Photo by George Lange

Alan Paul is an author, journalist and musician. His fourth book, BROTHERS AND SISTERS: The Allman Brothers Band and the Inside Story of the Album That Defined the 70s (St. Martin’s Press; July 25, 2023), is a deep dive into the time before and after 1973’s Brothers and Sisters. It was not only the band’s best-selling album, at over seven million copies sold, but it was also a powerfully influential release, both musically and culturally, one whose influence continues to be profoundly felt. Celebrating the album’s 50th anniversary, Brothers and Sisters the book delves into the making of the album, while also presenting a broader cultural history of the era, based on first-person interviews, historical documents and deep research and a trove of never-before-heard interviews conducted by the band’s “Tour Mystic,” Kirk West.

The five-year period between Duane Allman’s 1971 death and the Allman Brothers Band’s 1976 breakup was a remarkable run for the group that helped define the era, rock history and American culture and politics. They played a major role in electing President Jimmy Carter; were intimately linked with the Grateful Dead; and inspired the Marshall Tucker Band, Lynyrd Skynyrd and the entire Southern Rock genre. Gregg Allman’s marriage to the iconic star Cher also put the couple at the vanguard of a newly emerging celebrity media culture.

Paul’s last two books have been instant New York Times bestsellers: Texas Flood: The Inside Story of Stevie Ray Vaughan and One Way Out: The Inside History of the Allman Brothers Band. Texas Flood has been optioned and is being developed for both documentary and feature films. His first book, Big in China: My Unlikely Adventures Raising a Family, Playing the Blues and Becoming a Star in Beijing  was hailed by USA Today as a “big–hearted memoir with emotional depth.” It is about his experiences raising three American children in Beijing and Paul’s unlikely journey to becoming a Chinese music star, fronting the blues band Woodie Alan, Beijing’s 2008 Band of the Year. It was optioned for film development by Ivan Reitman’s Montecito Productions. That band’s debut CD Beijing Blues was an East/West fusion that earned praise from ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons and the Allman Brothers Band’s Warren Haynes.

He also founded Friends of the Brothers, the premier celebration of the music of the Allman Brothers Band, featuring members of the Dickey Betts, Jaimoe and Gregg Allman bands. Rolling Stone’s David Browne said, “Though they honor the music, Friends of the Brothers never feel like a ‘tribute band.’ They play the songs as if they’d written them.”

Paul launched Brothers and Sisters  at City Winery New York with the band joined by special guests including three musician sons of the ABB: Duane Betts, Lamar Williams Jr. and Vaylor Trucks – who is the cute three year old on the album’s cover! JamBase review of the event here. 

He is a regular guest on radio shows and a frequent contributor to The Wall Street Journal, Guitar World, and other publications. He lives in New Jersey with his wife, Rebecca Blumenstein. They have three children.