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magena's review against another edition
4.0
awesome. I could have read it in a day. The pictures are really great
itsmarkyall's review against another edition
5.0
This was a great follow up read to Gregg Allman’s biography. I didn’t know what to expect with it coming from Galadrielle Allman. I was pleasantly surprised. She’s a fine writer and storyteller that puts a strong personal touch on the book. You feel like you’re getting to know Duane as she’s getting to know him. I appreciated how she presented her dad in a neutral light and let the reader decide what type of man he was. She also made me an even bigger fan of his music. Count him among the artists I wish I could’ve seen when they were alive.
druth's review against another edition
4.0
Enjoyed this! Duane's daughter pulled together an interesting tale of life in once- upon-a-time rock and roll. Been a fan of the Allman Brothers for years, but knew very little of their early beginnings. From the days of the boys growing up until the untimely death of Duane, enjoyed getting to know those who touched their lives. One thing "sort of" bothered me during the read. With the passage of time and the usage of drugs and alcohol, it seems that some of the stories would be a little hazy. All in all a very good book. Off to listen to Duane play with the likes of Boz Scaggs, Eric Clapton and Aretha Franklin!
teas_tales_toebeans's review against another edition
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
runningreader's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed this read. I didn't grow up listening to or "knowing" the Allman Brothers and so I appreciate books that are as carefully and well-written as this one that give me a better appreciation of the band, their music, and the musicians. I read it on my Kindle app on my phone and I enjoyed seeing the color photos in the end of the book. It also took me a long time to get through it, and I finished it feeling emotionally drained. I'm glad I read it, but I'm glad it's over too.
ctgt's review against another edition
4.0
My father is killed in the first paragraph of every article ever written about him. His life story backward, always beginning at the end, in the road, his motorcycle down, his body broken. People linger over the wreckage as if it says something meaningful about his life.
Galadrielle was two years old when her father died and this is her effort to discover the man who was her father. Can you ever really connect with someone you've never met and never will meet? Using research, discussions with family members and those who worked/played with her father she pieces together his early life and career. Not always a "good guy", Allman was relentlessly driven to improve as a musician and in the process improved those who played alongside him. For me, it's hard to top those first 3 or 4 Allman Brothers records- rock, country and jazz fused together for a powerful sound.
Usually I enjoy listening to the audiobook when read by the author and while I enjoyed parts of her narration it was uneven at times. At points in the story it was if she was reciting a list of facts without much emotion and since she wouldn't have remembered those times it is understandable but not all that moving. There are some moments when she really connects to her own emotions and in those moments the book really soars.
Why does everyone always want to count the days we spent together? Haven't you ever been in love? Don't you know how important every moment is? How infinite time feels?
7/10
Galadrielle was two years old when her father died and this is her effort to discover the man who was her father. Can you ever really connect with someone you've never met and never will meet? Using research, discussions with family members and those who worked/played with her father she pieces together his early life and career. Not always a "good guy", Allman was relentlessly driven to improve as a musician and in the process improved those who played alongside him. For me, it's hard to top those first 3 or 4 Allman Brothers records- rock, country and jazz fused together for a powerful sound.
Usually I enjoy listening to the audiobook when read by the author and while I enjoyed parts of her narration it was uneven at times. At points in the story it was if she was reciting a list of facts without much emotion and since she wouldn't have remembered those times it is understandable but not all that moving. There are some moments when she really connects to her own emotions and in those moments the book really soars.
Why does everyone always want to count the days we spent together? Haven't you ever been in love? Don't you know how important every moment is? How infinite time feels?
7/10
kat2112's review
5.0
Review also on Books That Rock Us: http://booksthatrockus.blogspot.com/2014/02/please-be-with-me-song-for-my-father.html
I should know more about The Allman Brothers Band than I do, which (until I read this) isn't much. I've lived my entire life south of Mason Dixon - with half of that spent in areas still affected by Allman influence. Indeed, while reading Ms. Allman's biography it surprised me to find so many coincidences:
The author and I share a birthday, though we're separated by a few years.
Her uncle Gregg received a liver transplant at the Mayo Clinic right around the time my father did.
She lived eleven years in Jacksonville, FL. I lived there for 22.
Duane and Gregg Allman lived very briefly in Virginia Beach as children, not far from where I live now.
In the book's prologue, Ms. Allman talks about finding a Rolling Stone with her father on the cover in an Athens, GA thrift shop. I lived in Athens for a time, and I have a good idea which store she mentions.
Spooky, eh? Maybe the last two tibits are a stretch, but seeing the birthdate was pretty wild. I also share the day with Gene Simmons and Gopher from The Love Boat.
Coincidences aside, I still acknowledge I should know more about The Allman Brothers. While not a Jacksonville-based band like Skynyrd and Molly Hatchet, the ties the brothers had to the music scene there shaped the legend. Perhaps for a long time, Ms. Allman knew as much about her father as I do - she was only two when Duane Allman perished in a motorcycle accident in the early 70s, a few years shy of the mystically unlucky 27 that stalks troubled musicians and shortly after the band's grand commercial breakthrough. Please Be With Me is the culmination of her journey to meet a man everybody else (even strangers) knew and loved.
To complete the puzzle, Ms Allman relies on the memories of colleagues, family friends, and relatives to recount Duane's life story in vivid, lyrical prose. You can taste the salty air of Daytona Beach, where Duane picked up chords through his adolescence, and follow the scents of bougainvillea, whiskey, and weed all the way to Macon and back. When you read stories of rock legends, however, you wonder about the accuracy of detail when everything comes to you second and third-hand. One reviewer on Goodreads of this book voiced some skepticism that Ms. Allman's book holds 100% accuracy. I don't know if this opinion is based upon further research on Duane and the Allmans, or just conjecture. I say, sometimes an urban legend holds a kernel of truth. Did a brother really arrange to severely injure himself to get out of the draft? Were there tensions with the Grateful Dead and in Clapton's Layla sessions? Chances are, you'd learn of different opinions as these events happened.
I thoroughly enjoyed Ms. Allman's book, which is partly a biography and partly a tribute not only to her father but the family that surrounded them. The strength of the narration carries you deep into the story that, for a moment, you almost forget the tragic outcome and want to remain where the music plays.
I should know more about The Allman Brothers Band than I do, which (until I read this) isn't much. I've lived my entire life south of Mason Dixon - with half of that spent in areas still affected by Allman influence. Indeed, while reading Ms. Allman's biography it surprised me to find so many coincidences:
The author and I share a birthday, though we're separated by a few years.
Her uncle Gregg received a liver transplant at the Mayo Clinic right around the time my father did.
She lived eleven years in Jacksonville, FL. I lived there for 22.
Duane and Gregg Allman lived very briefly in Virginia Beach as children, not far from where I live now.
In the book's prologue, Ms. Allman talks about finding a Rolling Stone with her father on the cover in an Athens, GA thrift shop. I lived in Athens for a time, and I have a good idea which store she mentions.
Spooky, eh? Maybe the last two tibits are a stretch, but seeing the birthdate was pretty wild. I also share the day with Gene Simmons and Gopher from The Love Boat.
Coincidences aside, I still acknowledge I should know more about The Allman Brothers. While not a Jacksonville-based band like Skynyrd and Molly Hatchet, the ties the brothers had to the music scene there shaped the legend. Perhaps for a long time, Ms. Allman knew as much about her father as I do - she was only two when Duane Allman perished in a motorcycle accident in the early 70s, a few years shy of the mystically unlucky 27 that stalks troubled musicians and shortly after the band's grand commercial breakthrough. Please Be With Me is the culmination of her journey to meet a man everybody else (even strangers) knew and loved.
To complete the puzzle, Ms Allman relies on the memories of colleagues, family friends, and relatives to recount Duane's life story in vivid, lyrical prose. You can taste the salty air of Daytona Beach, where Duane picked up chords through his adolescence, and follow the scents of bougainvillea, whiskey, and weed all the way to Macon and back. When you read stories of rock legends, however, you wonder about the accuracy of detail when everything comes to you second and third-hand. One reviewer on Goodreads of this book voiced some skepticism that Ms. Allman's book holds 100% accuracy. I don't know if this opinion is based upon further research on Duane and the Allmans, or just conjecture. I say, sometimes an urban legend holds a kernel of truth. Did a brother really arrange to severely injure himself to get out of the draft? Were there tensions with the Grateful Dead and in Clapton's Layla sessions? Chances are, you'd learn of different opinions as these events happened.
I thoroughly enjoyed Ms. Allman's book, which is partly a biography and partly a tribute not only to her father but the family that surrounded them. The strength of the narration carries you deep into the story that, for a moment, you almost forget the tragic outcome and want to remain where the music plays.
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