hi and he’d say, “You ain’t out here acting up now are you, boy? You know how your momma would feel if you’re out here taking a bunch of that stuff. “ And I’d say, “No, no, B. I’m cool.” This is back when I was drinking real heavy and he knew it and he knew how to at least make me think about it.

You were the young guy excited to meet and play with your heroes and now you’re one of the elder statesmen of the blues. Do you feel an obligation to keep carrying on this tradition?

Absolutely, and just perfect it more and more and more. And the more my band and I are together, with each time we are together with our instruments, it gets a little more refined and a little more sophisticated and a little more kick ass and at the same time being relaxed and jammable at any moment.

How different does it feel to have the Gregg Allman Band be your only band versus “the other band”?

I try to put all of myself into whatever I’m doing. There’s one large difference between my band and the Allman Brothers. The Allman Brothers after my brother never had a leader or focal point. One who says “Go. Stop.” One who says, “Alright guys, get on your instruments, we’re rehearsing now.” And everyone moves.

I don’t let myself do anything more than 5 hours, because I don’t trust my brain once its tired. Within 5 hours, my band learned 8 songs, easy, and the Brothers god bless them but we sat around, shoot the shit, have a little food, smoke a doobie, ”How’s the family?” It’s like, “Hey guys, let’s play.”

My love of playing is still the same as if I was 24 years old. I love to play just as much and I appreciate it and understand it so much better. I picked guys that I can learn from.

That’s very interesting.

Yes, yes. The audience are going to get off. There’s one choice and that’s it.

But you’re looking to please yourself first.

I’m looking to outdo last night, or perfect it, to make it better than the last time we played. And yeah I can impress those guys, cool, because they’re also impressing me, especially the horns and Quinones. That guy’s just something else.

You obviously love the horn section very much. And the Allman Brothers almost added one in 1970.

Yes, that’s what we started out with. I don’t know who how you familiar you are with Daytona Beach. At the end of the main street there’s a pier going out in the ocean and there’s a house at the end, a small one story building. It’s a big dance hall and that’s where me and Duane learned to play right there. We learned to play in a band called the Houserockers and the Untils.

The Houserockers were the rhythm section: piano, bass, drums, and we had two horn players. They only needed one guitar player so me and Duane switched every other night. I was 14 or 15, probably the most incredible summers of my life. To lay on the beach all day and play all night. And to get paid $7 a night… Hey, hey, I was a professional! I mean, don’t even try to talk to me. [laughs] I was so proud of getting paid to play every day.

And your mother was very supportive of you guys.

Yes. I just came from there. I guess two Wednesdays ago was her 98th birthday.

Wow. God bless her.

Yeah, she’s kind of going down slow, bro. It’s rough, but she’s lived since 1917. She went to school on a mule. On a mule! She’s seen some stuff in her day, and was an Allman Brother to boot.

You’re playing a lot more Allman Brothers songs in your solo band since the Brothers don’t exist anymore. Did you feel like you wanted to keep those songs alive?

Well, I do maybe two more than before. I do the ones I wrote for the Brothers and I do “Southbound” that Betts wrote and “Soulshine” which Warren Haynes wrote and I announce that they wrote them.

Photo – Kirk West

Yes, and I thought it was very touching for you to credit Dickey.

Because it’s a good song and he should be credited, you know. I haven’t seen him in a long time and you know what they say: Time heals.

So you would be open to seeing him now?

Yes, I certainly would. On tour anyway. I would love to play with him again.

So are you saying that…

..just to jam! I’m pretty well set for guitar players, but I’d love to see him.

He was a very big part of your life and it would probably feel good to close that circle.

It is and it would! We had our ups and down and we had all our demons. We had our problems, our ins and outs and our public embarrassments and what have you. But that’s all way behind us now. Forgive and forget; there’s nothing wrong with that at all.

“These Days” has been a special song for you. How was playing it with Jackson at the tribute concert? I was guessing that his presence was a real highlight for you?

Oh man! I tell you. You nailed that one, man. We did it at rehearsal the first time and I just kept tearing up. Then we went back to the dressing rooms and we just talked and talked for 3 or 4 hours. Then I went back to the hotel and got cleaned up and had a little something to eat and came back and I think we did “These Days” first and the second song was “Melissa” and about the third verse I looked back and he had a tear in his eye and I thought, “Don’t start Jackson. You’re gonna get me crying.” It was sooo good to see him again. Wow. Your old friends are just so special. If you haven’t seen them for 8 years and then you get back together, it’s like yesterday.

The other guy who really blew me away there was Sam Moore doing “Please Call Home.”

I’m telling you, he did. They came and got me at rehearsal and said, “You’ve got to see this.” Don Was said, “You’ve got to come check out Sam Moore and I did.”

To hear someone like Sam reinterpret you song validates the writing so much.

Oh man. Not to mention he’s 81 years old and I’ve always wondered, “God, when you get to be like 70, do you lose it Do your chops go away?” Well, you might get arthritis in your hands and not be able to play as well or as fast, but man he sings just as good or better than he ever did. Aw, man!

Actually after that I got the idea to teach my band “When Something is wrong with my baby” which is the one Sam sings by himself and I think we are going to learn that. It’s not the easiest one to sing. You have to really shut your eyes and get into it and really bleed it out. It’s one of those…

Hey, have you heard this new guy Sam Smith? He’s something else. I really like him and would love to cut something with him.





You told me years ago that you were done playing electric guitars on stage. Why did you change your mind?

The way I play is, you’re playing along good and funky. Take “One Way Out” for instance. There are many solos in that. You’ve got a horn solo, a piano solo, a guitar solo. So my thing is, you’ve got 8 instruments backing up one soloist, so those 8 what we do, what those people do is what I concentrate on and all the parts fit together like a jigsaw puzzle. That’s where you get the groove. Also it means the tempo of the song. Some songs you slow them down just a hair and the pocket will appear and all of a sudden you’re shaking your body and man you are there.

Some people who do Muddy Waters or Howlin Wolf songs rush them and play them too hard. You’re supposed to relax when you play that stuff. You know they were relaxed. They probably had a half a pint of whiskey in them. [laughs]

It’s that art of sounding urgent but relaxed.

Right! That’s why this click track thing dives me nuts and I don’t understand why it doesn’t drive everyone nuts. Because a song breathes, man. It might technically, by a stop watch, slow down and speed up – not so much you can tell, though. When you go to a bridge of a song, wham, you’re going to hit it hard and it might come up a couple of bpms. It just breathes and man this drummer I’ve got now… man, I can count off too fast or slow and we’ll adjust it and get it right back into the pocket.

That’s what he does; he’s interested in getting the band going at the right speed.

You changed the words to “Ain’t Wastin Time” from “leave your mind alone and just get high” to “leave your mind alone and just get by.” Is it hard to sing those original words after all you’ve been through?

Yes. I outgrew them, thank God. You should leave your mind alone and everything will be all right. You don’t have to get high and I don’t really want to urge anyone to do so.

What do you think is the biggest misunderstanding of you? What would you tell the world with one big opportunity?

Well, I think, you know…Well, I don’t know if I want to get into this, but I think when they did the final printout of my book they leaned a little heavy on the… well, it kind of made me look like a total womanizer. I think they leaned on it a little too hard. People already have the idea that musicians are sex, drugs and rock and roll. Like the old joke, “What’s the difference between a pig and a musician? A pig won’t just screw anything.”

I’m very picky really and it’s taken my whole life until right now to meet Melissa, who was a pipe dream when I was 17 in 1967. I’m engaged to be married. Most people get the idea that Melissa is about my brother – that he’s the gypsy – but no it’s about me.

You’ve used the gypsy a lot in your lyrics.

Yeah. You have to have a lot of gypsy in your soul before you can do 306 nights like we did in 1970. You’ve got to want to travel.

And you’ve never minded the travel, right?

That’s my favorite part, the traveling. No, the music is my favorite part, actually, but I love the travel.

And you’ve seen the world from behind your organ.

No I have not really but they just opened a BB King restaurant and bar in Moscow and I’m dying to go. And I get a lot of fan mail from Brazil and Argentina. Cold weather just… I don’t think I’ve ever played a Beacon where I didn’t get some sort of bronchitis and I’d love to go down to South America and meet those people writing me letters.

I would like to go to every place that the Allman Brothers missed. They only went to Europe 3 times in 45 years. It wasn’t their fault. The booking agent knew we could make a certain amount if we played anywhere between Atlanta and New York and even if we went to the West Coast we’d only get half of that. I don’t know. Maybe they thought we were going to be a flash in the pan.

After the Brothers were finished, I went with CJ Strock, who was the booking agent that worked with Jonny Podell. He left for William Morris and I went with him and so did Jaimoe. Man, life’s been so much better. CJ is a good man. He is salt of the earth, man.

You’ve had a lot of health problems since your liver transplant in 2010. It’s great to see you looking and sounding strong.

Well, I went gluten free and I vegetable juice every day and you’d be amazed at what it does for you. Bill Evans the horn player came and stayed at our house and he’s doing a record with his band – imagine a jazz band and he’s got a banjo player – he is just bad!

We went over to my studio, which is really for rehearsal. We went over to SCAD [Savannah College of Art and Design] and used one of their studios. First time I ever walked into a studio and there wasn’t a machine in there. I said, “Wait a minute we’re in the wrong place.” And the guy said, “no, you’re not” and they had a big Mac set up on the board. We did it all Pro Tools. He had it all cut. That was wild.

But Bill kept telling me, “You’ve got to juice, you’ve got to juice.” So I thought he’s told me this 100 times. He leaves and about two days later, Fed Ex drops this big box off at my front door and it’s a big 23 HP juicer, a thank you from him. Do you juice? You ought to try it, man. I mean, you really ought to try it. Seven days from now, you won’t believe the energy.

My digestions better since I went gluten free. Now I never eat a meal and then think “oh God, I’ve got to take a nap.”

Do you have any plans to record again?

I’m supposed to do a record with Don Was in Muscle Shoals with my band this winter. We’re sussing out tunes. I’ve always wanted to do a record with the title, “All Compositions By…” But I don’t think I’m quite ready and I’m anxious to record with this band.

I’ve always wanted to record in Muscle Shoals. There’s nothing else to do there, so everyone focuses on making great music. I haven’t been there since 1968 when I was 18 and we cut that BB King medley.

We plan on going in December. Stay tuned!

Back Where It All Begins: Allman Brothers Band, Fillmore East, 1970

Just a reminder on this sad day of Gregg’s funeral why we care so much.

Rest in Peace, brother Gregg.

Back in China for a Woodie Alan reunion!

Woodie, 2008

I am writing this on a plane to Beijing after a completely discombobulating 24 hours, which started with wonderful news and took a sharp turn toward the very sad mid-afternoon with news of Gregg Allman’s passing.

It began in the morning with an incredible turn of events: I found myself chatting with Woodie Wu, my Chinese bandmate and partner in Woodie Alan, a soulmate-level friend who went underground about seven years ago for a variety of reasons I only partially understand- before Big in China, my book about our exploits came out. I never got to discuss it with him or celebrate or play a gig together after it came out. All of that was a crushing disappointment that left a void in my life, one which frankly tormented me for a few years before I came to accept and figure that life is long and things will take their course. We would either reunite or not. In the meantime, I had to move on and remain positive and open to anything.

As I was digesting talking to him – about playing a gig no less – and beginning to alter my China plans to go see him and our bandmate Zhang Yong in the hip southern city of Xiamen, I got news that Gregg had died. The news turned my world over, ripped my heart out and thrust me into a writing frenzy and a social media whirlwind that blew up until I had to turn my Facebook and Twitter notifications off. I wrote this personal reminiscence for Billboard, and this obit for the WSJ and was left dazed and confused and far more emotionally drained than I anticipated. Before I went to bed well after midnight I was WeChatting with Woodie again, confirming plans for a Thursday gig in Xiamen. This trip that a few weeks ago I didn’t know would happen now looms as potentially monumental.

Me, Zhang Yong, Woodie lost in the groove, 2008

My eldest son Jacob has an internship in Hong Kong this summer, which was in doubt for a few reasons just a couple of weeks ago. Once it was definitively on and I figured I should take him and we should visit Beijing, I wanted to write my friend Kersten Zahng who was served as my connection to Lu Wei or Zhang Yong in Woodie’s bilingual absence, to see if those two might be around for a visit. She reached out, said they were both happy to hear from me abut neither would be in Beijing. Zhang Yong was in Xiamen now, with Woodie and they’d love me to come visit. Come again? Did you say Woodie?

Sure enough They were both in Xiamen and hanging out all the time. I set up a WeChat account for this trip since it is so dominant in China and sent Woodie a friend request. The next morning, he wrote back. “Hi Alan. How have you been?” I was laying in bed, Becky asleep next to me, as I responded and it simultaneously was incredibly surreal and felt like the most natural thing in the world. Just chatting with my friend.

RIP Gregg. Photo – Marc MIllman

Woodie told me his English was bad, that he hadn’t used a word of it since last we spoke some seven years ago. Then he sent me a voice message “Wow, I can still talk English This is good to know.” His voice sounded the same, maybe a tad more hesitant, and it was wonderful to hear. For him to just appear so fast out of the blue was stunning.

Last I heard, Woodie had quit playing music, but suddenly he was asking if I might come to Xiamen and jam with him. “Sure, “ I said “I’ll try to make that happen. I thought you had quit playing music and I’m so glad to hear you have not.”

“The blues are in my blood and I would never quit playing them,” he said. “After I left Beijing I just quit thinking of myself as a musician.”

He asked if I wanted to play a gig. “Sure,” I said “If you can book it that fast, I’m in.”

He told me that Zhang Yong owned a music club in Xiamen where they hang out all the time and we could play there. ZY got a drummer and we were on. Thursday night in Xiamen, Woodie Alan will play together for the first time since 2009. ZY and I played together at the Shanghai Literary Festival in 2013 and it was a lot of fun, but of course not remotely the same without Woodie. Of course, I have no idea how it will go or what comes next, but I feel like a broken circle has been reconnected and I’m feeling very serene yet excited. I sent him and Zhang Yong a list of Allman Brothers to learn. Because I’m not playing a gig this week without paying tribute to brother Gregg.

Stay tuned for more details.

Our Beijing Blues album:

RIP Gregg Allman

Photo – Derek McCabe 

This is just a very sad day Really just a very hard day. Thank you for all your thoughts and notes. My personal loss is a tiny fragment of the big picture. It’s a giant loss for the community, for music and, of course, for Gregg’s family.

Gregg was a huge part of my personal and professional life and his death feels giant and profound. I thought I was ready for it but have learned otherwise. My job also gave me a front row seat into how much he meant to how many. The music will truly live forever. It has not aged in 50 years and won’t age in 500 more.

I wrote this personal reminiscence for Billboard, and this obit for the WSJ.

Will share more up here.