Monday 24 January 2011

Gregg Allman has lived the blues many times over - USA Today
create pdf of this news itemprinter friendly
NEW YORK — Gregg Allman has earned the torment in his singing voice to a degree that's ridiculous even for a bluesman. Tragic deaths of family members and bandmates, drug and alcohol addiction and much more have seared his soul over 63 years.
Yet when he softly recounts his most recent torture, a liver transplant in June after a battle with hepatitis C, he punctuates it with a Southern-inflected half-chuckle that's endearing.

"It's the roughest thing I've ever been through," says the lead vocalist/organist of Rock and Roll Hall of Famers the Allman Brothers Band. "I've been in military school, through six divorces, heh-heh — this is worse than all that."

The decision to seek a transplant was made soon after he had been cajoled into the recording studio last January to make his first solo album in 14 years, Low Country Blues, out Tuesday. Allman's reluctance (he'd last been in a studio in 2003, with the Allman Brothers) had stemmed from the death in 2002 of legendary producer Tom Dowd, who had guided Allman to most of his greatest successes. "It hit me hard. When recording would raise its ugly head, I would roll over and play dead."

But in 2009, Allman's manager lured him to Memphis to meet with 10-time Grammy-winning producer T Bone Burnett.

"I swear to God I had never heard of him," Allman says. "Has it ever struck you that the East Coast (Allman lives in Georgia) and West Coast (Burnett is based in L.A.) are shamefully divided?"

The two clicked. Allman says he was taken with a Burnett project to replicate Sun Studios at his home ("that was the hippest thing I had ever heard") and with Burnett's admiration for Dowd.

Says Burnett: "The place where we could relate most profoundly was in the blues. I didn't know how good a blues singer he was. He hasn't lost a thing — it just gets better with age."

The producer envisioned an album of lesser-known blues and R&B covers from artists who had inspired Allman, and gave him hundreds to sort through. The deal was almost scotched when Burnett insisted on using musicians other than Allman's touring band. "I almost slammed the door on him," he says. "I'm so glad I didn't. But that's two clicks from being an insult, you know?"

Allman softened when he saw that Burnett had assembled top-flight session veterans, including guitarist Doyle Bramhall II and Dennis Crouch on upright bass. Burnett sweetened the deal by bringing in longtime Allman friend Dr. John (Mac Rebennack).

"This is special," Rebennack says. "Gregg had been through health problems. And Duane (Allman's beloved guitar-legend sibling, who was killed in a motorcycle accident in 1971) had asked me to look out for his little brother, like he knew something maybe would happen."

Many of the songs Allman chose mirror themes in his life, most notably a harrowing Sleepy John Estes tune about a man who is rescued from drowning and considers mending his ways. "Floating Bridge definitely points to my life," Allman says. "It hits one of your sympathetic strings."

Knowing he had a solid album in the can gave him strength the past six months to recover from the transplant of his cancerous liver. "It did, it really did," he says. "Let me tell you, they put me through some pain."

He likens it to kicking his addictions in the mid-'90s. "Not as time-consuming, but as rough. I just kept saying and praying, 'This, too, will pass.' "

By October, he was playing solo dates and a few guest spots, including duets with Neko Case on Midnight Rider during Burnett's Speaking Clock Revue, and he's preparing for the Allman Brothers Band's annual March residency at New York's Beacon Theater. He'll play some festivals with his solo band (including Bonnaroo and New Orleans Jazz Fest) this summer and fulfill a few commitments with the Brothers, now in their 42nd year.

Though he wonders "how long the band will last," given the members' various side projects, he hopes for another studio album. "You've got to take care of the Brothers."


[Submitted by Radical Red]
Posted by: RadicalRed
on 2018

News Categories
Welcome
Username:

Password:


Remember me

[ ]
[ ]
[ ]
New Forum Posts
Go Daddy Secure Site Certificate
Go Daddy Secure Site Certificate
Posted by Patty Pinkstaff


New Show Coming Soon !

Posted by Patty Pinkstaff


Date / Time
 
This site is powered by e107, which is released under the terms of the GNU GPL License.
No Warranties
This website is provided as is without any representations or warranties, express or implied. METALHAWK makes no representations or warranties in relation to this website or the information and materials provided on this website.
Without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing paragraph, METALHAWK does not warrant that:
This website will be constantly available, or available at all; or The information on this website is complete, true, accurate or non-misleading.
Nothing on this website constitutes, or is meant to constitute, advice of any kind. If you require advice in relation to any legal, financial or medical matter you should consult an appropriate professional.

Limitations of liability
METALHAWK will not be liable to you (whether under the law of contact, the law of torts or otherwise) in relation to the contents of, or use of, or otherwise in connection with, this website: To the extent that the website is provided free of charge, for any direct loss; For any indirect, special or consequential loss; or For any business losses, loss of revenue, income, profits or anticipated savings, loss of contracts or business relationships, loss of reputation or goodwill, or loss or corruption of information or data.
These limitations of liability apply even if METALHAWK has been expressly advised of the potential loss.

Exceptions
Nothing in this website disclaimer will exclude or limit any warranty implied by law that it would be unlawful to exclude or limit; and nothing in this website disclaimer will exclude or limit METALHAWK liability in respect of any: Death or personal injury caused by METALHAWK'S negligence; Fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation on the part of METALHAWK; or Matter which it would be illegal or unlawful for REMETALHAWK to exclude or limit, or to attempt or purport to exclude or limit, its liability.

REASONABLENESS
By using this website, you agree that the exclusions and limitations of liability set out in this website disclaimer are reasonable. If you do NOT think they are reasonable, you must not submit materials, upload data or utilize this website in any capacity.

OTHER PARTIES
You accept that, as a limited liability entity, METALHAWK has an interest in limiting the personal liability of its officers and employees. You agree that you will not bring any claim personally or professionally against METALHAWK'S officers or employees in respect of any losses you suffer in connection with the website.
Without prejudice to the foregoing paragraph, you agree that the limitations of warranties and liability set out in this website disclaimer will protect METALHAWK'S officers, employees, agents, subsidiaries, successors, assigns and sub-contractors as well as METALHAWK.

Unenforceable Provisions
If any provision of this website disclaimer is, opr is found to be, unenforceable under applicable law, that will not affect the enforce ability of the other provisions of this website disclaimer.
{XFBMLSDK}
Render time: 0.0692 sec, 0.0134 of that for queries.