Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]
Rolling Stone	[2]

Seven Turns is the tenth studio album and eleventh album by the Allman Brothers Band, released in 1990. The album was well-received, and was their first release since 1981. It peaked at #53: hit singles were Good Clean Fun (#1 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks); Seven Turns (#12) and It Ain't Over Yet (#26).

Track listing[link]

1. "Good Clean Fun" (Gregg Allman, Dickey Betts, Johnny Neel) – 5:09
2. "Let Me Ride" (Betts) – 4:36
3. "Low Down Dirty Mean" (Betts, Neel) – 5:30
4. "Shine It On" (Betts, Warren Haynes) – 4:51
5. "Loaded Dice" (Betts, Haynes) – 3:29
6. "Seven Turns" (Betts) – 5:05
7. "Gambler's Roll" (Haynes, Neel) – 6:44
8. "True Gravity" (Betts, Haynes) – 7:58
9. "It Ain't Over Yet" (Doug Crider, Neel) – 4:54

Personnel[link]

• Gregg Allman: organ; lead vocals
• Dickey Betts: lead guitar; lead vocals
• Jaimoe: drums; percussion
• Butch Trucks: drums; percussion; tympani
• Warren Haynes: lead guitar; background vocals
• Allen Woody: bass guitar; background vocals
• Johnny Neel: piano; keyboards; background vocals

References[link]

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

Dickey Betts
Dickey Betts at the Pistoia Blues Festival, Italy, July 2008
Background information
Birth name	Forrest Richard Betts
Also known as	Dickey Betts
Born	(1943-12-12) December 12, 1943 (age 68) West Palm Beach, Florida, U.S.
Genres	Southern rock, country rock, blues, blues-rock, country
Occupations	Musician, songwriter
Instruments	Guitar, vocals, dobro
Years active	1960–present
Associated acts	The Allman Brothers Band, Dickey Betts & Great Southern, Dickey Betts Band
Website	www.dickeybetts.com
Notable instruments
1961 Gibson SG Gibson Les Paul Goldtop ("Goldie")

Forrest Richard "Dickey" Betts (born December 12, 1943) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, and composer best known as 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 also won with the band a best rock performance Grammy Award for his instrumental "Jessica" in 1996.^[2] Recognized as "one of the most influential guitar players of all time",^[3] he had early on in his career one of rock’s finest guitar partnerships with the late Duane Allman^[4] introducing melodic twin guitar harmony and counterpoint which "rewrote the rules for how two rock guitarists can work together, completely scrapping the traditional rhythm/lead roles to stand toe to toe".^[5] Dickey Betts was ranked #58 on Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time list in 2003, and #61 on the list published in 2011.^[6][7]

Biography[link]

This biographical section of an article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (March 2010)

Born in West Palm Beach, Florida, Betts grew up in a musical family listening to bluegrass, country and Western Swing music. He started playing ukelele at five and, as his hands got bigger, moved on to mandolin, banjo and guitar. At sixteen and feeling the need for something "a little faster," he played in a series of rock bands on the Florida circuit, up the East Coast and into the midwest before forming the Second Coming with Berry Oakley in 1967. According to Rick Derringer, the "group called the Jokers" referenced in "Rock and Roll Hootchie Coo" was one of Betts' early groups.^[8] He is currently living in Sarasota, Florida.

Major recording career[link]

In 1969, Duane Allman had parlayed success as a session player into a contract with former Otis Redding manager Phil Walden. Walden planned to back a power trio featuring Allman, who needed to put together the rest of the band. When Allman organized jam sessions as part of his effort to recruit Oakley for the group, Betts sat in. During those jams twin guitar parts, influenced by the harmonized fiddle and guitar parts Betts had heard on bluegrass and Bob Wills records growing up, began to emerge and give the sound a unique flavor. Those harmonies gave the putative power trio an additional guitarist (the band eventually grew to six members) and Dickey Betts the opening for stardom as a co-founder and key contributor to the Allman Brothers Band. In addition to the harmonies, his melodic, country-esque lead guitar style contrasted perfectly with Duane's fiery, blues/jazz-based style. He also wrote songs including "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed" and "Blue Sky" that became radio and concert staples.

After the death of Duane Allman in late 1971, Betts became the band's sole guitarist and also took on a greater singing and leadership role. Betts, in one night traveling, practiced slide guitar intensively in order to cover the majority of Duane's parts. He went on to write such Southern Rock classics as "Jessica" and the Allmans' biggest commercial hit, "Ramblin' Man".

Jessica was inspired by his daughter, Jessica Betts, born on May 14, 1972 to Betts' third wife, Sandy Bluesky Wabegijig, a Native American whom Betts married in 1973. The pair was divorced in 1975 and Betts married Paulette, a close friend and personal assistant of singer and actress Cher. Betts has 4 children total. Kimberly from his first marriage to Barbara Hudgins, Christy from his second wife, Dayle, Jessica from his third union to Sandy and his only son, Duane from his marriage to Paulette. Betts is currently wed to Donna. They have been married for 20+ years.

Betts's first solo album, Highway Call, was released in 1974, and featured the late fiddle player Vassar Clements. After the Allmans fell apart in 1976, Betts released more albums, starting with Dickey Betts & Great Southern in 1977, which featured the hit "Bougainvillea", co-written with future Hollywood star Don Johnson. In 1978 he released an album entitled Atlanta's Burning Down.

The Allman Brothers reformed in 1979 for the album Enlightened Rogues with two members of Great Southern replacing ABB members unwilling to participate in the reunion: guitar player Dan Toler (for pianist Chuck Leavell) and bassist David Goldflies. Several albums would follow with various personnel changes until steadily declining record and concert ticket sales and tensions around management issues led the group to again disband in 1982.

Betts returned to his solo career, performing live at smaller venues and releasing the album Pattern Disruptive in 1989. When a one-off reunion tour was proposed in support of the ABB "Dreams" box set released in 1989 to commemorate the bands 20th anniversary, Betts' solo band again supplied the ABB's other guitarist, this time slide guitar master Warren Haynes. The one-off tour's success resulted in a permanent reunion which absorbed Betts' energies for the remainder of the '90's. This band lineup went on to release three acclaimed studio albums between 1990 and 1994.

Betts was replaced on numerous tour dates throughout the mid-to-late 90s for what were reported in the media as "personal reasons". While remaining active as a touring band, they failed to release an album of new studio material after 1994's Where It All Begins until 2003's "Hittin' the Note." Haynes and ABB bassist Allen Woody formed Gov't Mule with former Dickey Betts Band drummer Matt Abts as a side project in 1994 and left the Allman Brothers for Gov't Mule full-time in 1997.

Things reached a breaking point when the remaining original ABB members, Allman, Trucks and Jaimoe, suspended Betts (reportedly via fax) prior to the launch of the band's Summer Campaign Tour 2000.^[9] According to Betts himself, the band told him in the fax to get clean (presumably from alcohol and/or drugs). Greg Allman recalls that Betts showed up drunk for a concert, ruining the performance. "It was a total trainwreck, and just embarrassing to the rest of us" recalled Allman in his 2012 autobiography.^[10]Betts was subsequently ordered out of the band.

Betts was temporarily replaced for the 2000 tour by Jimmy Herring, formerly of the Aquarium Rescue Unit. When Betts filed suit against the other three original Allmans the separation turned into a permanent divorce. Betts re-formed the Dickey Betts Band in 2000 and toured that summer. The band reassumed the name Dickey Betts & Great Southern and added Betts' son Duane (named after Duane Allman) on lead guitar.

In 2005 Betts released the DVD "Live from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame".

Betts announced that a December 17, 2009 performance in New York City, on his 66th birthday and at the site of many of his greatest achievements, would be his last touring date. "I’m not retiring from playing. I’m sure there will be some great special events that I’ll be at in the future. But for now, I look forward to waking up tomorrow with nothing on my schedule." He has since taken up touring again.

The style of Betts' first name (actually his middle name, as his actual first name is Forrest) varied throughout the years:

• 1969: "Dick Betts" in the jacket of The Allman Brothers Band self-titled album.
• 1970-72: "Dicky Betts" in the jackets of Idlewild South and Eat A Peach.
• 1973-74: "Richard Betts" on Brothers and Sisters and his first solo album, Highway Call.
• Afterward: "Dickey Betts."

Guitars[link]

This biographical section of an article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (March 2010)

In the early days of the Allman Brothers, Betts played a 1961 Gibson SG, given to Duane Allman in 1971 to use as an all-slide guitar. He then used a 1957 Gibson Les Paul Goldtop, calling it "Goldie". He has recently painted it red. Early on in the Allman Brothers days he occasionally played a Fender Stratocaster, and has been an on-and-off endorser and player of PRS guitars. In 1974 Betts procured an ALEMBIC custom guitar inlaid with his name "Richard Betts" up the fretboard. He is pictured with it in a Guitar magazine article from around that time. As of April 2009, Betts is using a red Fender Telecaster with a pearloid pickguard. Betts can also be seen playing a Cherry Red 1961 Gibson ES-335.^[11]

Discography[link]

Solo albums[link]

• Highway Call (1974)(Richard Betts)
• Dickey Betts & Great Southern (1977) (Dickey Betts & Great Southern)
• Atlanta's Burning Down (1978) (Dickey Betts & Great Southern)
• Night (Unreleased Country Album) (1982) (Dickey Betts)
• Pattern Disruptive (1989) (Dickey Betts Band)
• Let's Get Together (2001) (Dickey Betts Band)
• The Collectors #1 (2002) (Dickey Betts & Great Southern)
• Back Where It All Begins: Live at the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame & Museum (DVD) (2005) (Dickey Betts & Great Southern)
• The Official Bootleg (Live) (2006) (Dickey Betts & Great Southern)
• Dickey Betts & Great Southern - Rockpalast: 30 Years Of Southern Rock, 1978 - 2008 (DVD)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (March 2008)

Jason Aldean
Background information
Birth name	Jason Aldine Williams[1]
Born	(1977-02-28) February 28, 1977 (age 35)[2] Macon, Georgia, USA[2]
Genres	Country, country-rock
Occupations	Singer
Instruments	Vocals, guitar
Years active	2005–present
Labels	Capitol Nashville Broken Bow
Associated acts	Kelly Clarkson Colt Ford Miranda Lambert, Ludacris, Brantley Gilbert Lionel Richie
Website	JasonAldean.com

Jason Aldine Williams (born February 28, 1977 in Macon, Georgia) is an American country music singer, known professionally as Jason Aldean. Since 2005, Aldean has recorded for Broken Bow Records, an independent record label for which he has released four albums and fifteen singles. His 2005 self-titled debut and 2009 album Wide Open are both certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), while 2007's Relentless is certified gold. Of his singles, seven have reached the number one position on the Hot Country Songs charts: "Why", "She's Country", "Big Green Tractor", "The Truth", "Don't You Wanna Stay" (a duet with Kelly Clarkson), "Dirt Road Anthem", and "Fly Over States." Eight more have reached top ten on the same chart.

Early life[link]

Aldean's parents, Barry and Debbie, divorced when he was three. He was raised by his mother, mainly in Macon, Georgia, where he went to high school at Windsor Academy. During the summer he would spend time with his father in Homestead, Florida.

Before going to work during the day, his dad would map out guitar chords on notebook paper to show Jason where to place his fingers to play the chords. Jason sat and practiced all day while his dad was at work. When his dad got home, he got out his own guitar and they played together. Soon, after hearing a song only a few times, he could play it. His early favorites included George Strait's "The Cowboy Rides Away", Hank Williams Jr.'s "The Blues Man", and Alabama's "My Home's in Alabama". Both parents encouraged young Jason as he progressed musically. From age 14, after watching the country-music awards on TV, he wanted to perform on stage. With his mother's help, he performed at the local VFW hall in Macon, Georgia. He sang John Anderson's song "Seminole Wind" and Tracy Lawrence's "Sticks and Stones". He would later say that the entire audience — all ten — applauded, and that he almost had to be dragged off the stage because he was hooked on performing. He began performing at area talent contests and local fairs. At 15, he joined the "house band" at Georgia nightspot Nashville South.

Personal life[link]

Aldean married his high school sweetheart, Jessica, and they now have two daughters, Keeley and Kendyl. Aldean married Jessica on August 4, 2001.^[3]

Musical career[link]

After high school, with his father's help, Aldean and his band performed in college towns in Florida, Alabama, and Georgia, and then further up the southeastern seaboard. With one of the band's members, Justin Weaver, Aldean began writing songs. In 1998 he performed his original songs at a showcase staged by Atlanta nightclub The Buckboard. He was approached by Michael Knox, then of the Warner-Chappell song-publishing company.^[4] After signing with Warner-Chappell, Aldean moved to Nashville on November 1, 1998, at age 21.

A month after moving to Nashville, Aldean was offered a recording contract but was subsequently dropped. He signed with another label but again was dropped in 2000 for postponing his recording sessions repeatedly. Various showcases failed to bring him a contract. The last straw was an attempt at the Wildhorse Saloon where the promised label talent scouts never even showed up. Finally, Lawrence Mathis spotted Jason at one of the showcases at The Wildhorse Saloon in Nashville. Mathis signed as Aldean's first manager. Still frustrated and discouraged with his struggling career, Aldean gave himself six months before planning to leave Nashville and return home to Georgia. Then five weeks later, he was offered a deal from Broken Bow Records in Nashville. Shortly after the release of his first album, Jason picked up his new (and current) agent, Kevin Neal. And while recording Relentless, Jason moved to Clarence Spalding and Spalding Entertainment for management.

[edit] Jason Aldean (2005-2006)

Aldean's first single, "Hicktown", was released in early 2005.^[4] It served as the lead-off to his album Jason Aldean, and reached a peak of #10 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts. The album also produced his first Number One hit in "Why", as well as the #4-peaking "Amarillo Sky", which had previously been a non-charting single in 2002 for McBride & the Ride. Amarillo Sky earned a 2006 ACM nomination for song of the year and video of the year. Jason Aldean earned the title of "Top New Male Vocalist" at the 2006 Academy of Country Music Awards. Jason Aldean has sold over one million copies in the United States, and was certified platinum by the RIAA in 2007.

[edit] Relentless (2007-2008)

Aldean spent most of January 2007 in the studio with producer Michael Knox to finish his second album, Relentless.^[4] This album was released on May 29, 2007, and at Wal-Mart, it was released with a Limited Edition CMT Pick DVD that includes performances from Jason Aldean. The album's lead-off single, "Johnny Cash", was originally recorded by Tracy Byrd and peaked at #6 when Aldean released it. Its followup, "Laughed Until We Cried", has become his fifth consecutive Top Ten hit. Relentless has also been certified gold by the RIAA, and its title track was released as its third single. The song has also been Aldean's lowest charting single in both the U.S. and Canada, failing to reach Top Ten on the country charts.

[edit] Wide Open (2009-2010)

Aldean released a seventh single titled "She's Country" to radio on December 1, 2008. It is the first single from his third album Wide Open which was released on April 7, 2009. The single debuted at #51 on the Hot Country Songs chart in late-November 2008. His seventh consecutive Top 40 hit on the country charts, it is also his first Top 40 hit on the Billboard Hot 100, and became his second number-one hit, and his first since "Why" in May 2006. The next single, the David Lee Murphy-Jim Collins co-write "Big Green Tractor," became Aldean's third Number One hit. Wide Open debuted at #2 on the Top Country Albums chart. "The Truth" became the album's third consecutive Number One hit in January 2010, with "Crazy Town" being the album's fourth single, peaking at #2 on the country charts.

Jason Aldean performed with Bryan Adams on an episode of CMT Crossroads in the beginning of May, and the episode premiered on June 26, 2009.^[5] In an interview with Shave Magazine, Jason explained that working with Bryan on Crossroads "was great. He was a lot of fun." But the real highlight for Jason was working with Randy Owen. "I am a big fan of Alabama so I got a chance to work with Randy Owen on this album (it didn’t make the album but it eventually made a bonus track). It was really cool. Alabama were like ‘The Beatles’ for me so working with him was definitely one of the highlights. I mean, both of those guys were really cool moments, but, if I had to pick one highlight, it would be working with Randy this year."^[6]

A live DVD titled Wide Open Live & More was released on August 25, 2009.

At the 2010 CMT music Awards Jason Aldean picked up 3 nominations in Video of the Year and Male Video of the Year for "The Truth", as well as collaborative video of the year and CMT performance of the year for his performance of "Heaven" with Bryan Adams.^[7]

[edit] My Kinda Party (2010-2012)

Aldean released a new single in August 2010, "My Kinda Party," which entered the Hot Country Songs chart at #41, which is the lead-off single from his album of the same name, released on November 2, 2010.^[8] It marks as Aldean's tenth top 10 country hit. He also collaborated with Kelly Clarkson on the intimate duet "Don't You Wanna Stay". Aldean and Clarkson's performance on November 10, 2010 at the CMA Awards received positive recognition, and debuted at #59 on Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart from unsolicited airplay for the week of November 20, 2010. In March 2011, "Don't You Wanna Stay" became Aldean's fifth number one hit.

In early 2011, Aldean's recording of "Dirt Road Anthem", recorded previously by both of its writers, country rap artist Colt Ford and Brantley Gilbert (who also wrote "My Kinda Party"), debuted on the Hot Country Songs chart at #57 as an album cut from unsolicited airplay for the week of February 5, 2011.^[9] In March 2011, "Dirt Road Anthem" was selected as the third single from My Kinda Party. Aldean also collaborated with Ludacris on the song "Dirt Road Anthem" at the 2011 CMT Music Awards in Nashville, Tennessee on Wednesday, June 8, 2011. In addition to making number one on the Hot Country Songs chart for the week of July 30, 2011, "Dirt Road Anthem" has also become Aldean's first top ten hit on the Hot 100 chart.

Aldean performed his song My Kinda Party at the start of the 2011 Home Run Derby, aired on ESPN.

Aldean won the CMA Country Album of the Year 2011 as well as the Musical Event of the Year with his duet, "Don't You Wanna Stay", with Kelly Clarkson. It was his first win.

On October 25, 2011 it was announced that Aldean will be performing on “The GRAMMY Nominations Concert Live!! — Countdown To Music’s Biggest Night”, the one-hour special which takes place live on Wednesday, Nov. 30, at the Nokia Theatre L.A. The show will announce nominations in several categories as well as feature performances by past GRAMMY winners and/or nominees.^[10]

Jason Aldean released his fifth single from his award winning album, titled "Fly Over States" on February 6, 2012.

Tours[link]

• Me & My Gang Tour 2006 with Rascal Flatts & Gary Allan (Eric Church was kicked off for playing too long and Jason took his spot)
• Live Your Voice Tour with Tim McGraw 2008
• CMT ON TOUR:Relentless with Lady Antebellum
• Last Rodeo Tour with Brooks & Dunn 2010
• Wide Open Tour 2010 with Luke Bryan (Fall Leg)
• My Kinda Party Tour 2011 with
  • Spring Leg: Eric Church & The JaneDear Girls
  • Fall Leg: Chris Young & Thompson Square
• My Kinda Party Tour 2012 with Luke Bryan & Lauren Alaina
• First night headline at Stagecoach Country Music Festival 4/27/12.

Awards and nominations[link]

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

• 2005: Jason Aldean
• 2007: Relentless
• 2009: Wide Open
• 2010: My Kinda Party

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Jason Aldean at Allmusic

Michael P. Lawlor is an American politician, criminal justice professor, and lawyer from Connecticut. A Democrat, he served as a member of the Connecticut House of Representatives from 1987 to 2011, representing the 99th district in East Haven. Lawlor resigned from the legislature on January 4, 2011 to serve in Dan Malloy's administration as undersecretary for criminal justice policy and planning at the Office of Policy and Management.^[1]

Education[link]

Lawlor attended public schools in East Haven and graduated from East Haven High School. He was co-captain of the EHHS football team and was Vice-President of the Senior Class.

He graduated as an Honors Scholar in Slavic and Eastern European Studies from the University of Connecticut in 1979. He earned a Master's Degree in Soviet Area Studies from the University of London in 1981 and he graduated from the George Washington University School of Law in 1983. He has also participated in language studies in Russia in 1977 and received a Fulbright-Hays Scholarship to study economic reform in Hungary in 1982.

Career[link]

Following law school, Lawlor was appointed as a prosecutor for the State's Attorney Office in New Haven, where he served until his election to the Connecticut House of Representatives in 1986.

He is currently a Professor of Criminal Justice at the University of New Haven's Henry C. Lee College of Criminal Justice and Forensic Sciences, and is also a Visiting Lecturer in Law at the Yale Law School.

Politics[link]

Judiciary Committee[link]

Lawlor was co-chairman of the General Assembly's Judiciary Committee from 1995 to 2011. Prior to that, he was co-chairman of the Labor and Public Employees Committee where he played a major role in the reform of Connecticut's workers compensation program.

As co-chairman of the Judiciary Committee, Lawlor played a key role in two amendments to the State of Connecticut constitution. The first established rights for victims of crime, the second eliminated the patronage-ridden county sheriff system.

He was one of ten members of the legislature's Select Committee of Inquiry, which considered the possible impeachment of former Governor John G. Rowland. Rowland resigned on June 21, 2004 following the committee's hearings.

He has also been a leader in efforts to enact workable gun control laws, to address racial disparities in the state's criminal justice system, to pass laws ending discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, to rewrite Connecticut's domestic violence laws, to reform the juvenile justice system, and to address prison overcrowding.

Civil union legislation[link]

During the 2005 session of the legislature, Lawlor was one of the leaders in enacting Connecticut's civil unions law, which provided full state legal recognition to same sex couples who wish to be treated as married couples under the state's law. Connecticut was the first state to enact a civil union or same sex marriage law without a court order to do so.

In March 2009 Lawlor and Sen. Andrew J. McDonald proposed a new state law proposing to regulate the management of Roman Catholic churches in Connecticut; free speech advocates, church leaders, and members of the Republican House opposition charged the bill violated the separation of church and state clause in the First Amendment. Bill Donahue, President of the Catholic League, an organization which fights anti-Catholic prejudice, called it a "brutal act of revenge by Lawlor and McDonald, two champions of gay marriage... designed to muzzle the voice of the Catholic Church".^[2] The Bill, by giving control over matters administrative and fiscal to a board of laity (in which the Bishop and Parish Priest would act only in an advisory capacity) and because it is specific only to the Roman Catholic Church is seen by many as anti-Catholic.^[3] The bill was tabled on March 10, 2009.

Lawlor is a chair of the Criminal Justice/Mental Health Consensus Project, an associate with the State Sentencing and Corrections Program at the Vera Institute of Justice^[4] in New York City, and a member of the National Resource Committee for the Center for Sex Offender Management within the United States Department of Justice. He is a member of the American Bar Association's Coalition for Justice, a national effort to build trust and confidence in the justice system.

Prison overcrowding[link]

In the late 1990s Connecticut addressed its prison overcrowding issues by transferring inmates to prisons in Virginia. Rep. Lawlor strongly opposed this effort. In 2000 he told The Hartford Courant "this policy is more trouble than it's worth," and that he wanted to "bring them back as soon as possible."^[5] In 2003 the New York Times reported Lawlor favored replacing the Virginia facilities with "alternative ways of combating overcrowding, like making it harder to put people back in prison for technical violations of their parole, and argued that transfers should be a last resort."^[6]

Lawlor has long advocated what was called in 2004 a "controversial bill"^[7] which focused on the increased release of prisoners instead of expanding correctional facilities to handle the increased number of offenders entering the system. Thanks to Lawlor's vocal advocacy the bill was co-sponsored by both Republicans and Democrats, passed unanimously in the State Senate,^[8] and only 9 out of 151 representatives in the House voted against it.^[9] The bill was then signed into law by Gov. John Rowland, who was under federal investigation at the time. Lawlor's rationale was "The key is to resist doing the simple thing - dumping a bunch of money into a new prison,"^[10] The response, to expand the number of inmates paroled, became controversial following the July 2007 home invasion murders of the Petit family in Cheshire, Connecticut by two paroled convicts.^[11][12] On August 26, 2007 he defended the state's policy on paroles in a Hartford Courant article "Some people say let's put them all in jail. OK, fine, but that means dramatically increasing taxes or shutting down a bunch of colleges."^[13] Due to the public outcry since the Petit murders, Lawlor agreed to hold hearings^[14] on Connecticut's parole system and called on state officials to investigate sites to build new prisons. "We are expected to receive information about the costs of these models and possible sites for new prison facilities," he said. State officials and national criminal justice experts testified at the September 11 hearing, with Chief State's Attorney Kevin Kane labeling the existing data system for criminal justice "nonexistent." Lawlor criticized the agencies for not having a system of communications among each other.^[15] A hearing open to the public was held on November 27, 2007.

Governor M. Jodi Rell announced on September 21, 2007 that there would be a moratorium on further parole of violent offenders. This occurred after a parolee with two prior kidnapping convictions carjacked a vehicle in Hartford and was later shot in a confrontation with New York City police. Lawlor supported her decision for a moratorium on parole and acknowledged this would require prompt efforts to expand prison space.^[16] He urged Governor Rell to explore the state's options for either expanding existing prisons, building new prisons, or sending prisoners out of state. The governor in response refused to do so, saying that new additional prison space is not necessary and reiterated her opposition to sending prisoners out of state.^[17][18] Ironically, this placed Rell in the same position Lawlor had long held, as he had opposed sending Connecticut prisoners to Virginia prisons to ease overcrowding.^[19]

In testimony before the Judiciary Committee at an emergency meeting convened by Lawlor in October, Department of Corrections Commissioner Teresa Lantz concurred with Governor Rell, testifying that her department does not need nor is requesting additional staff or new prisons^[20] Lawlor announced that he disagrees with Rell and Lantz, saying that the state should look into building a new prison, adding beds to existing facilities, or hiring more staff.^[21] Nonetheless, on December 12, 2007 he was quoted by the Associated Press as stating "Connecticut has a criminal justice system that already works pretty well."^[22]

Three strikes law[link]

A special session to enact tougher laws against home invasion and tighten the parole process was held January 22, 2008. A new law making home invasion a class A felony was passed, as well as reforming the parole board. Lawlor opposed efforts to pass a Three Strikes law in Connecticut, which was not passed.

Governor Rell reiterated her call for a Three Strikes bill on March 31, 2008, following the kidnapping murder of an elderly New Britain woman committed by a career criminal recently released from Connecticut prison.^[23]

He has served on the national drafting team for the Interstate Compact for Adult Offender Supervision and the Interstate Compact for Juvenile Probation and Parole. Recently, he served as a consultant for the United States Department of Justice assisting in the establishment of an adult probation system in Bulgaria.

Personal[link]

Lawlor is openly gay.^[24]

See also[link]

• Connecticut House of Representatives
• Connecticut General Assembly

References[link]

External links[link]

• Rep. Mike Lawlor's official website and blog
• Rep. Mike Lawlor's official General Assembly legislative website
• Project Vote Smart - Rep. Michael P. Lawlor (CT)