The Allman Brothers
Band
Allaman
Brothers Band Website
From hard to mellow rock that frequently swung into deep R&B,
the Macon-based group literally seized the rock and roll world with
its first album in 1969. Brothers Duane (guitar) and Greg Allman
(vocals/keyboards), who started the group were joined by Dicky Betts
(guitar), Berry Oakley (bass), and Butch Trucks and "Jonny"
Jai Jai Johanson (both drums). Often mistakenly believed to have
been born in Georgia, both Duane and Gregg were actually born in
Nashville, Tennessee.
Among
the hits recorded by the band were Statesboro Blues (written by
Georgian Blind Willie McTell), Dreams, Midnight Rider, Down to the
Whipping Post, In Memory of Elizabeth Reed, Mountain Jam, Blue Sky
and Little Martha, which includes recordings from the posthumously
released recording "Eat a Peach."
In
March, 1971, the band recorded "Live at the Fillmore East,"
a popular concert venue in New York City. From here the band continued
to tour the U. S. through late October, when they returned to Macon
for a well-deserved rest. After a birthday party for Berry Oakley's
wife, Duane headed off to ride "Sweet Melissa," his Harley-Davidson
motorcycle. As he returned to Macon, a log truck pulled in front
of him at the intersection of Hillcrest and Bartlett. Trying to
avoid a collision, Allman laid the bike down, but his head struck
either the truck or a nearby lamppost, and he died during surgery.
The
following year Berry Oakley lost control of his motorcycle and struck
a Macon city bus near the intersection of Napier Avenue near Inverness
Street, roughly 3 blocks from the site of Duane's accident. Oakley
refused medical assistance in spite of a serious head injury. He
died an hour later, shortly after friends had taken him to a hospital.
In 1995 the group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
For
listen samples and reviews, click on CD cover photo. In new window,
click on CD photo again and scroll down.
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The
Allman Brothers Band (1969)
Idlewild South (1970)
At Fillmore East (Live,1971)
Eat a Peach (1972)
Beginnings (1973)
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Stand
Back: The Anthology (2004)
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Brothers
and Sisters (1973)
Win,
Lose or Draw (1975)
Wipe the Windows, Check the Oil, Dollar Gas (live, 1976)
Enlightened Rogues (1979)
The Essential Allman Brothers Band: The Epic Years (2004)
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The
Allman Brothers Band DVD's
Brothers
of the Road (1994) DVD
In these two live concerts, rock's legendary Allman Brothers Band
whip up the kind of excitement their fans have loved for years.
This pioneering Southern rock band, including Gregg Allman and Dickey
Betts, blazes through their classics in a concert performance live
from Gainesville, Florida. Then the band rocks for more than an
hour at the Capitol Theater. Also included is rare footage of an
on-the-road hotel room jam session and a peek at a private acoustic
"unplugged-style" session in a recording studio. Songs:
Pony Boy, Jessica, Let Me Ride [Hotel Jam], You Don't Love Me, Blue
Sky, Statesboro Blues, Whippin' Post, Never Knew How Much (I Needed
You), Danny Blue, The Preacher, Melissa [Studio Jam], Come and Go
Blues, Can't Take It With You, Crazy Love, One Way Out, In Memory
of Elizabeth Reed, Southbound, The Judgment, Ramblin' Man.
Live
at the Beacon Theatre (2003) DVD
The Allman Brothers' strong, occasionally startling set on this
DVD may soften those intransigent purists who won't accept the band
without its original (and now fired) guitarist, Dickey Betts. The
group's classic dual-guitar sound is capably covered by returning
member Warren Haynes and rising star Derek Trucks (young nephew
of Allmans' drummer Butch Trucks), who sounds as if he's lived and
breathed the late Duane Allman's playbook since he left the cradle.
Derek's barbed riffs feed the textured funk of "Statesboro
Blues" and get some mileage out of filler like "Come and
Go Blues," but the blissful-looking fellow's supreme moment
comes when he joins Haynes in a blisteringly beautiful attack on
gospel stunner "Soul Shine." Some of the material here
borders on the pedestrian, but vocalist-keyboardist Gregg Allman's
grizzled mastery of the blues can still lead this legendary band
through some epic mysteries.
