Actually Reese was probably a better soloist than Gregg. But Gregg was great at adding color to the rhythm section and working g his drawers. Butch said the problem at the very beginning was nobody could sing as well as the band could play. Duane, Dickey and Berry were okay on certain songs but none were strong enough vocally to carry the band. Dickey and Berry convinced Duane to call his brother as they earlier convinced Duane that Jaimoe's style was too soft and jazzy to give the band the kind of meat and potatoes drumming it needed so Butch Trucks was added and Jaimoe then played around what Butch was doing adding color and accents. But later Butch said he and Jaimoe never discussed parts. Their styles just naturally meshed perfectly. And Jaimoe once said Duane had planned on two drummers because James Brown had two and had intended to eventually get Gregg to join from the beginning.
I dont think Butch Trucks was mentally Ill. Butch apparently didn't properly keep up his personal business tax bills. The IRS had already forced him to sell his multimillion dollar Florida home, then put a lean on his luxury Florida condo then came for the rest of his money for back taxes and interest. Butch simply couldn't face going back to square one financially.
they opened with jessica on easter sunday 2007. this was a benefit show for the big house if i recall. grabbed second row center and had a blast.
i was so excited to hear them open with jessica, but listening back, it was not a great version. that said, the NOTRW was off the charts and I've listened to that version hundreds of times.
quick tangent - please join in! The Grateful Dead "Closing of the Winterland" opens up with Bill Graham being hilarious and going into Sugar Magnolia. Everytime I hear that show, I can't help but think what if derek had the last solo. he would have taken it into outer space. This version is on Spotify if you want to give it a listen.
The original six recorded the definitive versions of Jessica, No One To Run With, Come & Go Blues, Seven Turns (especially the acoustic version), High Falls, High Cost of Low Living, Back Where It All Begins, Desdemona, Les Bres, Ramblin Man, True Gravity, Old Before My Time, Can’t Lose What You Never Had, End of the LIne or Nobody Knows…..much better than anything done after Duane. Butch said it multiple times.
I thought the original six was much better on MTV Unplugged than that 1990 version. The original band was the best on the Tonight Show with Doc & the horns…..particularly Kind of Bird. Butch said they couldn’t get a good groove on that without Berry. Melissa never sounded as good after Duane died….and honestly, neither did Ain’t Waistin Time No More.
Those acoustic sets in the 90s and mid 2000s in NYC paled in comparison to those acoustic sets the original six used to do in NYC. Just listen to that acoustic Liz Reed from the Fillmore and then the one in 1992 with Warren & Woody. Butch was right about it being predictable. And Berry always dueted Soulshine with Gregg better than those latter era ones with Warren & Gregg. The tone just wasn’t right. Jaimoe said he never enjoyed playing that one after Berry died.
I for one would love to hear Reese's recollections of that epic March 1969 jam in Jacksonville (trusting Mr. Wynans is still with us, I do hope) when Duane said, anyone who isn't....fight your way out" -- have never read any take by Dickey about it either, maybe tonite on that Rather show --
when the ABB opened w/Jessica it must have been epic
Mtn Jam seldom got more love than when they opened w/It, then Went Off! on a jazz run w/Afro Blue & other straight ahead jazz playing before returning to where that Amazing, Epic (Mtn.) Jam began (Great Woods 2004) -- it would've made Rashan Roland Kirk real proud -- the whole show is top-flight -- Musicians Locked In[Edited on 12/18/2018 by Stephen]
Reese is in Joe Bonamassa's band and has been for a while and was just with Joe at Warren's xmas jam. Here is an interview with Reese from last year.
https://soundcloud.com/makers-and-shakers/episode-46-reese-wynans
The original six recorded the definitive versions of Jessica, No One To Run With, Come & Go Blues, Seven Turns (especially the acoustic version), High Falls, High Cost of Low Living, Back Where It All Begins, Desdemona, Les Bres, Ramblin Man, True Gravity, Old Before My Time, Can’t Lose What You Never Had, End of the LIne or Nobody Knows…..much better than anything done after Duane. Butch said it multiple times.
I thought the original six was much better on MTV Unplugged than that 1990 version. The original band was the best on the Tonight Show with Doc & the horns…..particularly Kind of Bird. Butch said they couldn’t get a good groove on that without Berry. Melissa never sounded as good after Duane died….and honestly, neither did Ain’t Waistin Time No More.
Those acoustic sets in the 90s and mid 2000s in NYC paled in comparison to those acoustic sets the original six used to do in NYC. Just listen to that acoustic Liz Reed from the Fillmore and then the one in 1992 with Warren & Woody. Butch was right about it being predictable. And Berry always dueted Soulshine with Gregg better than those latter era ones with Warren & Gregg. The tone just wasn’t right. Jaimoe said he never enjoyed playing that one after Berry died.
Color me convinced!
I'm in the majority on the original lineup was the high water mark of the ABB. I brought this up to push back on those who occassionally indicate the last line up was the Allman Brothers or the best lineup.
Perhaps people who never saw the original lineup and listen to the Fox Box and ignore Fillmore East and Eat A Peach and see those recordings as immature and not the band fully developed think that way. But most people know the original lineup was the cornerstone of the band and ALL later lineups were trying to uphold that legacy while trying to introduce new material.
And practically everyone agrees Fillmore East is the greatest live album in rock history.
Maybe the disciples of the last lineup are big Derek Trucks fans and its Derek Trucks that they are in awe of more than the Allman Brothers and it's history per se.
And several of the songs posted above would not be ABB songs has the original six stayed together and the deaths had not happened.
If Duane and Berry had lived and the band stayed together, Derek, Warren, Allen Woody, Otiel etc would have never been in the band. Several of the songs mentioned in the post above would likely had never been recorded or played live by the band. And Brothers and Sisters would have been a different album that may have contained Queen of Hearts and not Ramblin Man. Butch said that even Dickry thought it was too country for the band and they were going to send the recording to Merle Haggard but after the big guitar part was put on the end it sounded more like the band and Phil and Capricorn wanted it on the album. Phil Walden probably knew it may be a hit single so let's not give it to Merle Haggard.
Repeatedly I have said I'm a big fan of Derek and Warren and even Jack Pearson. Ive seen Govt Mule for example many times and bought their first album the day it came out. And Ive said over and over that all the later lineups including the 1978-1982 lineup even after Jaimoe was replaced by David Toler, on a good night were better than most of the bands on tour.
I actually listen to later lineups as much as the original.
But the Allman Band was at it's best creatively and live when Duane Allman was in charge. Butch and Jaimoe BOTH have said more than once that after Duane and Berry split it was never the same. There was a vibe and energy they lost. But that is not dismissing later lineups. The Fox Box for example is one of my best live collections.
The original line ups groove and energy shows in the grooves. One example: Is there a better live version of Liz Reed on any other recording than Fillmore East? If you have one then where can I hear it.
Repeatedly I have said...
blackey, your thoughts are always welcome here, but I think people are giving you a hard time because you have repeatedly stated the same thing in posts that have nothing to do with this point. Everyone here reveres the original band and has read all of the same articles, books, & interviews you have and knows all of the band history that you do, so it need not be endlessly repeated. Not that there are a lot of fresh topics here, but we all know that basics.
the Allman Brothers ended when Duane died
False.
The Allman Brothers Band formed in 1969 and went on despite the losses of Duane Allman and Berry Oakley until 1976. In 1979 the group re-formed, though they disbanded once again in 1982. However, from 1989 until 2014 they brought their music to new generations of fans.
the Allman Brothers ended when Duane died
False.
The Allman Brothers Band formed in 1969 and went on despite the losses of Duane Allman and Berry Oakley until 1976. In 1979 the group re-formed, though they disbanded once again in 1982. However, from 1989 until 2014 they brought their music to new generations of fans.
To me, when you first "joined the club" is what matters. I never saw the original six, my first show was in '73, so for this fan, the band "ended" in 1976. I was on board for the '79 Tour and saw quite a few shows from '89 >> 97 but my interest was waning with the constant change of guitar players and "new" material that sounded like re-worked versions of "Whippin' Post", Imho, the band had become a parody of itself. Add, initially I was excited about the energy Warren Haynes brought to the band. But after a while, his slide playing started to sound "obligatory" almost like someone had to play slide guitar. I will never understand why they did not fully capitalize on Derek's skill set and have him play all of Duane's parts and have Warren playing all of Dickey's. Too each their own I guess. But tell me that Derek on "Done Somebody Wrong" "Statesboro Blues" was not chillingly close to the LAFE sound. Warren playing slide while Derek did not, made them sound like a glorified cover band to me, but I also understand that this is the ABB that so many identified with....
Even though Duane and Berry were gone by the time I heard AFE, the original band is by far my favorite band of all time.
Well, except maybe the Beatles - but it's different.
Agree with BigV on the Derek vs Warren slide thing. For me, it's not even close. Some may disagree.
I also get the feeling that Warren and Derek respect each other, it's not a competition, and they wanted to let each one have fun and contribute. I can't imagine anyone would say I'm better at you at slide, so let me do it
"Historically important ABB 1969-1976. After that it became an irrelevant rehash of blues cliche."
Sure, the first 5 years of the ABB are the most historically important, but I wouldn't love the ABB nearly as much without some of the great tunes on Enlightened Rogues, Seven Turns, Shades of Two Worlds, Where it All Begins and Hitting the Note, (sure....I can pick out some blues cliche on them too), or the killer acoustic music in their final decades that the first 6-7 years of the band never did....or the covers the band made their own.....or loads of great live recordings....or musicians like Allen Woody, Jack Pearson, Derek Trucks, Oteil Burbridge, Warren Haynes.
"Historically important ABB 1969-1976. After that it became an irrelevant rehash of blues cliche."
Sure, the first 5 years of the ABB are the most historically important, but I wouldn't love the ABB nearly as much without some of the great tunes on Enlightened Rogues, Seven Turns, Shades of Two Worlds, Where it All Begins and Hitting the Note, (sure....I can pick out some blues cliche on them too), or the killer acoustic music in their final decades that the first 6-7 years of the band never did....or the covers the band made their own.....or loads of great live recordings....or musicians like Allen Woody, Jack Pearson, Derek Trucks, Oteil Burbridge, Warren Haynes.
I think Tim makes good points. I would say that the era of 1989-1996 (the Haynes era) is historically important as well. They made great, new music and the combo of Dickey and Warren during that period was incredibly powerful. The band was firing on all cylinders and played one great show after another
"Historically important ABB 1969-1976. After that it became an irrelevant rehash of blues cliche."
Sure, the first 5 years of the ABB are the most historically important, but I wouldn't love the ABB nearly as much without some of the great tunes on Enlightened Rogues, Seven Turns, Shades of Two Worlds, Where it All Begins and Hitting the Note, (sure....I can pick out some blues cliche on them too), or the killer acoustic music in their final decades that the first 6-7 years of the band never did....or the covers the band made their own.....or loads of great live recordings....or musicians like Allen Woody, Jack Pearson, Derek Trucks, Oteil Burbridge, Warren Haynes.
I think Tim makes good points. I would say that the era of 1989-1996 (the Haynes era) is historically important as well. They made great, new music and the combo of Dickey and Warren during that period was incredibly powerful. The band was firing on all cylinders and played one great show after another
Agree w/this -- every subsequent lineup of the band had its own niche w/amazing musicians & albums that kept me as a fan all along
Nobody Knows is my favorite studio thing they ever did -- Instrumental Illness & High Cost stand up well as great ABB songs -- generally I like Gregg's three later solo recordings better than HTN, esp LCBlues
Dickey opened many of his shows w/High Falls -- liked how the new-millennium bands (ABB/DB&GS) did that, opening w/instrumentals they'd often closed with
[Edited on 12/20/2018 by Stephen]
