x
Breaking News
More () »

'Boogie Chillun' remember Gregg Allman

Boogie Chillun played at the Big House in 2013 for a GABBA concert.

Back in the 1960s when the Allman Brothers were just about to hit it big, they hung out with a local band called Boogie Chillun.

Gary Harmon and Asa Howard sat down with us to share some memories.

"It was on social media, somebody picked it up and said it.... and the music just stopped," Asa said, remembering when they found out about Allman's death.

A fitting impromptu tribute from fellow musicians for Gregg Allman.

Boogie Chillun reunited for an annual Allman Brothers festival a few years back, but their memories stretch over 50 years.

"Well, I just remember him as a buddy, you know, back in the day," Asa recalled. "Part of our band and part of the Allman Brothers Band, they lived in a lot of different places -- Orange Terrace and College Street."

"We were in the studio when they showed up and they had no equipment or nothing," Gary remembered. "There's pictures of Gregg playing my Hammond B-3. They hadn't been in Macon but a couple of weeks, and we asked them to play with us and they did, and of course, they didn't get paid, so we gave them the money we made."

The Allmans went on to make millions. Gary eventually became a professional photographer. Asa has always had a love affair with music.

The Back Porch Lounge has a lot of Allman and Boogie Chillun memorabilia on the wall, and Gregg Allman never forgot his Central Georgia roots.

"Our band's the only one that's even named in Gregg's book," Asa said. "I mean, he said when they came to town, there wasn't much going on except a band called Boogie Chillun."

And remember that famous Allman hit that Gregg wrote, 'Midnight Rider?'

"Actually, Gregg had just written the song, and we were in the studio and we were in there and he sat down and played it for me on the piano, and he said, 'I think this may be a good song to put on one of y'all's albums,' but it was such a commercialized song that it was actually Phil Walden that kept the song for the Allman Brothers," Asa explained.

Gregg was good with a pen, but these guys have respect for him on every level.

"I think the first song they played in the studio when we were there was 'Trouble No More,' and it was unbelievable, and when Gregg opened his mouth, it was phenomenal," Gary recalled.

Before You Leave, Check This Out