This Review Along With 339 Others Is Available In My
SOUNDS GOOD E-Book on all Amazon sites
WHOLE LOTTA LOVE - 1969
Rock, Pop and Genres Thereabouts
Exceptional CD Reissues and Remasters
Rock, Pop and Genres Thereabouts
Exceptional CD Reissues and Remasters
Just Click Below To Purchase for £5.95 (Jan 2022 Update)
Thousands of E-Pages - All Details and In-Depth Reviews From Discs
(No Cut and Paste Crap)
<iframe style="width:120px;height:240px;" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" src="//ws-eu.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=GB&source=ss&ref=as_ss_li_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=mabasreofcdbl-21&language=en_GB&marketplace=amazon®ion=GB&placement=B000003CM8&asins=B000003CM8&linkId=3d1f45d7e5ea7202a3c5e1a5b0f784a2&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true"></iframe>
"...Whipping Post..."
By November 1976 and the
hodgepodge live-in-the-70ts release of "Wipe The Windows, Check The Oil,
Dollar Gas" (they had disbanded by then) - The Allman Brothers Band
already had two other live sets behind them - the celebrated "Live At
Fillmore" (1971) and the part live "Eat A Peach" (1972) - both
doubles.
I mention their propensity
for live albums because they always seemed to me to be a band 'scorching' on
stage whilst their studio output lacked a certain bite - especially given their
legendary status (I'd count "Brothers & Sisters" from 1973 as the
exception).
Which brings me to their 4
November 1969 self-titled debut - not exactly plodding for damn sure, but more
workmanlike than I would want. As an album, it's a Blues Rock beginning for our
heroes with five originals and two clever cover versions. Here are the whipping
posts...
UK released 14 October 1997
- "The Allman Brothers Band" by THE ALLMAN BROTHERS BAND on
Polygram/Capricorn Classics 531 257-2 (Barcode 731453125728) is a
straightforward CD Reissue and Remaster that plays out as follows (33:23
minutes):
1. Don't Want You No More
[Side 1]
2. It's Not My Cross To Bear
3. Black Hearted Woman
4. Trouble No More
5. Every Hungry Woman [Side
2]
6. Dreams
7. Whipping Post
Tracks 1 to 7 are their
debut album "The Allman Brothers Band" – released November 1969 in
the US on Atco SD 33-308 in Stereo (part of their Capricorn Record's Series)
and November 1969 in the UK on Atco Records 228003 also in Stereo. Produced by
ADRIAN BARBER – it finally charted December 1969 and peaked at No. 188 on the
Billboard LP charts (didn't chart UK). All tracks written by Gregg Allman
except "Don't Want You No More" and "Trouble No More" which
are Spencer David Group and Muddy Waters cover versions.
Band was:
GREGG ALLMAN - Lead Vocals
and Organ
DUANE ALLMAN - Slide and
Lead Guitars
DICKET BETTS - Lead Guitar
BERRY OAKLEY - Bass and
Backing Vocals
JAI JOHNSON and BUTCH TRUCKS
- Drums, Congas, Percussion
The gatefold slip of paper
in these Capricorn Classics that masquerades as an 'inlay' is a bit of sad
joke and the only extra piece of info afforded in the Remaster Engineer SUHA
GUR - a Universal/Polygram Audio Engineer I've sung the praises of many times
before. If he's had a hand at the tapes, I want to hear it (he's done much of The Allman Brothers catalogue, Joe Cocker, Kansas, Fairport Convention, Cream and more).
At least that
infamous six-piece band nude in the stream photo that adorned the original vinyl
gatefold is here, but nothing else, which as an appreciation lets the side down
badly. But the Audio rocks and a price lean-in of a fiver or thereabouts, gives
the listener great value for money. British original LPs of The Allman Brothers
Band debut on that Plum Atco label made no impact in terms of UK sales and so
are notoriously rare. This is a cool way to get access to the music...
Their instrumental cover of
the Spencer Davis Group track "Don't Want You No More" (a B-side to
the British-released "Time Seller" 45-single in July 1967 on Fontana
TS 854) starts out almost Prog Rock-ish until it melts by way of a segue into
the first original of the LP - "It's Not My Cross To Bear". Featuring
the first vocal, Gregg sits down and writes his gal a letter (tomorrow he'll up
and on his way) – the song a slow deep Blues Rock. But whilst Gregg puts on his
most Soulful voice, what catches your ear most is the duet soloing after he
stops singing, which is just great (the Remaster is powerful on this one). I
was never sure of "Black Hearted Woman" - it's good but not my fave
and that crude guitar-in-one-speaker with the-second-in-another hasn't worn the
years well. Side 1 finishes with Muddy Waters and a cover of his 1955 Chess
Records classic "Trouble No More" - all jaunty and rocking in that
Allman Brothers way.
Side 2 gives it some distant
slide as it opens with "Every Hungry Woman", a 4:12 minute
chug-rocker with doctors calling and guitars duetting across speakers. Far
better for me is "Dreams" - a 7:16 minute swoon that sounds like its
floating title suggests. This feels like a band becoming something special -
sussing out a vibe and going after it - guitar soloing that actually sounds
innovative and babbling-brook cool. Buddy Miles did a stunning shorter cover
version of "Dreams" on his second studio album "Them
Changes" LP on Mercury Records released June 1970 (featured members of
Booker T & The MG's band, see my separate review). And of course when
Universal issued a decent 4-disc retrospective for the CD revolution,
"Dreams" was chosen as Allman Brothers title. And then the boys pull
out the jagged Rock-Blues rhythms of "Whipping Post" – a track that
would take up a whole side on the legendary "At Fillmore East" double
live album - here a sprightly 5:16 minutes of Bass-Thumping Rock-Guitar joy.
Even in re-evaluation terms
and with 50+ years of hindsight, you couldn't call "The Allman Brothers
Band" debut a balls-to-the-wall meisterwerk. But it's a solid little
shin-kicker and this Remastered CD of it does my dreams just fine...
