As someone who's loved Gregg Allman's music nearly all of my 35 years on the planet, it was such a great treat this year to get to chat with him not just once, but twice. I've interviewed just about every member of the Allman Brothers Band a bunch of times, but before this year, never got to speak with one of its namesakes.

It was a beautiful thing in 1989 to see The Allman Brothers Band rise from the ashes of the southern rock that they had pioneered to reunite and celebrate their 20th anniversary. Yet, Gregg Allman was still cursed by the demon of booze. To see him so healthy and full of life during the band's 30th anniversary year has been as enjoyable as the sweet, strong brew of blues, country, jazz and rock for which the Brothers have become legendary.

Exchange the country element in the band's sound for a down 'n' dirty dose of rhythm & blues and you've got Gregg Allman and Friends, an outfit featuring members of the Alameda All-Stars and .38 Special and the singer-organist's lifelong friend Floyd Miles. A boyhood friend from Georgia, Miles turned the dirt bike-riding, surf-rocking Allman and his late, great brother Duane onto the blues of B.B. King and the soul of James Brown. Nearly 40 years later, Gregg Allman has earned his place as the greatest white blues singer in music history. Such masters as Little Milton Campbell come to pay their respects to him whether he's out on the road with the Brothers or the Friends.

Then there's the legion of young jam fans who've developed into the umpteenth generation of Allman admirers. Having just moved back home to Georgia with his fiancee, Stacey, after a decade in California, Allman could have just taken it easy in his new lakefront digs, maybe do some late-season fishing and ride his three "cherry" Harleys on the wide open spaces around his property. But he wanted to once again turn those fans onto the material that comprises his latest and best solo effort, 1997's "Searching for Simplicity." The raw, bluesy disc includes an acoustic version of "Whipping Post" that was inspired by Eric Clapton's unplugged treatment of "Layla." Recorded in the wake of a challenge by Brothers roadie Red Dog to treat the classic in a similar way, the acoustic, yet very funky "Whipping Post" only can be heard at Friends rather than Brothers shows. You can check it out as The Friends continue their month-long tour from Jersey to Atlanta through Jan. 1.

With the Clapton thing, I guess things have come full circle, because that dual guitar on the original "Layla" recording not only was inspired by the Allman Brothers Band, it features Duane jamming with Slowhand. Gregg says he thinks his brother would get a kick out of the growing jam band scene and the enormous impact their band has had on it. He also says that the fresh blood of new Brothers Derek Trucks on guitar and Oteil Burbridge on bass may keep the band around another 30 years. "Hell, John Lee Hooker's still out there," Allman says.

For starters, you just returned to Georgia after many years living out west. How do you like being back home?

I love it. It's the greatest place, man. I hunted for it too. Damn. This has been a job. I've been at it since August, and I'm finally in there, man. I'm too old for this movin' shit though. I'll tell ya', this is my last one, definitely. I'm on the river, and I've got a dock. It's just beautiful.

You spent a number of years there living together with the members of The Allman Brothers Band. How did it feel this summer to celebrate the group's 30th anniversary?

It was good. It was business as usual except it had a little more celebration to it. It's always a celebration. It was just a little more. It gave us a little bit more momentum, which is fine with me, man, because I'm going to play as long as the Good Lord will let me. Hell, John Lee Hooker's still out there. He's got to be as old as my mom. We're talking, we've got 30 more years of playing (laughs).

Excellent. You're in those circles with those guys like B.B. King. They consider you as much of a bluesman as they are.

Isn't that a wonderful thing? That's where I learned it from, those same guys. And I've met just about all of them, man. I mean the ones that are alive. I finally met Milton Campbell the other day. Little Milton. He's my favorite singer of all of them. It was something else, man. And the thing about is that he's a fan of mine too. And I swear, that was the incredible part. You don't stop to think that (laughs) they know anything about you.

He especially came over to one of my gigs. And man, he was dressed to the nines. Let me tell ya'. That man's dapper, jack. He had on a hat, a three-piece suit, a diamond watch and the whole nine yards, man. He is some kind of slick.

That is great. Tell me about Gregg Allman and Friends. How did this band come about?

I put it together, me and the Alameda All-Stars. They brought in Danny (Chauncey of .38 Special). I met him through them. He used to play with them before he left to play with .38 Special. He lived also in Alameda, which is right by Oakland.

Is that where you lived when you were in California?

No, I didn't live in Oakland. No, no, no, noooo. No, I lived up in Marin County, about 40 miles north of the Golden Gate, up towards wine country, a place called San Rafael.

Cool. Grateful Dead country. How did you get together with the Alameda All-Stars?

Through this friend of mine in Oakland. He had grown up with these guys. One night, we went out clubbing, and I was looking to jam. He said I know these guys from Alameda. And so we jammed and it was really fun. Every time I felt like jamming, they'd say, 'C'mon, come on over and play.'

I came off the road in early September from the Brothers tour, and it's been that long since I played. I jammed with Gov't Mule at The Fillmore West a few days before I left.

Yeah, that sounded awesome. I've got to get the tape.

It was wonderful. Real good, real good, exceptional jam we had. I haven't played since, so I am hot to trot. I'm ready to go and so is everybody else. We start the day after Thanksgiving.

Comment on how your solo stuff is more blues and R&B without the country vibe of The Allman Brothers Band and compare the sound of the Friends to the Brothers.

Well, first of, there's only one leader. It eliminates a lot of confusion.

In The Allman Brothers Band, you share the leadership role with Dickey Betts, whereas with Gregg Allman and Friends, you're fully in charge.

Yeah, right. I'm not talking about fury or anything like that. With them, we stick more to the songs off my solo records. Other stuff we throw in, we play some Floyd (Miles') stuff. He's got two records out on Kingsnake Records.

So you share the spotlight with the Friends.

Oh yeah. It ain't the Gregg Allman Show. It's the Gregg Allman Revue. It's a revue of a lot of fine players who I've known along the way. Floyd, of course, pretty much turned me on to black music in general. At the age of 11 -- I don't know why he did it -- but he said he saw some kind of potential in me. We were playing this surfing music (laughs), and he came around and said, 'Hey look, man, you're going the wrong way.' He turned me onto B.B. King. Man, I can't tell you how I felt the first time I heard James Brown 'Live at the Apollo Theater.' I mean, Good God, I wore that thing out. The LP turned white (laughs). I wish I still had that record.

How come Floyd was never in The Allman Brothers Band?

He's got his own band. I don't know. Things happen like they're supposed to happen, I guess.

How long has he been a part of Gregg Allman and Friends?

Since the beginning.

Tell me the story about how Red Dog, your roadie, dared you to record an acoustic version of 'Whipping Post' for 'Searching for Simplicity.'

Well, it's turned into another whole song. It's quite funky. It was when Clapton came out with the different version of 'Layla.' It would be nice to do that to a lot of songs. There's a lot of songs I'd like to go back and re-record. Maybe someday I'll do that (laughs). Updated versions.

One of my favorite quotes is when you said that southern rock is like saying rock rock, because rock 'n' roll was born in the south. How would you prefer The Allman Brothers Band be described: southern rock, a jam band or neither?

(Laughs) Just a damn good band. How does that go? A damn good, eclectic band. That doesn't really flow off the tongue, does it (laughs)?

One of the things that always has fascinated me about you is that while you've been labeled a Southern rocker, your biggest following always has been in the New York area.

The Brothers have always drawn real well from Chicago east, because we played there more than we played out west. We're playing more out west now than we ever have. The Fillmore East was up there and Watkins Glen, N.Y. A whole bunch of stuff happened up there in the New York area. But it goes further than that, from Maine to Miami.

I'm glad that I can go and hit the smaller places, like the opera houses instead of all those sheds, because you get more of a closeness with the people. You can contain the sound. We use real small amps and these huge mains. I play a lot of acoustic guitar. The whole thing is just different.

Then after that, I'll play with the Brothers at the Beacon Theater for 18 nights in March, which is like playing in a place that my band would play with the Brothers. We really try to touch the people. It's kind of hard to do outside, especially if the wind is blowing. It's hard to do 'Stormy Monday' blues in the sunshine. You know what I'm talking about (laughs)?

You need that smokey intimacy.

There you go. That pool room effect.

You have the distinction of playing to the largest audience in U.S. concert history. What do you remember and what did you enjoy most about the Watkin Glens show with the Dead and The Band?

Leaving. There was a whole sea of folks and it really scared me. The helicopter was my first and last ride. That really scared me. The guy was drunk and just back from Vietnam. He was loaded. God, he did one of those quick U-turns. That was just a bad day for me.

The Brothers and the Dead always have shared an audience but never more so than now, since the death of Jerry Garcia and the break up of the band.

We love it. They're more than welcomed. Deadheads are more than welcomed.

Well now, there's Gregg Allman and Friends and there's Phil Lesh & Friends, which Derek and Warren Haynes are involved with. Since you share so many fans, do you think there ever might be a joint tour between you and Phil, like Phil recently did with Bob Dylan?

I don't know. I've never even really thought about it.

Do you think it would be worthwhile?

It might just be.

This is a tough question for me to ask you. I'll preface by saying that I've spoken to Butch Trucks about how the Brothers used to party hard and how in more recent years, the band's music and memories are much better now from being sober. You've relayed that in a song on 'Searchin' for Simplicity' called 'Love the Poison.' Could you comment on your sobriety and how it's helped you to improve personally and professionally? For instance, if you hadn't stopped drinking, would you have the energy to enjoy both the Brothers and the Friends the way you do?

If I hadn't stopped drinking, I'd be dead. It got that bad. I can feel things and see better. All five sense are better, of course. My senses were dulled for a long time. They're still waking up. Yes, we do collaborate more between us in the Brothers. And with the oncoming of Oteil and Derek Trucks, it's a big rejuvenation of the whole thing. It's smooth sailing with the Brothers and my band too. I'm happier than a clam, naturally. And I feel like I deserve it too.

It's just so cool to see you out there more, talking to folks and getting all the attention you deserve. As far as recordings go, what do you think will be next?

Well, I don't know. We're going to get real busy here pretty soon, because we've got to go back into the studio with the Brothers. It's been a couple of years now. We had a couple of live records that came out. The one thing I've always been short of is time, but we'll get it done. I'll get in the studio with my boys one of these days.

Do you think something will be out by this time next year?

I don't know, man. It's like the wine maker. There'll be no wine till it's time.

Well, that's good, because 'Searching for Simplicity' came out real good that way, taking your time with it.

It took me a couple of years. After I got the music done, I realized I was too messed up to sing it, so I had to shelve it for almost a year. So the whole damn thing took about two years to do. That's ridiculous. It won't happen again.

With Derek and Oteil, you have additional songwriters. Will they come up with songs for the next album?

I'm sure they will. The same thing happened when we got Allen Woody and Warren Haynes. It's new blood in the game. It just rejuvenates everybody. And you've got to keep up with those young guys. You can't let them pass ya' (laughs).

It was great to hear about you playing the Fillmore with Gov't Mule and John Popper. There's no hard feelings about Allen and Warren leaving the Brothers to pursue the Mule fulltime?

No, not with me. I can only speak for me, bro. The playing that night was so good and tight. It was almost like we rehearsed it. All the biorhythms were on. Everybody knew all the keys. Whoever was going to make the cues in the songs, the rest of the guys kept an eye on him, and bam! It was tighter than a well rope.

What do you think of this young jam band scene that you've had such an enormous influence on? Are these young bands and their fans making you proud?

Yes, they really are, man. There's some real bullshit music out there, but you'll notice the blues hangs on.

Yeah, the jam scene has a good foundation.

Yes, it does.

I've talked with Warren about how the best rock music has a blues foundation. Without it, the music doesn't last. It's just another fad.

Made in America, that's a good foundation (laughs).

What do you think Duane would think of these hundreds of jam bands?

Oh man, Duane would be on fire. Shit yeah.

Do you think he celebrated the band's 30th anniversary up in rock 'n' roll heaven?

I think he's loving it.

Butch had an excellent quote about Derek. He thinks Duane's in there somewhere.

You never know.

You've loved motorcycles since you were a little kid riding dirt bikes.

I've got three of them sitting out in the garage.

What do you love most about riding Harleys?

Well, it starts somewhere between your knees, works on up to your crotch. It's just that big rumble of power. If you're cruising, it doesn't matter how fast you go, they're so nice and loud. And you've got Mother Nature blowing through your hair in some states (laughs) and your helmet in others. Especially where I live now, I mean there's no traffic. There's just big oak trees and moss. Ahh, it's a beautiful place to ride.