I think Allman Brothers covers are better when they are reinterpreted rather than a straight up cover. Especially since the Allmans Brothers own covers of old blues songs took the same re-interpretive approach. Both the Dead and Dylan tunes offer a really loose structure to their tunes that lends them to multiple directions to take the tune. The Allmans, much like The Beatles, had such distinctive, tight arrangements, that it's hard to recapture that so you might as well retool the whole tune. That's why I am never interested in ABB cover bands, they pale by direct comparison.

For instance, most covers of "Midnight Rider" suck balls, it often turns into a country sing-a-long. Buddy Miles' cover works (as does his "Dreams" and "Don't Keep Me Wonderin" covers) because he turned them into a soul song. Even (the king of covers) Joe Cocker's urban funk version kind of works.

I've heard a lot of good covers of Dickey Betts instrumentals - There Might Be Giants and Rollin' in the Hay both do distinctively fun versions of "Jessica".

Charlie Starr and Benji Shanks do a nice acoustic version of "Ain't Wasting Time"

I think Allman Brothers covers are better when they are reinterpreted rather than a straight up cover

You nailed it in one post, well put!

I think Molly Hatchet tried but just 'swung and missed' for me on Dreams. The "Please Call Home" on All My Friends by Sam Moore is my favorite ABB cover. As you said, he didn't try to replicate it, he reinterpreted it.

[Edited on 9/24/2018 by Buckeye]

The Molly Hatchet version of "Dreams" is actually a really bad cover of the Buddy Miles version. I like the Buddy Miles version, but Molly Hatchet's version sounds like Kermit the Frog is singing. I dislike it.

and yeah, Sam Moore's "Please Call Home" popped into my head too as a great example of a musician putting their own stamp on an ABB tune.

One song that no other band seems to be able to recapture is "One Way Out" - it almost always turns into a repetitive mess.

I always enjoyed the Black Crowes take on Dreams. It wasn't the ABB - but very nice. I've heard Marcus King Band tackle both Dreams and Whipping Post and quite enjoyed both. Phil Lesh & Friends have tackled various ABB songs through the years with usually really good results - though often with either current or former ABB members in the band - so maybe they don't count? Some really nice Phil Blue Sky versions through the years though.

Widespread Panic pretty famously crushed Jessica a couple years ago - though again with Chuck guesting and Jimmy Herring in the band - so perhaps that doesn't really count either.

Steve Kimock has done some very nice takes on Elizabeth Reed through the years - one from his All Request show on 5-5-05 is particularly noteworthy.

I've posted this one before as well but this take of Elizabeth Reed by Soulive with Marcus King and the great John Scofield is an all-time keeper. Scofield is a next, next level guy and this is a great rendition:

I normally like it. You have to have a very strong vocalist to pull off the ABB.....and their voice can be different.

I've always enjoyed the Dreams I'll Never See by Hatchet. I only learned it was a cover of Buddy Miles' version about 5 years ago, which I also enjoy.

I dug Jason Isbell & 400 Unit's Whipping Post recently:

Agree also on Widespread's version of Jessica December 2015. Chuck, Jimmy, Duane and Schools on bass definitely helped:

Just curious, Buckeye... What ABB song was Old Crow Medicine Show doing? I have seen / heard them do some great covers, but never any ABB. That could be interesting. Also, when was it? It seems like they have been drifting away from their best sound for a few years now.

A friend of mine said he saw them do Weir's "Hell in a Bucket" at a show in Florida about 2006 or so. I wish I could find a copy of that. It seems like a perfect cover for them.

Widespread Panic did a most excellent Just Ain't Easy at the Gregg Allman Tribute show.

I thought this was a most excellent Midnight Rider that I shot in San Jose last summer, done by A.C. Myles (left) and Kid Anderson. I request Midnight Rider every time I see AC because he ALWAYS nails it no matter who he happens to have playing with him that night.

Karl Denson’s tribute Eat a Bunch of Peaches was absolutely phenomenal. They brought that intensity & musicianship that’s typically missing when others attempt an Allmans tune. The two guys on guitar we’re excellent, especially the slide player. Anyone lucky enough to catch that midnight show at wanee would know. Apparently that wasn’t there first time doing it. There is a full set available on YouTube. Check it out for yourself. But, I agree, most covers of Allmans will dull in comparison after listening to Greg, Duane, Dickey, Warren, jack Pearson, jimmy Herring, Derek, and all the cream of crop musicians that band has assembled over the years. I watched Luther Dickerson & Marcus King do an amazing job, but those are two bad asses as well.

I think the toughest part of covering an ABB classic are the cuts that call for, or feature an "obligatory" slide solo, this is where most lose me. Be it Duane, Dickey or Warren and Derek, these parts are not games for children and to hear someone far less polished at this craft attempt to bite off way more that they can chew, even with something that sounds so "simple" as Duane's fill behind Dickey's intro on "One way Out", can leave me grimacing...

I've posted this one before as well but this take of Elizabeth Reed by Soulive with Marcus King and the great John Scofield is an all-time keeper. Scofield is a next, next level guy and this is a great rendition:

good call, thanks for posting that

I'm gonna search out the Kimock version too

I see a fair amount of music annually. I go to festivals primarily. So much Dead cover stuff going on at fesitvals, and most
of it is great. But it's just too much for me. Three versions of Sugaree in one weekend is overload, for me. I always wish
these bands would break out Elizabeth Reed, or Come and Go Blues...but it rarely happens.

I absolutely love it when bands cover Brother's material. Too much Dead, not enough Allman

[Edited on 9/26/2018 by revonah]

I've posted this one before as well but this take of Elizabeth Reed by Soulive with Marcus King and the great John Scofield is an all-time keeper. Scofield is a next, next level guy and this is a great rendition:

good call, thanks for posting that

I'm gonna search out the Kimock version too

The particular Kimock show I was referencing from 5-5-2005 was a special All Request show where they accepted write-in requests from fans for a period of time before the show and then crafted the setlist from the suggestions they received. Anyway, the all-request format gave fans a chance to request some of Steve's stuff that hadn't been played for a while. For the show the core band was augmented by a couple of Steve's old Zero bandmates in Martin Fierro and Pete Sears - and the show essentially became a bit of a career retrospective.

Elizabeth Reed was really the outlier, Kimock wasn't really associated with it and hadn't played it in his earlier bands to my knowledge. Kimock had guested with ABB on it once on 9/3/96 in SF - a show where I believe Dickey just didn't show up (If someone here as a link to that show or an account of having been there - I'd be fascinated to hear it!) Anyway, someone apparently requested Liz Reed, so they played it. He's played it a very small handful of times since, but this was really the first time I hearrd him do it. I bought the official download years ago - not sure if that's still available somewhere - but there's a half decent Audience of the whole show and an Audience recording of the Audio on Youtube.

https://archive.org/details/skb2005-05-05.aud.flac16

thanks for the link!

Don't get me started on the Molly Hatchet recording of 'Dreams' I'm sure some like it but it's nails on a chalkboard to me.

X2

Don't get me started on the Molly Hatchet recording of 'Dreams' I'm sure some like it but it's nails on a chalkboard to me.

X2

X3...I meet the guys from Molly Hatchet at a guitar store in San Jose, CA. They were there promoting a show in Oakland that night that they opened for The Outlaws and Black Sabbath....They disparaged the Allman's during the meet and I just laughed it all off and thought that they did Dreams in 4/4 because they weren't good enough to do it in a waltz time...The worst version of Dreams ever

Just curious, Buckeye... What ABB song was Old Crow Medicine Show doing? I have seen / heard them do some great covers, but never any ABB. That could be interesting. Also, when was it? It seems like they have been drifting away from their best sound for a few years now.

A friend of mine said he saw them do Weir's "Hell in a Bucket" at a show in Florida about 2006 or so. I wish I could find a copy of that. It seems like a perfect cover for them.

Sorry for the delay. It was right after Gregg's death during their Blonde on Blonde tour. It was "Midnight Rider" of course. 4 guitars all simultaneously strumming the same cords was meh... I appreciated their paying respects though.

I like, don't love, bluegrass. Like basic blues, bluegrass gets a little repetitive and boring to me after an hour. OCMS has a lot of energy and I've always enjoyed their shows.