I have only their 80th stuff so far, and like it really much.what about their 70th?? i know "jessica" and something else. Is there a great compilation?

under the boardwalk---down by the sea

Just get Idlewild south and Live at Fillmore East and you'll be in utter awe of these guys

Eat a Peach

The 2 posts above cover a lot of the best stuff - that said, there's lots of good songs on Brothers and Sisters, Win Lose Or Draw, etc. .

"No Anchovies, Please"

Yeah Brothers and Sisters is almost just as good as Eat a peach,

Make sure you get the deluxe edition of 'Eat a Peach' as it has a live set recorded about 3 months after 'Live at the Fillmore East'. By the way, unless you have a lisp, I think you mean 70's, 80's etc. 70th, 80th and so on represent a single instance in a numerical sequence...



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2011-01-22 00:30 by ChrisM.

You can get BEGINNINGS which is a low budget version of their first two albums OR get the first two (ABB and Idlewild South) remastered versions which are only like $7-$8 each.

At Fillmore East and Eat A Peach are the third and fourth albums respectively and, like the first two, are must haves.

Brothers & Sisters is also quite good but they were starting to go off the rails then. After this one it's best to cherry pick from collections....

Decade of Hits covers the early years and Mycology covers the Epic years. Both are excellent and usually found in budget bins. The Best of The Arista Years ISN'T so it's best to avoid that era.

The best overall compendium is STAND BACK which covers all eras/labels including a track from their last album, Hittin' The Note, which is on their own label. It is an excellent package except there wasn't room on it for the brilliant Dicky Betts epic "Back Where It All Begins" which is on Mycology and the album of the same name.

Quote
ChrisM
Make sure you get the deluxe edition of 'Eat a Peach' as it has a live set recorded about 3 months after 'Live at the Fillmore East'. By the way, unless you have a lisp, I think you mean 70's, 80's etc. 70th, 80th and so on represent s single instance in a numerical sequence...

i never thought of the concept of having a writing lithp problem....

The first 5 Allman Bros albums are all superb. This was also a band that was equally brilliant live, than in studio. Like Elmo says "Win Lose or Draw" has good points. IMO it is the first album where there are weaker cuts. But the strong ones like "Cant Lose What You Never Had", and the title cut "Win Lose or Draw" support my claim that Gregg Allman might be the finest white blues singer alive.

There is a Box set called "Dreams" that has a LOT of alternate deep cuts.

Plenty of good advice on the Allman's 1970s releases. Have you seen them live? If you have not then you must. They are great. Go to their web site and buy a couple of their live releases from the present day.

The original Allman Brothers Band may have been the best electric small group of any kind ever produced by the United States. Fillmore East and the deluxe Eat a Peach are absolute musts.

Because of death and disfunctionality, they've been through many lineup changes, including 1973-76, when a little known pianist named Chuck Leavell was with them. But the current lineup (which still has three of the six original members and has been together for 10 years) is their best since Duane Allman died in 1971. Check out the 2003 set, One Way Out: Live at the Beacon Theatre, not to be confused with the mediocre Peakin' at the Beacon. If they come to your town, see 'em!

Actually you can't go wrong with anything by the Allman Brothers Band aside from their less-than-stellar albums released by the Arista label and, as somebody already mentioned, the lackluster "Peakin' At the Beacon."

I'd probably start out with the first four albums (the self-titled debut, Idlewild South, At Fillmore East and Eat a Peach), pick up Enlightend Rogues and then start back up with the late '80s onward (Seven Turns, Shades of Two Worlds, Back Where It All Begins, Hittin' The Note and the three live albums released in addition to Peakin' At the Beacon - 1st Set, 2nd Set and One Way Out).

The comment was made that you should head over to their website and get some of the newer concert recordings. I agree, and would start with the 2009 Beacon run if they're still available. They did 12 or 13 shows with various guests on each night but one, including Levon Helm, Boz Scaggs, Taj Mahal, Buddy Guy and Eric Clapton.

Win, Lose or Draw was a great album but can't be appreciated fully until you've actually been convinced by their early work. The lackluster production sort of brought the quality down but there are some great songs (ie. High Falls, Can't Lose What You Never Had, the title track, Just Another Love Song, etc.).

I'm one of those weirdos that just loves the Allman Brothers - I've got a Hard Drive with over 400 concert recordings beginning with the early '70s on to this past winter. Love them much more than the Dead (I know, I know, you can't compare the two). Gregg Allman always refers to the ABB as a band that jams and not a jam band. I agree with this. The songs have structure. Only when the solo break comes up do you have a what's-going-to-happen-now feeling. I like the structure of the songs but also the fact that, within these structured songs, the musicians are also given their time to shine. You can follow the songs and they never sound, at any point, like six guys trying to get on the same page.

Fantastic band and one of the best examples of American Music out there - one of the only groups to truly combine all modern forms of American music successfully (blues, country, rock and jazz) bringing them to a point to where they couldn't be categorized and thus became the founders of what we call "Southern Rock" nowadays.

Quite simply the best band going right now. The current lineup is carrying the torch nicely. If you can get ahold of any of the stuff from the 40th Anniversary Becon run in March 2009 do it! It's available from their Hittin' The Note website.

But for starters, you cant go wrong with Live At The Fillmore East. Look for one of the expanded re-releases, the more the better!

Ross

I just want to give another shout-out to "Cant Lose What You Never Had" with one of the most fantastic slide sounds in the lower register I have ever heard. It starts at 0:12. Sounds like an groaning duck. Or a bassoon through a bit of fuzz.
Electric Duane, do you know who that is? Is that Dickey Betts? I heard that the producer (cant recall his name) also played guitar on that album.

Hey PR2000,

Can't Lose What You Never Had is a great tune! Nice old Muddy Waters number and I must say, the version the ABB does nowadays is fantastic.

It was Betts playing slide. He kind of took over after Allman passed. The producer you're talking about is Johnny Sandlin, who was also a great drummer and played with Duane and Gregg in Hourglass before they formed the ABB.

Take care,

E-Duane