If you’re a fan of classic rock, odds are you know and love the music of Gregg Allman and the Allman Brothers Band. Gregg Allman passed away this weekend of a combination of health issues at the age of 69.
Deadline Hollywood reports:
Gregg Allman, Pillar of Namesake Southern Rock Band, Dies at 69
Gregg Allman, the singer and organist for the Allman Brothers Band and progenitor of the blues-inflected genre of Southern Rock, has died at age 69.
According to a statement on his official website, Allman died peacefully at home in Savannah, Ga. He had battled health problems for many years, and had undergone a liver transplant in 2010 after a diagnosis of hepatitis C.
Michael Lehman, Allman’s longtime manager, called his close friend “a brilliant pioneer in music. He was a kind and gentle soul with the best laugh I ever heard. His love for his family and bandmates was passionate as was the love he had for his extraordinary fans. Gregg was an incredible partner and an even better friend. We will all miss him.”
Allman founded the Allman Brothers Band with his older brother Duane, a guitar master, and the group blended a stew of influences with virtuoso musicianship, their legendary live shows inspiring generations of musicians from other blues rockers like Lynyrd Skynyrd to jam groups like Phish. Duane Allman died in a motorcycle accident in 1971, shortly after the band’s legendary performances at Bill Graham’s Fillmore East in New York City.
Here’s a video report from ABC News:
Here’s a classic photo from the man himself:
#rocknroll #flashback #tweet pic.twitter.com/PV6g0GatvO
— Gregg Allman (@GreggAllman) May 22, 2017
This one is great too:
Oh…..the things you can find on the internet. #hysterical #tweet pic.twitter.com/bFbdaPhmrJ
— Gregg Allman (@GreggAllman) May 17, 2017
Musicians are weighing in on Twitter.
Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys:
So sad to hear about Gregg Allman passing – a great musician. Love & Mercy, Brian
— Brian Wilson (@BrianWilsonLive) May 27, 2017
Paul Stanley of KISS:
RIP GREGG ALLMAN. The .voice and cornerstone of @allmanbrothers band. I listened outside the Fillmore East when I couldn't afford a ticket. pic.twitter.com/N8QUZZVwxY
— Paul Stanley (@PaulStanleyLive) May 28, 2017
Charlie Daniels:
Gregg Allman had a feeling for the blues very few ever have
hard to believe that magnificent voice is stilled forever pic.twitter.com/EPfE56fqCf— Charlie Daniels (@CharlieDaniels) May 27, 2017
Cher was married to him from 1975 to 1978:
never forget….gui
❤️chooch pic.twitter.com/q3BWnnNohp— Cher (@cher) May 27, 2017
Ringo Starr:
Rest in peace Greg Allman peace and love to all the family ????✌️????????????????????????☮️????????
— #RingoStarr (@ringostarrmusic) May 27, 2017
Finally, here are a few tunes to remember him by.
Ramblin’ Man
Midnight Rider
Blue Sky
Thank you for the music, Gregg. Rest in peace.
Featured image via YouTube.
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Comments
Thanks, Mike.
I remember my Freshman year at college when I first heard ‘Live at Fillmore East’. As I sit typing this, the intro of ‘Hot ‘lanta’ is running through my mind. The Allman Bros were such a great band and Greg will always be remembered as one of the best. RIP and thanks for the memories.
Sorry. Hit the down button by mistake. Anyway, for me there was nothing like “In Memory Of Elizabeth Reed”. Mind blowing.
Knew a girl in college who went to one of the Fillmore East concerts. Lucky, lucky, lucky.
Greg did not sing either Ramblin man or Blue Sky, that was Dickey.
What’s amazing to me about what Duane (the real spirit behind it all), Gregg, and Dickey invented by merging blues and rock an at times a little gospel. Hearing it today a lot of it still sounds fresh. Creative guitar riffs in Blue Sky can still give me goose bumps. Hearing Clapton play some of it is great.
Even today bands like Widespread Panic and ones that are almost in the family like Tedeschi Trucks make this style sound fresh.
Derek Trucks comes from a great legacy. His uncle, Butch Trucks, was one of the founding members of the Allman Brothers Band. Butch was the main drummer for years, until they disbanded a few months before he passed. Oh btw, didn’t mean to down vote. I have a fat thumb.
Of course those close to the ABB know about Derek. And Dickey’s son Duane is a sharp guitarist, too.
Every HS party I went to (circa ’73 & ’74) featured ‘One Way Out’. Still my favorite Allman Brothers song.
‘Cause there’s a man down there, might be your old man … I don’t know.’
RIP Gregg Allman.
Remember seeing them at the Glen in ’72 or thereabouts. They will be with me always. Amazing the level of tragedy that band suffered.
There’s a great story about midnight rider. The song came to Gregg Allman very quickly one evening all except for the last verse, which a roadie ended up helping with and getting a lifetime of 5% songwriting royalties for his efforts. But once Greg Allman had the whole song, he was worried that he’d lose some of it if he didn’t record it right away, but his studio was closed until morning. So instead of waiting, he just broke in and started recording, and even taught the bass line to a friend of his that was with him because the other bandmates weren’t there yet.