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"...Dedicated To A Brother..."
Always somehow the dribbling
younger brother to the puff-chested mighty older sibling of "...Live At
Fillmore East" from 1971 (their real breakthrough moment) - February 1972's double-album farewell to the
cruelly taken Duane Allman is nonetheless the Allmans classic I return to more
than even "Brothers And Sisters" (a 1973 LP I adore).
Like most guys of my age, I
love a good double-album. And here it sits in a Bezos warehouse for a paltry
three quid in a top notch CD remaster – soiled, unloved and forgotten like a
December 2019 election manifesto promise to lob untold billions with financial
abandon at some tiresomely worthy cause or other (like pesky nurses wanting a
proper wage or those women with whiskers wanting a new pair of slippers come
the cold spell). Oh dear...let's get to the mountainous jams my desert-island
darlings...
UK released 14 October 1997
(reissued July 1998) - "Eat A Peach" by THE ALLMAN BROTHERS BAND on
Capricorn 531 261-2 (Barcode 731453126121) is part of their 'Capricorn
Classics' Remastered CD Series and offers the entire 9-Track February 1972 part
Live/part Studio double-album onto 1 CD. It plays out as follows (69:56
minutes):
1. Ain't Wastin' Time No
More [Side 1]
2. Les Brers In A Minor
3. Melissa
4. Mountain Jam (Theme From
"There Is A Mountain") [Sides 2 and Side 4 - see Notes]
5. One Way Out [Side 3]
6. Trouble No More
7. Stand Back
8. Blue Sky
9. Little Martha
Tracks 1 to 9 make up the
double-album "Eat A Peach" - released February 1972 in the USA on
Capricorn 2CP 0102 and in the UK on Capricorn K 67501.
NOTES: On the original vinyl
2LP set the live "Mountain Jam" was spread across Side 2 and 4
clocking in at 19:37 and 15:06 minutes respectively; on this Capricorn Classics
CD reissue it has been amalgamated into one track at 33:41 minutes and placed
as Track 4 overall. Tracks 4, 5 and 6 were recorded live at Bill Graham’s
Fillmore East venue in New York – the other six studio cuts at Criteria Studios
in Miami, Florida. Produced by TOM DOWD - the double-album peaked at No. 4 in
the US LP charts in 1972 (didn't chart UK).
THE ALLMAN BROTHERS BAND
was:
GREGG ALLMAN - Lead Vocals,
Organ, Piano
DUANE ALLMAN - Lead and
Slide Guitar (Tracks 4 to 8, Acoustic Guitar on Tracks 8 and 9)
DICKEY BETTS - Lead and
Slide Guitars (Tracks 1 to 9 - Acoustic Guitar on Track 9)
BERRY OAKLEY - Bass
BUTCH TRUCKS - Drums and
Percussion (Tracks 1 to 6 and 8)
JAI JOHANNY JOHANSON - Drums
and Congas (Tracks 1, 2 and 7 - Drums only on Tracks 3, 4, 5, 6 and 8)
The three-leafed double-side
foldout inlay reproduces the Jim Holmes and David Powell painting artwork that
graced the inner gatefold along with those song-by-song musician
credits/original double-album recording data details that were on the insert.
There are no new liner notes - mores the pity. The see-through CD spine sports
the Capricorn Classics Logo, as does the inlay beneath the CD tray. Adequate
but not too much to write home about for sure – still the SUHA GUR Remaster is
superb - especially on those cool studio cuts like "Stand Back",
"Melissa" and the short but gorgeous acoustic farewell from Duane -
"Little Martha".
April 1972 saw the slick
sliding peach that is the Side 1 opener "Ain't Wastin' Time No More"
issued as a US 45 on Capricorn CPR 0003 with Gregg's truly lovely
"Melissa" as its flipside. Personally, I can't help thinking that
"Melissa" would have been the better A - but whatever way you look at
musical history - in my book - CRP 0003 is one those fabulous 45s where both
sides rock - where both sways are equally brill. The gargantuan "Mountain
Jam" is either a test-your-patience moment or testament to their
Blues-Rock genius - probably a bit of both if truth be told. For sure in 2019
it's a brave soul indeed who can last the half-hour in full - but I still love
it - especially Duane's playing that starts to explode from about 8 minutes in
and that interplay between him and Betts. Betts would of course come to
songwriting fruition with stuff "Jessica" on the Brothers And Sisters
LP in 1973, but you can so hear how in 1972 he was already the unsung hero in
the band overshadowed by his buddy's loss (he contributed "Blue
Sky"). Their cover of Elmore James' "One Way Out" and the Muddy
Waters classic "Trouble No More" allow the trio of guitar players to
strut their rockin' Bluesy stuff. Gregg and Berry Oakley co-write the fab
"Stand Back" - a Rock band in the 70ts getting funky while the album
ends on the beautiful duetting acoustic guitars of Gregg and Dickey - 2:07
minutes of sweetness in "Little Martha".
You can't help think that
between 1970 and 1973 - this Southern Boogie Rock band were on fire and of
course led the way for Lynyrd Skynyrd, Marshall Tucker, Grinderswitch and even
The Ozark Mountain Daredevils. Few bands could produce two double albums year
after year that remain essential to this day - but then the combo of talent
that was The Allman Brothers Band was always that little bit special...
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