Gregg Allman > Quotes

“It's hard to live your life in color, and tell the truth in black and white.”
― Gregg Allman

“It was once said that the blues is nothing more than a good man feeling bad, and that’s what it is. Believe me, singing a blues song makes you feel better afterwards. Singing the blues doesn’t mean that you have them at that minute—the blues usually crawl up on you late at night or early in the morning. You get the blues when someone close to you dies or has an accident or gets sick, or when your dog passes away, and singing is a way of letting go of it.”
― Gregg Allman, My Cross to Bear

“It's like traveling on a train, rolling through the hills. It's a journey with your partners, and they're all going with you, and some of them make the same turns, and a couple may go a different route, but they all meet you on the other side.”
― Gregg Allman, My Cross to Bear

“think”
― Gregg Allman, My Cross to Bear

“I’ll go to my grave and my brother will greet me, saying, “Nice work, little brother—you did all right.” I must have said this a million times, but if I died today, I have had me a blast. I really mean that—if I fell over dead right now, I have led some kind of life. I wouldn’t trade it for nobody’s, but I don’t know if I’d do it again. If somebody offered me a second round, I think I’d have to pass on it.”
― Gregg Allman, My Cross to Bear

“I’ve played with many bass players, and Berry Oakley was the perfect bassist for the Allman Brothers Band. If you wanted him to get crazy, he could, but only if everybody else did. He didn’t go off on tangents in the middle of “Melissa,” and Joe Dan was like that too. He could bring down the band when he had to, because if the bass player or the drummer shuts down, the other guys got to. The right hand of the bass player and the right foot of the drummer are the main beam of the whole damn cabin; without that, the whole thing collapses. The bass player and the drummer have to constantly think about what they’re doing, whereas a guitar player can have his mind in South Georgia somewhere, thinking about being home. After a while, I asked, “Joe Dan, why are you here?”
― Gregg Allman, My Cross to Bear

“To sing properly, you have to get into a mind-set where you don’t give a damn if somebody doesn’t like it. You couldn’t care less, you’re singing for the gods—because they gave you the ability to sing, or at least what sounds like singing to you. You’re putting your whole soul into it, all the happiness you ever had, every tear you’ve ever shed—all of that goes into your singing.”
― Gregg Allman, My Cross to Bear

“Oncoming Traffic"

Tuesday found me, standing on the highway
Seems like no one, no one, was going my way
Was I waiting on the wrong side of the road
I just don't give a damn, which way I go

Tell me where has my faith gone
Has it walked out on me
Or is it still alive somewhere inside of me
Or just too close for my tired eyes to see, yeah

Tell me when, when is my ship gonna come in
I ain't cold, I ain't hungry, gotta little money to spend
But a man cannot live, oh no, on riches alone
He needs love, and friendship, and a home
Or Lord he stands alone

There are so many roads which you may choose
Well some you're bound to win, others you will lose
Lord, but it ain't never been so clear
That it is all, Lord it is all, yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah
Well it is all up to you
All up to you now, baby

Gregg Allman, The Gregg Allman Tour (1974)”
― Gregg Allman