So it looks like my original thread is locked
https://www.allegro.cc/forums/thread/616652

Just wanted to update in case anyone else experiences the same problems.
I am now able to make static builds in linux using the following
install procedure...

From Terminal:

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install build-essential git cmake cmake-curses-gui xorg-dev libgl1-mesa-dev libglu-dev

Download Allegro4.4.2 Source:

http://download.gna.org/allegro/allegro/4.4.2/allegro-4.4.2.tar.gz

extract source

Open terminal in allegro-4.4.2 dierctory:

mkdir build

cd build

cmake -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=/usr -DSHARED=off ..

make

sudo make install

to compile :

g++ programcode.cpp `allegro-config --static --libs` -o executable

I have confirmed the above works on a fresh Linux install using
Linux Mint 18 cinnamon