Jeff’s Playlist: Laid Back

Gregg Allman — Laid Back

I don’t know where that extra ‘g’ came from, but I’ve seen it both ways. We’ll just go with “Gregg” for now. 

I have been lis­ten­ing to this album since it was released in 1973. That was such a great year for rock releas­es and, in my opin­ion, the best. This is a clas­sic exam­ple of that.

This album was a big hit in my cir­cle of friends since we all grew up lis­ten­ing to the Allman Brothers. It is great all the way through although I’ve nev­er been a fan of  “rock gospel” like “Will the Circle Be Unbroken.” I guess you’ve got to end with a prayer.

Of course, “Midnight Rider” (writ­ten by Allman and Payne) and “These Days” (writ­ten by Jackson Browne) are clas­sics, but I have got­ten the most out of the songs “Queen of Hearts” and “Multi-Colored Lady,” — beau­ti­ful ballads.

Album Information

All tracks com­posed by Gregg Allman; except where indicated

1.         “Midnight Rider”                  Allman, Robert Kim Payne            4:28
2.         “Queen of Hearts”                                                                       6:17
3.         “Please Call Home”                                                                    2:48
4.         “Don’t Mess Up a Good Thing”      Oliver Sain                           4:13
5.         “These Days”                                 Jackson Browne                   3:56
6.         “Multi-Colored Lady”                                                                    4:55
7.         “All My Friends”                             Scott Boyer                           4:32
8.         “Will the Circle Be Unbroken”        radi­tion­al; arranged  by Allman and Johnny Sandlin 4:49

Total length:  35:27

Gregg Allman – vocals, organ, acoustic gui­tar
Bill Stewart – drums
Chuck Leavell – acoustic and elec­tric pianos, vibes
Tommy Talton – acoustic, elec­tric and slide gui­tars, dobro and tam­bourine
Scott Boyer – acoustic, elec­tric and steel gui­tars, elec­tric piano
David Brown – bass
Buzz Feiten – gui­tar
Charlie Hayward – bass
Paul Hornsby – organ, key­boards, clavinet
Jai Johanny Johanson – per­cus­sion, con­ga
Carl Hall – back­ground vocals
Hilda Harris – back­ground vocals
Cissy Houston – back­ground vocals
Emily Houston – back­ground vocals
June McGruder – back­ground vocals
Helene Miles – back­ground vocals
Linda November – back­ground vocals
Eileen Gilbert – back­ground vocals
Maretha Stewart – back­ground vocals
Albertine Robinson – back­ground vocals
Jim Nalls – gui­tar
David “Fathead” Newman – sax­o­phone
Johnny Sandlin – bass
Butch Trucks – per­cus­sion, cabasa
Ed Freeman – strings and horn arrange­ments, con­duc­tor
Max Cahn – violin[citation need­ed]
Tony Posk – violin[citation needed]

Production
Johnny Sandlin – pro­duc­er, arranger, engi­neer
David Boyd – per­son­al man­ag­er
Ovie Sparks – engi­neer
Buddy Thornton – engi­neer
George Marino – engi­neer, mas­ter­ing
Jim Reeves – engi­neer
Abdul Mati Klarwein – album cov­er art

Released       October 1973
Recorded       March 1973 Capricorn Sound Studios Macon GA Record Plant NYC
Length            35:27
Label             Capricorn
Producer        Johnny Sandlin Gregg Allman