Searching for Simplicity

The album was produced by Tom Dowd, who worked extensively with the Allman Brothers, and Johnny Sandlin, who co-produced Allman's first solo album, Laid Back. The idea to record a new version of "Whipping Post" came from longtime Allman Brothers roadie Red Dog, who suggested it after the success of Eric Clapton's version of "Layla" on MTV Unplugged. While recording "The Dark End of the Street"—once his brother Duane's favorite song—he had to stop and go outside because he was tearing up.{{cite news|title=Gregg Allman straightens up and flies solo|first=Andy|last=Smith|page=4D|work=Marietta Journal|location=Marietta, Georgia|date=December 26, 1997}}

The album came on the heels of Allman quitting drugs and alcohol, and the album's titled reflected his search "for a more simple life."{{cite news|title=Gregg Allman: Searching for Simplicity|first=Ray|last=Hogan|page=D1–D6|work=Daily Advocate|location=Stamford, Connecticut|date=November 23, 1997}} He was nearly complete with the recording process, which spanned two and a half years, when he quit substances altogether. In all, he completed 20 songs for the project, but felt some were not as good as others. He cut the track listing down from there, but then decided it was too short. Near the end of the process, he went to Fantasy Studios in Berkeley, California with Tom Dowd to record two new songs, a cover of "Memphis in the Meantime" and an original, "Startin' Over".{{cite news|title=Simplicity, new attitude keep Allman on music road|first=Patty|last=Gettelman|work=Orlando Sentinel|location=Orlando, Florida|date=January 6, 1998}}

The photo on the cover is of Allman at age 15.{{cite book | last=Allman | first=Gregg| last2=Light | first2=Alan | title= My Cross to Bear| url=https://archive.org/details/mycrosstobear00allm | url-access=registration | publisher=William Morrow and Company | year=2012 | isbn= 978-0062112033|page=[https://archive.org/details/mycrosstobear00allm/page/326 326]}}

{{Music ratings

| rev1 = AllMusic

| rev1score = {{Rating|3|5}}

| rev2 = Rolling Stone Album Guide

| rev2score = {{Rating|3|5}}{{Cite book |last1=Coleman |first1=Mark |last2=Skanse |first2=Richard |editor-last1=Brackett |editor-first1=Nathan |editor-link1=Nathan Brackett |editor-last2=Hoard |editor-first2=Christian |editor-link2=Christian Hoard |title=The New Rolling Stone Album Guide |year=2004 |location=New York |publisher=Fireside Books |isbn=0-7432-0169-8 |edition=4th |pages=14–16}}

}}

William Ruhlmann of AllMusic gave the album three stars, writing that the "album finds him growling through standard-issue blues-rock, some of the songs originals, some covers."{{cite web |first=William |last=Ruhlmann |title=Searching for Simplicity – Gregg Allman|publisher=AllMusic |url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/searchin-for-simplicity-mw0000030251 |access-date=September 30, 2015}} Biographer Alan Paul, who wrote 2014's One Way Out: The Inside History of the Allman Brothers Band, called it Allman's "finest new solo work since Laid Back."{{cite book | last=Paul | first=Alan | title= One Way Out: The Inside History of the Allman Brothers Band| publisher=St. Martin's Press | year=2014 | isbn= 978-1250040497|page=412}}

All tracks composed by Gregg Allman; except where indicated

1. "Whipping Post" – 4:41
2. "House of Blues" – 4:00
3. "Come Back and Help Me" (Allman and Jack Pearson) – 3:35
4. "Silence Ain't Golden Anymore" – 3:33
5. "Rendezvous with the Blues" (Johnny Douglas and Jimmy Hall) – 3:53
6. "Wolf's A-Howlin'" – 4:14
7. "Love the Poison" (G. Nicholson and W. Wilson) – 3:29
8. "Don't Deny Me" (J. L. Williams) – 4:37
9. "The Dark End of the Street" (Chips Moman and Dan Penn) – 3:16
10. "Neighbor, Neighbor" (Huey P. Meaux) – 3:55
11. "I've Got News for You" (Ray Alfred and Roy Alfred) – 4:37
12. "Memphis in the Meantime" (John Hiatt) – 3:43
13. "Startin' Over" – 5:51

{{Reflist|30em}}

• [http://www.greggallman.com/ Official website]

{{Gregg Allman}}

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Category:1997 albums

Category:Gregg Allman albums

Category:Albums produced by Tom Dowd

Category:550 Music albums