Allman Brothers – Ain’t Wastin’ Time No More

This is one of the first Allman Brothers songs I remember hearing on the radio.

It’s a fantastic song that you don’t hear as much as some of the other Allman songs like Rambling Man. Gregg Allman had most of the music written already but wrote the lyrics right after his brother Duane died in a motorcycle wreck.

It’s about Gregg dealing with the loss of his brother and the soldiers coming back from Vietnam. The Allmans had just started recording the album Eat A Peach when Duane died. Soon after he passed they went to Miami to finish the album.

They started to work on this album in September of 1971 and laid down the basic tracks for “Blue Sky,” “Stand Back” and “Little Martha.” Duane Allman died on October 29, 1971. So those tracks have Duane playing on them and of course, all of the live material features him on guitar. After he died the band went back to the studio and recorded the rest and it was finished in December.

The album also included live tracks that were not used on At Fillmore East like One Way Out, Trouble No More, and a 33-minute “Mountain Jam” that was built off a riff from a Donovan song “There is a Mountain.”

They had some sort of chemistry live that was incredible. I’m usually not a fan of long endless live songs but they keep the intensity up…plus with this album, you get the best of both worlds. The album was released on February 12, 1972, and it peaked at #4 on the Billboard 100 and #12 in Canada. The original name was going to be “Eat A Peach for Peace.”

Dickey Betts had never played electric slide before but when Duane died he was forced to learn the old material and put his spin on Duane’s slide parts. He also came up with new slide parts to this song and Melissa.

The song peaked at #77 on the Billboard 100 in 1972.

Gregg Allman: Losing Duane really slammed Dickey too, but he didn’t show it. We didn’t see too much of Dickey after my brother died. He had this huge garden, and when something would piss him off, he would go out there and sling a hoe or a shovel or an ax for about four hours in the hot sun. He’d come back in for dinner, and he’d be okay. The cat really does have a heart, and I think he really cared about my brother—you don’t go naming your child after someone that you don’t care for.

When my brother died, Dickey really stepped up. He wood-shedded like crazy; I remember him learning how to play the slide part for “Ain’t Wastin’ Time No More” on the airplane, during the flight down to Miami to finish up Eat a Peach.

Ain’t Wastin’ Time No More

Last Sunday morning, the sunshine felt like rain
The week before, they all seemed the same
With the help of God and true friends, I’ve come to realize
I still have two strong legs, and even wings to fly

So I, ain’t a wastin’ time no more
‘Cause time goes by like hurricanes, and faster things

Well, Lord, Lord, Miss Sally, why are your cryin?
Been around here three long days, lookin’ like we’re dyin’
Go step yourself outside and look up at the stars above
And go on downtown, baby, find somebody to love

Meanwhile, I ain’t a wastin’ time no more
‘Cause time goes by like pourin’ rain, and much faster things

You don’t need no gypsy to tell you why
Ya can’t let one precious day to slip by
Well, look inside yourself, and if you don’t see what you want
May be sometimes then ya don’t
But leave your mind alone and just get high

Well, by and by, way after many years have gone
And all the war freaks die off, leavin’ us alone
We’ll raise our children, in the peaceful way we can
It’s up to you and me brother to try and try again

So, hear us now, we ain’t wastin’ time no more
‘Cause time rolls by like hurricanes
Runnin’ after the subway train
Don’t forget the pourin’ rain

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Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, Alternative music, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player. Not the slightest bit interested in politics at all.

24 thoughts on “Allman Brothers – Ain’t Wastin’ Time No More”

    1. Trucks is great…and has been since he was 10 years old…I know that had to be great. One of the few couples in music who work together and thrive.

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  3. Time rolls by like hurricanes, runnin’ after the subway train and don’t forget the pourin’ rain, because all of these things can end up being distractions. Take the bull by the horns, buckle down and get it done, cross the Rubicon, face the music, and run the gauntlet.

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    1. It did rather well on the charts for an Allman single with good lyrics…good lyrics are not a must for a chart single…sometimes the opposite.
      Rambling Man was largely a fluke by them….as far as a single.

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      1. ‘Rambling Man’ I love, and was the only thing I heard by them until I was maybe 20, but you’re right it seems atypically hook-y for them. Certainly was a good pick as a single.

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      2. No…I would bet Dave that you heard “Jessica” growing up…the instrumental. It was all over the radio in the mid seventies and charted. I heard Rambling Man, Jessica, this one, and Midnight Rider.

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    1. Yes…Rambling Man it came out a year or so after this one… on the album Brothers and Sisters. For some reason this one stuck with me.

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  8. Excellent pick, Max, excellent! And it’s funny you mentioned “Ramblin’ Man” – for many years, that bloody tune was the only song by the Allman’s I had known.

    When I started to work in U.S. in the fall of 1997, I had a colleague who was into the Allmans. He would beam about their residencies at the Beacon Theatre in New York City. And I remember me thinking like, ‘gee, he’s quite excited about this “Ramblin’ Man band”.’

    Eventually, I realized there was so much more to the Allmans than this one song, and I was able to catch them on their very final tour – a few months prior to their final curtain at the Beacon. Let’s just say it was one of the more memorable shows I’ve seen over the past 10 years!

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    1. That guy had great taste. I love learning how people get into whoever. It’s probably my favorite by them…but the Fillmore East keeps knocking though.

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    2. In the seventies it was really fashionable to carry records around school all day long to show off your supposed taste. Boys at my school were always carrying prog rock albums around (it was always proggies who did this). The albums were often Yes, ELP, Pink Floyd, Tubular Bells etc. I hated those boys.

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      1. He was the only person I knew who did it and it was just ‘Eat A Peach’. This guy was a cool dude and like I said he turned me onto to some great music that wasnt popular or commercial but very good to my ears.

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