Customer Reviews

An Evening with The Allman Brothers Band: 2nd Set

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This album and its companion first set prove that Warren Haynes of Government Mule was the best possible choice to take the Duane spot. Haynes shines all over this album, not in displaying his own style to the detriment of the great spirit of the Allmans but in synergizing with Betts and the rest of the group towards the greater goal of re-capturing the magical Allmans spirit.

He channels the spirit so well, he gets the rest of the band to remember what they were all about and feel it that much better. And though he has chops to spare, not one note is overplayed. Solos sound sweet endlessly without boring the listener just like vintage Allman Bros. Listen and be amazed and hear Dickey Betts rise up to the challenge of Haynes and play like a revitalized man. The best performances? For me it would have to be "Back Where it All Begins" "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed" (acoustic), "No One to Run With," "Jessica," "Melissa" (acoustic) and a 10 plus minute "Dreams."

Let me tell you, I even gave these two live sets the ultimate test, I played them back-to-back with the "Fillmore East" album and not only does it hold its own but sometimes it's even preferable. It has the spirit of the Allman Brothers in spades and that's all that matters, that's all that ever mattered (the spirit was wandering out in the air before the Allmans somehow latched onto it in 1969 and it became forever known as the Allmans' spirit), it's a seamless flow in terms of spirit, from a song off these live sets to something from 1971 if you had it back to back on a compilation disc.

Tom Dowd took a lot of care in recording these shows and they have great sound quality. Real old time, pure analog sound quality of sweet tones and instruments played well. No digital harshness or thin sounding digital instruments or crappy digital processing, everything you hear is fantastically analog and thick and things are balanced just right. This entire band is about tone and the recording does them justice.

Also amazing is how well Gregg's voice has held up and how deeply he still feels these songs. I could never figure out how a 22 year old white kid could sound as soulful as he did in 1969 until I read in the "Midnight Riders" biography book that Gregg's best friend Floyd Miles was black and through this friendship he and Duane had been playing with black musicians in the black part of Daytona Beach since the early 1960s. They were known as 'those white boys who can play that funky music.'

So make sure you get both these live sets, this and the one with the blue cover since both are excellent and essentially one long concert released as two. If any of you out there reading this are new to the Allman Brothers, you need get the "Laid Back" solo album by Gregg, one he made in 1973 right after Duane & Berry's death, it's a great one, his best. You also need to get the 2 Duane Allman compilations that include some of his work with Aretha Franklin and Wilson Pickett and others at the Muscle Shoals studios in Alabama, right before the forming of the Allman Brothers Band. And if you're also into the more jazzy and world-fusion side of things jam-band related check out "Mondo Garaj" by Garaj Mahal and "Cosmic Hug" by Fareed Haque group.

I think the last person meant "Soulshine" not Southbound, which is on An Evening with the Allman Brothers.

As far as 2nd Set goes, I don't care too much for Sailin Cross the Devil's Sea and this version of the normally excellent No One to Run With is sloppy and the Bo-Diddley licks aren't as sharp as the 1994 original. Other than that, this CD is just smokin. Soulshine, Back Where It All Begins, You Don't Love Me (better than the drawn out 1971 version), Jessica, Same Thing, and the spectacular acoustic Elizabeth Reed will show you why the Allmans are such a popular live act still today.

Warren Haynes and Dickey Betts are a talented guitar tandem that have heavily influenced the young jam bands of today. And while I really like this CD, I would recommend getting An Evening with the Allman Brothers first, but GET BOTH.

The title of this CD is misleading. It is not the 2nd set from the earlier "An Evening With the Allman Brothers-First Set".

In 1989, the Allman Brothers reformed, adding Warren Haynes on guitar and Allen Woody on bass. They recorded the studio albums "Seven Turns" and "Shades of Two Worlds". Next came "An Evening With the Allman Brothers", which was recorded in 1991. On the cover in little print, was written "First Set". They then recorded the studio album "Where It All Belongs". In 1994 they went on tour again, and released a CD from the tour called "2nd Set".

This CD is very good, but not quite as good as the "First Set". The old songs are played in new and exciting ways. The acoustic version of "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed", is very interesting (but not stunning). The new songs are all very good. The real show piece is "Back To Where We Belong". It ends with a 15 minute version of "Jessica" that doesn't sound very much like "Jessica". There is alot of jamming and playing around with bits of "Mountain Jam" thrown in. There are no bad spots in the CD, but it doesn't have the continous intensity of the "First Set".

Note that "First Set", "2nd Set" and "Seven Turns" can be bought together as low priced packaged set.

After this CD, Haynes and Woody left the group to concentrate on their side project Gov't Mule. Woody died last year and Haynes is now playing with Phil Lesh and Friends. The Allman Brothers reformed once more, with Butch Trucks' nephew on guitar. Dickie Betts has been temporarily kicked out of the band.

First off, a big thank you to all who reviewed this cd here on Amazon; your recommendations and comments convinced me to buy this cd (and the First Set as well.)As an Allmans fan from 30 years ago, I had completely overlooked this era in their history, and I'm very happy to agree with the other writers that this music is well worth hearing. By the way, isn't it funny to compare the covers of these two cd's? The Orpheum Theatre has apparently been nuked, and one band member vaporized into a cloud of black soot! Two thumbs down to the Epic Records Art Dept......

Whatever it was that drew you to the Allman Brothers in the first place, it's all here. Nothing can ever compare to or match Live at Fillmore East, but...

Let's start with the sound. Tom Dowd has done a superb job of updating the group's live sound while staying true to the "sound" of the ABB. At first, the added muscle in the drum sound took a little getting used to, but once I made the adjustment, WOW!! What an incredible live sound!

Frankly, Allen Woody and Warren Haynes were just wonderful finds. How many musicians would be able to step into the roles of Duane Allman and Berry Oakley with such ease and grace? I never thought that any "new" Allman Brothers Band could come close to matching the brilliance and intensity of the original band, and I was right - until this incarnation of the band. Brothers & Sisters was a fine album, Enlightened Rogues was a good album, but this band blows those bands away! Granted, Chuck Leavell's piano on Jessica is missed, but you've got the studio cut, if that's what you want to hear.

The acoustic "Eslizabeth Reed" is stunning, simply stunning. That they are able to pull it off WITHOUT ANY PERCUSSION is absolutely amazing, because the rhythms are so tricky and syncopated. One reviewer here noted that this Reed was nothing special...he must have slept through it! Must be heard to be believed.

If you can come to this album with an open mind, whether or not you are an ABB fan, you will be blown away with the quality of the sound, the material, and the performance. These guys were at the top of their form when they recorded this in 1994, and THAT is high praise indeed.

What more can I say? If you are a ABB "Live at the Fillmore" lover and have not heard this, I truly pity you.

The title of this CD is misleading. It is not the 2nd set from the earlier "An Evening With the Allman Brothers-First Set".

In 1989, the Allman Brothers reformed, adding Warren Haynes on guitar and Allen Woody on bass. They recorded the studio albums "Seven Turns" and "Shades of Two Worlds". Next came "An Evening With the Allman Brothers", which was recorded in 1991. On the cover in little print, was written "First Set". They then recorded the studio album "Where It All Belongs". In 1994 they went on tour again, and released a CD from the tour called "2nd Set".

This CD is very good, but not quite as good as the "First Set". The old songs are played in new and exciting ways. The acoustic version of "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed", is very interesting (but not stunning). The new songs are all very good. The real show piece is "Back To Where We Belong". It ends with a 15 minute version of "Jessica" that doesn't sound very much like "Jessica". There is alot of jamming and playing around with bits of "Mountain Jam" thrown in. There are no bad spots in the CD, but it doesn't have the continous intensity of the "First Set".

Note that "First Set", "2nd Set" and "Seven Turns" can be bought together as low priced packaged set.

After this CD, Haynes and Woody left the group to concentrate on their side project Gov't Mule. Woody died last year and Haynes is now playing with Phil Lesh and Friends. The Allman Brothers reformed once more, with Butch Trucks' nephew on guitar. Dickie Betts has been temporarily kicked out of the band.

Bad news first: "You Don't Love Me" is a disappointment, and a big one at that. I understand you can't expect a bunch of guys who are a combined twenty billion hundred million thousand whatever years old at that point to, in the immortal words of either Franz Kafka or George Clinton (not sure which one), "tear the roof off the sucker" like they used to do back in "the day" (no, not that day, the other day), but it's still kind of stoic and boring. Now, the good news: everything else is far better. Especially when the group just jams - "Back Where It All Begins", for instance, might even be better than the studio version. And you know how they always slightly vary "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed" when they play it live? Well, here's it's all acoustic! And it's sweet! Especially when it comes to the soloing. Now, here's a proposal for a bill that should be signed into federal law: all bands must record and release at least one song with an acoustic guitar solo. Hey, I'd vote for it. Oh, and there's a bass solo! I mean, how cool is that? And "The Same Thing" has some fantastic heavy blues licks - it's about the heaviest the group has ever gotten, in fact. Their Bo Diddley tribute "Nobody to Run with" (one of the four songs from Where It All Begins, along with "Back Where It All Begins", "Soulshine" and "Sailin' 'Cross the Devil's Sea" - all three are awesome) is good fun, as it was on the studio version. And they save (arguably) the best for last with "Jessica", with some slight shifts in tempo that give it an epic feel, as well as the usual great guitars that this incarnation of the band has in spades. It won a Grammy, and I understand why. It might even be better than the classic original. But that's a tough call. Oh, and look for the "There Is a Mountain" quote. Think they were feeling nostalgic? This is by far the best of the two "Evening With" sets, though both are fantastic - it easily ranks up there with the classic live albums of yore.

An Evening With The Allman Brothers Band 2nd Set (1995) was recorded in 1994 at shows in Raleigh, NC and New Jersey's Garden State Arts Center. This was during the Back Where It All Begins period, and there are four songs from that album included here.

The opening song, Sailin' Cross The Devil's Sea sounds great, a lot like the studio version, and features Gregg Allman's legendary blues growl. Gregg and Warren Haynes both shine on this inspired version of Warren's Soulshine. Dickey Betts' Latin-flavored and breezy Back Where It All Begins features a long guitar jam, where he and Warren trade interesting and enthusiastic solos. They also do a great job on No One To Run With.

They dip into the At Fillmore East catalog with a very good version of You Don't Love Me, and while not as ambitious as the 20+ minute Fillmore East version, it is very good, and Dickey even flashes back to the earlier version by quoting his guitar solo from it. It's really an amusing and touching moment, and it sounds good, too. They also do a nice cover of another old blues song, The Same Thing.

This recording of Jessica won the Allmans their first and only Grammy Award, and what a wonderful version of Jessica this is! With dual guitar harmonies and more bongo drums and percussion than the studio version, the song sounds almost completely different from the original, and stretches out over sixteen minutes.

Even with all this, the real highlight on the album is the breathtaking unplugged version of In Memory Of Elizabeth Reed. WOW!!!!!!!!!!!! The newbies who think Dickey Betts is no more than a mediocre guitarist should listen to this, and then reconsider. Warren Haynes stays right up there with him. The two guitarist show what they can really do on acoustic guitars, and bassist Allen Woody shines, too. This is priceless, a real gem that no ABB fan would want to miss.

Like the First Set, the 2nd Set was produced by music legend (and At Fillmore East producer), Tom Dowd, and the sound is exquisitely crisp and crystal clear. The clever packaging on both sets is almost identical, with the same cover photo, except the First Set is blue, the 2nd Set is red, and the photos inside and liner notes are different (the layout is the same).

This was a good place in time for The Allman Brothers Band and their fans, and it really shows on An Evening With The Allman Brothers Band, First Set and 2nd Set. Don't miss out on em'!

with some of the band`s later material. Combining several shows, this gives the listener a look at at second great incarnation of the band. First off is "Sailin` 'Cross The Devil`s Sea", sang with all the emotion of having been there. Following that is one of my personal favorites, "You Don`t Love Me". This version of the early ABB song really hits the note. Next up is a modern day classic. "Soulshine", written by Warren Haynes,and featuring amazing guitar interplay between Dickie and Warren, is simply one of the most beautiful songs ever by the Brothers. After that is Dickie Betts "Back Where It All Belongs". Considering the recent personell upheavels in the band it takes on an even more poignant meaning. The acoustic version of the classic "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed" that follows came from an acoustic CD that was available through the ABB web site as a benefit for the IRSA Foundation, and shows yet another side of the band. The next song features Warren Haynes on the classic Willie Dixon song "The Same Thing" highlighting this man`s vocal`s and slide genius. Following that is "No One To Run With". A song of realization that people and things change. Last but not least, "Jessica". Another of Dickie Betts instrutmentals, this song well demonstrates the power of the Allman Brothers, live and hot. While not "Live at The Fillmore", this CD, along with "An Evening With" are great CD`s for any fan of the band. Also, on Nov.14 will be the release of another live CD, Peakin` at the Beacon, featuring live versions of classic early ABB.

"We're doin' things I never thought we'd do. . . No guarantee how it's gonna sound", mutters Dickey, and then softly strums the opening chords of an amazing accoustic ER, which features not only great interplay between him & Warren, but also a fantastic (but short) bass solo from Woody. Otherwise, the real high point here is Willie Dixon's "Same Thing", where Warren shows why he, and not Gregg, was the better vocalist on this particular tour. Don't get me wrong, no one loves Gregg's voice more than me, but what you hear on a given night has always depended on his somewhat unpredictable frame of mind. "You Don't Love Me" gets a solid, abbreviated treatment that sounds better each time I listen. The rest is simply textbook ABB, which is to say outstanding, by most bands standards. It's possible to see why someone with the immense and diverse talents of Warren Haynes and Allen Woody could start to feel a bit confined playing this material night after night.