Guest Book

Wow. Just got done reading through a week's worth of posts-took me about 4 hours, time well spent considering it's quarter close today. Who cares-I exceeded my quota this month by 72% so I'm good for another couple days, or at least until next month. Some of you may have noticed I haven't been around much since late last year. This year has been the most challenging of my life, with my father and stepfather falling ill at the same time, having rotator cuff surgery, etc., etc. Suffice it to say that I came into this Beacon run with a lot of apprehension-I have literally not been able to relax for the last 2 and 1/2 months, and one thing NYC DOESN'T do is REDUCE your anxiety level-it sends it into the stratosphere, which is why I love going to the Big Apple so much. But this year I didn't know if I'd be able to forget all my problems long enough to surrender to the music and let it's healing balm wash over me. Well, let me tell you, after arriving at Ze Hotel Beacon (Terri B.'s sobriquet) on Thursday and hanging with Lee, Great Scott and the LA Mafia (Brent, Scotty and Dino) about 2 hours after touching down at La Guardia, I knew I was where I needed to be. The shows were great, as was the company. The ABB came out smokin' with Every Hungry Woman Thursday night and never let up the rest of the weekend. I also attended both of Derek's after shows at Tribeca and the Lion's Den (thanks to Janette for the tix and company) and after only 10 hours of sleep over 4 nights I was amazed I was still able to remain upright. As others have said, there are too many wonderful people to mention here now but I hope to organize my thoughts and memories for a more detailed post later. One thing I do want to comment on is that to my ears, the ABB is definitely making a conscious effort to move towards more of a Mermphis/Stax R&B type of groove sound (or that Memphis THANG as others, most notably Rob Jungklas, have called it). To wit: Warren singing "I Been Loving You Too Long,"; Gregg singing " A Change Is Gonna Come," by the Great Sam Cooke, one of the greatest singers, soul or otherwise, of all time; the addition of the horn section, which really punched up "That Same Thing," and gave a whole new meaning to "Please Call Home,"; Warren playing what sounds like more and more Steve Cropperish licks, especially on the red ES; Jaimoe's rock solid Muscle Shoals soul drumming; Gregg's Booker T B-3 swells; I could give many more examples. This is an outgrowth of their sound; they still can improvise at the drop of a hat better than anyone else out there, always have been able to, but they've achieved a new depth and maturity to their sound that was never there before. There are more subtle colors in their overall sound than I can remember. No doubt that's because they've finally decided to take some chances and open up the playists, but it's also borne of confidence. This is a VERY confident band right now, supremely secure in their abilities. Because of that they can finally not only resuscitate Wasted Words but give it a completely new arrangement as well. The easy way out would be to play it note-for-note, by rote. It takes a lot of guts to pull out a song people have been screaming for them to play for 20 years and play it in completely new way. Only a band that is at the top of it's game would have the balls to do that. I've seen the ABB better and I've seen them worse, but for me the true ABB experience is like being with a great lover: I completely get lost in the moment and almost become unaware of my surroundings because my senses become overwhelmed. Last weekend the Allmans didn't disappoint me: with the exception of some shows from the early to mid 80s, they never have. Thank God I have them in my life. I need them more than ever and they delivered. In spades.