Melissa
Eastern honey bee
Pronunciation	Melissa
Gender	Female
Origin
Word/Name	Greek
Meaning	Honey bee
Region of origin	Greece
Other names
Related names	Melita, Mel, Melina

Look up Melissa in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Melissa is a given name for a female child. The name comes from the Greek word μέλισσα (melissa), "honey bee",^[1] which in turn comes from μέλι (meli), "honey".^[2][3] In Ireland it is sometimes used as a feminine form of the Gaelic male name Maoilíosa, which means "servant of Jesus." Melissa also refers to the plant known as lemon balm (family Lamiaceae; genus and species Melissa officinalis).

According to Greek mythology, perhaps reflecting Minoan culture in making her the daughter of a Cretan king Melissos, Melissa was a nymph who discovered and taught the use of honey and from whom bees were believed to have received their name.^[4] She was one of the nymphic nurses of Zeus, sister to Amaltheia, but rather than feeding the baby milk, Melissa, appropriately for her name, fed him honey. Or, alternatively, the bees brought honey straight to his mouth. Because of her, Melissa became the name of all the nymphs who cared for the patriarch god as a baby.^[5]

Popularity[link]

Melissa was not a popular name in the United States until the 1950s. Very popular during the decades from the 1960s through the 1990s, today Melissa is somewhat of a rare baby name; in 2010, fewer than 2,500 girls were given the name, compared with around 10,000 in 1993 and well over 30,000 at the name's peak popularity in 1979.^[6] In 2007, Melissa was the 137th most popular name for girls born in the United States, dropping steadily from its peak of second place in 1977. It was among the top ten most popular names for girls from 1967 to 1984.^[7] The name "Melissa" was also the name of a song by the Allman Brothers, which has enjoyed renewed popularity in the 2000s due to its feature in a commercial for Cingular/AT&T Wireless cell phone company and the use of it in a scene in Brokeback Mountain. "Melissa" was also prominently featured in the 2005 film House of D. Famous celebrities such as Melissa Joan Hart, have used the name.

Mythology[link]

Ancient Greek Mythology[link]

The name "Melissa" has a long history with roots reaching back to even before Ancient Greece. For this reason, in part, there are several versions of the story surrounding the mythological character Melissa, especially in how she came to care for the infant Zeus. In one version, Melissa, a mountain-nymph hid Zeus from his father, Cronus, who was intent on devouring his progeny.^[8] She fed Zeus goat's milk from Amalthea and fed him honey, giving him a permanent taste for it even once he came to rule on Mount Olympus. Cronus became aware of Melissa's role in thwarting his murderous design and changed her into an earthworm. Zeus, however, took pity and transformed her into a beautiful bee.

Nymphs, such as Melissa, played an important role in mythic accounts of the origin of basic institutions and skills, as in the training of the culture heroes Dionysos and Aristaeus or the civilizing behaviors taught by the bee nymph.^[9] The antiquarian Mnaseas' account of Melissa gives a good picture of her function as in this respect. According to folklore, Melissa first found a honeycomb, tasted it, then mixed it with water as a beverage. She taught her companions to make the drink and eat the food, and thus the creature was named for her, and she was made its guardian.^[10] This was part of the Nymphs' achievement of bringing men out of their wild state. Under the guidance of Melissa, the Nymphs not only turned man away from eating each other to eating only this product of the forest trees, but also introduced into the world of men the feeling of modesty.

In addition, the ancient Greek philosopher, Porphyry (AD 233 to C. 304) wrote of the priestesses of Demeter, known as Melissae ("bees"), who were initiates of the chthonian goddess.^[11] The story surrounding Melissae tells of an elderly priestess of Demeter, named Melissa, initiated into her mysteries by the goddess herself.^[12] When Melissa's neighbors tried to make her reveal the secrets of her initiation, she remained silent, never letting a word pass from her lips. In anger, the women tore her to pieces, but Demeter sent a plague upon them, causing bees to be born from Melissa's dead body. From Porphyry's writings, scholars have also learned that Melissa was the name of the moon goddess Artemis and the goddess who took suffering away from mothers giving birth. Souls were symbolized by bees and it was Melissa who drew souls down to be born. She was connected with the idea of a periodic regeneration.

Hieroglyphics[link]

Jacob Bryant, a significant British scholar and late eighteenth to early nineteenth century mythographer, recognized that as all the great occurrences of old were represented by hieroglyphics, we may in consequence of it perceive many different emblems, which manifestly relate to the same history.^[13] One such instance relates to the deity Melitta or Melissa — for the name is given in both ways — who was in particular described under various symbols.

Melitta[link]

Within a fragment of the Orphic poetry, quoted by Natalis Comes, Melitta is spoken of as a hive, and called Seira, or the hive of Venus:

"Let us celebrate the hive of Venus, who rose from the sea: that hive of many names: the mighty fountain, from whence all kings are descended; from whence all the winged and immortal Loves were again produced."^[14]

From the works of Hesychius, it is clear that the word Seira among other interpretations signified Melitta, a bee; also a hive, or house of Melitta, "[s]uch is the sense of it in this passage: and [she] was thus represented in ancient mythology, as being the receptacle, from whence issued that swarm, by which the world was peopled.".^[15] With that said, Seira was none other than the goddess Demeter, the supposed mother of mankind; who was also styled as Melitta and Melissa, and was looked upon as the Venus of the East. This Deity, Melitta, was the same as Mylitta, the well-known Venus of the Babylonians and Arabians.^[16] Melissa or Melitta is also said to be the mother-wife of Phoroneus, the first that reigned, in whose days the dispersion of mankind occurred, whereas before all had been in harmony and only one language was spoken. Melitta, being the feminine of Melitz, the Mediator, consequently signifies Melitta the Mediatrix for sinful mortals.

Poetry[link]

The 16th century Italian poet Ariosto used the name "Melissa" for a good fairy (the good sorceress and prophetess who lived in Merlin's cave) in his poem "Orlando Furioso." The following is an ode to Melissa's birthday by Thomas Blacklock, a Scottish poet from the late 1700s.

ODE, ON MELISSA'S BIRTH-DAY[link]

"Ye nymphs and swains, whom love inspires
With all his pure and faithful fires,
Hither with joyful steps repair;
You who his tenderest transports share
For lo ! in beauty's gayest pride,
Summer expands her bosom wide ;
The Sun no more in clouds inshriu'd,
Darts all his glories unconfin'd;
The feather'd choir from every spray
Salute Melissa's natal day.

Hither ye nymphs and shepherds haste,
Each with a flow'ry chaplet grae'd,
With transport while the shades resound,
And Nature spreads her charms around;
While ev'ry breeze exhales perfumes,
And Bion his mute pipe resumes;
With Bion long disus'd to play,
Salute Melissa's natal day.

For Bion long deplor'd his pain
Thro' woods and devious wilds in vain;
At last impell'd by deep despair,
The swain preferr'd his ardent pray'r;
His ardent pray'r Melissa heard,
And ever)* latent sorrow cheer'd,
His days with social rapture ble~t,
And scoth'd each anxious care to rest.
Tune, shepherds, tune the festive lay,
And hail Melissa's natal day.

With Nature's incense to the skies
Let all your fervid wishes rise,
That Heav'n and Farth may join to shed
Their choicest blessings on her head;
That years protracted, as they flow,
May pleasures more sublime bestow ;
While by succeeding years surpast,
The happiest still may be the last;
And thus each circling Sun display,
A mere auspicious natal day."

References[link]

External links[link]

• Baby names

The Allman Brothers Band
Background information
Origin	Jacksonville, Florida, U.S.A.
Genres	Southern rock, blues rock, folk rock, hard rock, blues
Years active	1969–1976, 1978–1982, 1989–present
Labels	Capricorn, PolyGram, Arista, Epic, Sanctuary
Associated acts	Gov't Mule, The Dead, The Derek Trucks Band, Derek and the Dominos, Hour Glass, Great Southern, Sea Level
Website	www.allmanbrothersband.com
Members
Gregg Allman Butch Trucks Jai Johanny "Jaimoe" Johanson Warren Haynes Marc Quiñones Oteil Burbridge Derek Trucks
Past members
Duane Allman Dickey Betts Berry Oakley Chuck Leavell Lamar Williams Dan Toler David Goldflies David "Frankie" Toler Mike Lawler Allen Woody Johnny Neel Jack Pearson Jimmy Herring

The Allman Brothers Band is an American rock/blues band once based in Macon, Georgia. The band was formed in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1969 by brothers Duane Allman (slide guitar and lead guitar) and Gregg Allman (vocals, organ, songwriting), who were supported by Dickey Betts (lead guitar, vocals, songwriting), Berry Oakley (bass guitar), Butch Trucks (drums), and Jai Johanny "Jaimoe" Johanson (drums).^[1] While the band has been called the principal architects of Southern rock,^[2] they also incorporate elements of blues, jazz, and country music, and their live shows have jam band-style improvisation and instrumental songs.

The band achieved its artistic and commercial breakthrough in 1971 with the release of At Fillmore East, featuring extended renderings of their songs "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed" and "Whipping Post" and often considered one of the best live albums ever made. George Kimball of Rolling Stone magazine hailed them as "the best damn rock and roll band this country has produced in the past five years."^[3] A few months later, group leader Duane Allman was killed in a motorcycle accident. The group survived that and the death of bassist Oakley in another motorcycle accident a year later; with replacement members Chuck Leavell and Lamar Williams, the Allman Brothers Band achieved its peak commercial success in 1973 with the album Brothers and Sisters and the hit single "Ramblin' Man". Internal turmoil overtook the band soon after; the group dissolved in 1976, reformed briefly at the end of the decade with additional personnel changes, and dissolved again in 1982.

In 1989, the group reformed with some new members and has been recording and touring since. A series of personnel changes in the late 1990s was capped by the departure of Betts. The group found stability during the 2000s with bassist Oteil Burbridge, Warren Haynes and Derek Trucks, (the nephew of their drummer), serving as its guitarists, and became renowned for their month-long string of shows in New York City each spring. The band has been awarded eleven gold and five platinum albums between 1971 and 2005^[4] and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995. Rolling Stone ranked them 52nd on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time in 2004.^[5]

Band history[link]

Beginnings[link]

The band was formed in Macon, GA, and consisted of Duane and Gregg Allman, Dickey Betts, Berry Oakley, Butch Trucks, and Jai Johanny Johanson.^[1] Brothers Duane and Gregg Allman grew up in Daytona Beach, Florida, and had been playing music publicly since the early 1960s. They formed a garage band called the Escorts in 1963, which evolved into the Allman Joys in 1965.^[6] From there the brothers formed Hour Glass and moved to Los Angeles. The Hour Glass released two failed albums on Liberty Records in 1967 and 1968.^[1][6] They were all released from the contract except Gregg, who Liberty thought might have some commercial potential.^[6] Gregg and Duane had previously met Butch Trucks and his band The 31st of February while touring as the Allman Joys, and decided to record an album with them in September 1968, shortly after the breakup of Hour Glass. This album was eventually released as Duane & Greg Allman on the Bold Records label in 1972. Duane Allman played on Wilson Pickett's hit version of "Hey Jude" and became the primary session guitarist for FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, recording with Aretha Franklin, King Curtis, Percy Sledge, and others.^[6] Allman started jamming with Dickey Betts, Butch Trucks and Berry Oakley in Jacksonville. Eddie Hinton, with whom Duane Allman had played in Muscle Shoals, was considered to play guitar, but Hinton refused in order to join the Muscle Shoals studio band.^{[citation needed]} Duane brought in Jaimoe, a drummer he had played with in the past.

Jaimoe, percussionist

Gregg was in Los Angeles, fulfilling the Hour Glass contract with Liberty Records. He was summoned back to Jacksonville.

Duane Allman playing guitar at the Fillmore East, 1971

The Allman Brothers Band played numerous shows in the South before releasing their debut album, The Allman Brothers Band in 1969 to critical acclaim. It featured future jam standards "Whipping Post" and a 12/8 time slide guitar tour de force "Dreams". A cult following began to build.

Idlewild South was released in 1970 to critical success and improved sales. Produced by Tom Dowd it featured the upbeat "Revival" and the moody-but-resolute "Midnight Rider". After completing the Idlewild South sessions Duane Allman joined Eric Clapton and his ad hoc Derek and the Dominos to record the classic Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs.

1971 saw the release of a live album, At Fillmore East, recorded on Friday and Saturday March 12 and March 13 of that year at the legendary rock venue the Fillmore East. The album was another huge hit. Rolling Stone listed At Fillmore East as number 49 on of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.^[7] It showcased the band's mix of jazz, classical music, hard rock, and blues, with arrangements propelled by Duane's and Betts' dual lead guitars, Oakley's long, melodic "third guitar" bass runs, the rhythm section's pervasively percussive yet dynamically flexible foundation, and Gregg Allman's gritty Ray Charles-like vocals and piano/organ play which all completed the band's wall of sound. The rendering of Blind Willie McTell's "Statesboro Blues" was a straight-ahead opener, the powerful "Whipping Post" (with its famous 11/4 bass opening) became the standard for an epic jam that never lost interest, while the ethereal-to-furious "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed" invited comparisons to John Coltrane and Miles Davis.^[8][9]

The Allman Brothers were the last act to play the Fillmore East before it closed in June 1971. The final shows achieved legendary status, partly due to bands literally playing all night; in 2005 Gregg Allman would relate how the jamming musicians lost track of time, not realizing it was dawn until the side doors of the Fillmore were opened and the morning light poured in.

The band continued to tour; decades later, a special-order recording of one of their final concerts in this lineup, S.U.N.Y. at Stonybrook: Stonybrook, NY 9/19/71, would be released.^[10] It reveals that Duane Allman's slide guitar playing on "Dreams" and other songs was touching the farthest reaches of both that instrument and his imagination.^[10]

Loss and triumph[link]

Dickey Betts on guitar

Duane Allman died not long after the Fillmore East album was certified gold, killed in a motorcycle accident on October 29, 1971 in Macon, Georgia, when he collided with the rear of a flatbed truck that had turned in front of him. The group decided to carry on. The album continued to gain FM radio airplay, with stations even playing 13-minute and 23-minute selections.

Dickey Betts filled Duane's former role in completing the last album Duane participated in, Eat a Peach, released in February 1972. The album was often softer ("Blue Sky", "Little Martha") and wistful in tone ("Melissa", "Ain't Wastin' Time No More"), capped by the 34-minute "Mountain Jam" reverie taken from the Fillmore East concerts. Writer Greil Marcus described parts of Eat a Peach as an "after-the-rain celebration... ageless, seamless... front-porch music stolen from the utopia of shared southern memory."

The group played some concerts as a five-man band, then decided to add Chuck Leavell, a pianist, to gain another lead instrument but without, however, directly replacing Duane. This new configuration debuted on November 2, 1972, on ABC's In Concert late-night television program.

Days later, on November 11, 1972, Berry Oakley died from head injuries he received in another motorcycle accident near Napier Avenue and Inverness Street, only three blocks from the site of Duane's accident the previous year. The common retelling that it was at exactly the same site as Duane's death is incorrect, as is the legend that the Eat a Peach album is named for what was being carried by the truck involved in Allman's accident.^[11] Both Duane and Berry were 24 years old, yet another coincidence.

Oakley was replaced by Lamar Williams at the end of 1972, in time to finish the next album, Brothers and Sisters, released in August 1973.

Dickey Betts was becoming the group's unofficial leader.^[6] Brothers and Sisters included the group's best known hits, "Ramblin' Man" and "Jessica", both written by Betts; the former reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 as a single, while the latter was a seven-minute instrumental hit.

The Allman Brothers Band had become one of the top concert draws in the country. Probably their most celebrated performance of the era took place on July 28, 1973 at the Summer Jam at Watkins Glen outside Watkins Glen, New York, in a joint appearance with The Grateful Dead and The Band. An estimated 600,000 people made it to the racetrack where this massive outdoor festival took place.

In the wake of the Allman Brothers Band's success, many other Southern rock groups rose to prominence, including the Marshall Tucker Band (who played as the Allman Brothers Band's opening act for many shows on their 1973 tour) and Lynyrd Skynyrd.

Another peak of the Allmans' success came on New Year's Eve, 1973, when promoter Bill Graham arranged for a nationwide radio broadcast of their concert from San Francisco's Cow Palace. New arrangements of familiar tunes such as "You Don't Love Me" went out over the airwaves, as the show stretched out over three sets, with Boz Scaggs sitting in, along with Grateful Dead members Jerry Garcia and Bill Kreutzmann (Allmans and Grateful Dead members guested at each other's shows multiple times in the early 1970s).

Turmoil and dissolution[link]

Gregg Allman, playing organ and singing

Personality conflicts started to tear the band apart, however. Gregg Allman and Dickey Betts both began solo careers, while Allman married Cher, separated quickly, reconciled, and eventually separated again, all in a storm of publicity; drug abuse took its toll on the entire band. Musically, Betts and Leavell were pulling in opposite directions, with Allman trying to mediate.

The tension resulted in the uneven Win, Lose or Draw (1975), with some members not participating on all tracks or doing so only from afar. The few stand-out tracks included a stop-start take on Muddy Waters' "Can't Lose What You Never Had", Betts' instrumental "High Falls", and Allman's Jackson Browne-influenced title song.

The band managed to limp along until 1976, when Gregg Allman was arrested on federal drug charges and agreed to testify against a friend and tour manager and bodyguard for the band, John "Scooter" Herring. Leavell, Johanson, and Williams formed Sea Level, while Betts worked on his solo career. All four swore that they would never work with Allman again.

Meanwhile, Capricorn Records released a compilation album, The Road Goes On Forever, and a poorly received live album, Wipe the Windows, Check the Oil, Dollar Gas. Neither sold very well.

The group reformed in 1978 and released the strong Enlightened Rogues (1979). It featured new members Dan Toler (guitar) and David Goldflies (bass), who replaced Leavell and Williams, both of whom concentrated on Sea Level instead. "Crazy Love" was a minor hit single, and the instrumental "Pegasus" got some airplay, but overall The Allman Brothers Band was no longer as popular as before, and financial woes plagued both the group and Capricorn Records, which collapsed in 1979. PolyGram took over the catalogue, and the Allman Brothers Band signed to Arista Records. The group released a pair of critically slammed albums, firing Jaimoe in the process, and then disbanded once again in early 1982.

Allman quickly formed the Gregg Allman Band with the Toler brothers Dan and David ("Frankie") (drums) in 1982 and began touring small venues and clubs. Betts, Leavell, Trucks and Goldflies formed the band Betts Hall Leavell Trucks (BHLT). Neither garnered attention from any record labels. BHLT would dissolve two years later.

The Allman Brothers Band reunited in 1986 for a pair of benefit concerts for promoter Bill Graham in New York and Macon. Allman, Betts, Trucks, Jaimoe, Leavell, and Dan Toler performed together but no subsequent reunion plans for the band were made. The following year, the Gregg Allman Band and the Dickey Betts Band co-headlined a theatre and club tour. After each band played a set of music, Betts, Allman and the Tolers performed a closing set of Allman Brothers music together.

In 1987, Epic Records signed both Allman and Betts to separate solo contracts. The Gregg Allman Band had a surprise FM hit single with the title track to the 1987 album I'm No Angel. Just Before the Bullets Fly quickly followed from Allman in 1988. The Dickey Betts Band, including Warren Haynes, was also formed during this time and released the album Pattern Disruptive in 1988. This series of collaboration among bandmembers and interest from a major label during the late 1980s laid the groundwork for the next era of Allman Brothers Band activity and success.

Revival[link]

Warren Haynes, vocalist and guitarist

In 1989 The Allman Brothers reunited and returned to popular consciousness of the American public, spurred by Gregg's recent FM radio success, the release of archival material by PolyGram, and the start of regular appearances on the American summer outdoor amphitheatre circuit. Warren Haynes (guitar, vocals), Johnny Neel (keyboards and harmonica), and Allen Woody (bass guitar) joined originals Allman, Betts, Jaimoe and Trucks. Leavell opted to go on tour again with the Rolling Stones, with whom he has been a touring member since 1982.

After the 20th Anniversary tour, the band signed to Epic Records and released Seven Turns (1990), which got excellent reviews. This was followed by Neel's departure and a series of moderately-selling, but critically well-received albums including Shades Of Two Worlds (1991) and Where It All Begins (1994, certified Gold by the RIAA 1998), both featuring new percussionist Marc Quiñones. Warren Haynes and Allen Woody formed their own side project Gov't Mule in 1994. In 1995, the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and in 1996 they won the Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance for "Jessica". When Haynes and Woody decided to concentrate full-time on Gov't Mule in 1997, Haynes was replaced on guitar by Jack Pearson, while Woody was replaced on bass by Oteil Burbridge. Derek Trucks, nephew of original Brother Butch Trucks, replaced Pearson in 1999.

In 2000, the band forced Dickey Betts out for "personal and professional reasons." For this tour, he was replaced by Jimmy Herring. Betts then filed a lawsuit against the other three original members and the summer separation turned into a permanent divorce. Also in 2000, former bassist Allen Woody was found dead on August 26. The band did release the live CD Peakin' at the Beacon that year which chronicled the now-annual March tradition of a many-night stand at the Beacon Theater in New York City. The band has sold out the 2900-seat Upper West Side Manhattan theatre 188 times since 1989. The tradition is known as the "Beacon Run" among fans, who travel from across the United States, Canada and Western Europe to see these annual March and April shows.

2000s onward[link]

Derek Trucks playing slide guitar, 2009

Warren Haynes began appearing with the Allmans again in 2000 and rejoined full-time in 2001, while also maintaining his active schedule with Gov't Mule. (Haynes also toured during this time and later in the decade with former members of the Grateful Dead). Haynes' return marked a new period of stability and productivity for the band after nearly four years of lineup shifts. The Haynes-produced Hittin' the Note was released in 2003 to popular and critical acclaim, as was the Live At the Beacon Theatre DVD film (2003, certified Platinum 2004). The live CD One Way Out (2004) also chronicled the Beacon concerts.

The Allman Brothers garnered back to back Grammy Award nominations in 2003 and 2004 in the category of Best Rock Instrumental for performances of "Instrumental Illness" from Hittin' The Note and One Way Out. In 2003, Rolling Stone magazine named Duane Allman, Warren Haynes, Dickey Betts, and Derek Trucks to their list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time,^[12] with Allman coming in at #2 and Trucks being the youngest guitarist on their list.

The Warren Haynes and Derek Trucks lineup continued the band's connection with younger music fans via concert pairings with popular jam bands The String Cheese Incident, moe, and Dave Matthews Band among others. The Allman Brothers Band continue to be a major attraction at the Bonnaroo Music Festival since 2003. Since 2005, the Allmans have staged their own two day Wanee Music Festival at the Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park in Live Oak, Florida. The Allmans, Gov't Mule and The Derek Trucks Band perform on different stages along with younger roots artists including the North Mississippi Allstars, Robert Randolph and The Family Band, Medeski, Martin and Wood, Devon Allman's Honeytribe, Nickel Creek, Mofro and others.

Allman Brothers songs have been used in various advertising campaigns and television programs, with the most well-known use being that of "Jessica" used in both the 1977 and 2002 formats of the BBC television series Top Gear. "Jessica" was also used in the film Field of Dreams. It was also the opening song of a famous radio show in the State of Bavaria, Germany during the 70s known as "Club 16" (http://peterhammer.de/sound4/br/club16outro.html with an example while the show ends. )

Oteil Burbridge, bass guitarist, 2005

The band cancelled their Beacon run for 2008 due to Gregg Allman recovering from hepatitis C treatments,^[13] but they were back on the road that summer for the amphitheater circuit. On November 20, 2008, The Allman Brothers Band received the Legend Of Live Award at the 2008 Billboard Touring Awards ceremony in New York.^[14] The award recognized "a touring professional who has had a significant and lasting impact on the concert industry."^[15] At the ceremony, Gregg Allman talked about his brother Duane, saying: "It happens to be today would have been his 62nd birthday and I'm sure he's looking down on this and is really proud of us. We'll keep coming back until we can't come back no more."^[14]

The Allman Brothers Band celebrated their 40th anniversary in 2009.^[15] That year's Beacon run also marked the 20th anniversary of their appearances in that venue; and the band focused on paying tribute to Duane, inviting guest appearances from those who had played with him.^[13] The 15-night stand was considered to be the best Beacon run of all,^[16] highlighted by two nights of the first-ever stage appearance of Eric Clapton with the band and performances of numbers from Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs.^[16] Guests on other nights included members of the Grateful Dead, Phish, Levon Helm and his band, and represented genres from bluesman Buddy Guy to jazz great Lenny White to rap-rock-country eccentric Kid Rock.^[16] On March 26, three days after the actual anniversary of the band's 1969 forming, what's been known as the "Legendary Jacksonville Jam", the band featured no guests but performed their first two albums in their entirety.^[16]

In March 2010, The Allman Brothers Band's New York run changed venues from the Beacon Theater to the far uptown United Palace Theatre, but in March 2011, the Allman Brothers returned to the Beacon Theater, playing their 200th show there on March 26.

In 2012, the Allman Brothers Band was awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.

Awards and recognition[link]

Guest appearances during the "Beacon Run" are common. Here Eric Clapton joins the band in March 2009 to play songs from 1970's classic Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs, which had featured Duane Allman.

• Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance, 1996, "Jessica"
• Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, 2012
• Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, 1995
• Rolling Stone Magazine's "Greatest...of All Time" lists:
  • 100 Greatest Artists of All Time (2004): #52^[17]
  • 500 Greatest Albums of All Time (2003): #49 for At Fillmore East^[18]
  • 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time (2003):
    • #2 Duane Allman^[19]
    • #23 Warren Haynes^[20]
    • #58 Dickey Betts^[21]
    • #81 Derek Trucks^[22]
  • 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time (2011):
    • #9 Duane Allman^[23]
    • #16 Derek Trucks^[24]
    • #61 Dickey Betts^[25]

Discography[link]

• The Allman Brothers Band (1969)
• Idlewild South (1970)
• At Fillmore East (1971)
• Eat a Peach (1972)
• Brothers and Sisters (1973)
• Win, Lose or Draw (1975)
• Wipe the Windows, Check the Oil, Dollar Gas (1976)
• Enlightened Rogues (1979)
• Reach for the Sky (1980)
• Brothers of the Road (1981)
• Seven Turns (1990)
• Shades of Two Worlds (1991)
• An Evening with the Allman Brothers Band: First Set (1992)
• Where It All Begins (1994)
• An Evening with the Allman Brothers Band: 2nd Set (1995)
• Peakin' at the Beacon (2000)
• Hittin' the Note (2003)
• One Way Out (2004)^[26]

Lineups[link]

Original members in bold.

See also[link]

• Almost Famous
• List of rock instrumentals
• Gregg Allman Band
• Sea Level
• Gov't Mule
• The Derek Trucks Band
• The Allman Brothers Band Museum (the "Big House")
• Red Dog Long Term Roadie and supporter of the band.

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• The Allman Brothers Band: Dreams liner notes
• Freeman, Scott. Midnight Riders: The Story of the Allman Brothers Band, Little, Brown & Co. 1995.
• Reynolds, Dean. The Complete Allman Brothers Band Discography, 2000.
• Leavell, Chuck with J. Marshall Craig. Between Rock and a Home Place, Macon, GA: Mercer University Press, 2004.
• Perkins, Willie. No Saints, No Saviors, Macon, GA: Mercer University Press, 2005.
• Poe, Randy. Skydog: The Duane Allman Story, Milwaukee, WI: Backbeat Books, 2006.
• Reid, Jan. Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs by Derek and the Dominos (Rock of Ages). New York: Rodale, Inc., 2006.

External links[link]

This article's use of external links may not follow Wikipedia's policies or guidelines. Please improve this article by removing excessive or inappropriate external links, and converting useful links where appropriate into footnote references. (March 2012)

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: The Allman Brothers Band

• Official web site
• Founding Member Dickey Betts' website
• Flying Frog Records - Butch Trucks' jamband label
• Chuck Leavell's website - former keyboardist
• David Goldflies' website - former bassist
• The Allman Brothers Band at the New Georgia Encyclopedia
• The Allman Brothers Band Legends of Southern Rock at Swampland.com
• The Allman Brothers Band at RollingStone.com
• 2009 Concert Photo Gallery

Gregg Allman
Gregg Allman with the Allman Brothers Band at the Beacon Theatre
Background information
Birth name	Gregory Lenoir Allman
Born	(1947-12-08) December 8, 1947 (age 64) Nashville, Tennessee, U.S.
Genres	Southern rock Blues Country Gospel
Occupations	Musician, Songwriter, Actor
Instruments	Vocals, Organ, Piano, Guitar
Years active	1965 – present
Labels	Liberty, Atco, Capricorn, Epic
Associated acts	The Allman Brothers Band, The Hour Glass, Gregg Allman Band, The Allman Joys
Website	GreggAllman.com
Notable instruments
Hammond B-3 Organ

Gregory LeNoir Allman (born December 8, 1947 in Nashville, Tennessee), known as Gregg Allman, is a rock and blues singer, keyboardist, guitarist and songwriter, and a founding member of The Allman Brothers Band. He was inducted with the band into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995 ^[1] and received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Georgia Music Hall of Fame in 2006. His distinctive voice placed him in 70th place in the Rolling Stone list of the "100 Greatest Singers of All Time".^[2]

At the beginning of the 1970s, The Allman Brothers Band enjoyed huge success^[3] and a number of their most characteristic songs were written by Allman. Unusually for the time, the band was based in the Southeastern United States and their music, which has been called ‘Southern Rock’, a term derided by Allman,^[4] incorporates an innovative fusion of rock and jazz.

Following the death of his older brother, the guitarist Duane Allman in 1971 and bass guitarist Berry Oakley around a year later, in motorcycle accidents, the band struggled on and continued to perform and record. In addition, Allman developed a solo career and a band under his own name. Allman’s solo music has perhaps a greater resonance of soul music than his work with ABB, possibly because of the influence of artists such as Bobby Bland and Little Milton, singers who he has long admired.

Despite recent health issues, Allman still tours.^[5]

Allman's memoirs of his life in music, My Cross to Bear, was released on May 1, 2012.^[6]

Early years[link]

Gregg is the younger son of Willis Turner Allman and Geraldine Alice (née Robbins).^[7] He was born in Nashville Tennessee in 1947, thirteen months after his brother Duane. His father was in the army and in 1949 the family relocated to Fort Story, Norfolk, Virginia. Shortly after, his father was murdered by a casual acquaintance ^[8] and Geraldine 'Mama A' Allman was left to raise the boys. In order to retrain as an accountant, she sent her sons to Castle Heights Military Academy in Lebanon, Tennessee, which they both loathed.^[9] Eventually, in 1957, when his mother had finished her degree, the family settled in Daytona Beach, Florida, and the boys attended Seabreeze High School.

Both Gregg Allman and his brother Duane became captivated by music at a young age; Gregg Allman has revealed that he and Duane went to see Jackie Wilson, Otis Redding, Patti Labelle and B.B. King perform and that he was particularly struck by B.B.’s Hammond organ player.^[10] Gregg took an interest in the guitar before Duane did, learning the very basics from his grandmother’s neighbour in Nashville. However Duane would soon become the superior guitarist, giving up school in tenth grade to focus on it while Gregg practiced his vocals and keyboards, remained at school and finally graduated in 1965. Although he planned to become a dental surgeon, Gregg fell in with his brother’s plans that they should become musicians, intending to go to medical school after a short while; it didn’t happen.^[11]

The Escorts, The Allman Joys, The Hour Glass and 31st February[link]

In the mid-to-late-1960s, Gregg and Duane Allman played in a series of bands including The Escorts and The Allman Joys, mostly around the Southeastern United States.

Toward the end of the decade, The Allman Joys relocated to Los Angeles, California, and were signed to Liberty Records, which renamed them The Hour Glass. In addition to the Allmans, The Hour Glass consisted of three other players who would later become renowned studio musicians in Muscle Shoals, Alabama: Pete Carr, Johnny Sandlin and Paul Hornsby. Strongly controlled by the label management, the group produced a couple of psychedelic blues albums. All the players were deeply dissatisfied with the results; Duane Allman, in particular, spoke bitterly of the Hour Glass' output. The label executives were, however, impressed with Gregg Allman's abilities as a vocalist and keyboardist. The band left Los Angeles for the South and disbanded. In Florida, Allman and his brother Duane joined a band called 31 February with a drummer named Butch Trucks but Allman returned to California as Hourglass still owed money to Liberty Records which believed that Allman had potential as a solo act.^[12]

Formation of The Allman Brothers Band[link]

Duane became employed as a session musician at FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama and began to assemble the group that would become The Allman Brothers Band - Duane and Dickey Betts on guitars, Berry Oakley on bass guitar, and Butch Trucks and Jai Johanny "Jaimoe" Johanson on drums. In the meantime, Allman had grown unhappy with the Liberty Records arrangement so when Duane called from Jacksonville, Florida in March 1969 to say that he had assembled a band that needed a singer, Gregg jumped at the opportunity and returned to the South.

He had long wanted to play the Hammond Organ, and was given one immediately upon joining the band, which he had to learn to play in a hurry. Ever since, he has played the Hammond B-3 with a preference for a 1969 issue B3 hooked to a Leslie speaker 122RV and handled much of the lead vocals and song writing for the band, along with occasional piano and guitar contributions.

Solo career[link]

After the death of Duane Allman in 1971, Gregg Allman started out on a solo career. His first album, Laid Back, was released in 1973 to a positive critical reception.

It included a couple of reworked Allman Brothers songs, such as a horn-infused version of "Midnight Rider" that made it to #19 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, and originals like "Queen of Hearts", the other ABB members felt did not quite fit the Allman Brothers sound. Gregg also covered a traditional gospel song "Will the Circle Be Unbroken?" and former California roommate Jackson Browne's song "These Days."

Allman in 2006

His solo career has continued intermittently throughout the subsequent decades, sometimes touring when the Allman Brothers Band is off the road. Generally, these solo efforts - first with the Gregg Allman Band, and later with Gregg Allman & Friends - eschew lengthy guitar solos and cast Allman more in the mode of his favorite soul singers. The bands often include a horn section and are more groove-oriented, mixing original songs with reworked Allman Brothers songs and covers of blues, R&B, and soul songs.

Allman's second chart single came in 1987 with the #49 peaking "I'm No Angel", from the album of the same name. The album went on to be certified Gold for 500,000 copies sold and led to a renewed interest in Allman and to a reformation of the Allman Brothers Band less than three years later.

His solo album, Low Country Blues, was produced by T-Bone Burnett and issued in early 2011. It is a collection of eleven blues standards and one new song written by him.^[13] The album was nominated as the Best Blues Album for the 2011 Grammy Awards.^[14]

He has also made guest appearances on albums and concert videos by a wide variety of other artists, including a concert DVD celebrating the twenty-fifth anniversary of The Radiators, playing Midnight Rider with that band.

In addition to his musical career, Allman took acting roles in the films Rush Week (1989) and Rush (1991), and in episodes of the TV series Superboy. He also had a brief speaking cameo in the Family Guy episode "Let's Go to the Hop".

Personal life[link]

Allman has struggled with drugs from the 1970s and through much of his musical career. These were both illegal and legal, primarily cocaine, heroin, and alcohol. He has been sober as of the mid-1990s.

During the mid 1970’s, there was a prominent court case involving Allman and John ‘Scooter’ Herring, Allman’s road manager.^[15]

He was diagnosed with Hepatitis C in late 2007 which he attributes to infection from a dirty tattoo needle ^[16] and on June 23, 2010, he underwent surgery for a liver transplant.^[17] The operation was successful and he has recovered well. Despite this blow to his health, Allman has resumed touring.

Marriages, relationships & children[link]

Gregg Allman, May 24, 2005

Allman has been married six times; his wives have been:

• Shelley Kay Winters (later Jefts), later divorced. The marriage produced a son, Devon Allman, on August 10, 1972. Devon is a musician, leads the band Honeytribe, and has appeared with the Allman Brothers Band on a few occasions.
• Janice Blair, a singer and the sister of Ron Blair, the bassist of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.[1] They married in 1973 and divorced in 1975.
• Cher, the singer, whom Allman married in 1975 and divorced in 1979. They had one child together, a son, Elijah Blue Allman, who later formed his own band, Deadsy. The couple tried a musical collaboration, releasing an album Two the Hard Way (billed as Allman and Woman) in 1977. It was universally panned, and it has long since been out of print. The Hard Way Tour did not achieve success either. In an interview on NPR's On Point in March 2011, Allman expressed that he and Cher split due largely to his desire to no longer live in Los Angeles, and his growing discomfort with his wife's celebrity lifestyle.
• Julie Bindas, whom Allman married in 1979 and divorced in 1981. They had a daughter, Delilah Island Allman, November 5, 1980.
• Danielle J P Galiana, married in 1989, divorced in 1994 ^[18]
• Stacey Fountain, married 2001 and later divorced.^[19]

By Mary Lynn Green, a waitress, he has a son, Michael Sean Allman (born July 1966), who is a vocalist.^[20]

By Shelby Blackburn, a radio journalist, Allman has a daughter, Layla Brooklyn Allman, born March 31, 1993, who fronts the band Picture Me Broken.

On May 25, 2012 the AP^[21] reported that Allman was engaged to Shannon Williams. The AP story reported that little is known about Williams other than she is believed to be 24. Allman's publicist and manager confirmed the news prior to the AP releasing the story.

Allman currently lives in Richmond Hill, Georgia.^[22]

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

• 1973 Laid Back
• 1974 The Gregg Allman Tour (live)
• 1977 Playin' Up a Storm - The Gregg Allman Band
• 1977 Two the Hard Way - Allman and Woman (Cher)
• 1986 I'm No Angel - The Gregg Allman Band
• 1988 Just Before The Bullets Fly - The Gregg Allman Band
• 1997 Searching for Simplicity
• 1997 One More Try: An Anthology
• 2002 20th Century Masters: The Millennium Collection (compilation)
• 2002 No Stranger to the Dark: The Best of Gregg Allman (different compilation, with three new tracks)
• 2011 Low Country Blues

See also[link]

• List of Hammond organ players

Quotation[link]

^[23]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Gregg Allman

• Official website

Melissa Ann McCarthy (born August 26, 1970) is an American film and television actress, comedian, writer and producer.

McCarthy is known for her role as Sookie St. James on the The WB television series Gilmore Girls, where she starred from 2000 to 2007. From 2007 to 2009, she portrayed Dena on the ABC sitcom Samantha Who?. She currently stars in the CBS sitcom Mike & Molly, for which she won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series in 2011.^[1] She is also known for her performances in the films The Nines, The Back-up Plan, Life as We Know It, and her breakthrough role in the 2011 comedy hit Bridesmaids, which garnered numerous award nominations including BAFTA and Academy Award nominations for Best Supporting Actress.^[2]

Early life[link]

Melissa Ann McCarthy was born in Plainfield, Illinois,^[3] the daughter of Sandra and Michael McCarthy.^[4][5] She is a first cousin of actress Jenny McCarthy.^[6] McCarthy was raised on a farm, in a Irish-American family.^[7] She graduated from St. Francis Academy (now Joliet Catholic Academy) in Joliet, Illinois.^[8] Her career started with stand-up comedy and includes film, television and theater.^[9] McCarthy is an alumna of The Groundlings, an improvisational and sketch comedy troupe based in Los Angeles, California,

Career[link]

In 1997 she appeared in an episode of the NBC comedy series Jenny. From 2000 to 2003 she played supporting roles in the films Disney's The Kid, Charlie's Angels, Go, The Third Wheel and The Life of David Gale. She also did voice work in three episodes of Kim Possible, where she played DNAmy.

From 2000 to 2007 she played the role of Sookie St. James, the loveable control freak and scatterbrain/klutzy best friend of Lorelai Gilmore on the The WB television series Gilmore Girls. Sookie is the executive chef at the Independence Inn and later, the co-owner and head chef at the Dragonfly Inn. In 2007, she acted opposite Ryan Reynolds in The Nines, written and directed by John August. McCarthy played Dena on the ABC sitcom Samantha Who? from 2007 to 2009. She also was a guest star in TV series Rita Rocks in 2009 and Private Practice in 2010.

In 2010, she played character roles in films The Back-Up Plan and Life as We Know It. Since 2010 McCarthy has played a leading role as Molly Flynn on the CBS hit sitcom Mike & Molly. In 2011, she received her first Emmy award^[10] for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for her role on Mike & Molly.

In 2011, McCarthy's career soared to new heights with her breakout comedic performance in the hit film Bridesmaids alongside Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Rose Byrne, Wendi McLendon-Covey and Ellie Kemper. McCarthy received critical acclaim and an Academy Award nomination for her performance. In June 2011, she hosted the Women in Film Crystal + Lucy Awards.^[11] She appeared as the host of Saturday Night Live on October 1, 2011.

McCarthy will play a role in the sequel to Judd Apatow's film Knocked Up - This is Forty.^[12] She will star in the upcoming film ID Theft with Jason Bateman.^[13][14] She will also star in the upcoming film Tammy.^[15] McCarthy is also the author and producer of an upcoming CBS pilot.^[16]

Personal life[link]

McCarthy married her longtime boyfriend, Ben Falcone, an actor and alumnus of The Groundlings, on October 8, 2005.^[17][18] They have two daughters, Vivian, born May 5, 2007, and Georgette, born in March 2010.^[19][20] McCarthy's pregnancy with Vivian was written into the last season of Gilmore Girls.

Filmography[link]

Film[link]

Television[link]