Posted on 07/28/2015 12:03:36 AM PDT by nickcarraway
geraldine Allman raised boys in Daytona as a single mom
When he was a kid growing up in Daytona Beach, Gregg Allman wanted a guitar, and the guys over at Sears didn't sell it to him because he was 95 cents short.
Well, "Mama A" would have none of that. Her kid worked hard to get it — he earned it — he should have it.
"She said, 'Boy get in the car.' I swear we 85-ed it from the house down to Sears and Roebuck. She was steaming by the time she got there," said Allman, in a 2011 interview with the Savannah Morning News.
Needless to say, Gregg got the guitar. The single mother, caregiver, inspiration and referee to two of Daytona Beach's cultural icons, Gregg and brother Duane, has died, according to Duane Allman's daughter's Facebook page. She was 98. Her granddaughter posted the message thanking people for their support Friday night.
Geraldine Alice (Robbins) Allman, a Daytona Beach Shores resident who was known to family and friends as “Mama A,” raised the two famous musicians on her own after their father's death when they were very young.
The brothers lived a big part of their later childhood in the Daytona Beach area, attending R.J. Longstreet Elementary School and Seabreeze High School, and got their start on the music scene in local bars and taverns before The Allman Brothers Band became one of rock music's most influential groups.
Geraldine Allman, who was born in 1917, had a great influence on the career path of both her sons — she worked as an accountant, and Gregg spoke lovingly of her a few years back, when she was 93, in the Savannah newspaper article.
“Her hands work great, her mind works better. She still cooks and drives,” said Allman.
Aside from the stability she provided the family, Mama A got feisty when she needed to.
She slammed quarters down on the counter at Sears to get that guitar for Gregg, but she couldn't keep it out of his big brother's hands.
After a motorcycle wreck that foreshadowed Duane's early death, he decided he wanted Gregg's guitar. “He said, 'That's my guitar,' and then the fight started,” Gregg told the newspaper.
“My brother quit school and played guitar all day,” he said. “I would go to school and he'd stay home and play. My mother got worried because he wouldn't eat, he wouldn't sleep, he wouldn't go out with the girls. He was really hung up on that guitar.”
Duane kept playing — and improving. “One day he said, 'If you don't learn how to sing, you're going to have to hit the bricks,'” Allman said. “So I started singing."
Galadrielle Allman, Duane Allman's daughter, posted a message on her Facebook site regarding the loss of her grandmother.
"I can't say anything now, but thank you for the outpouring of love for my family. I'll leave the rest to a yogi my granny turned me on to. She was way beyond me in this and all other things...," the post said, before a quote from Paramahansa Yogananda that began, "Our real self, the soul, is immortal."
Geraldine Allman was preceded in death by Duane Allman in a 1971 motorcycle accident when the guitarist was 24.
Rest in peace.
Willis Turner, Skydog, and Mama A, hopefully all reunited. RIP.
Very sad. A true Southern Lady, tough as nails, sweet as Iced Tea.
Brought up 2 of the best musicians/pioneers in Rock history.
I believe I’ll put on “Eat a Peach” in honor of “Mama A”, Duane, and Berry.
Absolutely. RIP Mama A
What he said.
< You’re my blue sky/You’re my sunny day...>
RIP, Mama A.
Back in the day, she was known for sitting in a chair at back of stage holding her pocketbook at any of their performances here in the Southeast.
RIP.
She passed on some good musical genes.
The original Jam Band.
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