diff --git a/public/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/utils/sam/GATKSAMRecord.java b/public/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/utils/sam/GATKSAMRecord.java
index 63a618aed..d36ec3411 100755
--- a/public/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/utils/sam/GATKSAMRecord.java
+++ b/public/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/utils/sam/GATKSAMRecord.java
@@ -241,4 +241,10 @@ public class GATKSAMRecord extends BAMRecord {
     public boolean isEmpty() {
         return this.getReadLength() == 0;
     }
+
+    public void simplify () {
+        GATKSAMReadGroupRecord rg = getReadGroup();
+        this.clearAttributes();
+        setReadGroup(rg);
+    }
 }