Gregg Allman + Jackson Browne Unite For Critically Acclaimed “Melissa” Duet

All My Friends: Celebrating the Songs & Voice of Gregg Allman

The Allman Brothers Band’s Gregg Allman is one of rock’s most beloved icons, constantly beating the odds and coming out on top as a legendary songwriter whose work helped pioneer Southern rock. It’s no wonder, then, that when the call came everyone from Warren Haynes and Derek Trucks to Jackson Browne came out in droves to celebrate Gregg’s nearly 60 year musical legacy with All My Friends: Celebrating the Songs & Voice of Gregg Allman. While the night was marked by covers of some of Gregg’s biggest hits with the Allman Brothers Band, it was his ‘Melissa’ duet with friend Jackson Browne that stole the show; despite the passage of time, Gregg’s voice still has that same strong, smoky feel to it and still brings us the same comfort that it did all those years ago.

Fun Fact: It took Gregg Allman a songwriting marathon that yielded only 1 good song out of over 200 written to create the iconic ‘Melissa’.

With the addition of Jackson accompanying him on acoustic guitar and even sharing a verse or two, there’s a level of softness that evens out the soul and grit in Gregg’s voice and makes ‘Melissa’ not so much an elegy for the loved and lost Duane anymore, but a poignant look back on Gregg’s life and accomplishments with the most important song he’s ever written.

+ Melissa lyrics +

Crossroads
Seem to come and go, yeah
The Gypsy flies
From coast to coast

Knowing many, loving none
Bearing sorrow havin’ fun
But back home he’ll always run
To sweet Melissa, mmm

Freight train
Each car looks the same, all the same
And no one knows
The gypsy’s name

No one hears his lonely sighs
There are no blankets where he lies
In all his deepest dreams the gypsy flies
With sweet Melissa, mmm

Again the morning’s come
Again he’s on the run
Sunbeams shining through his hair
Appearing not to have a care
Well, pick up your gear
And gypsy roll on, roll on

Crossroads
Will you ever let him go? Lord, Lord
Will you hide the dead man’s ghost
Or will he lie, beneath the clay
Or will his spirit float away?

But I know that he won’t stay
Without Melissa
Yes, I know that he won’t stay
Without Melissa
Just won’t stay