Records

Greg Allman, "Laid Back" Capricorn, CP0116

"Greg Allman is the champion of a certain kind of Southern blues singer: he manages to be simultaneously raucous, raw, lazy, slurring, and world weary." -- Chet Flippo, Creem Magazine

Greg Allman has a new album out on the Capricorn label. It's called "Laid Back," and this is his first solo album. But you shouldn't let the title scare you off because Greg, as you probably know, does most of the songwriting and vocal work for the Allman Brothers Band. Although this album isn't the Allman Brothers Band, it is a good one because Greg has a chance to work on some things that might not fit as easily into the context of the Brother's material.

Greg wrote 3 out of the 4 songs on side one, with two of them (Midnight Rider, Please Call Home) having been previously released on the Allman Brothers Band "Idlewild South" album but these versions feature horns and the background vocals give the numbers a gospel effect. Neither of them are weak tunes by any means and the second cut, "Queen of Hearts" is about as rich as any song you'll hear today. It's a bluesy tune with a couple of nice jazz-flavored instrumental breaks which together with Greg's lyrics and vocal work sound honest and righteous. This is one of Greg's best songs as far as I'm concerned and hopefully will get a lot of fm airplay.

The last cut on side one is "Don't Mess Up a Good Thing" the most rocking tune on the album which causes me to flash on Doctor John a lot. This could be because the piano player is Chuck Leavell, who Greg refers to as the "twenty-year-old boy wonder." Leavell used to play with the Doctor before joining the Allman Brothers Band and he can get down with the funky barroom style piano. Both Chuck and the horn men get a chance to work out on this one.

Side two is more "laid back" than the first with the horns and electric guitars being dropped in favor of steel guitars and pianos giving the music a country flavor, which is an understandable move by Allman, since he is from Georgia. The only tune Greg wrote on this side is the second cut "MultiColored Lady" and the rest of the side contains a Jackson Browne song "These Days,'" the traditional " Will the Circle Be Unbroken" and "All my Friends" which was written by guitarist Scott Boyer, who plays on the album as well as working with a band called "Cowboy." I had to sit down and really listen to this side of the album for a while before I could get a good perspective on it and understand that this is Greg's solo album. While some of the tunes might not be my favorite, I do respect this powerful brother enough to try and understand where he's coming from. He's not trying to push his trip on anyone, he's just making the music and we can take it or leave it. Personally, I'll take it and look forward to his next one. It's good to have someone as solid as Greg Allman with all of the other jive you hear on so many of the recently released albums.

"It's taken me four years to do it. A lot of the songs I'd written just weren't right for the group, but this album is something I started long before there was an Allman Brothers Band. I'd just keep working at it until I was satisfied. Now I am." - Greg Allman, Creem Magazine Sept. 1973