Album: “The Essential Allman Brothers Band: The Epic Years”

Description

The Allman Brothers Band: Dickey Betts (vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, National guitar); Gregg Allman (vocals, piano, Hammond b-3 organ); Warren Haynes (guitar, slide guitar); Allen Woody (bass guitar, fretless bass); Oteil Burbridge (bass guitar); Butch Trucks (drums, timpani, percussion); Jaimoe (drums, percussion); Paul Riddle (drums); Marc Quinones (congas, percussion). <p>Additional personnel: Derek Trucks (guitar). <p>Recording information: 1990 - 2003. <p>Many casual observers are under the impression that the Allman Brothers Band's career effectively ended in the mid-1970s, shortly after the death of slide-guitar virtuoso Duane Allman. The group's considerable following knows nothing could be further from the truth; the band kept trucking into the 21st century with a brace of original members. The '90s/early 2000s material that makes up this collection from the band's Epic Records albums is further proof of the Allmans' longevity. <p>While the jazzy fluidity of the early band's improvisations is somewhat eschewed in favor of a sturdier, more rock-oriented sound on these tracks, the group's basic approach remains largely unaltered. Hard-hitting blues-rock is the order of the day, with Gregg Allman's soulful vocals and swirling organ, Dickey Betts's fiery fretwork, and the double-drum attack of Jaimoe and Butch Trucks remaining squarely at the center of things. Though the inclusion of live versions of three Allmans classics ("Blue Sky," "Midnight Rider," "Jessica") might be considered pandering to the masses, it merely serves to illustrate how much the band can still bring to those chestnuts.