Track Listing

1. Midnight Rider
2. Queen of Hearts
3. Please Call Home
4. Don't Mess Up a Good Thing
5. These Days
6. Multi-Colored Lady
7. All My Friends
8. Will the Circle Be Unbroken

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #16833 in Music
• Brand: ALLMAN,GREGG BAND
• Released on: 2001-05-01
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered
• Dimensions: .19 pounds

Album Description
Japanese only SHM-CD (Super High Material CD - playable on all CD players) paper sleeve pressing. Universal. 2008.

Amazon.com
By the end of 1973, the Allman Brothers Band seemed to have it all nailed down. They'd proven their mettle with a fine synthesis of blues, jazz, folk, and country influences; expanded upon it with the definitive Fillmore East set; and moved forward after the separate losses of guitarist Duane Allman and bassist Berry Oakley. The group's myriad strengths, in fact, might've been the reason that one of their most obvious gifts--Gregg Allman's pained, growling voice--was sometimes overlooked. Laid Back, Gregg Allman's first solo disc, seems in part an effort to gain a little more recognition. It worked, particularly given the strong radio response to its opening track, a loping remake of "Midnight Rider." Likewise, much of the album's remainder finds Allman tweaking the band's blues ("Queen of Hearts") and country sides (a cover of Jackson Browne's "These Days"); horns and gospelish backing vocals add to the personal, often mournful feel. Much more coherent than its dated cover art (an either childlike or blasted-out-of-his-gourd Gregg ignoring a blazing volcano) indicates, Laid Back is an often convincing version of the man's music. For Allman, it would get much, much worse before it would be this good again. --Rickey Wright

Customer Reviews

A Southern Blues Masterpiece
Webster's dictionary defines a masterpiece as "An artistic work done with consummate skill". Gregg's "Laid Back" certainly qualifies that definition. Almost as spectacular is the fact that this was his first solo effort. Blues imply melancholy and this album is loaded with it. What sets this music apart from others, is the cleansed feeling it gives you after it ends. It's as if you have been baptized in cool southern waters. "These Days", "Queen of Hearts", "Please Call Home", and "Multicolored Lady" are four of the best but don't miss the rest as this album has more "hits" than some artists collect in their entire career! After I first heard the lyric, "Please don't confront me with my failures, I'm aware of them" from "These Days", I have felt it typifies the mood Gregg was in and what blues was all about. This was released in 1973 but sounds as fresh today as it did then. This is the Gregg Allman I'll remember.

Strongest Allman Brothers Solo Project Ever
For Allman Brothers fans who have all the band's classic albums in their collection and are still hungry for more, or those who would like to hear some variation from the basic Allman Brothers' sound, this is the album to get. "Laid Back" is an outstanding collection of songs, imaginatively arranged and performed with passion and grace by singer/organ player Gregg. On his first solo outing Gregg strays far from the expected twin-guitar-southern-rock-blues sound, and instead offers horns, jazzy arrangements, strong hints of gospel, and even a Jackson Browne cover ("These Days"), with it all working wonderfully. His next album, "Playin' Up A Storm", is similar but not as strong. After that his solo albums became copies of the Allman Brothers Band sound.

Just One Hell Of An Album
One Hell Of An Album! What do you do after 4 great studio albums, Filmore East and Eat A Peach. If you're Brother Gregg Allman, you harness the band and lay down some true beauties. Queen Of Hearts stands alongside Gregg's very best vocal performances as well as one of his absolute best compositions. Mess Up A Good Thing is Southern, it's got absolutely rock solid bottom. These Days is truely heartfelt, gut-wreching, oh so compelling, as good today as when it hit the streets almost thirty years ago. Still, I believe his best studio record.