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Two classics from the late, great Gregg Allman are returning to print this August from Mercury/UMe. Allman’s 1973 solo debut Laid Back and his 1974 live LP The Gregg Allman Tour will both be reissued on vinyl, while Laid Back will be greatly expanded as a 2-CD Deluxe Edition.
Laid Back first arrived in stores on the Capricorn label a few months following the release of The Allman Brothers Band’s acclaimed Brothers and Sisters. While both albums were recorded roughly concurrently, with the artist once likening Laid Back to his “mistress,” the sound of the LP was quite different than the work with his famous band despite guest appearances from Jaimoe, Butch Trucks, and Chuck Leavell. Co-produced by Johnny Sandlin, the Allman Brothers’ producer and Gregg’s old bandmate in The Hour Glass, it explored Gregg’s soul, R&B, and gospel influences and even featured horn and string orchestrations. Guests outside of the band’s sphere included background vocalist Cissy Houston and saxophone great David “Fathead” Newman. Upon its release in October 1973, Laid Back reached No. 13 on the Billboard chart and yielded his hit solo version of the AMB’s “Midnight Rider.”
The album will be reissued as a remastered and expanded deluxe set on 2CDs and digitally, with an additional 26 tracks (16 of which are previously unreleased), for a grand total of 34 tracks. These bonus tracks encompass demos, alternate takes, early and rough mixes, rehearsal takes, demos, live performances, and outtakes. Allman Brothers Band historian John Lynskey has provided new liner notes for the CD edition, and the booklet also features previously unpublished photos of the artist.
Allman’s version of Jackson Browne’s “These Days” is now streaming. The original album will also be reissued in a 180-gram black vinyl version and a 180-gram, limited purple-and-white marbled color vinyl edition.
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The Gregg Allman Tour, chronicling Allman’s solo tour in support of Laid Back and featuring a 24-piece orchestra, will also be reissued on vinyl as a 2-LP set. Recorded at Carnegie Hall on April 10 and 11 and the Capitol Theatre on April 13, 1974, the album captures Allman’s performances supported by the band Cowboy (Scott Boyer, Randall Bramblett, David Brown, Chuck Leavell, Bill Stewart, Tommy Talton) plus the orchestra. The Gregg Allman Tour boasts a song that never made it to a studio release, “Oncoming Traffic,” as well as Cowboy’s solo spots on their songs “Time Will Take Us” and “Where Can You Go?,” the latter with Allman playing keyboards.
Both Laid Back on 2-CD and 1-LP vinyl and The Gregg Allman Tour on 2-LP vinyl will hit stores on August 30. See below for track listings and pre-order links!
Gregg Allman, Laid Back: Deluxe Edition (Capricorn LP CP 0116, 1973 – reissued Mercury/UMe, 2019) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)
CD 1
- Midnight Rider
- Queen Of Hearts
- Please Call Home
- Don’t Mess Up A Good Thing
- These Days
- Multi-Colored Lady
- All My Friends
- Will The Circle Be Unbroken
Early Mixes
- Midnight Rider (Early Mix)*
- Queen Of Hearts (Early Mix)
- Please Call Home (Early Mix)*
- Don’t Mess Up A Good Thing (Early Mix)*
- These Days (Early Mix)*
- Multi-Colored Lady (Early Mix)
- All My Friends (Early Mix)*
- Will The Circle Be Unbroken (Early Mix)*
CD 2
Demos, Outtakes & Alternates
- Never Knew How Much (Demo)**
- All My Friends (Demo)
- Please Call Home (Demo)*
- Queen Of Hearts (Demo)*
- God Rest His Soul (Solo Guitar & Vocal Demo)
- Rollin’ Stone (Catfish Blues) (Solo Guitar & Vocal Demo)**
- Will The Circle Be Unbroken (Solo Guitar & Vocal Demo)
- Multi-Colored Lady (Solo Guitar & Vocal Demo)
- These Days (Solo Guitar, Piano & Vocal Demo)*
- Shadow Dream Song (Solo Guitar & Vocal Demo)
- Wasted Words**
- These Days (Alternate Version with Pedal Steel Guitar)
- Multi-Colored Lady (Rough Mix)*
- These Days (Rough Mix)*
- God Rest His Soul (Rehearsal)
- Midnight Rider (Rehearsal)*
- Song For Adam / Shadow Dream Song (Solo Guitar & Vocal Demo)
- Melissa (Live at the Capitol Theatre)*
(*) denotes previously unreleased track
(**) denotes previously unreleased mix
Gregg Allman, Laid Back [Vinyl] (Capricorn LP CP 0116, 1973 – reissued Mercury/UMe, 2019) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)
Side 1
- Midnight Rider
- Queen Of Hearts
- Please Call Home
- Don’t Mess Up A Good Thing
Side 2
- These Days
- Multi-Colored Lady
- All My Friends
- Will The Circle Be Unbroken
Gregg Allman, The Gregg Allman Tour [Vinyl] (Capricorn LP 2C 0141, 1974 – reissued Mercury/UMe, 2019) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)
Disc One
Side 1
- Don’t Mess Up A Good Thing
- Queen Of Hearts
- Feel So Bad
Side 4
- Turn On Your Love Light
- Oncoming Traffic
- Will The Circle Be Unbroken
Disc Two
Side 2
- Stand Back
- Time Will Take Us – Cowboy
- Where Can You Go? – Cowboy featuring Gregg Allman
Side 3
- Double Cross
- Dreams
- Are You Lonely For Me Baby
Release Round-Up: Week of August 29
Release Round-Up: Week of September 8
Looking forward to the Laid Back reissue for sure, but a missed opportunity to not reissue The Gregg Allman Tour on CD, with an expanded release featuring more songs. Fans have clamored for an expanded “Tour” CD for ages now.
There’s an obvious question unanswered in this post – why is the live album not being reissued on cd? Has anyone from Second Disc tried to get an answer?
The fact of the matter is likely a simple one: the label doesn’t believe there’s a sufficient market for a CD reissue of a title that (however out of print) has previously been released in the format. The numbers back this up. Vinyl is a “new” market and (knock wood) doing well, hence the increased number of vinyl reissues vs. CDs of late. Would an expanded reissue of “Tour” have been nice? Sure. But considerable time and expense goes into obtaining consent for an expanded live album from all of the musicians (yup, there’s a large orchestra on this one!), tape research, mixing, and so on. It’s likely the costs aren’t justified based on what the predictions of sales would be. It’s sad, but true. I’m very grateful that “Laid Back” is being reissued in such lavish form, and I know that Bill Levenson and the team at UMe care a lot about doing right by the Allmans. Hopefully there’s more to come.
I get all that, but…. did you ask them?
Hey Ed, with all due respect, I don’t have to ask them to know the answer. I’ve been writing for this site for nearly a decade, producing reissues professionally for much of that time, and have asked the question more times than I can count. I’m a CD guy myself. But there’s a definite trend in this business. If a label feels there’s money to be made on a CD release, they’ll do it. If they don’t, they won’t. The information on which they base those decisions is proprietary. If you want to see more CDs, buy them. Tell your friends to buy them. Tell your local stores to stock them. Keep commenting on sites like this how much you want them; industry folks are reading. But scoffing at vinyl reissues (I’m not accusing you of that, Ed – just generally speaking) isn’t going to prolong the life of the CD. Vinyl is currently extending the life of physical media, which helps the CD. I hope both formats (as well as digital) coexist for a long time.
Hi Joe, Fair enough. I was simply looking for definitive confirmation. While I’m here and for the record (pun intended), I do buy cd’s and patronize local independents in my vicinity in hopes of ensuring their longevity – the stores and the cd’s. As for vinyl, I’m indifferent. I simply prefer cd’s.
Well, in so far as most fans willing to buy Laid Back again would likely be willing to but “Tour” again or, perhaps, buy it now for the first time?
I mean, at this point, it’s devoted Gregg Allman/ABB fans buying this stuff. Not as many “casual” fans. For those folks, a bargain Mercury “best of” collection will do the trick. They aren’t any more likely to buy a two-disc Laid Back either.
The way to generate interest in a an older title like “Tour” is to expand it, and include a hit like “Midnight Rider” along with whatever other songs Gregg played.
I mean, some of the reissued titles I see articles about here seem like things that are more niche or obscure than Gregg Allman.
Fans posting at a place like the Hoffman forums (Where a lot of fans have expressed interest in an expanded Gregg Allman Tour CD over the years) are a small, hardcore bunch and not indicative of the general public. But, again, the general public is *not* being targeted with this deluxe Laid Back. It’s the serious fans.
Those same fans are, I’ll bet, about as likely to buy a deluxe “GA Tour” as they are a deluxe Laid Back.
I agree with you guys, and I do all I can to push the CD format as much as possible. It is indeed likely that both titles would attract a similar audience, sales-wise, but the time and expense of putting together a deluxe “Tour” may be significantly greater (especially if consent needs to be obtained from every musician onstage). If the label doesn’t feel the economics are there, they simply won’t proceed. I’ve pitched a great many titles over the years for our own little imprint that I personally have thought would do well, but the higher-uppers have felt differently. Like everything else, it all comes down to the bottom line. Should we get a chance to discuss Gregg’s catalog with the personnel involved in the future, however, I’ll make sure to mention the interest! (And…just putting this out there because you never know…the time involved in putting together a deluxe “Tour” might be much greater than “Laid Back,” and the vinyl reissue could be a stop-gap to get the album back into print until that happens. Anything is truly possible!)
Can not wait to hear these reissue. I was there for several of Gregg’s shows and he was ‘on’ these nights. You could tell he was doing ok and not falling off his perch as I’ve seen him do before with the Brothers.