Like so many others, I really don't like most of these lists. But any time the BEST ALL AMERICAN BAND gets some recognition it is a good thing.
There was one on the same site last week that was something like Best Guitar Duos in History and yes Duane and Dickey got a really nice mention there. I should have posted it at the time. This one however is a little different. Not a single picture of an original member. First slide shows Warren and the next slide shows Derrek.
1. CCR
2. Jimi Hendrix (and his band)
3. The Allman Brothers Band - Few bands that can claim The Allman Brothers Band's commercial success are as near-universally beloved by fans. Usually, you'll attract your fair share of haters when you have hits with the magnitude of Melissa, In Memory of Elizabeth Reed, Midnight Rider, Blue Sky, Soulshine, and Whipping Post. The Allman Brothers Band's relative lack of hate indicates their gigantic stature in the American musical landscape.
4. Miles Davis
5. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
6. The Grateful Dead
7. The Beach Boys
8. Talking Heads --------------- (What Ever...............?????)
9. Parliament- Funkadelic
10. Prince and the Revolution
There you have it. We are GREAT because of our lack of HATE, LOL.
These were not ranked by number it is just the order they appeared in. They were doing pretty darn good until they got to No. 8 & 9, neither of which i understand. I'm sure there are some Talking Heads, Parliment-Funkadelic fans that don't give a rip about Warren, Derrek, Dickey or Duane.
Like so many others, I really don't like most of these lists. But any time the BEST ALL AMERICAN BAND gets some recognition it is a good thing.
There was one on the same site last week that was something like Best Guitar Duos in History and yes Duane and Dickey got a really nice mention there. I should have posted it at the time. This one however is a little different. Not a single picture of an original member. First slide shows Warren and the next slide shows Derrek.
1. CCR
2. Jimi Hendrix (and his band)
3. The Allman Brothers Band - Few bands that can claim The Allman Brothers Band's commercial success are as near-universally beloved by fans. Usually, you'll attract your fair share of haters when you have hits with the magnitude of Melissa, In Memory of Elizabeth Reed, Midnight Rider, Blue Sky, Soulshine, and Whipping Post. The Allman Brothers Band's relative lack of hate indicates their gigantic stature in the American musical landscape.
4. Miles Davis
5. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
6. The Grateful Dead
7. The Beach Boys
8. Talking Heads --------------- (What Ever...............?????)
9. Parliament- Funkadelic
10. Prince and the Revolution
There you have it. We are GREAT because of our lack of HATE, LOL.
These were not ranked by number it is just the order they appeared in. They were doing pretty darn good until they got to No. 8 & 9, neither of which i understand. I'm sure there are some Talking Heads, Parliment-Funkadelic fans that don't give a rip about Warren, Derrek, Dickey or Duane.
What no Sly and the Family Stone? No Skynyrd? No Aerosmith, CSNY, Eagles (yes the Eagles), Doors, Springsteen?!!? etc. etc., So list are interesting but highly subjective as it goes to a persons likes and dislikes in most cases
Talking Heads and Parliament are both top tier, just a different genre.
Regardless of anyone's taste, this is just click bait. Totally random list. Websites get ad revenue for every slide you click through.
It would have been cool for the Grateful Dead pic to have Warren too.
@dino Their guitarist always reminded me of Ed Norton on the Honeymooner's.
the opening post states "soulshine" was a hit. no it wasn't . not a hit of any kind. funny no mention of "jessica" or "ramblin man" though
@matt05 I noticed that too. No Ramblin' Man which was the ABB's biggest single. And Jessica was single and did well on the chart. The ABB's most popular instrumental.
Soulshine is one of several tracks off ABB albums which has gotten over 1 million views on YouTube. Other than that not sure how they came to mentioned Soulshine as one of the ABB hits.
@robertdee i love the tune soulshine. i'm sure it's beloved by the fans. i just can't see why they say it's a hit but leave out the bands biggest hit and another single thats one of the most recognizable instrumentals in rock. nit picking but they also mention "midnight rider". was that a hit for the band or was it the gregg solo version thats a hit?
@matt05 Gregg's solo version made it a hit. Because of the Laid Back version it became a fan favorite in the ABB. But the ABB arrangement is different as you know.
Interestingly in 1975 and 76, The Allman Brothers opened the song with the Laid Back arrangement then it shifted to the arrangement on Idlewild South. I thought that was cool when I heard it in 1975 on the Win, Loose and Draw tour.
I guess it depends on how you define "hit". There are hit singles, which are based on individual sales - which "Ramblin' Man" qualifies.
But you can also have a hit song due to popularity. "Midnight Rider" has certainly received a lot of airplay and been licensed to commercials and movies in the decades since Idlewild South was released. It's also been covered by everyone from Joe Cocker to Willie Nelson, so that would make it a hit song, even if the original single never charted.
@porkchopbob i completely agree. outside of "soulshine" being a crowd pleaser at concerts though i don't get the status though of it being a "hit". odd not to name the tunes i listed or even "crazy love" which was the bands second highest charting single or "seven turns" which was like an anthem for the reunion era and a popular video and rock radio tune
@matt05 The original version on Idlewild South did not chart in 1970 as a single. That and the fact Idlewild South didn't sell that much better than the first album (30,000 copies) aroused suspicion by Gregg that his brother's band was going to go anywhere despite all the constant touring in smaller venues and as an opening act. They performed 307 shows in 1970 alone. Gregg said he was tempted to quit and enroll in Dental school.
But next years At Fillmore East sold over 500,000 copies earning a gold record ( it's over 1 million copies now and platinum) proving Duane to be correct about the band.
But Joe Cocker covered Midnight Rider going to #27 on the singles chart. Willie Nelson took it to number 6 on the country chart.
And Gregg's version off Laid Back ( over 800,000 copies/gold) went to #19 on the singles chart.
So the song is a hit but not the Allman Brothers version which clearly is the version played the most live.
Gregg as we know was stuck on the third verse and roadie Kim Payne got tired of hearing Gregg sing the third verse over and over trying to find the right words and threw out " I'm past the point of caring, some old bed I'll soon be sharing" and Gregg liked it.
Later Payne told Gregg he should get a piece of the publishing royalties and Gregg finally offered Payne 05%.
Has Payne made a lot of money? I don't know. But Midnight Rider was on Beginnings released in 1973 ( a rerelease of the first two albums-sold over 700,000 copies) and in 1991 part of 1969-1979 A Decade Of Hits which has sold over 2 million 400,000 copies. That and Laid Back and the cover versions indicates the 5 percent must have been lucrative for Payne.
@matt05 The original version on Idlewild South did not chart in 1970 as a single. That and the fact Idlewild South didn't sell that much better than the first album (30,000 copies) aroused suspicion by Gregg that his brother's band was going to go anywhere despite all the constant touring in smaller venues and as an opening act. They performed 307 shows in 1970 alone. Gregg said he was tempted to quit and enroll in Dental school.
But next years At Fillmore East sold over 500,000 copies earning a gold record ( it's over 1 million copies now and platinum) proving Duane to be correct about the band.
But Joe Cocker covered Midnight Rider going to #27 on the singles chart. Willie Nelson took it to number 6 on the country chart.
And Gregg's version off Laid Back ( over 800,000 copies/gold) went to #19 on the singles chart.
So the song is a hit but not the Allman Brothers version which clearly is the version played the most live.
Gregg as we know was stuck on the third verse and roadie Kim Payne got tired of hearing Gregg sing the third verse over and over trying to find the right words and threw out " I'm past the point of caring, some old bed I'll soon be sharing" and Gregg liked it.
Later Payne told Gregg he should get a piece of the publishing royalties and Gregg finally offered Payne 05%.
Has Payne made a lot of money? I don't know. But Midnight Rider was on Beginnings released in 1973 ( a rerelease of the first two albums-sold over 700,000 copies) and in 1991 part of 1969-1979 A Decade Of Hits which has sold over 2 million 400,000 copies. That and Laid Back and the cover versions indicates the 5 percent must have been lucrative for Payne.
This made it to number 19 on the singles chart!!
Is Midnight Rider the second most popular song by the Allman Brothers? Second to Ramblin' Man?
Probably. But Jessica, Whipping Post, Blue Sky and Melissa are very popular too!
1. Ramblin' Man
2. Midnight Rider
3. Jessica
4. Blue Sky
5. Whipping Post
6. Melissa
7. I'm Memory of Elizabeth Reed
8. Ain't Waisting Time No More
9. Southbound
10. Stand back
That is my list of most famous songs written by the band. Statesboro Blues ( Willie McTell) is a cover. It and One Way Out ( Elmore James, Sonny Boy Williamson , Marshall Sehorn *) are huge fan favorites too.
* I found out Marshall Sehorn didn't write ANY of One Way Out. But he had the connections and to make it happen, they had to give him a cut of the publishing.
@robertdee "Ramblin' Man" may have sold more singles in 1973, but I think way more people know "Midnight Rider" than "Ramblin' Man". I'd compare it to "Can't You See" and "Heard It In a Love Song" - the latter sold more at the time, but the former has had more legs over the decades and become a standard.
"Midnight Rider" become a standard piece of Americana covered by way more artists, some covers have even charted. I'd wager even "Whipping Post", "Jessica" and "Melissa" are more popular today than "Ramblin' Man". "Little Martha" has become a folk standard of sorts as well.
I wouldn't put "Stand Back" in the top 10, that's a somewhat deep cut that even casual fans might not know. "No One to Run With" and "Dreams" are probably more popular.
@porkchopbob Than you for your insightful response.
Honestly I didn't think of Dreams for some reason. Yes Dreams would rank ahead of Stand Back.
Considering the Allman Brothers quit playing Ramblin' Man in 2000 and Butch Trucks vowed the band should have never used it and will never play it again and that now has been 23 years ago, your point about Ramblin' Man is well taken too.
I'm 76 years old and been a big fan since 1970 and even though the 1990's, Ramblin' Man continued to get a lot of airplay. But that is now 30 years ago.
Being a big Dickey fan too, at the shows Dickey was having a good night and really stretched it out, to me, was one of the highlights of the show. Especially during the popular Chuck/Lamar lineup.
@porkchopbob hmm maybe. the local classic rock stations plays "ramblin man" more than any other ABB tune
