Tuesday, April 20, 2021

Gregg Allman - Gregg Acoustic, Volume 2 (1974-2013)

I posted the Volume 1 companion to this a couple of weeks ago. In short, Gregg Allman is best known for playing in a full rocking band environment as part of the Allman Brothers Band, but from time to time he would play a song in the solo acoustic format. Unfortunately, whenever he did this he tended to play the same few songs. But I've found all the songs I could in this format, and I've included one version for each of them. 

This album is a bit longer than the first volume, even if you don't include the bonus tracks. That's because I found a couple more songs since I posted that first one. But I still like how these two albums divide up, because the late 1960s until 1973 is considered their peak era. This covers the rest, through to Allman's death in 2017. The classic songs didn't come as often in these years, and a few of the songs date to earlier years, but I think you'll agree after listening to this that everything he played in the solo acoustic format was top notch.

Seven of the 12 songs here are officially released. The first three come from the same "One More Try" anthology that was the main source for Volume 1. Another three are from an obscure 2006 live album Allman did with Warren Haynes. "Needle and the Damage Done," a cover of the famous Neil Young song, comes from a various artists live album. 

The unreleased songs sound nearly as good as the officially released ones, in my opinion. Three of them come from a 1981 studio session that was filmed and put on YouTube, somehow. That includes a version of "Melissa," a song I included on Volume 1. But this version is instrumental, so I thought that was different enough to warrant inclusion. Another one of the unreleased tracks comes from a TV show, and the last one is from a standard concert bootleg.

The bonus tracks are quite interesting, in my opinion. They include two famous Allman Brothers Band songs ("One Way Out" and "Whipping Post") that he'd never played in acoustic format before. Sadly, he died just a year later, so this probably was the one and only time he played them that way. Unfortunately, the sound quality isn't as good as the rest, so these were downgraded to just bonus tracks.

This album is 52 minutes long, not including the bonus tracks.

01 Win, Lose or Draw (Gregg Allman)
02 Oncoming Traffic (Gregg Allman)
03 Come and Go Blues (Gregg Allman)
04 Key to the Highway (Gregg Allman)
05 Melissa [Instrumental] (Gregg Allman)
06 Never Knew How Much [I Needed You] (Gregg Allman)
07 These Days (Gregg Allman with Graham Nash)
08 Old Before My Time (Gregg Allman & Warren Haynes)
09 Come On in My Kitchen (Gregg Allman & Warren Haynes)
10 Soulshine (Gregg Allman & Warren Haynes)
11 All My Friends (Gregg Allman with Warren Haynes)
12 The Needle and the Damage Done (Gregg Allman, Warren Haynes & Derek Trucks)

I Love the Life I Live (Gregg Allman with Scott Sharrard)
One Way Out (Gregg Allman with Scott Sharrard)
Whipping Post (Gregg Allman with Scott Sharrard)

https://www.upload.ee/files/15123535/GreggA_1974-2013_AcoustcVolume2_atse.zip.html

I don't know when or where the cover art photo was taken. But clearly he was older than the photo for Volume 1, as can be seen by the grey in his beard.

1 comment: