Gregg Allman – The Southern Rock Cruise Pays Tribute
Last year, when we began planning the Southern Rock Cruise, our goal was always to bring Gregg Allman into the line-up for 2018 or ’19. It’s true that he never embraced the term “Southern Rock” because he thought all rock was Southern, but we believe that “Southern Rock” is distinct and unique, and we’re going to celebrate it. And we’re pretty sure that the Allman Brothers Band was its foundation. And let’s never discount Gregg’s songs: “Not My Cross to Bear,” “Whipping Post,” “Melissa,” and of course “Midnight Rider.” You’re sure to hear those on the Southern Rock Cruise because they’re among Southern Rock’s cornerstones.
Gregg Allman was sixty-nine when he passed, but one look at recent photos made it clear that he’d witnessed depths and heights that most of us cannot imagine. We all know about the sudden fame, the tragedy of his brother’s death, drug and alcohol abuse, multiple marriages, and the late-life liver transplant. He never made any secret of them, and finally gave us all the details in his recent autobiography, My Cross to Bear. The book is 378 pages long, so, as with his mega-long shows, no one leaves shortchanged.
Gregg was the younger brother who had to carry the show when Duane Allman was killed in a motorcycle wreck just as the Allman Brothers Band was gaining serious traction. The story of the Allman Brothers’ all-too-brief fame before Duane’s death and the way Gregg built upon the legacy is still one of rock music’s great stories. Not many artists came claim to have invented a musical style, but the Allmans’ records established Southern Rock as something new. Not blissed out psychedelia. Not soft rock. Not disco. Not glam. Certainly not unplugged. Southern Rock in the Allmans’ hands was two guitars playing off each other. It was blues. It was power riffs. It was Southern Pride—the South where the music came from. And it was blue-collar, unpretentious music. Gregg might not have liked the term “Southern Rock,” but he always stayed true to the Southern Rock credo.
So we will never have Gregg Allman on the Southern Rock Cruise, but in 2018 we will have JAIMOE’S JASSSZ BAND, led by Jai Johanny Johanson, the drummer, percussionist, and founding member of the Allman Brothers Band. Later, Jaimoe founded Sea Level but always returned to the Allman fold. During residencies at New York’s Beacon Theater, he led the now-legendary percussion battles with Butch Trucks. And anyone fortunate enough to catch one of Gregg Allman’s latter-day tours won’t quickly forget Jaimoe’s opening set leading his Jazzzs Band. His presence on the Southern Rock Cruise is a chance to catch a legend.
We will also have LIVE AT THE FILLMORE—A TRIBUTE TO THE ALLMAN BROTHERS BAND. At Fillmore East is not only one of Southern Rock’s defining moments, but one of contemporary music’s hands-down greatest albums. Lou Maresca, who was in the audience for many of the Allmans’ now legendary New York performances, presents the ultimate tribute to his heroes. “I’m authentically bringing back the performances of the original Allman Brothers Band for those who were there or wish they’d been there,” he says.
Gregg Allman was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995 and had just finished a new album, Southern Blood, at the time of his death. His life was always a work in progress. Right now, we’re in the process of organizing our Southern Rock Cruise Tribute to Gregg Allman. Keep watching our social media pages as this takes shape. We promise it will be something very special. Gregg Allman deserves no less!