Long Live the ABB: Conversation from the Crossroads of Southern music, history, and culture with historian Bob Beatty
At Fillmore East was released 55 years ago, July 6, 1971. My book Play All Night! Duane Allman & the Journey to Fillmore East [https://www.amazon.com/dp/0813069505] is the story of that album and the biography of the Allman Brothers Bandâs sound. In celebration of the anniversary, I excerpted Chapters 12 and 13 of Play All Night in four posts. Part 1: âThe Allman Brothers did it all. On stage they were giants.â [https://www.longlivetheabb.com/p/fillmore55-part1] Part 2: âSome of the greatest live performances Iâve ever witnessedâ [https://www.longlivetheabb.com/p/fillmore55-part2] Part 3: âThis is the Peopleâs Band. Music is for the people.â [https://www.longlivetheabb.com/p/fillmore55-part3] Part 4: âBest damn rock & roll band this country produced in the past 5 years.â [https://www.longlivetheabb.com/p/fillmore55-part4] And hereâs a livestream with my dude Jeff Kollath JK [https://substack.com/profile/502930825-jk] to talk about the recordâs past, present, and its enduring influence. The Conversation The recording. We agreed one reason this record is so great is how alive it sounds. Tom Dowd micâd the crowd, an unusual choice, and the roomâs presence gives At Fillmore East warmthâthe opposite of a flattened soundboard tape. A band âin full possession of its considerable intelligence and stamina.â At Fillmore East was a full dose of two sides of the Allman Brothers Band, their exquisite taste and immense power. Jeff called them âsolos of perfect logicâ moving from restraint into full intensity and back, the record never losing its shape. Where does it rank? Neither of us has any problem calling it rockâs greatest live album. We threw out a few others, the Stonesâ Get Yer Yayas Out, MC5âs Kick Out the Jams, Kiss Alive!âall cleaned up in post, the latter two considerably. Humble Pieâs Rockinâ the Fillmore, recorded two months after the ABB, makes the contrast plain: a 23+ minute âGilded Splintersâ on side two of the double album is indulgent and overwrought. âWhipping Postâ runs the same distance and never loses the threadâa complete idea, start to finish, from all six players, leaving the room, and generations of listeners, enraptured. What the tapes reveal. Listen closely to the beginning of âWhipping Post.â Five fans call out for the song before it starts (itâs the third guy you hear clearly). Listen even more closely and youâll hear at least two shout for âDreams.â The crowd keeps screaming for more at the close of âMountain Jam,â after a bomb-threat evacuation earlier that same night. Not released Live/Dead as counterpoint. The Dead at their best in that era, especially the first four tracksââDark Starâ âSt. Stephenâ âThe Elevenâ âTurn on Your Lovelightââbut Jeff believes the Deadâs legacy rests on the two studio records that follow, Workingmanâs Dead and American Beauty. The Allman Brothers Band built its reputation from At Fillmore East. I argue Live/Dead is not even the definitive Dead live album (thatâs Europe 72, which has lots of edits in post). đPlay All Night! Duane Allman the Journey to Fillmore East [https://www.amazon.com/dp/0813069505]đ BUY PLAY ALL NIGHT [https://www.amazon.com/dp/0813069505] Brought to you by the paid members of the Long Live the ABB community. đMUSHROOMđMAGICIANSđ Brent W. Hammond, Craig Stevens, Ken Lupson, Laura McCarty, Steve Marshall đ PEACH đ PALS đ Allen Barnes, Art Dobie, Baileys Mike, Bob and Laura, Bob Johnson, Brent Pruner, Bruce Miles, Buddy Lewis, Cabinetsales, Caroline Doolittle, charlie2541, Chuck Zumwalt, Clifford Morse, Craig Stephens, Cwktwo, Danbookin, David Manes, Dennis Newton, Denny, Ed Ashton, Ed Pokorny, F. D., Frank Young, Gary Nagle/Chairman Wonwayout, Gary Smith, Gary Williamson, George Holman, Hlnbkt, Irishbeatz, James Reynolds, James Yerrill, Jason Hecht, Jcsarphie, JD Guitar, Jeff Kushmerek, Jeff Schein, Jerry K, JoaquinDinero, Joe Sokohl, Joel Berger, Joel Tanzer, John Delaney, John Dolan, John Haughey, Jordan David, Joseph Lilly, Kenton Lee, Kevin Harper, Kevin Walker, Kurt Nielsen, Mark Leitner, Martha Haynes, Mike Clark, Peter Poulos, Phillip Page, Preston Root, Randy Woodall, Ray Tillman, Robert Porter, Rose Brandt, Scott Green, sswoger, Stanleyglennie8, Surrender Cobra, Taylor Kropp, Tim Langan (Hot âLanta Tim), Tina Christopher, Tom Pragliola, Tony Gioia, Wade McCurdy, Wiszowa đđMERCH [http://merch.longlivetheabb.com/]đđ Created this to honor the Allman Brothers Bandâs March 1971 run at Fillmore East. Youâll see the original ad below, which had Johnny Winter at the top of the bill. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.longlivetheabb.com/subscribe [https://www.longlivetheabb.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]
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