The Allman Brothers Band - Enlightened Rogues (US 1979)

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Enlightened Rogues is the seventh studio album by The Allman Brothers Band, released in 1979 on the Polydor and Capricorn labels. It was from the first reunion of the band (with new guitarist Dan Toler and bassist David Goldflies) following their 1976 dissolution. The album received strong reviews and moderate sales and was seen as an attempt to return to the dual guitar power of the original lineup. Tom Dowd, who had produced the band's two most successful records in the early 1970s, was brought back to handle production duties. It would also be the last record for Polygram and Capricorn. Capricorn filed for bankruptcy a year later. The band shifted to Arista records for their next release in 1980. "Crazy Love" was the group's second of three Top 40 hits to date.

The Allman Brothers Band's best studio album since Brothers and Sisters is a loud, brash, hard-rocking collection of consistently solid if not first-rate songs. The singing is some of the best since Idlewild South, and although they would do better once they brought in Warren Haynes, the dual-guitar lineup of Dickey Betts and Dan Toler is a reminder of what the group had been missing since Duane Allman's death. The music isn't earth-shattering, but it is exciting through and through.

Gregg Allman may not look like Lazarus, but he sure acts like him. Allman's astonishing resurrection here seems less an act of heroism on his part than a miracle on someone else's. After all, in the space of a few years, this artist went from being an exceptional white blues singer and the leader of one of the best American rock bands to being a laughingstock, a pathetic churl apparently unaware of the humiliation he suffered at the hands of Hollywood and the glitzy Cher. The proposed Allman Brothers, and reunion promised to be a ghoulish joke, the musical equivalent of Night of the Living Dead.

Yet Enlightened Rogues, the product of that reunion, takes its place not beside the empty, last-gasp Win, Lose or Draw, or even the slick and calculated Brothers and Sisters, but ranks with the group's greatest albums, The Allman Brothers Band and Idlewild South. Of course, the current twin-guitar sound falls short of the rich contrast between Duane Allman's fat, explosive tone and Dickey Betts' sweet, incisive harmony work on the earlier LPs, and Gregg Allman's once terrifying singing has been humbled by tragedy. But whatever Enlightened Rogues lacks in virtuosity, it makes up for in emotional intensity.

This record practically throbs with pain. The remaining band members' determination to continue after the deaths of Duane Allman and Berry Oakley was noble but rote, but they've obviously reached the bottom of their despair and come through to the other side. The sense of loss that informs Enlightened Rogues is counterbalanced by a newfound ability to stare that loss in the face. The Allman Brothers started out deeply rooted in the blues, and they've returned to those roots with new commitment.

The key to Enlightened Rogues' gnostic embrace of blues feeling is in Gregg Allman's vocals. He sings of lost love and shattered promises from a moral stance born of horror, not self-delusion. The fearsome, wine-drinking Allman of Idlewild South's "Leave My Blues at Home" has become a grim man who now understands his needs and failings. He can sing Little Willie John's "Need Your Love So Bad" (the first track the band cut on these sessions) not from admiration or aesthetic smugness, but from recognition.

Allman wrote only one song on Enlightened Rogues: "It Just Ain't Easy." He didn't have to write another. The references to his life in Los Angeles, his private and public hell, are right up front. The forceful image of a sleepwalker trapped in a recurrent dream has mythical resonance from Sisyphus to Bob Dylan's "Memphis Blues Again," but Gregg Allman amplifies his terror through the knowledge of why he stays: " 'Cause midnight's calling." Allman's warning at song's end, sung over and over as the languid guitar lines spin out the punctuation, rings with the power of someone who's come to terms with his own disgrace: "When you leave there you got your hat down on your face Well, well."

Most of the numbers were written or cowritten by Betts, who now has nominal control of the band since the two new members, bassist David Goldflies and guitarist Dan Toler, were drafted from his post-Allman Brothers group, Great Southern. But Dickey Betts can't match Gregg Allman as a vocalist, and "Sail Away," a tune that sounds like it could have been on either of the last two albums, suffers as a result. In "Crazy Love," an uptempo rocker built around vigorous slide-guitar solos, Betts' singing is better, probably because Bonnie Bramlett covers him so well with strong backup vocals. The Betts compositions on which Allman sings lead, "Blind Love" (a revised "Statesboro Blues") and the modified boogie, "Can't Take It with You," are especially good. Allman's tough, raspy vocal and the searing guitar accents at the climax of the latter provide one of the LP's high points.

If there's a miracle here, it's worked by the band's much-improved percussion section. Drummers Jaimoe Johanny Johanson and Butch Trucks were always the bedrock of the Allman's relentless swing, and these two propel Enlightened Rogues with a rare combination of strength and subtlety. The delicate rhythmic accents in "Try It One More Time" are phenomenal as Johanson and Trucks wield magic on their cross-rhythms during their brief break.

"Pegasus," the long Betts instrumental, compares favorably with his previous efforts in this direction, "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed" and "Blue Sky." The group sweeps effortlessly through the tune's eight-part evolution. After the theme and first guitar solo, Allman displays the finest organ playing of his career. At the end of his solo, the organ fills out the progression with a warm resolution that recalls Steve Winwood's magnificent music on Traffic's John Barleycorn Must Die. Betts enters for his solo, and the drummers move freely into orbit until the guitars and organ state the bridge in unison before the theme is again evoked, releasing the tension. Then the coda extends in enveloping filigrees, recapitulating the melodic ideas in a jazzinfluenced approach reminiscent of the days when Duane Allman and Dickey Betts would stretch out an ending far beyond its possibilities, searching for that last ringing resolution, that perfect final note. [Wikipedia, AMG & Rolling Stone]

* Gregg Allman - Keyboards, Vocals 
* Dickey Betts -Guitar, Vocals, 
* Dan Toler - Guitar 
* David Goldflies - Bass 
* Jaimoe - Percussion, Drums 
* Butch Trucks - Percussion, Drums 

Additional musicians:
* Joe Lala - Percussion (03,05,06) 
* Bonnie Bramlett - Background Vocals (01) 
* Jim Essery - Harmonica (02,04,05,07) 
* Mimi Hart - Background Vocals (08) 

01."Crazy Love" (Dickey Betts) 3:44 
02."Can't Take It With You" (Betts) 3:33 
03."Pegasus" (Betts) 7:31 
04."Need Your Love So Bad" (Mertis John Jr.) 4:01 
05."Blind Love" (B.B. King, Jules Taub) 4:37 
06."Try It One More Time" (Dickey Betts, David Goldflies) 5:04 
07."Just Ain't Easy" (Gregg Allman) 6:06 
08."Sail Away" (Betts) 3:34 

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The Allman Brothers Band - Beginnings (Classic Bluesrock US 1973)

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Beginnings is a 1973 reissue of the Allman Brothers Band's first two albums, The Allman Brothers Band and Idlewild South, made to capitalize on the band's popularity since those records had first come out. Beginnings also includes extensive liner notes by writer Jean-Charles Costa that gave many fans their first coherent view of the band's history, as well as useful guidelines for how to tell Duane Allman's guitar parts from Dickey Betts'. The front cover depicts them at one of their many famous performances at the Fillmore East.

The Allman Brothers Band (1969 album):
This might be the best debut album ever delivered by an American blues band, a bold, powerful, hard-edged, soulful essay in electric blues with a native Southern ambience. Some lingering elements of the psychedelic era then drawing to a close can be found in "Dreams," along with the template for the group's on-stage workouts with "Whipping Post," and a solid cover of Muddy Waters' "Trouble No More." There isn't a bad song here, and only the fact that the group did even better the next time out keeps this from getting the highest possible rating. The Allman Brothers Band, released in 1969, was the debut album of Southern rock group, The Allman Brothers Band.

The album sold poorly outside of Southern United States, reaching #188 on the Billboard charts. "Dreams" and "Whipping Post" would become the basis for two of The Allman Brothers' most famed epic concert numbers.

In April 1969 the Allman Brothers Band moved from Jacksonville, Florida to Macon, Georgia. They first rented a house at 309 College Street. The front album cover photo was taken at the entrance of the College House (now owned by Mercer University) right next door at 315 College Street. The back cover photo of the album was taken at the Bond Tomb at Rose Hill Cemetery located at 1091 Riverside Drive in Macon.

The song "Whipping Post" is part of the The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll list.

Idlewild South (1970 Album):
Idlewild South is the second album of The Allman Brothers Band, released in 1970.

Unlike the band's self-titled debut album, Idlewild South enjoyed some popular success as well as critical enthusiasm, mostly due to what Rolling Stone magazine called "briefer, tighter, less 'heavy' numbers" which were more radio-friendly. The two most prominent of these were "Midnight Rider" and "Revival", the latter of which, in conjunction with the instrumental "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed", foreshadowed the impact of Dickey Betts' songwriting ability upon the band.

The album title stemmed from the band's nickname for a farmhouse it rented in Georgia during the recording, the busy comings and goings at which reminded them of New York City's Idlewild Airport.

"Midnight Rider" has been covered by many artists, including Gregg Allman on his solo album Laid Back. "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed" would go on to become iconic, along with "Whipping Post", as one of the band's signature concert jams.

The best studio album in the group's history, electric blues with an acoustic texture, virtuoso lead, slide, and organ playing, and a killer selection of songs, including "Midnight Rider," "Revival," "Don't Keep Me Wonderin'," and "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed" in its embryonic studio version, which is pretty impressive even at a mere six minutes and change. They also do the best white cover of Willie Dixon's "Hoochie Coochie Man" anyone's ever likely to hear.

Biography:
The Allman Brothers Band is an American rock/blues band once based in Macon, Georgia. The band was formed in Daytona Beach, Florida, in 1969 by brothers Duane Allman (slide guitar and lead guitar) and Gregg Allman (vocals, organ, songwriting), plus Dickey Betts (lead guitar, vocals, songwriting), Berry Oakley (bass guitar), Butch Trucks (drums), and Jai Johanny "Jaimoe" Johanson (drums).[1] While the band has been called the principal architects of Southern rock, they also incorporate elements of blues, jazz, and country music, and their live shows have jam band-style improvisation and instrumentals.

The band achieved its artistic and commercial breakthrough in 1971 with the release of At Fillmore East, featuring extended renderings of their songs "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed" and "Whipping Post" and often[when?] considered one of the best live albums ever made.

The group was formed in Macon, GA, and consisted of Duane and Gregg Allman, Dickey Betts, Berry Oakley, Butch Trucks, and Jai Johanny Johanson. Brothers Duane and Gregg Allman grew up in Daytona Beach, Florida, and had been playing music publicly since the early 1960s. They formed a garage band called the Escorts in 1963, which evolved into the Allman Joys in 1965. From there the brothers formed Hour Glass and moved to Los Angeles. The Hour Glass released two failed albums on Liberty Records in 1967 and 1968. They were all released from the contract except Gregg, who Liberty thought might have some commercial potential. 

Gregg and Duane had previously met Butch Trucks and his band The 31st of February while touring as the Allman Joys, and decided to record an album with them in September 1968, shortly after the breakup of Hour Glass. This album was eventually released as Duane & Greg Allman on the Bold Records label in 1972. Duane Allman played on Wilson Pickett's hit version of "Hey Jude" and became the primary session guitarist for FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, recording with Aretha Franklin, King Curtis, Percy Sledge, and others. Allman started jamming with Dickey Betts, Butch Trucks and Berry Oakley in Jacksonville. Eddie Hinton, with whom Duane Allman had played in Muscle Shoals, was considered to play guitar, but Hinton refused in order to join the Muscle Shoals studio band. Duane brought in Jaimoe, a drummer he had played with in the past.

Gregg was in Los Angeles, fulfilling the Hour Glass contract with Liberty Records. He was summoned back to Jacksonville.

The Allman Brothers Band played numerous shows in the South before releasing their debut album, The Allman Brothers Band in 1969 to critical acclaim. It featured future jam standards "Whipping Post" and a 12/8 time slide guitar tour de force "Dreams". A cult following began to build.

Poster 1973

Idlewild South was released in 1970 to critical success and improved sales. Produced by Tom Dowd it featured the upbeat "Revival" and the moody-but-resolute "Midnight Rider". After completing the Idlewild South sessions Duane Allman joined Eric Clapton and his ad hoc Derek and the Dominos to record the classic Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs.

The Allman Brothers' Cincinnati, Ohio concerts on April 4 & 5, 1970 were recorded and later released (in 1991) as Live at Ludlow Garage. This album features a 44-minute version of "Mountain Jam," which sounds different compared to the version of this song recorded at the Fillmore East one year later.

1971 saw the release of a live album, At Fillmore East, recorded on Friday and Saturday March 12 and March 13 of that year at the legendary rock venue the Fillmore East. The album was another huge hit. Rolling Stone listed At Fillmore East as number 49 on of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. It showcased the band's mix of jazz, classical music, hard rock, and blues, with arrangements propelled by Duane's and Betts' dual lead guitars, Oakley's long, melodic "third guitar" bass runs, the rhythm section's pervasively percussive yet dynamically flexible foundation, and Gregg Allman's gritty Ray Charles-like vocals and piano/organ play which all completed the band's wall of sound. The rendering of Blind Willie McTell's "Statesboro Blues" was a straight-ahead opener, the powerful "Whipping Post" (with its famous 11/4 bass opening) became the standard for an epic jam that never lost interest, while the ethereal-to-furious "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed" invited comparisons to John Coltrane and Miles Davis.

The Allman Brothers were the last act to play the Fillmore East before it closed in June 1971. The final shows achieved legendary status, partly due to bands literally playing all night; in 2005 Gregg Allman would relate how the jamming musicians lost track of time, not realizing it was dawn until the side doors of the Fillmore were opened and the morning light poured in.

The band continued to tour; decades later, a special-order recording of one of their final concerts in this lineup, S.U.N.Y. at Stonybrook: Stonybrook, NY 9/19/71, would be released. It reveals that Duane Allman's slide guitar playing on "Dreams" and other songs was touching the farthest reaches of both that instrument and his imagination.

Duane Allman died not long after the Fillmore East album was certified gold, killed in a motorcycle accident on October 29, 1971 in Macon, Georgia, The popular version of the accident was that he collided with the rear of a flatbed truck that had turned in front of him. However it has been revealed in recent years that the truck had turned before Allman was in view due to the road being on a slope. When Duane topped the crest of the hill it can be only assumed that he simply was going to swerve behind the truck. It is well known that Duane always broke speed limits on his motorcycle[citation needed] and on this day it would cost him his life. As he neared the truck and started the swerve the road dipped sharply and as he rode up out of the dip the motorcycle became airborne causing Duane to fly off the bike and land on the pavement. The motorcycle then landed on him with both sliding into a curb. Duane was taken to a hospital but never regained consciousness. He died from massive internal injuries. The group decided to carry on. The album continued to gain FM radio airplay, with stations even playing 13-minute and 23-minute selections.

Poster 1973

Dickey Betts filled Duane's former role in completing the last album Duane participated in, Eat a Peach, released in February 1972. The album was often softer ("Blue Sky", "Little Martha") and wistful in tone ("Melissa", "Ain't Wastin' Time No More"), capped by the 34-minute "Mountain Jam" reverie taken from the Fillmore East concerts. Writer Greil Marcus described parts of Eat a Peach as an "after-the-rain celebration... ageless, seamless... front-porch music stolen from the utopia of shared southern memory."

The group played some concerts as a five-man band, then decided to add Chuck Leavell, a pianist, to gain another lead instrument but without, however, directly replacing Duane. This new configuration debuted on November 2, 1972, on ABC's In Concert late-night television program.

Days later, on November 11, 1972, Berry Oakley died from head injuries he received in another motorcycle accident near Napier Avenue and Inverness Street, only three blocks from the site of Duane's accident the previous year. The common retelling that it was at exactly the same site as Duane's death is incorrect, as is the legend that the Eat a Peach album is named for what was being carried by the truck involved in Allman's accident. Both Duane and Berry were 24 years old, yet another coincidence.

Oakley was replaced by Lamar Williams at the end of 1972, in time to finish the next album, Brothers and Sisters, released in August 1973.

Dickey Betts was becoming the group's unofficial leader. Brothers and Sisters included the group's best known hits, "Ramblin' Man" and "Jessica", both written by Betts; the former reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 as a single, while the latter was a seven-minute instrumental hit.

The Allman Brothers Band had become one of the top concert draws in the country. Probably their most celebrated performance of the era took place on July 28, 1973 at the Summer Jam at Watkins Glen outside Watkins Glen, New York, in a joint appearance with The Grateful Dead and The Band. An estimated 600,000 people made it to the racetrack where this massive outdoor festival took place.

In the wake of the Allman Brothers Band's success, many other Southern rock groups rose to prominence, including the Marshall Tucker Band (who played as the Allman Brothers Band's opening act for many shows on their 1973 tour) and Lynyrd Skynyrd.

Despite this success, Butch Trucks recalls of the time that, “celebrity is the worse thing that ever happened to the Allman Brothers." In an interview, Trucks recalled that after Allman’s death in 1971, the band “got away from the music," producing “country-fried hit records,” which created egos that “ripped [them] all apart.” 

Another peak of the Allmans' success came on New Year's Eve, 1973, when promoter Bill Graham arranged for a nationwide radio broadcast of their concert from San Francisco's Cow Palace. New arrangements of familiar tunes such as "You Don't Love Me" went out over the airwaves, as the show stretched out over three sets, with Boz Scaggs sitting in, along with Grateful Dead members Jerry Garcia and Bill Kreutzmann (Allmans and Grateful Dead members guested at each other's shows multiple times in the early 1970s).

Personality conflicts started to tear the band apart, however. Gregg Allman and Dickey Betts both began solo careers, while Allman married Cher, separated quickly, reconciled, and eventually separated again, all in a storm of publicity; drug abuse took its toll on the entire band. Musically, Betts and Leavell were pulling in opposite directions, with Allman trying to mediate.

The tension resulted in the uneven Win, Lose or Draw (1975), with some members not participating on all tracks or doing so only from afar. The few stand-out tracks included a stop-start take on Muddy Waters' "Can't Lose What You Never Had", Betts' instrumental "High Falls", and Allman's Jackson Browne-influenced title song.

Poster 1970

The band managed to limp along until 1976, when Gregg Allman was arrested on federal drug charges and agreed to testify against a friend and tour manager and bodyguard for the band, John "Scooter" Herring. Leavell, Johanson, and Williams formed Sea Level, while Betts worked on his solo career. All four swore that they would never work with Allman again.

Meanwhile, Capricorn Records released a compilation album, The Road Goes On Forever, and a poorly received live album, Wipe the Windows, Check the Oil, Dollar Gas. Neither sold very well.

The group reformed in 1978 and released the strong Enlightened Rogues (1979). It featured new members Dan Toler (guitar) and David Goldflies (bass), who replaced Leavell and Williams, both of whom concentrated on Sea Level instead. "Crazy Love" was a minor hit single, and the instrumental "Pegasus" got some airplay, but overall The Allman Brothers Band was no longer as popular as before, and financial woes plagued both the group and Capricorn Records, which collapsed in 1979. PolyGram took over the catalogue, and the Allman Brothers Band signed to Arista Records. The group released a pair of critically slammed albums, firing Jaimoe in the process, and then disbanded once again in early 1982.

Allman quickly formed the Gregg Allman Band with the Toler brothers Dan and David ("Frankie") (drums) in 1982 and began touring small venues and clubs. Betts, Leavell, Trucks and Goldflies formed the band Betts Hall Leavell Trucks (BHLT). Neither garnered attention from any record labels. BHLT would dissolve two years later.

The Allman Brothers Band reunited in 1986 for a pair of benefit concerts for promoter Bill Graham in New York and Macon. Allman, Betts, Trucks, Jaimoe, Leavell, and Dan Toler performed together but no subsequent reunion plans for the band were made. The following year, the Gregg Allman Band and the Dickey Betts Band co-headlined a theatre and club tour. After each band played a set of music, Betts, Allman and the Tolers performed a closing set of Allman Brothers music together.

In 1987, Epic Records signed both Allman and Betts to separate solo contracts. The Gregg Allman Band had a surprise FM hit single with the title track to the 1987 album I'm No Angel. Just Before the Bullets Fly quickly followed from Allman in 1988. The Dickey Betts Band, including Warren Haynes, was also formed during this time and released the album Pattern Disruptive in 1988. This series of collaboration among bandmembers and interest from a major label during the late 1980s laid the groundwork for the next era of Allman Brothers Band activity and success. [Wikipedia+ AMG]

Extra bonus inside folder: "The Allman Brothers Story" - Rolling Stone Magazine 1973 (Page 1-5)

The Allman Brothers Band (1969 album)
01."Don't Want You No More" (Spencer Davis, Edward Hardin) 
02."It's Not My Cross To Bear" (Gregg Allman) 
03."Black Hearted Woman" (Allman) 
04."Trouble No More" (McKinley Morganfield) 
05."Every Hungry Woman" (Allman) 
06."Dreams" (Allman) 
07."Whipping Post" (Allman)

The Allman Brothers Band - Idlewild South (1970 Album) 
08."Revival" (Dickey Betts) 
09."Don't Keep Me Wonderin'" (Allman) 
10."Midnight Rider" (Allman) 
11."In Memory of Elizabeth Reed" (Betts) 
12."Hoochie Coochie Man" (Willie Dixon) 
13."Please Call Home" (Allman) 
14."Leave My Blues At Home" (Allman) 

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The Allman Brothers Band - Wipe Out The Windows (US 1976)

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Wipe the Windows, Check the Oil, Dollar Gas is a 1976 double live album by The Allman Brothers Band.

It collected a variety of performances from the mid-1970s line-up of the band. Songs from their popular 1973 Brothers and Sisters album were heavily featured, but each of their other studio albums was represented by a selection as well.

Released after the group had already dissolved in acrimony, the album did not attract much praise or even attention at the time. The band did not like the selections, the sound mixing on the album was poor, the packaging was substandard, and the record also inevitably suffered by comparison to their classic 1971 At Fillmore East, generally considered one of the best live albums of all time.

Nevertheless, some of the 1973 performances, such as of "Southbound", are strong, and the energetic 1975 run-through of "Can't Lose What You Never Had" showed why it had gotten much of the progressive rock radio airplay off that year's Win, Lose or Draw. The New Year's Eve 1972 nightclub performance of "Ain't Wastin' Time No More", a number originally recorded shortly after the band lost Duane Allman and now being played shortly after the band lost Berry Oakley, illustrated the group's mixture of lament and resolve.

The album's title is derived from the song "Too Much Monkey Business" by Chuck Berry. Album cover art was done by Jim Evans.

This live album was released by Capricorn Records largely as a way of raising money in a hurry, but it fares surprisingly well musically. The 1973-1974 Allman Brothers Band featured here is the one that most fans actually saw, since most listeners didn't discover them or get to their concerts until after the deaths of Duane Allman and Berry Oakley. Wipe the Windows isn't a landmark release like the Fillmore tapes -- a collection of rock's greatest guitar albums could be complete without it. 

But no Allman Brothers Band fan should pass up Wipe the Windows, which is a most solid live album, and, in particular, a better representation of the songs off of Brothers and Sisters and Win, Lose or Draw than the original studio versions. "Southbound," "Ramblin' Man," "Jessica," and, to a lesser degree, "Wasted Words" come off exceptionally well. This second-generation band, with Dickey Betts as the sole lead guitar and Gregg Allman and Chuck Leavell sharing the keyboards, also performs a preconceived version of "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed" -- they could never spark more fire than the version from the Fillmore, so they transform it into a moodier piece with more space for the keyboards to open up. Compiled from shows in New Orleans, San Francisco, Bakersfield, Oakland, and Watkins Glen (New York). [Wikipedia + AMG]

01."Introduction" by Bill Graham – 1:05 
02."Wasted Words" (G. Allman) – 5:10 
03."Southbound" (Betts) – 6:03 
04."Ramblin' Man" (Betts) – 7:09 
05."In Memory of Elizabeth Reed" (Betts) – 17:19 
06."Ain't Wastin' Time No More" (G. Allman) – 5:41 
07."Come and Go Blues" (G. Allman) – 5:05 
08."Can't Lose What You Never Had" (Morganfield) – 6:43 
09."Don't Want You No More" (Davis, Hardin) – 2:48 
10."It's Not My Cross to Bear" (G. Allman) – 5:23 
11."Jessica" (Betts) – 9:05 

Sides one and two recorded at Winterland, San Francisco, California, September 26, 1973.
Track 1 of side three recorded at The Warehouse, New Orleans, Louisiana, December 31, 1972.
Track 2 of side three recorded at the Summer Jam at Watkins Glen, New York, July 28, 1973.
Track 3 of side three and 1 and 2 of side four recorded at the Bakersfield Civic Auditorium, Bakersfield, California, October 22, 1975.
Track 3 of side four recorded at the Oakland Coliseum, Oakland, California, October 24, 1975.

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The Allman Brothers Band - Live In Germany 1991 (Bootleg)

Size: 262 MB
Bitrate: 320
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Found in DC++ World
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The story of the Allman Brothers Band is one of triumph, tragedy, redemption, dissolution, and a new redemption. Over nearly 30 years, they've gone from being America's single most influential band to a has-been group trading on past glories, to reach the 21st century as one of the most respected rock acts of their era. 

For the first half of the 1970s, the Allman Brothers Band was the most influential rock group in America, redefining rock music and its boundaries. The band's mix of blues, country, jazz, and even classical influences, and their powerful, extended on-stage jamming altered the standards of concert performance -- other groups were known for their on-stage jamming, but when the Allman Brothers stretched a song out for 30 or 40 minutes, at their best they were exciting, never self-indulgent. They gave it all a distinctly Southern voice and, in the process, opened the way for a wave of '70s rock acts from south of the Mason-Dixon Line, including the Marshall Tucker Band, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and Blackfoot, whose music, at least initially, celebrated their roots. And for a time, almost single-handedly, they also made Capricorn Records into a major independent label. 

The group was founded in 1969 by Duane Allman (b. Nov. 20, 1946-d. Oct. 29, 1971) on guitar; Gregg Allman (b. Dec. 8, 1947) on vocals and organ; Forrest Richard ("Dickey") Betts (b. Dec. 12, 1943) on guitar; Berry Oakley (b. Apr. 4, 1948-d. Nov. 12, 1972) on bass; and Claude Hudson ("Butch") Trucks (b. May 11, 1947) and Jaimoe (Johnny Lee Johnson) Johanson (b. July 8, 1944) on drums. Duane and Gregg Allman loved soul and R&B, although they listened to their share of rock & roll, especially as it sounded coming out of England in the mid-'60s. Their first group was a local Daytona Beach garage band called the Escorts, who sounded a lot like the early Beatles and Rolling Stones; they later became the Allman Joys and plunged into Cream-style British blues, and then the Hour Glass, a more soul-oriented outfit. The group landed a contract with Liberty Records with help from the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, but the company wasted the opportunity on a pair of over-produced albums that failed to capture the Hour Glass' sound. The group split up after Liberty rejected a proposed third LP steeped in blues and R&B. 

Duane Allman began working as a session guitarist at Fame Studios in Muscle Shoals, AL, and it was there, appearing on records by Wilson Pickett, Aretha Franklin, John Hammond, and King Curtis, among others, that he made his reputation. In 1969, at the coaxing of ex-Otis Redding manager Phil Walden, Allman gave up session work and began putting together a new band -- Jaimoe came aboard, and then Allman's longtime friend Butch Trucks and another Allman friend, Berry Oakley, joined, along with Dickey Betts, with whom Oakley was playing in a group called Second Coming. A marathon jam session ensued, at the end of which Allman had his band, except for a singer -- that came later, when his brother Gregg agreed to join. They were duly signed to Walden's new Capricorn label. 

The band didn't record their first album until after they'd worked their sound out on the road, playing heavily around Florida and Georgia. The self-titled debut album was a solid blues-rock album and one of the better showcases for guitar pyrotechnics in a year with more than its share, amid albums by Cream, Blind Faith, the Jeff Beck Group, and Led Zeppelin. It didn't sell 50,000 copies on its initial release, but The Allman Brothers Band impressed everyone who heard it and nearly everyone who reviewed it. Coming out at the end of the 1960s, it could have passed for a follow-up to the kind of blues-rock coming out of England from acts like Cream, except that it had a sharper edge -- the Allmans were American and Southern, and their understanding of blues (not to mention elements of jazz, mostly courtesy of Jaimoe) was as natural as breathing. The album also introduced one of the band's most popular concert numbers, "Whipping Post." 

Their debut album attracted good reviews and a cult following with its mix of assured dual lead guitars by Duane Allman and Dickey Betts, soulful singing by Gregg Allman, and a rhythm section that was nearly as busy as the lead instruments, between Oakley's rock-hard bass and the dual drumming of Trucks and Johanson. Their second album, 1970's Idlewild South, recorded at Capricorn's studios in Macon, GA, was produced by Tom Dowd, who had previously recorded Cream. This was a magical combination -- Dowd was completely attuned to the group's sound and goals, and Idlewild South broadened that sound, adding a softer acoustic texture to their music and introducing Betts as a composer (including the original studio version of "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed," an instrumental tribute to Miles Davis that would become a highlight of their shows, in many different forms, for the next 30 years). It also had a Gregg Allman number, "Midnight Rider," which became one of the band's more widely covered originals and the composer's signature tune. 

By this time, the band's concerts were becoming legendary for the extraordinarily complex yet coherent interplay between the two guitarists and Gregg Allman's keyboards, sometimes in jams of 40 minutes or more to a single song without wasting a note. And unlike the art rock bands of the era, they weren't interested in impressing anyone with how they played scales, how many different tunings they knew, or which classical riffs they could quote. Rather, the Allmans incorporated the techniques and structures of jazz and classical into their playing. In March of 1971, the band played a series of shows at the Fillmore East that were recorded for posterity and subsequently transformed into their third album, At Fillmore East. This double LP, issued in July of 1971, became an instant classic, rivaling the previous blues-rock touchstone cut at the Fillmore, Cream's Wheels of Fire. Duane Allman and his band were suddenly the new heroes to millions of mostly older teenage fans. Although it never cracked the Top Ten, At Fillmore East was certified as a gold record on October 15, 1971. 

Duane Allman was killed in a motorcycle accident 14 days later. The band had been midway through work on its next album, Eat a Peach, which they completed as a five-piece, with Dickey Betts playing all of the lead and slide guitar parts. Their second double album in a row became another instant classic, and their first album to reach the Top Ten, peaking at number five. 

Despite having completed Eat a Peach, the group was intact in name only. Rather than try to replace Duane Allman as a guitarist, they contrived to add a second solo instrument in the form of a piano, played by Chuck Leavell. The group had already begun work on a long-delayed follow-up to Eat a Peach, when Oakley was killed in a motorcycle accident only a few blocks from Allman's accident site. 

Lamar Williams (b. Jan. 15, 1949-d. Jan. 25, 1983) was recruited on bass, and the new lineup continued the group's concert activities, as well as eventually finishing the band's next album, Brothers and Sisters. which was released on August 1, 1973. During the extended gap in releases following Eat a Peach, Atco reissued The Allman Brothers Band and Idlewild South together as the double LP Beginnings, which charted higher than either individual release. 

Brothers and Sisters marked the beginning of a new era. The album had a more easygoing and freewheeling sound, less bluesy and more country-ish. This was partly a result of Capricorn losing the services of Tom Dowd, who had produced their three previous albums. Additionally, Dickey Betts' full emergence as a songwriter and singer as well as the group's only guitarist, playing all of the lead and slide parts, altered the balance of the group's sound, pushing forth his distinct interest in country-rock. Betts also became the reluctant de facto leader of the band during this period, not from a desire for control as much as because he was the only one with the comparative stability and creative input to take on the responsibility. 

The record occupied the number one spot for six weeks, spurred by the number two single "Ramblin' Man," and became their most well-known album. It was an odd reversal of the usual order of success for a rock band -- usually, it was the release of an album that drew the crowds to concerts, but in this case, the months of touring the band had done paved the way for the album. The fact that it kept getting pushed back only heightened the fans' interest. 

Ironically, Brothers and Sisters was a less challenging record than the group's earlier releases, with a relatively laid-back sound, relaxed compared to the groundbreaking work on the group's previous four albums. But all of this hardly mattered; based on the reputation they'd established with their first four albums, and the crowd-pleasing nature of "Ramblin' Man" and the Dickey Betts-composed instrumental "Jessica," the group was playing larger halls and bigger crowds than ever. 

An entire range of Southern rock acts had started to make serious inroads into the charts in the wake of the Allman Brothers. Labels such as MCA and even Island Records began looking for this same audience, signing acts like Lynyrd Skynyrd and Blackfoot, respectively, among others. For the first time since the mid-'50s, the heyday of the rockabilly era, a major part of the country was listening to rock & roll with a distinctly Southern twang. 

The band began showing cracks in 1974, as Gregg Allman and Dickey Betts both began solo careers, recording albums separately from the group. Allman married Cher (twice), an event that set him up in a Hollywood-based lifestyle that created a schism with the rest of the band. They might have survived all of this, but for the increasing strain of the members' other personal habits -- drugs and alcohol had always been a significant part of the lives of each of the members, except perhaps for Jaimoe, but as the strain and exhaustion of touring continued, coupled with the need to produce new music, these indulgences began to get out of control, and Betts' leadership of the group created a further strain for him. 

The band's difficulties were showcased by their next album, the highly uneven Win, Lose or Draw, which lacked the intensity and sharpness of their prior work. The whole band wasn't present for some of the album, and Gregg Allman's involvement with Cher, coupled with his serious drug problems, prevented him from participating with the rest of the group -- his vocals were added separately, on the other side of the country. 

The band finally came apart in 1976 when Allman found himself in the midst of a federal drug case against a supplier and agreed to testify against a friend and band employee. Leavell, Johanson, and Williams split to form Sea Level, which became a moderately successful band, cutting four albums for Capricorn over the next four years, while Betts pursued a solo career. All of them vowed never to work with Gregg Allman again. 

Amid this split, Capricorn Records, reaching ever deeper into its vaults for anything that could generate income, issued two collections, a double-LP live collection called Wipe the Windows, Check the Oil, Dollar Gas, showcasing the Brothers and Sisters-era band at various concerts, and a double-LP best-of package, And the Road Goes On Forever. Wipe the Windows was a modest seller, appearing as it did when the group's sales had already fallen off, and it was compared unfavorably with the legendary work on At Fillmore East. The studio compilation passed with barely a ripple, however, because most fans already had the stuff on the original albums. 

They were all back together by 1978, however, and over the next four years the group issued a somewhat uneven series of albums. Enlightened Rogues (1979) somewhat redeemed their reputations -- produced by Tom Dowd, who had always managed to get the very best work out of the group, it had more energy than any record they'd issued in at least six years. It also restored the two-guitar lineup, courtesy of Dan Toler (from Dickey Betts' solo band), who was brought in when Chuck Leavell (along with Lamar Williams) refused to return to the Allmans. By that time, however, the Allmans were fighting against time and musical trends. Disco, punk, and power pop had pretty much stolen a march on the arena acts epitomized by the Allmans; whatever interest they attracted was a matter of nostalgia for their earlier releases. The group was in danger of becoming arena rock's third big oldies act (after the Moody Blues and Paul McCartney's Wings). 

Additionally, their business affairs were in a shambles, owing to the bankruptcy of Capricorn Records in late 1979. When the fallout from the Capricorn collapse settled, PolyGram Records, the company's biggest creditor, took over the label's library, and the Allman Brothers were cut loose from their contract. 

Their signing to Arista enabled the group to resume recording. What they released, however, was safe, unambitious, routinely commercial pop/rock, closer in spirit to the Doobie Brothers than their own classic work, and a shadow of that work, without any of the invention and daring upon which they'd built their reputations. The group's fortunes hit a further downturn when Jaimoe was fired, breaking up one of the best rhythm sections in rock. For most of the 1980s, the group was on hiatus, while the individual members sorted out their personal and professional situations. During those years, only Dickey Betts seemed to be in a position to do much with his music, and most of that wasn't selling. 

In 1989, the band was reactivated again, partly owing to PolyGram's decision to issue the four-CD box set retrospective Dreams. That set, coupled with the reissue of their entire Capricorn catalog on compact disc in the years leading up to the box's release, reminded millions of older listeners of the band's greatness, and introduced the group to millions of people too young to have been around for Watkins Glen, much less the Fillmore shows. 

They reunited and also restored the band's original double-lead-guitar configuration, adding Warren Haynes on lead guitar alongside Dickey Betts, with Allen Woody playing bass; Chuck Leavell was gone, however, having agreed to join the Rolling Stones on tour as their resident keyboard player, and Lamar Williams had succumbed to cancer in 1983. 

The new lineup reinvigorated the band, which signed with Epic Records and surprised everyone with their first release, Seven Turns. Issued in 1990, it got some of the best reviews and healthiest sales they'd had in more than a decade. Their subsequent studio albums failed to attract as much enthusiasm, and their two live albums, An Evening With the Allman Brothers Band and 2nd Set, released in 1992 and 1995, respectively, were steady but not massive sellers. Much of this isn't the fault of the material so much as a natural result of the passage of time, which has left the Allmans competing with two decades' worth of successors and rivals. 

The group has stayed together since 1989, overcoming continuing health and drug problems, which have occasionally battered their efforts at new music. They remain a top concert attraction 25-plus years after their last historically important album, easily drawing more than 20,000 fans at a time to outdoor venues, or booking 2,000-seat theaters for three weeks at a time. Their back catalog, especially the first five albums, remain consistent sellers on compact disc and recently returned to the reconstituted Capricorn label (still a home for Southern rockers, including the latter-day Lynyrd Skynyrd, as well as reissues of Elmore James and other classic bluesmen), under a 1997 licensing agreement that has resulted in their third round of digital remastering. 

Apart from their Arista releases, the Allman Brothers Band has remained remarkably consistent, altering their music only gradually over 30 years. They sound more country than they did in their early days, and they're a bit more varied in the vocal department, but they have still been soaring at their concerts and on most of their records over the last ten-plus years. 

Recorded live in Baden Baden, Germany on July 5th, 1991

01. Intro
02. Don't Want You No More
03. It's Not My Cross To Bear
04. Statesboro Blues
05. Blue Sky
06. Low Down Dirty Mean
07. End Of The Line
08. Loaded Dice
09. In Memory Of Elizabeth Reed
10. Gambler's Roll
11. Good Clean Fun
12. One Way Out
13. Kind Of Bird
14. Ramblin' Man
15. Jessica
16. Whipping Post

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