Founding member of The Allman Brothers as well as successful solo musician, Gregg Allman has enjoyed a music career of more variety and celebration than most. The singer/songwriter is surely heading towards his 70th birthday, his live schedule remains demanding for a pensioner. The Allman Brothers Band: 2013-09-04 Live at Farm Bureau Live, Virginia Beach, VA, September 04, 2013 From $ 14.95 - $ 25.00 The Allman Brothers Band: 2013-09-02 Live at Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre at Encore Park, Alpharetta, GA, September 02, 2013.
“OK, the Allman Brothers Band,” was the simple introduction for the band on Friday 12 March 1971 at the Fillmore East in New York’s East Village. Duane’s slide guitar sets off and the sound of Blind Willie McTell’s ‘Statesboro Blues’ begins what is arguably the greatest live album in rock.
At Fillmore East was originally a double LP, recorded over both the Friday and Saturday night’s shows and captured the Allman Brothers at the peak of their powers. It was the band’s third release in three years and immediately proved successful, making No. 13 on the Billboard charts in July of ’71, staying on the bestsellers list for almost a year.
Side one of the record was very much a blues work out as they follow ‘Statesboro Blues’ with Elmore James’s ‘Done Somebody Wrong’ and finish with T-Bone Walker’s ‘Stormy Monday’ – their version is one of the most interesting and non-derivative of this often recorded number.
Yet this first side gives little indication of what the remainder of the album is to be like. This is everything that is great about Southern rock, there’s jazz and even some Latin influences thrown in for good measure. Side 2 of the first LP is a cover of Willie Cobb’s ‘You Don’t Love Me,’ originally cut in 1960 for Mojo Records in Memphis and covered by a host of artists including Quicksilver Messenger Service and Mike Bloomfield, Al Kooper and Stephen Stills on their 1968 Super Session album.
‘Hot Lanta’ is a group work out based around guitarist Dicky Betts’ riff and it showcases Gregg Allman’s Hammond B3 as well as both Betts and Duane’s guitars. The second track, ‘In Memory Of Elizabeth Read,’ which Betts wrote for the band’s second album Idlewild South, begins with Betts’s guitar and he’s joined by Duane as they double the melody line creating what is such a trademark sound. As the number picks up it goes from jazz, with shades of John Coltrane and Miles Davis, to something akin to a Santana jam, but one always steeped in Southern rock image.
The last side of the LP is just one number, the monumental ‘Whipping Post,’ written by Gregg Allman. Originally a five-minute song from the band’s debut album, it’s lengthened here to over 23 minutes and it is immense. Driven along by the drumming of Jai Johanny ‘Jaimoe’ Johanson and Butch Trucks, this is what Southern rock is all about. Listen to it loud and you will be exhausted from the experience, nothing else recorded from this era of rock comes close to competing.
Various CD reissues have included additional tracks recorded over the two nights but it is the original album that is testament to the Allmans’ greatness. It is a perfect album in every way…the greatest live rock album.
Epitaph: Tragically, just over seven months after the album was recorded, Duane Allman was killed while riding his motorcycle. Aside from his recordings with the Allman Brothers he of course worked with Eric Clapton on Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs, helping to create the magic of the title song. Bizarrely, Barry Oakley, the bass player on the Fillmore album also died in a motorcycle accident, a year after Duane’s death.
Purchase At Fillmore East.
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Following the success of the Allman Brothers, after the tragic death of Duane Allman in 1971, Gregg Allman embarked on his own solo career. He wasted no time in entering the studio to record his debut album “Laid Back” which was released in October 1973, and made it to number 13 on the Billboard 200. His second studio album was called “Playin’ Up a Storm” which was released in May of 1977. It featured a similar Southern Rock vibe to his previous album and made it to number 42 on the Billboard 200. In November of that same year, he released an album called “Two the Hard Way”, which was in fact a collaborative effort between Allman and Cher. The album featured the song “You’ve Really Got a Hold on Me” written by Smokey Robinson. The album sold a less than anticipated 550,000 units.
After ten years, Allman released his first album since the collaboration album with Cher. The leading single “I’m No Angel”, made it to number 49 on the Billboard Hot 100, but managed to reach number 1 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks. The album itself peaked at number 30 on the Billboard 200. He released another album called “Just Before the Bullets Fly” on June 12th the following year, which unfortunately didn’t achieve the same success.
On January 18th 2011, Gregg Allman released an album called “Low Country Blues” which reached number 5 on the Billboard 200 and number 1 on the Top Blues Albums.