Everything about Gregg Allman totally explained
Gregory Lenoir Allman (born
December 8,
1947 in
Nashville, Tennessee), known as
Gregg Allman (sometimes spelled
Greg Allman), is a
rock and
blues singer,
keyboardist,
guitarist and
songwriter, best known as a founding member of
The Allman Brothers Band. He was inducted into the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995 with The Allman Brothers Band, and personally received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Georgia Music Hall of Fame in 2006.
Early years
Raised in
Daytona Beach, Florida, attended
Seabreeze High School along with his older brother
Duane, Gregg took an interest in the
guitar before Duane did. But while Duane would soon become the superior guitarist, Gregg focused more on vocals.
Little Milton was one of his favorite singers.
Allman Joys and Hour Glass
In the mid- to late-1960s, the Allmans played in a series of bands including The Escorts and Allman Joys, mostly playing around the
American Southeast. Toward the end of the decade, The Allman Joys relocated to
Los Angeles, California, and were signed to
Liberty Records, which renamed them
The Hour Glass. Strongly controlled by the label, the group produced a pair of
psychedelic blues albums. All the players were deeply dissatisfied with the results; Duane Allman in particular spoke bitterly of the Hour Glass' output.
Formation of The Allman Brothers Band
After its second album, The Hour Glass broke up and Duane Allman returned to the South, playing sessions at
FAME Studios in
Muscle Shoals, Alabama. In time, he'd put together the group that would become
The Allman Brothers Band - Duane and
Dickey Betts on guitars,
Berry Oakley on bass, and
Butch Trucks and
Jai Johanny "Jaimoe" Johanson on drums. Liberty Records believed that Gregg Allman had potential as a solo act, and allowed the rest of The Hour Glass to leave on condition that Allman stay in
California to record for them. He quickly grew miserable with this arrangement, and when Duane called from
Jacksonville, Florida in
March 1969 to say that he'd assembled a band that needed a singer, Gregg jumped at the opportunity. He had long wanted to play the
Hammond Organ, and was given one immediately upon joining the band, which he'd to learn to play in a hurry. He has played the Hammond B-3 and handled much of the lead vocal and songwriting duties for the band (when it has been together), along with occasional
piano and guitar contributions, ever since.
Solo efforts
Beginning in the mid-1970s, Gregg Allman carved out a solo career. His first album,
Laid Back, was released in 1973 to a positive critical reception.
It included a couple of reworked Allman Brothers songs, such as a horn-laden, swampy version of "
Midnight Rider" (one of the band's most famous songs) that made it to #19 on the Billboard singles chart, and originals like "Queen of Hearts", which Allman and the band felt didn't quite fit the Allman Brothers sound. There are also a few cover songs on the record, such as the traditional
gospel number "Will the Circle Be Unbroken?" and an acclaimed take on former California roommate
Jackson Browne's song "
These Days."
Allman's hank solo career has continued intermittently throughout the subsequent decades, sometimes touring when the Allman Brothers Band is off the road. Generally, these solo efforts - first with the
Gregg Allman Band, and later with
Gregg Allman & Friends - eschew lengthy guitar solos and cast Allman more in the mode of his favorite
soul singers. The bands often include a horn section and are more groove-oriented. The template of mixing originals with reworked Allman Brothers songs and covers of blues,
R&B, and soul songs remains in place.
Allman's biggest hit single came in 1987 with "
I'm No Angel", from the album of the same name. The album went on to be certified
Gold for 500,000 copies sold and led to a renewed interest in Gregg and leading to a reformation of the Allman Brothers Band less than three years later.
Allman has also made guest appearances on albums and concert videos by a wide variety of other artists, including concert
DVD celebrating the twenty-fifth anniversary of
The Radiators, playing
Midnight Rider with that band.
As an actor, Allman had roles in the films
Rush Week (1989) and
Rush (1991). He also had a brief speaking
cameo in the
Family Guy episode "
Let's Go to the Hop".
When Allman was inducted into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame on
September 16,
2006, he was introduced by Georgia Governor
Sonny Perdue. He performed
Oncoming Traffic,
Melissa, and
Georgia on My Mind solo and then ended with
Midnight Rider, backed by fellow inductees
R.E.M. at the
Georgia World Congress Center in
Atlanta.
Personal life
Allman struggled with drugs both legal and illegal, primarily
cocaine,
DMT,
heroin, and
alcohol, from the 1970s onward. He is sober as of the mid-1990s. He continues to tour every year with The Allman Brothers Band, which in 2003 released,
Hittin' the Note, its first studio album in nearly a decade.
Allman has been married at least six times, most famously to singer/actress
Cher from 1975 to 1979. Together they'd a son,
Elijah Blue Allman, who later formed his own band,
Deadsy. The couple even tried a musical collaboration, releasing the album
Two the Hard Way (billed as Allman and Woman) in 1977. It was universally panned and has long since been out of print.
At time of first solo album,Laid Back, Allman
was married to Jan Blair (1973-1975) sister of
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers bassist
Ron Blair.
Allman was married to wife Julie Bindas (parents Julian and Lotte Bindas)from 1979 to 1981; they'd a daughter, Island Allman.
Gregg was linked to Shannon Wilsey (who was later to be known as actress
Savannah) between 1986 to 1988, a relationship which apparently ended when she became pregnant at 18. (The pregnancy ended in a miscarriage.)
He married Stacey Fountain in 2001. They currently reside in
Richmond Hill, Georgia.
Allman's son
Devon, from his first marriage with Shelley Kay Winters, later Jefts, was born on August 10, 1972, he's also a musician. Devon leads the band
Honeytribe, and has appeared with the Allman Brothers Band on a few occasions.
His daughter, Layla Brooklyn, who is 15 and lives in the
San Francisco Bay area. She is the lead singer of Lane Four.
He also had one child before his first marriage, with Mary Lynn Sutton (now married with the last name Austin), Michael Sean Allman. Michael now lives in the Atlanta area and has a band named Hard Labor Creek. Michael has 2 sons, Brandon Michael & Christopher Lenoir
Influences
Discography
Albums
1973 Laid Back
1974 Gregg Allman Tour (live)
1977 Two the Hard Way - Allman and Woman (Cher)
1977 Playin' Up a Storm - The Gregg Allman Band
1987 I'm No Angel - The Gregg Allman Band
1988 Just Before the Bullets Fly - The Gregg Allman Band
1997 Searching for Simplicity
1997 One More Try: An Anthology
2002 20th Century Masters: The Millennium Collection (compilation)
2002 No Stranger to the Dark: The Best of Gregg Allman (different compilation, with 3 new tracks)
http://www.softshoe-slim.com/lists/a/allman_gregg.html
With the Allman Brothers Band
see The Allman Brothers Band discographyFurther Information
Get more info on 'Gregg Allman'.
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