Been listening to a couple of versions of Nobody Knows from '92/'93 and it is becoming a new favorite. Great song all around with plenty of room for Gregg, Dickey and Warren to strut their stuff. The two versions I have been digging are 15 to 17 mins long and really show the power of the band. I don't know when I would have last seen them play this but but it sure is good!
Song was never played again after the split May 2000.
I dare to say ( 😮 ) it's my all time favorite Allman Brothers Band studio recording. Of any line up!
I had a feeling that might have been the case. I am sure I saw it a few times pre-2000 but that is way back in the foggy memory section of the brain these days. All the more thankful for the available recordings (Ron) to continue to hear things again or differently going forward. I will miss this band for sure, but there is lots to listen to to keep me smiling!
Song was never played again after the split May 2000.
I read Gregg never liked singing it, Dickey sang it after 1998 or so. Dickey performed it with Great Southern back in the Dan Toler era with Mike Kach singing but not sure if it's still in the Great Southern rotation.
When I saw Dickey Betts & Great Southern a decade ago in college they played it.
I read Gregg never liked singing it, Dickey sang it after 1998 or so.
Gregg thought it was too wordy, or at least that's how I heard it. Alan Paul says he also thought the song was derivative of Whipping Post.
Oh! That's interesting (Gregg thinking it was derivative of "Whipping Post.") I love this song. I do think I either heard or read that Butch said they couldn't get Gregg to sing it. Too bad. I really missed hearing them do it. I saw Dickey and Dan do it in early 2003, but it wasn't as dynamic as Dickey and Warren dueling it out. Actually, I think they played it differently - without as much guitar interaction.
[Edited on 12//11/14 by jdorman60]
This song is one of my ALL TIME favorites!!! The studio version when "Shades Of Two Worlds" just blew me away! The whole band is locked in on this song. Then came "First Set" and the Brothers took it to the stratosphere and blew the roof off!! Too bad Gregg didn't care for this song the sky was the limit with this song!
Alan Paul says he also thought the song was derivative of Whipping Post.
This was my thought upon hearing it for the first time too, "Just another Whippin' Post"
I can understand some of the Whipping Post comparisons, but this song has great, unique lyrics, a unique series of jams, and to be compared to one of the most iconic songs in music history is not such a bad thing 🙂
Too bad Gregg didn't care for this song the sky was the limit with this song!
The surprising thing is that Warren didn't go for NKs either -- as someone w/main input into setlists & stuff you'd think he & the rest of the band would've jumped on NKs as an improv-into-orbit ABB type of extended jam, knowing how many people wanted to hear it
in a long career of stage greatness, shelving NKs was surprising, on both bands' parts -- mayb they felt nothing could top the Shades version -- I could Totally understand that 😮 -- lightning in a bottle like they never caught b4 in the studio
I get that it's epic like "Whipping Post", but it is it's own song unto itself. It's no more derivative of "Post" than "Get On With Your Life" is of "Stormy Monday" (or any slow blues).
The surprising thing is that Warren didn't go for NKs either -- as someone w/main input into setlists & stuff you'd think he & the rest of the band would've jumped on NKs as an improv-into-orbit ABB type of extended jam, knowing how many people wanted to hear it
If Gregg didn't want to play it, it wasn't going to get played. Not that I am sure that's the reason. They may have felt it overlapped with other stuff they were playing, Warren might not have wanted to sing it since Dickey wrote it and sang it for years, etc.
I get that it's epic like "Whipping Post", but it is it's own song unto itself. It's no more derivative of "Post" than "Get On With Your Life" is of "Stormy Monday" (or any slow blues).
They didn't get into nuts and bolts, but I think he felt it was musically derivative. And I kind of get it since I think there is a lick that Warren either moved into Nobody Knows from Whipping Post or vice versa and that kind of demonstrates the point. But you're also right that there are similarities between plenty of other ABB songs. After all a lot of them are blues songs. Which is not to say they can't be derivative - people said the jazz jazz break in Desdemona was very reminiscent of Stormy Monday and if that was your view on Stormy Monday and Get On with Your Life I think it'd be fair.
I get that it's epic like "Whipping Post", but it is it's own song unto itself. It's no more derivative of "Post" than "Get On With Your Life" is of "Stormy Monday" (or any slow blues).
They didn't get into nuts and bolts, but I think he felt it was musically derivative. And I kind of get it since I think there is a lick that Warren either moved into Nobody Knows from Whipping Post or vice versa and that kind of demonstrates the point. But you're also right that there are similarities between plenty of other ABB songs. After all a lot of them are blues songs. Which is not to say they can't be derivative - people said the jazz jazz break in Desdemona was very reminiscent of Stormy Monday and if that was your view on Stormy Monday and Get On with Your Life I think it'd be fair.
I hear ya, I totally know what Warren licks you're talking about. All songs can be pretty derivative after you really think about it, it's same ingredients, different spices. It's why people bother to think about what they want at Taco Bell - Tacos vs burritos, all the same but not really.
95% of blues songs are the same structure, just mixed differently. "Nobody Knows" definitely has the same epic mood that "Post" has, which is probably why I don't listen to either of them very often, but the melody (and Dickey's solo) are things unto their own for me. I never really associated the two until I read Gregg's take in his book (or Alan's book, I forget which).
I'm glad I got to see if performed live.
I remember when the disc came out, I was knocked out by the tune. I thought the zen taoist quality of the lyrics was a quantum leap for ABB.
My dad called me a couple weeks ago. His First Set CD has become damaged and he asked me to borrow my copy. I haven't listened to that CD for 15 years and when I played it last week, I was slayed by Nobody Knows.
This song JAMS! It's fantastic. I was thinking to myself how good Dickey sounded. Then I dug out Shades of two Worlds, 2nd Set, Where it All Begins. It's all great! Those were damn good years with that lineup.
Then I put on that Stinkin at the Beacon CD to remind myself what the hell happened. That is what I carried with me in my mind for so long. I am so glad I pulled out that early to mid 90's Good Stuff to refresh my mind. My first live show was 99 so I missed that era LIVE.
Now my dad and I anxiously await the 6 for 5 Last 6 Beacon Shows from HTN!
I didn't guess or make any of that stuff up. Gregg never liked the song, felt Dickey ripped off WP and that it was too wordy for him. No mystery why they quite playing it.
The recording of it led to a major blowup between the two... in retrospect, I would have actually gone into more details about this in One Way Out.
And, yes, other songs are similarly derivative of other classics, but WP is sort of holy for Gregg, which is why he objected so... that and Dickey kept telling him how to sing it.
Love the way Gregg sang Nobody Knows. Going to guess that Dickey's critiques had less to do with Gregg's performance and more to do with other "issues." Just my guess. Don't see how it could have been sung better. Dickey's vocal take certainly didn't make an impression.
I actually always thought the intro riff/them was more dirivative or Hot Lanta than Whipping Post.
This song was a monster in '91 and '92. So many things I love about this song but I think what deserves to be reconized the most is that NK brought out one of the best solo-segments of Dickey's career. Certanly post Duane. I love the peak solo as well as the chords Warren plays behind it.
Great tune.
Love the way Gregg sang Nobody Knows. Going to guess that Dickey's critiques had less to do with Gregg's performance and more to do with other "issues." Just my guess.
I think this came up a few times in Alan's book: Dickey is very exacting about how he wants his songs to be performed- to a degree that other players might not find respectful. He is/was not the most tactful guy. And we know Gregg has his views about songs that are too wordy.
And we know Gregg has his views about songs that are too wordy.
Always surprised me that they took on Highway 61 Revisited and Blind Willie McTell....
I've always felt this was a very underrated song, if not THE most underrated song in the Allmans catalog. It was certainly a live highlight in the early 90s.
First off, I think these are the best lyrics Dickey ever wrote, and it's not particularly close. Some of my favorite lyrics of any song, period.
Second, while it is reminiscent of Whipping Post musically, as mikesolo said that isn't the worst thing in the world. I felt like there was room in the ABB live repertoire for two songs in that general tonal/harmonic range, especially when they were both so good.
I am glad they brought True Gravity back, so at least I got one of my two wishes before the band packed it up.
I just found this from 1992. God I love this song, and really enjoyed going to shows during this time.
And we know Gregg has his views about songs that are too wordy.
Always surprised me that they took on Highway 61 Revisited and Blind Willie McTell....
Warren did most of the heavy lifting in Blind Willie McTell, but that's a good point. I think Gregg's 'thing' isn't about the raw number of words but the space he gets to breathe. I can see where there might not be a lot of that Nobody Knows, but the same goes for Highway 61.
And Rob makes some good points. The riff has similarities to Hot'Lanta, as someone else said - I assumed Dickey was responsible for that riff anyway - and it may be similar to Whipping Post in its dynamics and structure, but they occupied different places in the set, too. Nobody Knows was a mid- to late-second-set stretch jam (on rare occasions it was the first song of a two-song encore), and Whipping Post was always a set closer or an encore.
