Last week at Song Lyric Sunday we had songs by Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductees. This week we are picking songs by artists who never made it into The Hall of Fame, but in our humble opinion, they should have been.
I found quite an extensive list of artists who, as yet, have not made it. It was really quite shocking that so many influential musicians were not already in there. Check out those artists here and see what you think.
Anyway, on this list there was a funny story about Gregg Allman of the Allman Brothers.
Gregg Allman’s relationship with the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame is unique. He was drunk for just about every part of the process when the Allman Brothers Band was inducted in 1995, including the ceremony itself. “It should have been the greatest week of my life,” he later wrote in My Cross to Bear, “but instead I hit an all-time low.” The experience was so profound that it prompted Allman to seek professional help and finally overcome his addiction once and for all. Allman released eight albums before his death in 2017 and has been eligible for solo induction since 2012, but has not been nominated.
So in honor and memory of the great Gregg Allman I am choosing the song Midnight Rider, He performs it here with guests Vince Gill and Zac Brown.
The Song
“Midnight Rider” was Gregg Allman’s signature song, describing how he continued on in the face of obstacles. He wrote the song, but shared the songwriting credit with Kim Payne, a roadie for the band who came up with the classic line, “The road goes on forever.”
After he wrote this song, Gregg Allman wanted to start recording it right away, so with the help of Kim Payne, who was guarding their equipment, he broke into the band’s Macon, Georgia recording studio in the middle of the night and went to work, figuring he should get some tracks down before he forgot them.
This first appeared on the second Allman Brothers album, Idlewild South, but it wasn’t released as a single. The song became a live favorite and one very identifiable with Gregg, so when he recorded his first solo album, Laid Back, in 1973, he recorded a new version of this song and released it as a single. It became his biggest hit as a solo artist, charting at #19 US.
A 1976 reggae version by the Jamaican singer Paul Davidson reached #10 in the UK.
This song can be heard in the movie Unbreakable when Bruce Willis’s character is lifting weights.
In 2013, this was used by Geico in a commercial for their motorcycle insurance. The spot, titled “Money Man,” shows a rider literally made of money cruising while the song plays. The Allman Brothers are certainly popular with the biker crowd, but those familiar with the band found the ad in poor taste, as both Duane Allman and Berry Oakley died in motorcycle accidents.
On June 7, 2017, Jason Aldean, Darius Rucker, Derek Trucks and Charles Kelley of Lady Antebellum paid tribute to Gregg Allman, who died on May 27, by opening the CMT Music Awards with a performance of this song.
Willie Nelson recorded this for the 1979 movie The Electric Horseman. His version went to #6 on the Country chart in 1980.
Courtesy of Songfacts
The Lyrics
Well, I've got to run to keep from hiding And I'm bound to keep on riding And I've got one more silver dollar But I'm not gonna let 'em catch me, no Not gonnna let 'em catch the midnight rider And I don't own the clothes I'm wearing And the road goes on forever And I've got one more silver dollar But I'm not gonna let 'em catch me, no Not gonna let 'em catch the midnight rider And I've gone by the point of caring Some old bed I'll soon be sharing And I've got one more silver dollar But I'm not gonna let 'em catch me, no Not gonna let 'em catch the midnight rider No, I'm not gonna let 'em catch me, no Not gonna let 'em catch the midnight rider No, I'm not gonna let 'em catch me, no I'm not gonna let 'em catch the midnight rider No, I'm not gonna let 'em catch me, no I'm not gonna let 'em catch the midnight rider Writer/s: Gregg Allman, Robert Kim Payne Publisher: Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc. Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind