A Funeral In Macon

I remember the first time I went to Macon, Georgia.  It was 1997-ish and I was in Warner Robins on Air Force business [some things never change].  There was a long break in the meeting I was attending.  Knowing that Macon was close by, it was finally time for me to make an Allman Brothers pilgrimage.  I had to see two places if nothing else – the Big House on Vineville Avenue, and Rose Hill Cemetery, where original Allman Brothers members Duane Allman and Berry Oakley are buried side by side.  At that time. the Big House was a private residence.  ABB “Tour Mystic” and photographer Kirk West and his wife Kirsten lived there.  If one wanted to see the inside of the house, you had to make an appointment.  The Wests have since moved out and the Big House has become quite a museum for all sorts of ABB artifacts.  I had to settle for just seeing the outside of the place.  I didn’t feel comfortable making an appointment to traipse through someone else’s home, regardless of its social and cultural importance.

Rose Hill Cemetery has been in existence since 1840.  It’s just off downtown Macon, nestled between Riverside Drive and the Ocmulgee River.  A set of railroad tracks runs parallel to the river.  The road that runs around the perimeter of the entire cemetery also runs next to railroad tracks.  On the other side of that narrow road is the final resting place of a lady named Elizabeth Reed Napier.  If that name rings a bell, it’s because that is the place where Dickey Betts wrote his instrumental from the album Idlewild South - In Memory of Elizabeth Reed.  There is a large segment of the cemetery reserved for Confederate Civil War dead.  A lot of them are buried there.  The entire cemetery is situated on a long hill, with long gentle slopes in places and steep climbs in others.  There are one-lane roads that run throughout the place, and one needs to be careful while driving through, lest they slip over the roads’ edges and have their day ruined.

I had no idea where Duane and Berry were buried when I first entered the cemetery.  I parked my rental car on one of those very narrow, single-lane, winding roads and began to explore the place on foot.  About five minutes after I set out on my quest to find Duane and Berry, a gentleman [accompanied by his wife] noticed me and asked in his most pronounced Southern accent “are you looking for the Allman Brothers?”  “Yes. sir, I sure am”.  He pointed over the road I was walking on and down the hill.  “They’re down there.”  The written word doesn’t do justice to his elocution, but suffice to say he sounded more “at home” than me, a transplanted Yankee.  The climb down the hill was a little steep, but there they were – two marble-white graves sitting side by side.  The graves gleamed in the Georgia sunlight as if they were two giant sugar cubes.  I got closer and I noticed things.  Some people left stones, others left flowers, and still others left quarters and guitar picks.  Over the years some miscreant visitors defaced the graves, forcing the Oakley family to take the step of enclosing the graves with brick and iron fencing.  I digress, but just a little.  For Peachheads everywhere, this is Mecca.  We don’t face Macon and pray five times a day, but it is the spiritual home of the band we Peachheads love and cherish.

The Allman Brothers Band has always been about family.  The Big House served as a communal home for the band’s extended family.  Berry & Linda Oakley [and their daughter Brittany (who is on the back cover of Brothers and Sisters)] lived there.  Duane Allman lived there for a time, as did Gregg, who had a brief relationship with Berry’s sister Candace.  Dickey Betts wrote Blue Sky and Ramblin’ Man there.  Like most families, they fought.  The worst fight came in 2000, when Dickey Betts and the band parted ways.  That was a sad parting for us Peachheads [angry and bitter for the participants].  But while Dickey and the band were estranged, it was good to know the children remained friends.  Devon Allman has a picture of him, Duane Betts and one of Roy Orbison’s sons in a Nashville bar from April 2016.  Devon’s comment was “A Betts, an Allman & an Orbison walk into a bar..........”   I mention this because the extended family was at the funeral.  Jaimoe and his family were there, as was percussionist Marc Quinones.  Derek Trucks, his wife Susan Tedeschi and their daughter were there.  Berry Duane Oakley was there.  I remember from way back in 1989 when I saw the reunion tour in Sacramento, and Berry Duane joined the band onstage to play Southbound, but I digress [just a little].  Cher was there with her son with Gregg, Elijah Blue.  Gregg had told Dan Rather in an interview a couple of years ago that he and Cher were much better friends than they were spouses. 

Mama Louise [Photo by Marcus Ingram/Getty Images]

Jaimoe [Photo by Marcus Ingram/Getty Images]

Derek Trucks [Photo by Marcus Ingram/Getty Images]

Chank Middleton [Photo by Marcus Ingram/Getty Images]

Cher [Photo by Marcus Ingram/Getty Images]

The rest of Gregg’s clan was there [his widow Shannon, sons Michael & Devon, and daughters Delilah & Layla in addition to son Elijah Blue], including Duane’s daughter, Galadrielle.  Dickey Betts was there with his son Duane and his manager David Spero.  Mr. Spero graciously allowed me to use some of the photos in this blog.  Mama Louise from the H&H Restaurant was there.  She used to feed the band during the lean early days in Macon [I met her once – she’s a very sweet lady].  She even got a credit on the Fillmore East album [“Mama Louise:  Vittles”].  Otis Redding’s family was reported to be there as well.  Warren Haynes is in Spain on tour with Gov’t Mule, but his wife Stefani was there, as was Rose Lane Leavell, whose husband Chuck was in England fulfilling a prior obligation.  Gregg’s lifelong friend Chank Middleton and his manager Michael Lehmen delivered eulogies at the service.

Former President Jimmy Carter was there.  I’m sure this was the first time that Secret Service agents were ever present for a rock star’s funeral.  The first time Mr. Carter ran for president in the 1970s, the Allman Brothers Band played fundraisers to raise money for his then-fledgling campaign.   The Carter-Allman connection continued as Mr. Carter was on-hand to present Gregg an honorary doctorate in humanities from Macon’s Mercer College.  Mr. Carter had this to say when he learned of Gregg’s passing:

“Rosalynn and I were deeply saddened when we learned that Gregg Allman had passed. Gregg and the Allman Brothers Band were very helpful to me in my 1976 presidential campaign. Gregg Allman was better known than I was at that time.  Gregg Allman was there when I needed him and Rosalynn and I have always been grateful to him.”

The funeral service itself was held at Snow’s Memorial Chapel, the same place where Duane Allman’s funeral took place 46 years ago.  It was a private affair.  At Gregg Allman’s request, there was a “no suit” rule.  Suit jackets were allowed.  The only ties that I saw were worn by personnel from Snow’s, as that is part of the professionalism that comes with their jobs.

Snow's Memorial Chapel [Photo by Marcus Ingram/Getty Images]

The procession ran from the front of Snow’s on Cherry Street.  It ran from Cherry Street to First Street, then on to Riverside Drive.  Fans by the hundreds lined both sides of the street all the way to Rose Hill Cemetery.  Gregg’s final resting place is near those of his brother Duane and Berry Oakley.  According to Michael Lehman, that was in keeping with Gregg’s wishes.  He said that a “Good Samaritan” in Macon had owned 10 plots adjacent to Duane and Berry, and would sell them at to Gregg at the cost she paid.  Gregg and his manager bought all 10 plots.

[Courtesy of Woody Marshall/Macon.com]

Macon TV station WMAZ ran a live video feed, as did radio station Q106.  Oldest son Michael Allman also ran his own live Facebook feed from inside his limo on the way to Rose Hill.  He captured the crowds as they lined the funeral procession from Snow’s Memorial Chapel until he reached Rose Hill.  There was a twenty-minute film clip of the graveside service posted on-line.  It was from this clip that I could identify those who attended.  The clip starts with Gregg’s casket sitting in the shade of a tent.  The cemetery was filled with fans who payed their respects while keeping a respectful distance from the mourners.  The only sound you can hear is the sound of bagpipes.  Then the photographer panned to the left, and you can see the mourner’s getting out of their cars [after having passed by Elizabeth Reed Napier] to make the long, slow trek up the hill to Gregg’s final resting place.  And there he was, wearing an orange t-shirt, blue jeans and a straw cowboy hat – Dickey Betts.  For this Peachhead [and I’m sure all the others] this was a most-welcome sight.  Duane Betts and David Spero were walking beside him.  It was a beautiful, sunny day in Macon.  It looks like it was quite hot.  Dickey, Duane Betts, and David Spero seated themselves in the shade of a nearby tree, but they still felt the need to fan themselves to fight the heat.  The mourners inside the tent fanned themselves as well.

Delilah Allman

Shannon Allman

The Allman Clan & Cher

Duane Betts, Dickey Betts, David Spero [With permission of David Spero]

[R-L] David Spero, Berry Duane Oakley, Dickey Betts, Duane Betts, Susan Tedeschi

[Courtesy of Rj Howson, with permission from David Spero]

[Courtesy of Associated Press]

I was struck by one final sight. After the brief gravesite service the mourner’s filed out of the tent.  There was Gregg’s casket – alone.  But he wasn’t alone – there were scores of quiet, respectful fans to watch over him until he was lowered into the ground.

After the funeral, there was a private party at the Big House.  Berry Duane Oakley and Duane Betts played.  According to someone who posted on the Allman Brothers Band website, Dickey played In Memory of Elizabeth Reed, but I can’t confirm that.  The front gates to the Big House parking lot, which bears the band’s mushroom logo and a phrase from Midnight Rider [“the road goes on forever…”] were closed.  But fans gathered in front of the gates and around the Big House to hear the music.

The Big House [Courtesy of Woody Marshall/Macon.com]

Some final thoughts – As tense as things were between Dickey and Gregg over the last several years, there was a look of sadness on Dickey’s face.  Berry Duane Oakley and Duane Betts are almost carbon copies of their respective fathers’ younger selves.  Devon Allman looks a lot like his uncle Duane.  Within the last year Devon Allman has lost both his mother and father.  I’ve been there – I know it’s tough.  What was Berry Duane thinking about when he saw the grave of the father he never knew?  Derek Trucks lost both his uncle Butch Trucks and Gregg within four months.  It's been a tough year, and it's not even halfway over.

Duane & Dickey Betts, David Spero, Berry Duane Oakley [top]

[Courtesy of Rj Howson, with permission from David Spero]

Duane and Dickey Betts [Courtesy of Rj Howson, with permission from David Spero]

I’ll give Gregg the last word.  From Gregg's memoir, My Cross to Bear:

"When it's all said and done, I'll go to my grave and my brother will greet me saying, 'Nice work, little brother – you did all right.  I must have said this a million times, but if I died today, I've had me a blast. I wouldn't trade [my life] for nobody's, but I don't know if I'd do it again. If somebody offered me a second round, I think I'd have to pass on it."

Gregg Allman - RIP

I was following the Borussia Dortmund/Eintracht Frankfurt match for the 2017 German Cup.  I was also listening to the new stereo mix of the Beatles’ A Day in the Life when I saw this from writer Alan Paul on my Facebook page:

“With a heavy heart, I have to tell you that Gregg Allman has passed. Not much more to say now. Peace and love to his family and the whole extended community.”

Of all the passings of rock royalty over the last eighteen months [Lemmy Kilmister, David Bowie, Glenn Frey, Keith Emerson, Greg Lake, John Wetton, and just recently Chris Cornell], this one hurts the most.  Damn… The people I have listened to for most of my life are leaving.  For some of those people, time stopped.  They died young, some due to lifestyles of reckless abandon [like Janis, Jimi, and Jim Morrison], others because fate had another plan for them – circumstances beyond their control [like Stevie Ray Vaughan and John Lennon].  Their youth is frozen in time – they didn’t get old, and they never will.  Those that did survive are now passing the scene with such frequency that this blog has become an obituary column.  Time is catching up with the musical heroes of our youth.  And as it does, time is giving us reminders like this that it’ll catch up to us too someday, and probably sooner than we would like.

I was 19 years old, it was my freshman year in college.  The girl I wanted to marry all those years ago told me she had other plans and they didn’t include me.  People often seek out music for solace, and so it was [and still is] for me.  The music of the Beatles wasn’t enough to help ease the pain.  And then out of nowhere, I heard it on the radio.  It was the blues.  It wasn’t just any blues – it was the Allman Brothers Band.  The song was One Way Out from Eat a Peach.  That was the hook.  The first album [of many] that I bought was called Beginnings.  It was a repackaging of their first two albums into one, affordable set - The Allman Brothers Band [1969] and Idlewild South [1970].  Songs from these albums burrowed into my subconscious – Whipping Post, Dreams, In Memory of Elizabeth Reed, Please Call Home, Midnight Rider.  Melissa [from Eat a Peach] is on my list of favorite songs, right behind the Beatles’ Help! and Pink Floyd’s Comfortably Numb.  From the time I heard these songs made in his twenties, until the music he made in his sixties, Gregg Allman became my favorite singer.  I named my first son after him [and Eric Clapton], not for his off-stage behavior, but for his talent.  His voice moved me like no other, not even Paul Rodgers or John Lennon.

The Allman Brothers were a unique outfit.  They had two lead guitar players [Duane Allman and Dickey Betts], two drummers [Jaimoe and Butch Trucks], a bass player who played like a third guitarist [Berry Oakley], and a young singer in Gregg Allman who also played the Hammond B-3 organ.  As a world-weary singer who sounded like he was way beyond his early twenties, it was as if the proverbial hellhounds were always on his trail.  The Allman Brothers Band are credited with inventing a musical genre – Southern rock.  They didn’t like that tag because they were much more than that.  Gram Parson often talked about combining several kinds of music into a blend he called Cosmic American Music.  He talked about such a music, and was somewhat successful in making it, but his music was always pointed toward country music.  The music described by Gram Parsons was the music the Allman Brothers made.  They combined R&B, soul, gospel, blues, country, jazz and rock into something that was uniquely theirs, even more so than what their contemporaries the Grateful Dead did.  Some musicologists have referred to the Allman Brothers Band as a “jam band”.  Gregg Allman didn’t like the tag.  He said, “we’re not a jam band, but we are a band that jams”.  There is a difference.  Well-written songs were just the starting point for the Brothers to do their musical explorations into the stratosphere

Forty-five years after they came together, the Allman Brothers Band played their last show in New York, October 28, 2014.  The show started the evening of the 28^th, but ended in the wee hours of October 29^th, the 43^rd anniversary of the death of Gregg’s brother, Duane.  It was fitting that it ended this way.  The circle was truly unbroken [the underlying theme of those last six shows].  The last song the band played was the also the first song they played as a band in March 1969.  It was the old Muddy Waters classic, Trouble No More.  Before the band played that last song, Gregg addressed the audience at the Beacon Theatre:

“A few years ago, just a few years ago, I was called to come and meet these guys in Jacksonville, Florida.  And it was kinda like, a little stiff in the room until one of them handed me a lyric sheet and said “Sing!”  And this was about 3:30 in the afternoon in Jacksonville, Florida, March 26th, 1969.  Never did we have any idea that it would come to this.  We give you a heartfelt ‘thank you.’  And now we’re gonna end on the first song we ever played, that broke the ice.” 

I have no doubt that the person who told him to sing was Brother Duane. 

Of all the musicians that have come and gone since my first concert [The Who in 1982], Gregg Allman is the musician whom I have seen live the most.  I saw him six times with the Allman Brothers Band between 1989 and 1995, and four times as a solo performer between 1987 and 2012.  Carol and I saw him open for Stevie Ray Vaughan in Colorado in 1987 the week we got married.  After years of neglect, Gregg finally had radio exposure with I’m No Angel.  We didn't know the Allman Brothers Band would reunite just two years later [I don't think they did either].  Seeing Gregg live for the first time was the next best thing [we saw Dickey Betts a year earlier].  The last time we saw him in 2012, it was Greg and Mark’s first concert.  He was supporting his then-new Low Country Blues, an excellent tribute to his blues forbearers of which I recommend highly.

Gregg had been in bad health in recent years.  He had Hepatitis C, which he said he got from a dirty tattoo needle many years ago.  His Hepatitis led to liver cancer, which subsequently resulted in a liver transplant.  It was never the same for him after that.  He had given up the drugs and the booze, and even quit smoking.  He missed Allman Brothers shows in March 2014 due to bronchitis.  Afterward, he had lung surgery.  He began to cancel shows, then began to cancel entire tours.  About two or three weeks ago it was rumored that he was in hospice care.  He denied the rumors in the press, but in light of his passing today I guess the rumors were true.  As I began to write this, I found a Facebook post from Dickey Betts’ manager.  Gregg and Dickey had a blowout in 2000 [actually I think it was between Dickey and Butch Trucks, but I digress slightly], but according to David Spero he said Dickey and Gregg spoke to each other recently and “put all the bad blood behind”.  He also related that when he told Dickey of Gregg’s death “he got very quiet and after a moment”…and “was very saddened by the news” [I didn’t hear of any such thing after Butch Trucks killed himself, hence my conclusion about the 2000 feud].  I [and I am sure many fellow Peacheads] am glad that Gregg and Dickey were at peace with each other.

Warren Haynes, longtime on-stage foil for Gregg Allman and the leading light of Gov’t Mule, wrote the following today:

“RIP Gregg Allman - I am at a loss for words. I was moved by Gregg’s voice when I first heard the Allman Brothers Band in 1969. I was nine years old. I had not even picked up a guitar yet but thanks to my two older brothers I had been exposed to a lot of great soul music with the best singers in the world. But this was something different. This music was making a deep emotional connection with me even though it was too complex for me to really understand. Somehow, though, it had this "common man” quality that allowed that music to connect with people on so many different levels without analyzing the ingredients that went into it-soul, blues, rock, country, jazz-all mixed together in a way no one had ever done before. And on top of it all was this beautiful voice that could be soothing, terrifying, mellow, angry, and amazingly natural and soulful all at the same time-and instantly captivating. It drew me in. It drew us all in.

Over the next few years I would begin to play guitar as every one of my music loving friends became Allman Brothers’ freaks. That music spoke to anyone who heard it but in the South it resonated with us. It spoke volumes. It brought a voice to people like myself in the midst of some confusing, ever-changing times. Here was this group of Southern hippies with an integrated band coming out of the Deepest South with equally deep music on the heels of some extremely deep changes. We didn’t realize how heavy that was at the time but we sure realized how heavy the music was. Every guitar player in every Southern town was listening to the Live at Fillmore East record and worshipping at the altar of Duane Allman and Dickey Betts. But the icing on the cake was always Gregg’s voice. That’s what separated the ABB from being a band that only connected with music freaks. Women whom previously had only listened to the radio would tolerate the long jams to get to the parts where Gregg melted their souls with that angelic voice. It turned casual music fans into fanatical fans who were discovering a new multi-dimensional music that a few years prior wasn’t even in existence. And it was all due to Gregg’s voice-and the songs.

He wrote these amazing songs that were as natural as his voice was. The words and melodies felt so perfectly unpretentious and, when delivered by him, made an emotional connection that only happens when music is genuine and honest. I learned an enormous amount about singing and songwriting from him-most of it before we ever met.

I am truly honored to have been fortunate enough to have written many songs with him and equally honored to have traveled the world with him while making the best music the world has ever known. I will never, ever take that for granted. And on top of all that-he was my dear friend.

My fondest memories will always be of Gregg, myself, and Allen Woody sharing a tour bus together-listening to great music and laughing our asses off mile after mile. Traveling- like life- is so much better when you’ve got friends to share the experience with. I’ve lost too many lately and this one is gonna be hard to get past. There is some comfort in knowing that millions of people all over the world feel the same way.

I love you Gregory – WH”

RIP Gregg. You’re with Duane and Mama A again.

Gregg and Duane Allman - together again

The Allman Brothers Band - The Final Show

Back in January of this year, both Warren Haynes and Derek Trucks announced they would be leaving the Allman Brothers Band at the end of 2014.  Shortly thereafter I asked the musical question – was it the “end of the line” for the Allman Brothers?  This lineup has been together since 2001 – the longest-lasting lineup for this storied band.  I thought then as I do now that the daunting task of finding not one but two new guitarists would be too much to overcome.  Apparently Gregg Allman came to the same conclusion as he announced the band would stop touring after 2014.  Since the band no longer records [their last studio album Hittin’ the Note came out in 2003], no more touring meant it was the “end of the line” indeed.

The band scheduled their usual March Madness at the Beacon Theatre in New York.  They were scheduled to play 14 shows, but they managed to play only 10 of them because Gregg Allman came down with bronchitis and couldn’t sing. The band played two of those 10 shows without Gregg, but then they postponed the remaining four shows until a later date.  Gregg has his own Gregg Allman & Friends band, Derek Trucks records and tours regularly with the Tedeschi Trucks Band, and Warren Haynes has Gov’t Mule.  Given the busy schedules of the individual band members, the “later dates” came in October.  In addition to the four make-up dates, the band tacked on two more shows.  The final date – October 28th.

I belong to the official Allman Brothers web forum, Hittin’ the Web with The Allman Brothers Band.  As soon as the dates for the final shows were announced, much speculation about who would be there commenced.  The biggest topic was Dickey Betts.  Would he or wouldn’t he be there?  Would there be any other guests like Beacon runs of the past?  The answer to both questions turned out to be “no.”  The band decided they would do this run themselves.  However, according to Gregg Allman, they reached out to Dickey, but he was “on a hunting trip.”  Derek Trucks confirmed the band tried to get Dickey, but Dickey’s manager called “bullshit.”  So who to believe?  It doesn’t matter – Dickey didn’t show.  There were three musical “guests” – they just weren’t people.  Three of Duane Allman’s guitars, two of which are owned by daughter Galadrielle, were in the house.  Warren and Derek played them during the run.  The next subject of speculation was “the final song.”  What would it be?  Opinions varied between Whipping Post, One Way Out, No One To Run With, and Little Martha.  I thought it might be Little Martha – the only song Duane Allman wrote.  But in the end, the band had a surprise – more on that later.  A theme emerged during the final six shows – Will the Circle Be Unbroken.  The old gospel hymn that was sung at Duane Allman’s funeral crept into the set lists one way or another.  On one night it might be just an instrumental tease, other nights Gregg and Warren would sing a verse or two.  But every night, that theme was there.

A couple of days ago I received my copy of the final show from Hittin’ the Note.  Most of the shows that I bought were 3 CDs, some are only 2.  This show has 4.  When the original six members were all in their twenties, the length of their shows became legend.  When they closed the Fillmore East in July 1971, they went on-stage at 2am and came off-stage at 6am.  Butch Trucks often tells the story about that show.  When they finished the show you could hear a pin drop.  No applause, just all smiles.  And then the doors opened, the first rays of the new morning sun came in, and this New York crowd quietly walked out.  Butch quotes Duane as saying “God damn!  It’s like leaving church!”   This final show wasn’t like that.  The band was “hittin’ the note,” and the crowd was amped up.  They played three sets instead of their usual two.  It’s become cliché that whenever a sports team plays the game of their lives, it’s referred to as “leaving it on the field.”  In the musical context, sometimes the Allman Brothers Band “left it on the stage,” and sometimes they didn’t.  That’s not to say that the shows where they didn’t leave it all there were bad.  On the contrary – they’re just old and can’t do it like they used to night after night four decades ago.  But having listened to this show, I can honestly say these old guys lived up to their legend.  So enough of the qualitative, here’s the Joe Friday “just-the-facts” scorecard:

The final setlist:

Set One:
Little Martha >
Mountain Jam >
Don't Want You No More >
It's Not My Cross to Bear >
One Way Out
Good Morning Little Schoolgirl
Midnight Rider
High Cost of Low Living
Hot’Lanta
Blue Sky
You Don't Love Me

Set Two:
Statesboro Blues
Ain't Wastin’ Time No More
Black Hearted Woman
The Sky is Crying
Dreams
Don't Keep Me Wonderin'
In Memory Of Elizabeth Reed

Set Three:
Melissa
Revival
Southbound
Mountain Jam >
Will The Circle Be Unbroken? >
Mountain Jam

Encore:
Whipping Post
Trouble No More

After the thunder and frenzy that was Whipping Post, the band all gathered center stage and Gregg, usually a man of few words began to speak:

“A few years ago, just a few years ago, I was called to come and meet these guys in Jacksonville, Florida.  And it was kinda like, a little stiff in the room until one of them handed me a lyric sheet and said “Sing!”  And this was about 3:30 in the afternoon in Jacksonville, Florida, March 26^th, 1969.  Never did we have any idea that it would come to this.  We give you a heartfelt ‘thank you.’  And now we’re gonna end on the first song we ever played, that broke the ice.” 

Given that Gregg didn’t know any of his future bandmates except for his brother when he walked into that first rehearsal, I have no doubt that the “one of them” who said “Sing!” was Duane.  With all of the stories I’ve heard and read about Duane, that way of saying hello would be totally in-character for him.  Oh, to have been a fly on the wall the day a new music genre was invented…

Usually the talkative one who tells the same stories over and over again, Butch Trucks simply echoed what Gregg said.  The band would bookend the Allman Brothers Band with the first song they ever played.

Jaimoe, who usually says fewer words than Gregg [if you can believe such a thing is possible], said this:  “Hello hello, thank you!  Thank you so much.  We couldn’t have done it without you.  Two things I always wanted to do in my life – I wanted to be Mr. America and I wanted to be the world’s greatest jazz drummer.  Well, I gave up on Mr. America, and on my way to New York City I went to Alabama to meet Duane Allman.  And then I was a jazz drummer, that’s when I discovered what that was all about.  So thank God for Duane Allman and all these fellas, and thank God for you!”

The band picked up their instruments and played one final song, which indeed was the first song they ever played as a band – Muddy Waters’ Trouble No More.  Five hours after they took the stage, at 1:30 AM on October 29^th, the 43^rd anniversary of Duane Allman’s passing, the band came off stage for the final time.  The circle was and is unbroken.

Allman Brothers Band - At the Beacon Without Gregg

“How you guys doin’? Thanks for being here. Uh…Gregg has bronchitis and is not gonna be able to be with us tonight and we’re gonna do a show with our friends here this evening like we have in the past. Thank you guys for being here, we hope you have a great time.” With those words by Warren Haynes, the Allman Brothers Band kicked off the first of two nights [March 21/22, 2014] at the Beacon Theatre in New York without Gregg Allman.
It wasn’t supposed to be this way. In January 2014, Warren Haynes and Derek Trucks announced in a joint press release that 2014 would be their last year as part of the Allman Brothers Band. Both guitarists said they would stay with the band and honor all touring commitments through the years. When this year’s Beacon shows were announced, they were talked about in fan circles as being “the last run.” Derek Trucks said he wished the band would end on a high note in a “blaze of glory.” The first two nights of the run were great. Before the Beacon run began, Butch Trucks promised the band would play songs they hadn’t done in awhile, and they delivered. On the first night [March 7th], the band broke out the Dickey Betts-written instrumental True Gravity from the Seven Turns album for the first time since Dickey’s departure in 2000. They also played a new song from Warren called Dusk Till Dawn. On the second night [March 8th], they played Get On With Your Life [from Shades of Two Worlds], which they hadn’t played since 1992. The second set opened with a one-two punch from Eat a Peach – a full band version of Little Martha, out of which they ran into Blue Sky with Warren on the vocals. The biggest surprise of the night was the return of the Dickey Betts-written Seven Turns with Oteil Burbridge on lead vocals. Warren sang another new song which he wrote with Phil Lesh, Spots of Time. The band also played a soulful version of the Beatles song Rain, with Gregg singing lead. It was a quite unique setlist. After the second show, a strange thing happened. Butch Trucks got sick and missed the third show [March 11th]. It was the first Allman Brothers Band show he has missed…ever. His nephew [and Derek’s brother] Duane Trucks filled in for him.

Unlike Beacon runs in the past, there was a minimum of guest stars present during the run. The Juke Horns joined the Brothers for four nights - March 11th, 12th, 18th, and the 19th. Robert Randolph appeared with the Brothers on March 18th [they played One Way Out]. On March 19th, Lamar Williams Jr [son of the late ABB bassist Lamar Williams] appeared and took a verse on Midnight Rider. Other than those days, the Brothers had the Beacon stage to themselves. By all accounts, the band was fulfilling their promise to give it their all for their fans. They played songs they hadn’t played in a long time, they played songs from The Band and Van Morrison, and the guitarists were on fire. Then Gregg got sick.

What is a band to do without one of their namesakes? Call a lot of friends, of course. This is exactly what they did. Warren handled a lot of the vocals, but others [Jimmy Hall, Susan Tedeschi, Devon Allman, Junior Mack] pitched in to give Warren’s voice a break. Luckily the Allman Brothers are renowned for their epic jams, and they also had plenty of instrumentals to play.

March 21, 2014 Setlist
Mountain Jam1 / Statesboro Blues1 / Worried Down With the Blues / Every Hungry Woman / Seven Turns1 / Stand Back1 / Good Morning Little School Girl23 / Jessica / Little Martha-Blue Sky / One Way Out45 / Who’s Been Talking26 / Franklin’s Tower2 / Turn On Your Love Light7 / Franklin’s Tower-reprise / The Sky Is Crying7 / Hoochie Coochie Man / In Memory of Elizabeth Reed26 / JaMaBuBu / In Memory of Elizabeth Reed-reprise / Preachin’ Blues / Mountain Jam-reprise2

1w/ Susan Tedeschi – Vocals
2w/ Bill Evans – Saxophone
3w/ Cyril Neville – Percussion
4w/ Devon Allman – Guitar & Vocals
5w/ Bernie Marsden – Guitar
6w/ Kofi Burbridge – Flute
7w/ Susan Tedeschi – Guitar & Vocals
Kofi Burbridge and Rob Barraco took over keys and organ duties

March 22, 2014 Setlist
Done Somebody Wrong1 / Come And Go Blues / End of the Line / Dusk Till Dawn23 / Can’t Lose What You Never Had1 / True Gravity / All My Friends14 / She Caught The Katy5 / Revival56 / You Don’t Love Me5 / Ain’t Wastin’ Time No More7 / Black Hearted Woman / Feel So Bad4 / Dreams2 / Les Brers in A Minor / JaMaBuBu / Why Does Love Got To Be So Sad1368 / Les Brers in A Minor-reprise / Southbound13678

1 w/ Jimmy Hall – Harp
2 w/ Kofi Burbridge – Flute
3 w/ Jay Collins – Saxophone
4 w/ Susan Tedeschi – Guitar & Vocals
5 w/ Jimmy Hall – Harp & Vocals
6 w/ Susan Tedeschi – Vocals
7 w/ Junior Mack – Guitar & Vocals
8 w/ Jimmy Vivino – Guitar
Kofi Burbridge and Rob Barraco took over keys and organ duties

Favorite performances:

Can’t Lose What You Never Had [March 22nd] – Singer: Jimmy Hall. The Brothers don’t pull this Muddy Waters tune very often. They play it every now and then, and Jimmy Hall is a perfect fit. I saw him play with Gregg Allman twice – a great singer. He’s a pretty fair harp player as well.

Ain’t Wastin’ Time No More [March 22nd] – Singer: Junior Mack. This nugget from Eat a Peach one is a setlist regular. The last time I saw Gregg Allman in Pensacola, Jaimoe's Jasssz Band opened for him. Junior Mack is their singer, and a fine one at that.

Black Hearted Woman [March 22nd] – Singer: Warren Haynes. I’ve heard many live versions of this song from Idlewild South. This version is by far the most intense. Warren played like his life depended on it.

Little Martha-Blue Sky [March 21st] – Singer: Warren Haynes. Like the Eat a Peach original this is done mostly by the two guitarists, then the rhythm section joins for the last 30 seconds of Little Martha before the segue into Blue Sky. It’s always a pleasure to hear this tune from Dickey Betts.

Stand Back [March 21st] – Singer: Susan Tedeschi. Another Eat a Peach original – is this a trend? I’m not a member of the Church of Susan, but she’s just fine on this tune from Gregg Allman and Berry Oakley. Bass solo from Oteil Burbridge.

Come And Go Blues [March 22nd] – Singer: Warren Haynes. This Gregg Allman tune from Brothers And Sisters is another setlist regular. Warren has said on many occasions this is his favorite ABB song. Another Warren/Derek epic this one…

When Gregg went down with bronchitis, the Brothers still had six dates to play on this year’s Beacon run. The band played two of them, but Gregg was slow to recover from his illness, so the remaining four dates were postponed. It’s hard to have an Allman Brothers show without an Allman brother, so the band opted to reschedule in order to give the fans their money’s worth. The remaining four dates have been rescheduled for October this year. They added two more dates for October in addition to the original four, the last of which is October 28th, the day before the anniversary of Duane’s death. Coincidence? Perhaps – but maybe this is the band’s way of putting a stamp of finality to their existence. Be that as it may, but the “blaze of glory” will have to wait until October