55 years ago today At Fillmore East was released and gave the band a big shot in the arm. It sold ( and outsold the first two albums) over 100,000 copies the first week and went on to go GOLD in Duane's lifetime which made Duane proud and the other band members thought Duane was right all along. This band is going to do real good.
Today the album is Platinum ( over 1 million copies sold) and is regarded by many critics of rock music the best live album to date 55 years later.
My original vinyl copy from 1971 has a pink label with Capricorn in big letters and in small print " distributed by Atlantic Records New York, NY.
My only question would be, why isn't Fillmore East 5 or 10 times Platinum? And how tragic that Duane worked SO hard to put the band on top...... and was broke all the time...........and when the cash started rolling in, he never saw one thin dime.
@robslob It's around 6 million worldwide but it's been gradual. Eat A Peach went platinum before At Fillmore East but it did go GOLD ( 500,000 plus ) in Duane's lifetime.
Yes the band members had very little money. Phil Walden got his cut then the roadies Duane paid before the musicians and the expense of staying on the road almost all the time with what they could demand left nothing much for the musicians who were low on money when they joined. Dickey said he had no money personally the first few years of the band.
Gregg was always very bothered by the fact that the members basically had no money as the money for all the touring was used for band expenses traveling all over the country and paying Phil Walden back etc then just when his brother died the money started pouring in. Gregg always felt his brother got cheated as it was his band yet Gregg himself became a millionaire several times over. Supposedly Gregg never got over his brother never getting to share the loot.
But I have read that Duane had just gotten his first ( and only ) royalty check for At Fillmore East before he was killed. If I remember correctly it was for $3 thousand dollars, apparently the most money Duane ever had.
Our own Alan Paul has a great write-up on it. It crossed my feed this morning and I thought it was from Guitar Player, but found it online at this link:
https://alanpaul.substack.com/p/the-complete-inside-story-behind
It seems many still posting on this site aren't interested in At Fillmore East anymore or it's faded with them. Or It's so old they never really got into it in the first place. It's like with fans of the Tommy Dorsey Band. It finally fades out.
Perhaps some ABB fans didn't become fans until 2004 or 08. But that's fine. It's never too late to catch that mushroom vibe:)
There seems to be more interest here now about Derek Trucks and TTB and Warren Haynes and Gov't Mule and a little Devon Allman and Duane Betts.
It's understandable I guess as these musicians are still living and out there touring and recording now. Not living in the past.
There is only one member left in the original band and while watching a 1996 show on YouTube it struck me that Marc Q, Warren and Jaimoe were the only ones left in that line up. Gregg, Butch, Dickey and Allen Woody have passed away.
At Fillmore East is 55 years old. I was 25 years old when I bought my copy and I'm 79 now. Many younger fans here were probably not born when it came out.
Derek Trucks wasn't. I think he was born in 1979. But his dad played it constantly when Derek was growing up. According to Derek. That and Eat A Peach and Layla.
I feel like a Lawrence Welk fan must have when I was younger. Time slowly leaves everyone behind and causes most graves to be unvisited unless you were George Washington or Elvis Presley and time may eventually push their graves into low or no visitors centuries from now.
Did I see bubbles floating around on the screen when my parents watched Welk?
Wonder what they were for?
Bubbles 💭 🥂 💬 🍺 What were the bubbles for?????
It seems many still posting on this site aren't interested in At Fillmore East anymore or it's faded with them. Or It's so old they never really got into it in the first place. It's like with fans of the Tommy Dorsey Band. It finally fades out.
There seems to be more interest here now about Derek Trucks and TTB and Warren Haynes and Gov't Mule and a little Devon Allman and Duane Betts.
You're mistaken, just because there's just nothing new to discuss on a very quiet message board about At Fillmore East that hasn't already been said doesn't mean there isn't interest in the album. You yourself are rehashing the same accolades and facts. Meanwhile, the living musicians are still making fresh waves and newsworthy music and performances worth discussing. How boring would it be if music stopped in 1971?
@porkchopbob Hello. I agree with you about Joe Bonnamossa. His deep respect for the blues and music and his vast knowledge of guitars and amps and his impressive collection of both is to be commended.
And technically Joe is as good a guitar players as anyone. Solid rhythm and hot clean solos.
My criticism would be you can hear his influences in his solos. There doesn't seem to be a distinct Joe style like B. B., Albert King, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Dickey and others.
As to Fillmore East I thought some would acknowledge the 55th anniversary and talk about how that album affected them. But it's a sleepy board now as some have said. Afterall our band here closed up shop in 2014, 12 years ago.
Someone linked an Alan Paul article on the album which was well written and confirmed it's not just big fans of the band...that album really is one of the best rock live albums ever. To many THE BEST!!
Take care!
@robertdee It changed my life. It changed the way I listen to music. It changed the way I thought of the ABB. It changed everything for me. And to an extent the music DID stop in 1971.
@kcjimmy Amen brother. I agree. I enjoyed the Allman Brothers Band live lots of times after 1971 and as to the music stopping then, no question the Allman Brothers Band never sounded the same. It evolved into different variations.
Butch Trucks said Oteil was the best musician to ever be in the band and I will not disagree as Butch Trucks certainly would know better than me. But for the classic Allman Brothers Band sound Berry Oakley also was key and amazing.
This closing night version of Must Have Done Somebody Wrong actually is my favorite version. Mainly because Duane steps on the gas a little more than At Fillmore East as I remember him doing live several times.
Captured across two legendary March nights in New York City, this historic double album permanently established the band’s absolute supremacy as a live improvisational machine. Their staggering rendition of Whipping Post stretches out to a majestic twenty-three minutes, transforming a standard blues-rock structure into a complex canvas of interlocking dual-guitar wizardry. The pristine tracking remains the ultimate argument that concerts were always the true point of their existence.
@kcjimmy Apparently for most "At Fillmore East" is the best live album ever released of a band playing this kind of rock music. Perhaps any kind of music.
Gregg Allman after Idlewild South failed to sell well began to doubt whether the Allman Brothers Band was going to be any more than what it was then. A good coast to coast following and playing lots of shows but the actual members were not making any money and he wondered whether he should go to dental school while he was still young.
But his brother said to the guys " All we need to do his put out a live album and get that fire we have playing live on a record and this band will go big".
Was Duane just lucky or did he actually know it would happen?
Jerry Wexler and Atlantic Records though it was a terrible plan and would be a bust at record stores. Phil Walden didn't believe in it much either but the first two albums didn't catch so Phil decided to hope Duane was right and worked like heck to get Atlantic to do it.
For some reason after At Fillmore East was released and went Gold then Platinum, Phil moved Capricorn over to Warner Brothers.
I remember a five man band show I saw before Eat A Peach dropped and just before Ain't Wasting Time No More, Gregg said " Here is one from our new album which will be out next week on the Warner Brothers lable ".
I thought " Warner Brothers? They have left Capricorn and Atlantic?
But when I bought my copy a big Capricorn logo was on the lable and in fine print " Distributed by Warner Bros. Records ".
The first two albums had the Atco logo big and " Capricorn Series " in smaller letters. Atco was an Atlantic Records label.
But At Fillmore East had a big Capricorn logo on a pink label and " Distributed by Atlantic Records" in fine print.
Tom Dowd refused to use anything which had the horn players Duane brought in and if they were not removed the album would not happen. Tom said the horn players were out of tune!
Here is a version of " You Don't Love Me" and you can hear Juicy Carter clearly. He doesn't sound of of tune to me.
Anyone think Juicy is out of tune?