''My Only True Friend'' is the first track on ''

Southern Blood ''Southern Blood: New Australian Tales of the Supernatural'' is a 2003 speculative fiction anthology edited by Bill Congreve Background ''Southern Blood'' was first published in Australia in June 2003 by Sandglass Enterprises in trade paper ...

'', the last studio album by the American singer-songwriter

Gregg Allman Gregory LeNoir Allman (December 8, 1947 – May 27, 2017) was an American musician, singer and songwriter. He was known for performing in the Allman Brothers Band. Allman grew up with an interest in rhythm and blues music, and the Allman Br ...

, released posthumously on September 8, 2017, by

Rounder Records Rounder Records is an independent record label founded in 1970 in Somerville, Massachusetts by Marian Leighton Levy, Ken Irwin, and Bill Nowlin. Focused on American roots music, Rounder's catalogue of more than 3000 titles includes records by Al ...

. It is the only original song on the album and was co-written by Allman with the guitarist and bandleader

Scott Sharrard Scott Sharrard (born December 28, 1976) is an American musical artist widely known as the lead guitarist and musical director of the Gregg Allman Band. A prolific songwriter and talented singer, he has also released several soul-influenced alb ...

, forming the album's

lead single A lead single (also known as a debut single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. Release s ...

. The song has the theme of time running out at the end of life. Allman was ill at the time and died on May 27, 2017, not long after the recording. Allman repeats the lyric "I hope you're haunted by the music of my soul, when I'm gone" throughout the song. Sharrard secretly wrote the song in the voice of Gregg's late brother,

Duane Allman Howard Duane Allman (November 20, 1946 – October 29, 1971) was an American rock guitarist, session musician, and the founder and original leader of the Allman Brothers Band, for which he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in ...

, speaking to him. The rest of the album consists of

cover song In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song released ...

s. A video of Allman and other musicians is associated with the song. The song has been called "hauntingly beautiful".

References

External links

Gregg Allman's official website
{{authority control 2017 singles 2017 songs Southern rock songs American rock songs Songs written by Gregg Allman Song recordings produced by Don Was Songs about death Rounder Records singles