Watch The Allman Brothers Band Light Up ‘Late Night With Conan O’Brien’ In 1995

“It should have been the greatest week of my life, but instead I hit an all-time low,” Gregg Allman wrote as the opening sentence to his 2012 memoir My Cross To Bear. Allman was referencing a week spent in New York City in 1995 that included The Allman Brothers Band, the group he co-founded with his late brother Duane Allman, being inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame on this date in 1995.

“I arrived in New York on a Sunday, got drunk, and stayed drunk for five days, including the [Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame] induction ceremony itself,” Allman explained.

During his alcohol-fueled time in New York (which also included taping an appearance on The Late Show With David Letterman), Allman’s team held an intervention, hoping he would seek treatment to get sober. Allman wrote that he agreed to enter a rehab facility at the end of the week, after the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction ceremony and taping Late Night With Conan O’Brien.

Recalling the experience, Allman wrote:

“We had another TV appearance scheduled for Wednesday, this time on Late Night With Conan O’Brien O’Brien. We did Conan during the day and played a couple of songs, including an extended version of “Statesboro Blues” that just went on and on. Dickey Betts and Warren Haynes really were unbelievable, but I was just trying to hold on. ”

“I was a scary-looking sight — my eyes were hollow, empty, and so yellow that they looked like a couple of lemon slices. After that, we were scheduled to rehearse for the induction ceremony over at the Waldorf [Astoria Hotel], where the band was going to work up a shorter version of “One Way Out.” I just couldn’t make it. Sorry, but I was worn out, and I couldn’t do it.”

At the ceremony held 28 years ago today, The Allman Brothers Band was inducted into the Rock Hall by Willie Nelson. Allman described being too inebriated to muster a proper acceptance speech, instead simply sharing a few words honoring his brother Duane. In his book, One Way Out: The Inside History of the Allman Brothers Band author Alan Paul quoted Allman sharing his memory of the Rock Hall ceremony, writing:

“I could barely stand up. I meant to say something about my mother and something about Bill Graham. I meant to say a lot of stuff and I was too gone to say any of it. All day I tried to be really cool about it but you just cannot. Afterwards we played and I started feeling a little better so that night wasn’t a total loss, but I watched it on TV and I was mortified, and that’s what it took for me to get serious about cleaning up.”

Though in his memoir Allman details a perilous journey getting there, Allman went to the rehab facility he promised to go to, which ultimately led to him spending the final years of his life alcohol-free.

Aired on January 11, 1995, The Allman Brothers Band’s appearance on Conan featured Gregg Allman on keys, guitarists Dickey Betts and Warren Haynes, drummers Butch Trucks and Jaimoe, and percussionist Marc Quinones and bassist Allen Woody. As noted above, Betts led the group through a lengthy rendering of his “Southbound,” while Gregg did his best to helm “One Way Out.”