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FLASHBACK: Gregg Allman Talks Jimmy Carter on ‘Conan’

Gregg Allman would have celebrated his 76th birthday today (December 8). Back in 2012, he gave an incredible interview on Conan promoting his autobiography, My Cross to Bear. The interview…

Gregg Allman
Rick Diamond/Getty Images

Gregg Allman would have celebrated his 76th birthday today (December 8). Back in 2012, he gave an incredible interview on Conan promoting his autobiography, My Cross to Bear.

The interview covers a multitude of topics from trying to fight Johnny Rotten, listening back to At Fillmore East and the Allman Brothers Band Museum in Macon, Georgia.

As if it couldn’t get any more hilarious, Allman tells the story of having dinner at the White House with President Jimmy Carter shortly after his inauguration proving long before the 2020 documentary that he really was the "Rock & Roll President."

He recalls being in the Lincoln Bedroom and noted how the actual bed was absurdly high off the ground and very narrow. Allman said he was chatting with Carter's mother in the bedroom. This led to some innuendo-inspired laughter from the studio audience and plenty of jokes from O'Brien himself.

He then says Amy Carter, the youngest Carter child, enters the Lincoln bedroom and says, "Mama says y'all are gonna stay for dinner." Allman, recognizing the grandness of inauguration day initially declines but ends up having dinner at the White House that evening.

Despite being good friends, Allman couldn't believe Carter's ambitions in wanting to be President of the United States. When talking about Carter telling him he was going to be President, Allman said, "I laughed so hard I about choked."

O'Brien replied, "You laughed at Governor Carter when he said 'I will be President'?" Allman responded, "Well, yeah! When was the last southern president before him? Anybody?" After a beat of silence, sidekick Andy Richter chimed in with, "What about LBJ? Doesn't Texas count as the south?" Allman hilariously replied, "Nah! Sorry, I love Texas."

This clip ends with Allman saying, "Tell me a better president we've had since." Bill Maher, who was sitting on set after being the show's first guest, said, "I agree. [Carter] never fired a shot, and somehow, he got to be the poster boy for being a p-ssy. That's actually strength when you don't have to fire a shot." Allman responds to Maher's comments with, "Amen. You said it like a profit." Maher replies, "Amen, brother." O'Brien chimes in about notorious atheist Maher, "'Amen?' He's religious now. You converted Bill Maher. It can be done!"

The Who’s Live at Leeds was released on May 16, 1970, and it’s one of the greatest live albums of all time.

It saw the band adding heavier guitars to their mod-era classics and to some early rock and roll chesnuts, and it holds up to any of their studio albums. Through the ‘70s, and ever since, rock bands have been releasing live documents of their concerts, and while some of them are little more than “greatest hits” collections with crowd noise, the albums on this list are essential parts of their respective artists’ discographies.

Scroll through the gallery below and see where some of your favorites are ranked in our greatest live albums list.

40. Billy Joel - ‘Songs In The Attic’ (1981)

Billy-Joel_Songs-from-the-Attic_Columbia_Legacy.jpgColumbia/Legacy

39. Yes - “Yessongs’ (1973)

Yes_yessongs_Atlantic.jpgAtlantic

38. The Kinks - ‘One For The Road’ (1980)

kinks_one-for-the-road_Arista.jpgArista

37. Thin Lizzy - ‘Live And Dangerous’ (1978)

thin-lizzy_dangerous_Mercury.jpgMercury

36. Rush - ‘Exit… Stage Left’ (1981)

rush_exit_Mercury.jpgMercury

35. Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers - ‘The Live Anthology’ (2009)

Petty_live_Reprise.jpgReprise

34. Neil Young & Crazy Horse - ‘Live Rust’ (1979)

neil-young_live-rust_Reprise.jpgReprise

33. Lynyrd Skynyrd - ‘One More From The Road’ (1976)

skynyrd_one-more_MCA.jpgMCA

32. Janis Joplin - ‘The Woodstock Experience’ (1998)

Janis-Joplin_woodstock_Sony-Legacy.jpg

31. Ozzy Osbourne - ‘Randy Rhoads Tribute’ (1987)

ozzy-Osbourne_randy_Sony-Legacy.jpgSony/Legacy

30. The Runaways - ‘Live In Japan’ (1977)

runaways_japan_Mercury.jpgMercury

29. Queen - ‘Live Killers’ (1979)

Queen_LiveKil_CoverAr_3000DPI300RGB1000003004-scaled.jpgUMG

28. Iron Maiden - ‘Live After Death’ (1985)

iron-maiden_live_EMI.jpgEMI

27. The Rolling Stones - ‘Get Yer Ya-Ya’s Out’ (1970)

TheRoll_GetYerY_CoverAr_3000DPI300RGB1000036131-scaled.jpgUMG

26. Otis Redding - ‘Live In Europe’ (1967)

otis-redding_live_Volt_Atco.jpgVolt/Atco

25. The Yardbirds - ‘Five Live Yardbirds’ (1964)

yardbirds_Five-Live-Yardbirds_Columbia.jpgColumbia

24. Pearl Jam - ‘October 31st, 2009 – The Spectrum, Philadelphia’ (2009)

Image-from-iOS-35.jpgPearl Jam

23. David Bowie - ‘Live Santa Monica ‘72’ (2008)

David-Bowie_Santa-Monica_Rhino_Parlophone.jpgRhino/Parlophone

22. AC/DC - ‘If You Want Blood, You’ve Got It’ (1978)

ACDC_If-you-want-blood_Atlantic.jpgAtlantic

21. Nirvana - ‘Live At Reading’ (2009)

Nirvana_reading_Geffen.jpgGeffen

20. Talking Heads - ‘Stop Making Sense’ (1984)

talking-heads_stop-making-sense_Sire_Warner-Bros.jpgSire/Warner Bros.

19. Johnny Cash - ‘At Folsom Prison’ (1968)

Johnny-Cash_at-folsom_Columbia.jpgColumbia

18. Elton John - ‘11-17-70’ (1971)

Elton-John_11_17_70_Mercury.jpgMercury

17. Bob Dylan - ‘The Bootleg Series Vol. 4: Live 1966, ‘The Royal Albert Hall’ Concert’ (1998)

Dylan_Bootleg_Sony-Legacy.jpgSony/Legacy

16. Cheap Trick - ‘At Budokan’ (1979)

Cheap-Trick_At-Budokan_Epic.jpgEpic

15. Bruce Springsteen - ‘Hammersmith Odeon, London ‘75’ (2006)

Springsteen_Hammersmith_Sony-Legacy.jpgSony/Legacy

14. Deep Purple - ‘Made In Japan’ (1973)

Deep-Purple_Made-in-Japan_Warner-Bros.jpgWarner Bros.

13. U2 - ‘Under A Blood Red Sky’ (1983)

U2_UnderAB_CoverAr_3000DPI300RGB1000016102-scaled.jpgUMG

12. Aretha Franklin - ‘Live At Fillmore West’ (1971)

aretha_Live-At-Fillmore-West_Atlantic.jpgAtlantic

11. Motorhead - ‘No Sleep ‘Til Hammersmith’ (1981)

motorhead_no-sleep_Mercury.jpgMercury

10. Bob Marley & The Wailers - ‘Live!’ (1975)

bob-marley_live_Island-Records.jpgIsland Records

9. Peter Frampton - ‘Frampton Comes Alive’ (1976)

frampton_alive_AM.jpgA&M

8. Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band - ‘Live Bullet’ (1976)

bob-seger_live-bullet_Capitol.jpgCapitol

7. KISS - ‘Alive’ (1975)

Kiss_Alive_CoverAr_4000DPI300RGB1000147351-scaled.jpgUMG

6. Santana - ‘The Woodstock Experience’ (2009)

santana_woodstock_Sony-Legacy.jpgSony/Legacy

5. The Allman Brothers Band - ‘At Fillmore East’ (1971)

allman-brothers_fillmore-east_Capricorn.jpgCapricorn

4. James Brown - ‘Live At The Apollo, 1962’ (1963)

james-brown_apollo_Polydor.jpgPolydor

3. Jimi Hendrix - ‘Live At Monterey’ (1986)

hendriix_Monterey_Sony-Legacy.jpgSony/Legacy

2. Led Zeppelin - ‘How The West Was Won’ (2003)

led-zeppelin_how-the-west_Atlantic_Swan-Song.jpgAtlantic/Swan Song

1.The Who - ‘Live At Leeds’ (1970)

the-who_live-at-leeds_MCA.jpgMCA
Erica Banas is a news blogger who's been covering the rock/classic rock world since 2014. The coolest event she's ever covered in person was the 2021 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony. (Sir Paul McCartney inducting Foo Fighters? C'mon now!) She's also well-versed in etiquette and extraordinarily nice. #TransRightsAreHumanRights