Ain't Wastin' Time No More: Gregg Allman Turned Grief Into a Manifesto. Now Duane Betts Is Doing It Again.

I’ve seen Gregg Allman: The Music Of My Soul three times now and it’s very good, as I noted in my review after the World Premiere, which you can read here. Having spent my whole career digging into the careers, lives and personalities of Gregg and the Allman Brothers Band, of course I see things I wish were covered more, or differently, but the reason the movie is a success is simple: it captures Gregg. You watch it and you know him better, you see the person that he was off stage: vulnerable, wounded, funny, smart.

One thing I think should have been discussed, however, is the magic, beauty, strength and grace of “Ain’t Wasting Time No More,” Gregg’s response to Duane’s death. Artists process emotions - very much including grief - thorough their art, and Gregg did so in amazing fashion with this song. I’m going to break it down a little bit here.

The first verse lays out the song’s theme in simple, direct fashion, even if it feels a bit like Gregg’s trying to talk himself into feeling strong:
Last Sunday morning, the sunshine felt like rain. Week before, they all seemed the same.
With the help of God and true friends, I come to realize
I still had two strong legs, and even wings to fly.

I still have two strong legs and even wings to fly is a mantra, one I’ve turned to at different points in my life and I certainly am not alone. Maybe you have, too. It’s the nut graf, in journalistic parlance, the song’s reason for being, its statement of intent

And then the chorus:
I, ain’t wastin time no more /’Cause time goes by like hurricanes, and faster things.

Time waits for no one, so if you sit around feeling sorry for yourself, life will pass you by.

The last line of the second verse is, of course, a sad statement of the reality about how Gregg was dealing with his pain, beyond the music.

Look inside yourself, and if you don’t see what you want,
Maybe sometimes then you don’t,
Leave your mind alone and just get high.

In later years, after he got sober, Gregg changed this lyric to “Leave your mind alone and just get by,” which is admirable and I understand him no longer wanting to sing those words, but honestly it’s also one of the most accurate statements about one of the true driving motivations for numbing the pain - looking inside yourself and not liking what you see. Kudos to Gregg for being able to express it so well and to be able to turn his loss into a such a beautiful song, which not only helped him and his bandmates find their way forward, but has helped so many of us do the same for over 50 years.

Of course, “Ain’t Wasting Time No More” is not poem, but a song and the music had to also deliver, which it does, from the first comping piano on. And it wasn’t just Gregg stepping up and being defiant and brave, but the entire Allman Brothers Band. The song was also Dickey Betts’ first recorded slide playing.

He put in considerable practice time crafting a memorable line, which uplifted Gregg’s song. Together, Allman and Betts made a string statement about how they were going to cintinue without Duane just fine. Then they took the extraordinary step of making it the first song on Eat A Peach, the first album released after Duane’s death. it was an extremely powerful statement of intent.

Amazingly, Dickey’s son Duane has now done something similar with his new album Isle Of Hope, which opens with “Heartache,” a song he wrote about his father’s passing. Before he had even written the song, Duane told me in an upcoming Guitar World interview, he wanted to start the album with a quieter song. When he brought “Heartache” into the studio, producer Dave Cobb was adamant that it should be the first song.

'“I am very proud to come out of the gate with something so emotional,” Duane told me.” It’s hard being that vulnerable, but I’m really proud of the song.”

When he said that, i replied, “It reminds me of how the Allman Brothers Band started Eat A Peach with “Ain’t Wasting Time No More,” which Gregg wrote after Duane passed away, and it’s Dickey’s first recorded slide part. It’s answering the question “How are we going to survive without Duane?” on the very first track.”

Duane was taken aback ,”Wow, yeah,” he said. “That’s such a powerful, soulful song, but you just turned on a light bulb in my head by putting it in that perspective. That was so gutsy. That’s a strong statement and, yes, there’s a common thread between those two conceptually, but it wasn’t conscious and it only occurred to me when you mentioned it!”

Thank God for music. Where would we be without it?

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\Brothers and Sisters: the Allman Brothers Band and The Album That Defined The 70s was my third straight book to debut in the New York Times Non-Fiction Hardcover Bestsellers List, following Texas Flood: The Inside Story of Stevie Ray Vaughan and One Way Out: The Inside History of the Allman Brothers Band. My first book was Big in China: My Unlikely Adventures Raising a Family, Playing the Blues and Becoming a Star in Beijing, about my experiences raising a family in Beijing and touring China with a popular original blues band. It was optioned for a movie by Ivan Reitman’s Montecito Productions. I am also a guitarist and singer who fronts two bands, Big in China and Friends of the Brothers, the premier celebration of the Allman Brothers Band.