Concert: Allman Brothers Band

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Allman Brothers Band Concert Schedule

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Allman Brothers Band

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Background:
The Allman Brothers Band was a pioneering Southern rock and Blues group from Macon, Georgia originally popular in the 1970s.The band was formed in 1969, consisting of Duane Allman (slide guitar and lead guitar), Gregg Allman (vocals, organ), Dickey Betts (lead guitar, vocals), Berry Oakley (bass guitar), Butch Trucks (drums) and Jai Johanny "Jaimoe" Johanson (drums). The actual Allman Brothers, Duane and Gregg, had originally been in a garage band called the Escorts, then the Allman Joys and finally the Hour Glass. The Hour Glass had released two failed albums from Liberty Records, they were all released from the contract except Gregg, who Liberty thought might have some commercial potential. Duane Allman, with a stint as a session guitarist in Muscle Shoals, Alabama behind him, started jamming with Dickey Betts, Butch Trucks and Berry Oakley in Jacksonville, Fla. Duane brought in Jaimoe, a drummer he had played with before and the nucleus of the band was formed. Gregg was in LA fulfilling the HourGlass contract with Liberty Records. He was summoned back to Jacksonville by Duane to "fill out the band and sing."
The Allman Brothers Band played numerous concerts in the south before releasing their debut album, The Allman Brothers Band.

Critics loved it, but the blues-rock album found few listeners, attracting only a cult audience. Most of the record had a blues-rock sound, but "Dreams", a spacey number in 3/4 time, would provide the framework for some of their best jams.
Idlewild South (1970), the follow up, produced by Tom Dowd, was a massive critical success, and managed to be quite lucrative, as well. The upbeat "Revival" and the moody-but-resolute "Midnight Rider" showed the band getting more adept at shorter, radio-friendly song forms.
1971 saw the release of a live album, At Fillmore East, recorded in March of that year at the legendary rock venue, the Fillmore East. The album was another huge hit, and is now remembered as one of the best live albums of all time. It showcased the band's unique mixture of jazz, classical music, hard rock, and blues, with arrangements propelled by Duane Allman 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 vocals. The band's rendition of Blind Willie McTell's "Statesboro Blues" was a straight-ahead opener, the powerful "Whipping Post" became the standard for a long, epic jam that never lost interest, while the ethereal-to-furious "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed" invited comparisons to John Coltrane.

The Allman Brothers received the honor of being the last act to play the Fillmore East before it closed in June. The band continued to tour; decades later, a special-order recording of one of their final concerts in this lineup, SUNY at Stonybrook 9/19/71, was released. It reveals that Duane Allman's slide guitar playing on "Dreams" and other songs was reaching the farthest reaches of that instrument and his imagination.

Duane Allman died not long after the Fillmore East album was certified gold on October 29, 1971 in Macon, Georgia. The loss of their leader was hard for the group to bear, but they quickly decided to carry on. The album continued to gain FM radio airplay, with stations even playing 13-minute and 23-minute selections, but with many new listeners and fans not even aware of the tragedy the band and the music world had suffered.

The album art of Allman Brothers' 1972 album, Eat a Peach Dickey Betts filled Duane's former role in completing the last album he participated in, Eat a Peach. 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.

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 directly replacing Duane. This new configuration appeared on ABC's In Concert late-night television program.

Shortly after that, on November 11, 1972, Berry Oakley died near from the site of Duane Allman's fatal accident.
Oakley was replaced by Lamar Williams at the end of 1972, in time to finish the next album, Brothers and Sisters (1973). The album marked a shift of direction towards country music, due partially to the loss of Tom Dowd, as well as the increasing influence of Dickey Betts, who soon became the band leader. Brothers and Sisters included the group's best known hits, "Ramblin' Man" and "Jessica"; the former reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 as a single, while the latter was a seven-minute instrumental hit. The album was accessible and laid-back, and the band was bigger than ever.

By this time, the Allman Brothers Band had also become one of the top concert draws in the country. Probably their most celebrated performance of the era took place on July 28, 1973 in Watkins Glen, New York, in a joint appearance with The Grateful Dead and The Band. Approximately 600,000 people were estimated to have made it to the racetrack where this massive outdoor festival took place. In the wake of the Allman Brothers Band's success during this time, many other Southern rock groups rose to popularity, including the Marshall Tucker Band and Lynyrd Skynyrd.

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 Grateful Dead members Jerry Garcia and Bill Kreutzmann as well as Boz Scaggs sitting in.

In 1989 The Allman Brothers reunited and returned to popular consciousness of the American public, spurred by the release of archival material by PolyGram and the start of regular appearances on the American summer outdoor amphitheater circuit. Warren Haynes (guitar, vocals), Johnny Neel (keyboards and harmonica) and Allen Woody (bass guitar) joined, while Leavell and Williams remained apart; the former on tour with the Rolling Stones, and Lamar Williams dead from cancer in 1983. After signing to Epic Records, the band released Seven Turns (1990), which got excellent reviews. This was followed by Neel's departure and a series of moderately-selling, but critically well-received albums including Shades Of Two Worlds (1991) and Where It All Begins (1994, certified Gold 1998), both featuring new percussionist Marc Quinones. Warren Haynes and Allen Woody formed their own side project Gov't Mule in 1994. In 1995, the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and in 1996 they won the Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance for "Jessica". When Haynes and Woody decided to concentrate full-time on Gov't Mule in 1997, Haynes was replaced on guitar by Jack Pearson, while Woody was replaced on bass by Oteil Burbridge. Derek Trucks, nephew of original Brother Butch Trucks, replaced Pearson in 1999.

In 2000, the band forced Dickey Betts to sit out the summer tour due to personal and professional reasons. Betts then filed a lawsuit against the other three original members and the summer separation turned into a permanent divorce. The band did release the CD Peakin' At The Beacon which chronicled the annual March tradition of a many-night stand at the Beacon Theater in New York City. Warren Haynes rejoined the band and decided to work in both the Allman Brothers and Gov't Mule at the same time . The Haynes' produced Hittin' The Note was released in 2003 to popular and critical acclaim, as was the Live At the Beacon Theater DVD film. The live CD One Way Out 2004 also chronicled the Beacon concerts.

The Allman Brothers garnered back to back Grammy Award nominations in 2003 and 2004 in the category of Best Rock Instrumental for performances of "Instrumental Illness" from Hittin' The Note and One Way Out. In 2003, Rolling Stone magazine named Duane Allman, Warren Haynes, Dickey Betts, and Derek Trucks to their list of 100 Greatest Guitarists of All-Time, with Allman coming in at #2 and Trucks being the youngest guitarist on their list. The Warren Haynes and Derek Trucks lineup continued the Allman Brothers Band's connection with younger music fans via concert pairings with popular jam bands .moe and String Cheese Incident, among others. The Allman Brothers were a major attaction at the influential Bonnaroo Music Festival in 2003 and 2005.

The Allman Brothers at Red Rocks in 2004For many years, the Allman Brothers' song "Jessica" was synonymous with the BBC TV series Top Gear, and used as its theme tune. The current theme tune is a significantly reworked electronic version of the song.

Awards and recognition

Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance, 1996, "Jessica"
Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, 1995

Discography

The Allman Brothers Band (1969)
Idlewild South (1970)
At Fillmore East (live, 1971)
Eat a Peach (1972)
Beginnings (1973), a re-release of the band's first two albums
Brothers and Sisters (1973)
Win, Lose or Draw (1975)
Wipe the Windows, Check the Oil, Dollar Gas (live, 1976)
Enlightened Rogues (1979)
Reach for the Sky (1980)
Brothers of the Road (1981)
Dreams (box set, 1989)
Seven Turns (1990)
Shades of Two Worlds (1991)
Live at Ludlow Garage: 1970 (1991)
An Evening With the Allman Brothers Band: First Set (live, 1992)
Where It All Begins (1994)
Legendary Hits (1994)
An Evening With the Allman Brothers Band: 2nd Set (live, 1995)
Peakin' at the Beacon (live, 2000)
Hittin' the Note (2003)
One Way Out (live, 2004)
Stand Back: The Anthology (2004)
Essential Allman Brothers: The Epic Years (2004)

Membership

Duane Allman (1969-1971) - guitar
Gregg Allman (1969-present) - vocals, keyboards, guitar
Dickey Betts (1969-2000) - guitar, vocals
Berry Oakley (1969-1972) - bass, vocals
Butch Trucks (1969-present) - drums
Jai Johanny "Jaimoe" Johanson (1969-1980; 1989-present) - drums
Chuck Leavell (1972-1976) - keyboards
Lamar Williams (1972-1976) - bass
Dan Toler (1978-1982) - guitar
David "Rook" Goldflies (1978-1982) - bass
David Toler (1980-1982) - drums
Warren Haynes (1989-1997; 2000-present) - guitar, vocals
Johnny Neel (1989-1990) - keyboards
Allen Woody (1989-1997) - bass
Marc Quinones (1991-present) - percussion
Oteil Burbridges (1997-present) - bass
Jack Pearson (1997-1999) - guitar
Derek Trucks (1999-present) - guitar