An introduction

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Reading his autobiography (My Cross to Bear) you get a definite impression Gregg Allman takes some pride in his songwriting achievements, though one simultaneously gets the impression that the writing tends to come in bursts of activity rather than a day in day out work in progress. Somehow, one doesn't imagine Grunting' Gregg locking himself away in an office to write the way Randy Newman and other musical craftsmen are reputed to work.

And you wouldn't expect that to be the case when you're talking the hard-living embodiment of southern rock. With various guitarists, brother Duane, Dickey Betts, Warren Haynes and Derek Trucks, Allman has been one of the focal points of the long-running Allman Brothers Band. Less widely recognized away from Stateside road warrior territory, is extensive touring under his own name, fronting the Gregg Allman Band or Gregg Allman & Friends, and delivering a more soul and R&B tinged repertoire than the ABB's blues and country-based southern rock.

That solo career dates back to 1973's Laid Back, which reworked a couple of Allman Brothers songs alongside original material and covers that did not quite fit the Allman Brothers sound. It continued intermittently through subsequent decades, usually when the Allman Brothers Band was in hiatus. The solo work tends to be more horn-driven and groove-oriented, reworked Allman Brothers material alongside original songs and blues, R&B, and soul covers.     

© Ian Hughes 2015