Gregg Allman & Friends, 11-06-01, Bimbo's 365 Club, San Francisco, CANov 13 '01 (Updated Jul 24 '02) Write an essay on this topic.The Bottom Line Catch Gregg Allman when he comes to town, either solo or with the Brothers. You will thank yourself, you may get hooked, and surely you will witness some history. The Gregg Allman & Friends Soul Review (my title) passed through San Francisco recently. As I once heard Gregg say onstage, "No, this ain't The Allman Brothers Band", and it couldn't be more true. This was the fifth time I've heard Gregg Allman & Friends live. Guitarist Mark Mcgee, bassist Tommy Miller and percussionist/vocalist Floyd Miles remain from the previous lineups. As usual Gregg played his vintage Hammond B-3 organ for the bulk of the show. The drummer and keyboard player have changed and Gregg has added a three piece horn section: two trumpets and baritone saxophone. The result was a much funkier, richer, soulful sound, very appropriate to the genre Gregg pursues in his solo career as an alternative to the harder edged, bluesier and jazzier Allman Brothers material. The set list really hasn't changed a whole lot in the times I have seen this band, but I always seem to enjoy hearing these songs nonetheless. "I'm No Angel" got things rolling; Gregg has played it every time I've seen this band and it is very representative of the more popish, gritty soul side of his singing. The horns added a nice punctuation to each verse as Gregg's voice seemed strained and too soft during this tune. Gregg has said he suffers from terrible stagefright even at this stage of his career and that it always takes him the first song to get over it. Maybe his voice does too, as it seemed it took the first tune for it to get warmed up. Clarence Carter's "Slip Away" followed, another one Gregg always seems to play. Gregg's gritty wail is perfect for this R&B classic and the horns again made it a lot more funky. "Midnight Rider" was next as Gregg switched to acoustic guitar. You just expect to hear it when you see Allman, a crowd pleaser either with this band or the Brothers. Floyd Miles took over lead vocals on three songs in the set. I always love hearing him sing the jumping R&B tune, "Back to Daytona". It's hard not to smile watching Floyd grin from ear to ear as he recalls turning Gregg and Duane on to R&B when they were young boys growing up in Daytona Beach. Yes, Gregg has known Floyd since he was ten years old. Floyd's exuberance and slick soul vocals always add energy to the set. As usual, Gregg drew heavily from his overlooked 1988 solo record, "Just Before the Bullets Fly". "Slip Away" was on that record; other cuts from it were the energetic rockers "Demons" and the Title cut. The other tune from the album was "Oceans Awash the Gunwales". I can only say that when you go to see Gregg Allman there are going to be some special moments, some points in the show of great beauty and reflection. 'Oceans' was one of those. I'd never heard Gregg perform this tune; if you had never heard it even on record, his sincerity and passion had to knock you back, a blues singer singing about survival from the very depths of his soul, over the backdrop of a gospel organ and a crying guitar. In a 1998 interview in "Hittin' The Note" Gregg spoke about the tune: "'Oceans Awash the Gunwales' is a true story. Now that I'm sober, I can tell you it's about overdosing in a New York hotel. I was under an assumed name, and they got me out of there. As they were taking me out on a stretcher, we went by our tour bus, which had the USS Alabama painted on the side. I remember thinking to myself, 'Battleships don't sink, and my God, I'm not gonna sink either--I'm not going to die.' It took a few days, but I got it back together, and I started writing a tune about it. So 'Oceans Awash the Gunwales' is about cheating death, before I finally took on a little spirituality--I decided to let somebody else do the driving in my life." The other highlight, and one of the few other tunes I had never heard Gregg do, was a stunning "Multi-Colored Lady" from his acclaimed 1973 Southern Soul classic, "Laid Back". Thanks, Gregg. Oh, what beauty. Gregg played acoustic guitar, his guitarist played acoustic, his bassist played acoustic bass guitar, his keyboardist added the lovely piano fills. Simply GORGEOUS, worth the ridiculously cheap admission price by itself many times over. One of those special moments to be sure; the reason I go to see Gregg Allman again and again. Gregg closed with the rearranged, acoustic based version of "Whippin' Post" from his last solo record, "Searching For Simplicity". "House of Blues", "Love the Poison" and "Rendezvous With the Blues" (featuring bassist Miller on vocals) were also taken from it, another very strong solo album. I missed not hearing the poignant "Dark End of The Street" from that record this time around, but was glad to see Gregg working in some different and no less great material. "House of Blues" is without a doubt one of the best blues tunes Gregg has ever written and I always love hearing him sing it. The encore was an R&B tune I had never heard, then a re-worked, funkier "Statesboro Blues", again punctuated by the horn section. To close may I say that Gregg Allman is unfortunately known to the majority of the public as someone who deserves more notoriety for his substance abuse than his talent. I say whatever personal problems he has had, the talent cannot be denied and in my experience it has always shone through onstage. Besides the five times I've seen the solo band, I've seen The Allman Brothers Band eight times, including once way back in 1975. I remember a somber young man that night with golden hair down almost to his waist sitting behind the organ, looking very lost and distant. I also remember that he did not detract musically from the show. As always they were tremendous, and as always their set included some long complex arrangements, such as "Les Bres in A Minor" and "High Falls". I put someone's personal issues aside when I see that they can walk out there and make me happy. The talent as a musician, singer and songwriter is undeniable, and it has shone through the problems. It's just nice to see Gregg looking sober and more fit, even cracking an occasional smile onstage, which never used to happen. How ironic that the show was marred by banter from drunks around the club who were more interested in talking during songs that witnessing greatness.  |
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