On February 12th, 1972, 54 years ago, the Allman Brothers Band and it's manager and label owner Phil Walden released the band's fourth album Eat A Peach.
Eat A Peach was an immediate success charting at number FOUR out of TWO HUNDRED positions on the Billboard album chart and was certified PLATINUM for sales in excess of one million copies. It has sold over 2 million copies to date.
Gregg Allman identified Eat A Peach in two interviews in the 2000s as his favorite ABB album and Laid Back as his favorite solo album.
Personally I think the album is absolutely among their best and a better album than anything they put out after Brothers and Sisters.
Anyone have an ABB new release album they like better than Eat A Peach?
Eat A Peach is my favorite ABB record. Not only that, I happen to think it's simply the greatest rock record ever recorded. Mainly because, it's NOT a rock record. It's a jazz record, it's a country record, it's a blues record, it's a jam band record. Show me another band that has displayed the ability to incorporate that many styles into their sound, while maintaining their stunning and expert musicianship for all of them. Simply put, an astonishing record, by a band at their peak. What a crying shame that their leader passed away while they were making it. Which makes it even that much more astonishing.
My second favorite ABB album. First is Fillmore East. Brothers and Sisters was very good but the band headed in different direction and sound.
"When in Georgia, I always eat a peach for peace." 😘
@stratdal Butch wrote on his blog he wanted the album called " The Kind They Grow In Georgia" with a big peach on the cover.
I can't remember who Butch said came up with remembering what you wrote stratdal but it was a quote from Duane Allman and the album was going to be dedicated to Duane's memory.
Then Butch said " When I'm in Georgia I Always Eat A Peach For Peace" got shortened to " Eat A Peach".
I think Butch said Phil Walden or someone at Capricorn came up with cutting it down to "Eat A Peach"
And it was an immediate hit album. Wasn't long until it had sold over a million copies and landed into the top 5 out of 200 positions on the chart.
Gregg said it was bittersweet for him. He was really hurt thinking about his brother. Duane who had just received his first decent royalty check for At Fillmore East when he died.
Gregg said they played their butts off for three years doing hundreds of shows a year with little money to show for it.
When Eat A Peach came out it went from " You boys be careful with your road money and make it stretch so you don't run out to 'Order anything you want boys'"!!!
Gregg said at Capricorn the money just began rolling in because of Eat A Peach and his brother was gone. Gregg felt Duane got cheated and it bothered him a lot for years.
But what an album Eat A Peach is. Duane's last and it is one of the band's best if not the best album they had.
This track was recorded after Duane died. Butch said Dickey was working on an instrumental at the studio in Miami and he had a cool riff he was working off of and Gregg and Butch suggested some changes to put in that Dickey used.
But as Dickey kept writing in the nextdoor studio they decided they had heard the melody before which upset Dickey as Dickey thought they were thinking he was ripping off another song. But nobody could remember where they had heard it before then it turned out it was original to Dickey and he had played that melody line several times in his Whipping Post solo live on stage.
Butch said he suggested the name which Dickey used and Butch said the title is broken French for " one less brother" meaning Duane Allman wasn't with them now.
