When Gregg Allman decided to name what turned out to be his last studio album Southern Blood, the album cover was going to feature a painting done by New York artist Vincent Castiglia, who paints using human blood.
Gregg sent him two vials of his blood, but then decided to go in a different direction with the album's artwork, opting instead to show his property in Savannah, Georgia.
But, with Castiglia still having Gregg's blood, his family went ahead with a portrait. See below.
Gregg Allman's manager, Michael Lehman, on the cover photo of Gregg's new album, Southern Blood:
"The image on the cover is taken in his backyard actually looking out towards the river and there’s a wooden walkway that heads out towards his dock as well as some trees with some Spanish moss hanging and that’s the image that you’ll see and that Gregg saw every single day when he would sit out on his back patio, or sit out by the pool. And very often he would take walks towards the dock. And the reason that we chose that image is it just looks out towards the beyond where Gregg was and that’s where Gregg is, somewhere out there.”
That portrait is available with the deluxe editions of Southern Blood, and the original painting will tour the country as part of any celebrations related to the album, as well as an Allman exhibition that's in the works.