His older brother, of course, was blues-rock guitar legend Duane Allman, and while the two brothers often fussed and feuded as only siblings can, Allman credits his big brother for a lot of his career success, Duane’s coaxing, threatening, cajoling, and support frequently browbeating the younger Allman into staying the course in their shared pursuit of fame and fortune. Either way, in the wake of a life-threatening bout with Hepatitis C which necessitated a liver transplant, Allman decided to document his storied career with this free-flowing bio.īorn in 1947 in Nashville, Tennessee but raised in Florida, Gregory Lenoir Allman was the younger of two children raised by a single mother after the tragic murder of his father when he was a child. Perhaps it was the onset of serious health problems that inspired Allman to immortalize aspects of his life on the printed page, or maybe it was just the once-in-a-lifetime chance to air his side of the story. A soulful vocalist with a deep, rough but warm voice a pretty decent songwriter with a blue collar lyrical slant and a skilled musician capable of laying down tasty notes with both guitar and keyboards, Allman is often all things to all listeners.Īllman has experienced a lot of life in his 65 years, and in early 2012 he decided to share a few of his many stories with the publication of his autobiography, My Cross to Bear (written with the help of music journalist Alan Light).

Or maybe Allman is all three…no matter how you view him, Allman’s musical contributions simply cannot be overstated. Depending on your perspective, either the Allman Brothers Band’s Gregg Allman is the consummate classic rock vocalist, or he’s a Southern rock icon, or maybe you look at him as a blues-rock singer of no little talent.

Gregg allman my cross to bear