Today would have been Gregg Allman‘s 70th birthday. In celebration of his life and legacy, a new music video has been released from the final track of his posthumous album Southern Blood. The “Song For Adam” features a heartwarming collaboration with singer/songwriter Jackson Browne. Browne pays his homage in both blatant and subtle ways, from crafting a song perfect for Allman to providing harmonies on the song itself, essentially backing the icon while arming him with one last bullet.
The emotional ballad is about two motorcyclist who are forced to say goodbye due to a sudden death, and is directed by Erica Silverman. Starring Zach Chance (of Jamestown Revival), Yates Robertson, Zoe Graham and Johnny McPhail, the video presents the relationship in both future and present moments–and inevitably pulls heart strings with the memories of Duane Allman and Berry Oakley, original members of the Allman Brothers Band who both passed away in motorcycle accidents within a year of each other.
In an earlier interview with Rolling Stone, producer Don Was explained the song-picking process for “Song for Adam”, suggesting that Allman chose the song based on the memories of his late brother, Duane Allman, who died in a motorcycle at the age of 24. During the recording process, when Gregg got to the profound lyric, “Still it seems he stopped singing in the middle of his song,” it brought him to a place of emotion–and you can hear it on the recording of the final track. “He wasn’t able to finish the verse,” Was reflects. “He never got the last two lines. I know he was thinking about his brother. We all decided, ‘Let’s not fix it.'”
Watch “Song For Adam” below:
The passing of Gregg Allman was, as it is for us all, inescapable. The positive at the heart of the tragedy is that he left so many lives richer. Music can be a means of escape, a tool for healing, and an avenue to share feelings far easier than words could ever allow on their own. Through his songs and countless live performances, Allman worked to elevate the spirit while facing all that life could throw at him. Southern Blood, as a last thought on the human condition, is an emotional parting gift from a man who gave everything he could to us all.