R.I.P. - Gregg Allman

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From: Billboard Magazine > News > Rock
Gregg Allman, Soulful Trailblazer of Southern Rock, Dies at 69
5/27/2017
by Deborah Wilker

Gregg Allman, the soulful singer-songwriter and rock n' blues pioneer who founded The Allman Brothers Band with his late brother, Duane, and composed such classics as "Midnight Rider," "Melissa" and the epic concert jam "Whipping Post," has died at age 69, Billboard has learned. He was diagnosed with hepatitis C in 1999 and underwent a liver transplant in 2010.

He "passed away peacefully at his home in Savannah, Georgia," according to a statement on Gregg Allman's official website, noting that the family planned to release a statement soon. "Gregg struggled with many health issues over the past several years. During that time, Gregg considered being on the road playing music with his brothers and solo band for his beloved fans, essential medicine for his soul. Playing music lifted him up and kept him going during the toughest of times." ...


Read more at: http://www.billboard.com/articles/colum ... llman-dead

Re: R.I.P. - Gregg Allman

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Also from Billboard, some songs so he'll stick in our heads a little while longer ...
The 20 Greatest Allman Brothers Band Songs: Critic's Picks
5/27/2017

Maybe more than any of their peers, The Allman Brothers Band were a group defined by eras, personalities and tragedies. Between the outfit's 1969 self-titled debut and their last official studio album, 2003's Hittin' The Note, they released 12 studio albums and six officially-released live albums, including the career-defining live set At Fillmore East in 1971, and countless bootlegged and band-sanctioned collections of their legendary shows, which even until the end, routinely lasted more than three hours.

But tragedies and personality clashes defined the band's output over the years, beginning with founding member and lead guitarist Duane Allman's sudden death in a motorcycle accident in 1971 and the subsequent death of original bassist Berry Oakley in an eerily-similar situation a year later. Following Duane's death, guitarist Dickey Betts took on a larger role in the band's direction, producing a notable shift away from their bluesier beginnings and towards a more major-keyed, southern rock aesthetic that produced songs like "Ramblin' Man," the group's only top 5 hit on the Hot 100, while Warren Haynes' introduction in the 1980s added another strong songwriter to the mix.

Over the years, Gregg Allman, the gritty, soulful heart of the band that bore his name, remained its principal figure, and its most influential songwriter. With Gregg Allman's death today (May 27) at the age of 69, Billboard looks back at the group's 20 greatest songs that they'd written through the years, in roughly chronological order. ...


Listen to The Allman Brother's tunes at: http://www.billboard.com/articles/colum ... best-songs