This has kind of stuck with me today for some reason. I'm not a huge Allman Brothers fan - when my buddy texted me wth the news, I was kind of surprised to find my Allman collection consisted of Eat A Peach and Gregg's I'm No Angel. I happened to be in a B&N (we'd gone to visit my daughter before she moves), so I grabbed a two-disc comp. On the drive home, though, I popped on Rob Draskin's cover of "Melissa" (featuring Davy Knowles) and David Grissom's cover of "Jessica". As much as I love "Whipping Post", especially Zappa's cover of it, "Melissa" is the one that gets me every time. It's a song I've tried to learn a couple times w/no success, but I'll be revisiting it. It was already on my radar.
I was fortunate enough to see Gregg live twice - once with the Allman Brothers Band, and on his last solo tour last year. I was thrilled that night when he started "I'm No Angel" because that's one of my wife's favorites of his, and I was just swept away when they played "Melissa". Oddly enough, looking back at my concert diary, I didn't care for the version of "Whipping Post" from that night. He was quite thin, and definitely showing some age, but it was a big surprise a couple months later when he cancelled a bunch of dates.
Great writer, and what a soulful voice. I saw a great quote from him in the Rolling Stone article about his death:
"I must have said this a million times, but if I died today, I've had me a blast. I wouldn't trade [my life] for nobody's, but I don't know if I'd do it again. If somebody offered me a second round, I think I'd have to pass on it."
RIP, Gregg.