The Allman Brothers Band - A Career Retrospective

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Gregg hated Nobody Knows. He said it was just Whipping Post remade. He’s not entirely wrong, but it is a kicking track.

End of the Line is by far my favorite of this era of the band. Never saw it live.

[liebzz]

I mean, southern blues rock has but so many variations. As long as you make it great, who cares? That track is pretty damn great. End of the Line as really good though I guess didn’t stick out as much for me on the first listen.

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Live at Great Woods 9-6-91

Holy sh!t.

The first live album for me in a while and the first with the 90s lineup - Warren Haynes, Dickey Betts, Gregg Allman, Jaimoe, Butch Trucks, Allen Woody, and Marc Quinones. It may be hyperbole from hearing it fresh out the box, but this lineup is every bit the epic live behemoth of the original lineup. These guys were killing in from the opening of Statesboro Blues through the last note of Whipping Post. End of the Line here to me sounded almost Mule-like. Blue Sky is epic. Going Down the Road was a really great acoustic take (I think I listened through the Dead playing this song at least 50 times) and then into the massive explosive blues of Hoochie Coochie Man, Elizabeth Reed was as good as I’ve heard it, Revival mig and meaty, Jessica was stunning, and Whipping Post though short was still fantastic. Really really enjoyed this. Can’t wait to dig into some more live stuff from this era, which is what’s on the agenda.

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Make sure you listen to Play All Night: Live at the Beacon Theatre 1992. A blistering version of Nobody Knows and Hoochie Coochie man is as good as any version the original lineup of the band ever played. A great representation of that lineup at that point.

[liebzz]

On the list. The question I had for myself was whether it is better to listen to that first and listen to An Evening With…Set 1 and Set 2 together. Or should I listen to Set 1, Beacon, Where It All Began, Set 2?

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Well, parts of the 1st Set album were recorded during the 2 shows Play All Night was put together from. I’d do 1st set then PAN as it feels more like a complete show album. Then Where It All Began, then 2nd Set since it contains live versions of tunes released on WIAB and was for the most part recorded a couple of years after the other two live releases.

[liebzz]

Yeah, that was the original order so we’ll go with that.

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Sorry I didn’t pay more attention.

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An Evening With the Allman Brothers Band: Set 1

This period of peace and prosperity amongst the Allman Brothers Band, like every era, wouldn’t last, but damn if it wasn’t great to be a fan in this point in the timeline. Warren Haynes is still playing the perfect companion to Dickey Betts, Allen Woody sounds great, everything is just clicking. Get On With Your Life is great straight blues here, and it follows with a slightly reworked but ultimately no less intense Southbound. Midnight Blues is an exceptional acoustic number followed by a beautiful Melissa. Nobody Knows is the great epic here followed by a great Dreams and a rollicking for what it is closer in Revival. Blue Sky is still great though not quite as tremendous as on Live at Great Woods. They were churning out some great performances in 91 and 92 as demonstrated here.

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Play All Night: Live at the Beacon 1992

A band hitting on all cylinders at the venue that’s their second home - is there much more to ask for? Statesboro Blues, Nobody Knows, Low Down Dirty Mean, the acoustic set of Seven Turns, Midnight Rider, and Come On in My Kitchen, a killer Hoochie Coochie Man, Jessica, Get On With Your Life, thrilling Elizabeth Reed, and Revival all big highlights. There was something underwhelming about Midnight Rider live that is fixed here stripping it down - sounded great! Nearly everything here is fantastic, and I liked every one of the choices they made here with the songs, except maybe they could have played around a bit more with Whipping Post which was a very straight performance.

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Where It All Begins

Wherein the first two albums since the Allman Brothers Band play out like a revelation, this one more or less just rocks from start to finish. Soulshine might be the exception of really bringing something big and fresh to the table, but without assigning fault, this is an album of a band doing what they do best and kicking some ass along the way without breaking new ground. This is really the most live they’ve sounded in the studio, and you get the feeling that eschewing the standard studio for a venue helped them sound looser and got as close to their live sound without actually playing before an audience as you can get. Nearly everything is good to very good on this, and it’s taken up a notch with the full band performances.

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An Evening With the Allman Brothers Band: 2nd Set

For the sequel live album from the first, the Allman Brothers Band make some real brave and excellent choices. The acoustic Elizabeth Reed is the showstopper here - and a bold choice considering it’s place in the catalogue. Soulshine and Back Where It All Began run right behind it, both electric performances in very different ways. These three alone make the entire releAse worthwhile, and perhaps overshadow unanimously solid performances from top to bottom. Those three though. Wow.

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I wish they had just released the whole acoustic show that Liz Reed came from. I saw it on tv way back when and it was fantastic.

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Peaking’ at the Beacon

We flash forward a few years to this one, where Warren Haynes, who gave this band new life in a lot of ways, is out, and Derek Trucks, certainly one of the most distinctive and talented guys of his generation steps in. Though Trucks gets his spots, frankly this performance feels comparatively muted. There’s a muscle behind Warren Haynes’ playing and performance that is sorely lacking, and for the first time since their reformation, they feel like a band that’s missing something.

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They skipped any releases with Jack Pearson who took Warren’s spot when he left. He stayed a couple of years before leaving with Derek replacing him. I really wish something would come out with this lineup. Oteil Burbridge also took over Woody’s spot on bass and stayed with them thru to the end. As much as I like Woody, Oteil was the strongest in the role since Berry.

This is the weakest release since before the revival. By this point Dickey was making everyone’s life a living hell and it showed on this one.

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Hittin’ the Note

The final Allman Brothers Band studio album brings the post-Betts lineup into focus. There’s something about the way Haynes aggression and Derek Trucks’ smooth slide delivery that seems like such a harmonious pairing. It feels like they should have gotten together a long time ago. These songs all seem to have that magic to them, be it harder rocking numbers or more laid back tunes. Firing Line, High Cost of Low Living, and Desdemona kick this one into a very high start, with the jams in Desdemona really great. Woman Across the River, Maydell, the Heart of Stone cover, and Instrumental Illness we’re other highlights but this is all pretty strong. This might run a bit long, but the natural chemistry makes you barely feel that. Excellent album.

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I think that may have been a condition of Warren coming back. Butch famously had no desire to ever go back into the studio but who would ever know it after hearing this album? Just wish they could’ve recorded more.

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And the final tune, Old Man, is the only ABB track ever recorded that has no original members on it.

[liebzz]

Crazy. Yeah, I think it has to do with Warren Haynes. He ended up joining that band and becoming a centerpiece of the band quickly. He and Derek Trucks make a great tandem, one that I don’t think quite worked chemistry wise with Betts in comparison, at least not in that moment in time (which I guess would be the 2000 Beacon run).

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Warren/Derek certainly deserve some recognition as one of the best guitar duos in the history of rock music. They played off each and could read each other as well or better as Duane/Dickey.