Contributed Photo
Brian Phelps greets Gregg Allman in 1988, before a cop did.
Southern rocker Gregg Allman was already a big name in music when he played New Haven’s Toad’s Place in June 1988, but it was the name on the jacket that saved him from a ticket.
Allman, the bluesy-voiced Allman Brothers frontman and then solo recording artist who died Saturday at the age of 69, played Toad’s on York Street (as well as the now-gone Waterbury location) several times in his career.
Toad’s Owner Brian Phelps remembered giving Allman a Toad’s jacket that night in 1988. Allman “happened to have a rental car that night. Not sure why. Anyway, he got pulled over, but once the officer saw who it was and that he had his Toad’s jacket on, Gregg got away with a warning.”
Phelps described Allman as “very polite, friendly and cordial” in his interactions with him.
“He definitely enjoyed having a cocktail or two, but that was all part of his mystique. He was truly a master of the blues, one of the true greats that I will never forget. R.I.P. ”