In the 1970s, the Allman Brothers Band rose to fame as one of the greatest live acts in Southern rock. But in order to gain that status, they had to tour — a lot. In fact, in 1970 — just one year after they formed — the band played 300 days in one year, meaning they were almost always on the road.
But according to late singer and keyboardist Gregg Allman, the bandmates always kept perspective about their grueling tour schedule, because they knew all their hard work would pay off once they stepped on stage in front of their fans.
"When you finally walked out on stage and hit them first few notes, man, it made everything okay," Allman says in this episode of Sound Bites, GRAMMY.com's video series of interviews pulled from the GRAMMY archives. He recounts some of the discomfort the bandmates put up with in order to make their tours happen.
"Being broke," Allman offers as a prime example. "Back in those days, at the [concert venue] Boston Tea Party, I remember Twiggs Lyndon, who was our road manager, he would come around every morning and give everybody $3, and that's what you had to eat on that day. That was your per diem. So if you had a beer or two with lunch? No dinner."
The musicians quickly learned to ration their resources. "Because one thing you don't wanna be is hungry. Because then you start getting hangry!" Allman adds with a laugh.
Press play on the video above to hear more road stories from Allman himself, and keep checking back to GRAMMY.com for more new episodes of Sound Bites.