Gregg Allman has led a tumultuous and often tragic life. Following the murder of his father shortly after his second birthday, Gregg faced the losses of his brother Duane and later his bandmates Berry Oakley, Lamar Williams and Allen Woody. Along the way, he has suffered through addiction issues as well as six broken marriages. Allman doesn’t shy away from any of these topics in his forthright new autobiography written with Alan Light, My Cross to Bear. Of course, he has achieved a great measure of career success and what makes his story so gripping is the juxtaposition between the calamitous aspects and the majestic musical ones.
Our sister-site Relix.com is now offering an excerpt from My Cross to Bear, a passage that looks back at a formative era for The Allman Brothers Band. Duane Allman assembled the group in March 1969, completing the lineup by inviting his younger brother to return to Jacksonville, Fla., from an extended Los Angeles sojourn. It was all fast and furious from there, with the band soon moving to Atlanta at the behest of manager Phil Walden, performing free shows in Atlanta’s Piedmont Park and soon making their initial foray into the Northeast where the group swiftly discovered an enthusiastic fanbase that remains supportive to the present. In September 1969, The Allman Brothers Band cut their debut, self-titled album at New York City’s Atlantic Studios, which featured five Gregg Allman original compositions, including “Dreams,” “Whipping Post” and “It’s Not My Cross to Bear.”
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