Just checking in to let you know we have two new Allman Brothers formats on the way, based on your requests:
For analog lovers, vinyl is arriving later than we originally promised, and is now expected after the holidays. We apologize for that, but … we’ve gotten our first listen to the test pressings and the sound is spectacular. This is a "Mountain Jam" for the ages, with giant bass and drums on a performance that Dickey Betts says is one of the best on record.
That giant bottom is one of the reasons for the delay. Paul Stubblebine, our mastering engineer for our analog editions and Bear’s long-time collaborator, reports that this is one of the toughest records he’s ever cut. Bear put the kick drums far to the right and so it took many iterations to preserve Bear’s idiosyncratic mix while keeping the needle in the groove.
As with our Doc Watson vinyl, this is an all-analog production. (In contrast, new vinyl today is typically cut from a digital master.) The extra time and expense to create an analog master is one reason new AAA productions are so rare, but we hew to the way Bear would want it -- sonics first.
Before the vinyl release will be ready, for those craving a physical copy of the source tapes that we previously released only on digital download, your requests have been heard and answered.
Our Deluxe Edition, 3-CD set, featuring Bear’s full recordings from all three nights of the Fillmore run in February 1970, is currently at the plant and should be available by mid-December. The set will include the already-released compilation CD along with 2 CDs of the source material from all three nights; we know many of you already own the compilation disc, so to be fair to you early adopters, we priced this as just a 2-CD set. We know we can't please everybody, but we are trying.
We also expanded the booklet to 16 pages, to include more photos from these nights, taken by Bear's good friend, Amalie Rothschild. The photos include an extremely rare shot of Bear in the soundbooth, up in the balcony overlooking the stage.
These recordings were not previously released in their entirety because they contain significant flaws, primarily due to reel changes in the middle of songs. It was Bear’s wish that they be released in whole because they are sonically pure and include important, previously unreleased material of the band with Duane in his prime, and so with the blessing of the Allman Brothers Band, they will be available for the first time on CD in limited-edition, numbered copies. Stay tuned for more... - Owlsey Stanley Foundation