Customer Reviews

An Evening With The Allman Brothers Band

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

In 1989, the Allman Brothers reformed for the fourth or fifth time, this time adding Warren Haynes on guitar and Allen Woody on bass. They recorded two studio albums, Seven Turns and Shades of Two Worlds. Shades of Two Worlds was their best studio album since Brothers and Sisters. For some reason, it is no longer available.

After Shades of Two Worlds, the Allman Brothers went on tour in 1991. This CD comes from three shows. When I saw the CD, I didn't have much hopes for it. I thought it would be another live show from a dinosaur band milking the old hits and playing some inferior new songs. But, this is a complete surprise. The old songs are played in new and exciting ways. Blue Skies and Melissa have great guitar duets. Southbound is played in a funky manner. The instrumental part of Dreams builds to a searing conclusion. The new songs are great. End of the Line is a 15 minute tour de force. The CD ends on a low spot. Revival is good, but it has been played better.

Note that this CD is subtitled "First Set". The Allman Brothers later released another CD called "2nd Set". But that is misleading, because these two CD's were taken from two different time periods. "First Set" is from 1991, while "2nd Set" is from 1993. In between, they release another studio album. Note that "Seven Turns", "First Set" and "2nd Set" are also being sold together as a boxset for a low price. If you don't already have one of these three, you should seek out the boxset.

During this time, Haynes and Woody, had a side band going, called Gov't Mule. By 1995, they quit the Allman Brothers to concentrate fully on Gov't Mule. They released a fanatastic live CD called "With a Little Help From My Friends", plus a number of other CD's. Allen Woody died last year and Haynes is playing with Phil Lesh and Friends. The Allman Brothers have reformed again with Butch Trucks' nephew on guitar. Dicky Betts has been kicked out of the band for now.

For most people, the Fillmore shows and the live portion of "Eat A Peach" stands as the highwater mark as far as live Allman Brothers is concerned.
But to me, "An Evening With The Allman Brothers Band - First Set" and its sister volume, "2nd Set", are almost as good. The sound is excellent, clean, crisp, and loud, and the performances are as tight as ten-minute songs can possibly be.

Listeners who prefer their blues-rock lean and in three-minute intervals will most likely find the fifteen-minute "Nobody Knows" and the eleven-minute "Dreams" indulgent, but there is a tremendous amount of masterful guitar playing here, courtesy of lead guitarists Dickey Betts and Warren Haynes.
The set opens with a tough "End Of The Line", followed by the eight-minute country-rocker "Blue Sky". Other highlights include the slow burner "Get On With Your Life", and two delightful acoustic performances, the classic "Melissa", and the Willie McTell-inspired "Midnight Blues", a perfectly genuine slide guitar blues right out of the Delta.
Well, actually, "Willie McTell-inspired" is a nice way to put it..."Midnight Blues" is more or less a revised version of Blind Willie McTell's "Mama 't'Ain't Long Fo' Day" with different lyrics, but it's still great.

Fans of the Allman Brothers will definitely want to add this one to their collection. The sound is the best you're ever likely to hear, and almost every song is a highlight.
4 1/2 stars - highly recommended.

Following the deaths of Duane Allman and Berry Oakley, the ABB went through a protracted period of turmoil, with personnel changes, breakups, and dissension. The slump ended with the addition of bassist Allen Woody and guitarist/vocalist Warren Haynes, giving the band its most talented and stable lineup since its early 1970's heyday. This live album offers superb versions of classics, as well as some more recent material. Of particular note is "End of the Line", which shows the band at its best, from Gregg Allman's excellent vocals, as well as stunning guitar work from the tandem of Haynes and Dickie Betts. There is not a bad cut on the entire album, which proves once and for all that the band is back, and strong as ever. Highly recommended.

Now that's what I'm talking about! Warren Haynes is the man! Dickey's pretty good, too! So let's get as much footage of them jamming as humanly possible. Because the chemistry between Dickey and Warren is just perfect. Listen to their playing on "Southbound", my favorite take of that song, for an example. Or "Blue Sky". See, you have to be pretty good guitarists to pull of "Blue Sky", and that's how I'd describe both of our heroes. The setlist leans heavily towards Shades of Two Worlds, and for the most part they do a fine job recreating my favorite of their '90s albums: "End of the Line" is one of their few straight-ahead rock songs, and it's quite satisfying; the jamming on "Get on with Your Life" and the always epic "Nobody Knows" is comparable to what happened live during the classic years. There's even a brief acoustic set: while Dickey Betts' age shows on the disappointing "Midnight Blues" (a Blind Willie McTell cover), Gregg's ragged vocals give "Melissa" extra weight. It's also interesting to note that they skip over a lot of the warhorses - there's no "Whippin' Post", "Trouble No More", "Mountain Jam", "You Don't Love Me", "Statesboro Blues", "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed" or "Stormy Monday" here, though they do provide yet another elongated version of "Dreams". Now, you can call me a purist if you want, but there is no replacing Duane on that track. Dickey and Warren do their best, but it's a letdown. A slower "Revival" fares much better, with the group sinking into one of those "unstoppable Allmans grooves". You know, for a group that's supposed to be "past it", the Allmans do a fantastic job here overall.

This is an excellent live disc to show the inspired playing the ABB displayed in the early 1990s. Warren Haynes & Dickey Betts add fire to updated versions of Revival, Dreams, Southbound & an acoustic Melissa - all decidedly different than the originals. They play some great newer ABB with End of the Line and Get on With Your Life, the latter which shows they can still play great soulful blues behind the gruff voice of Gregg Allman. The only brand new song on the disc is a revised version of Blind Willie McTell's Midnight Blues, which is given the rare Bett's acoustic slide treatment. The one tune that isn't a true gem on the album is the new version of Blue Sky. Although enjoyable, it is a little too "musclebound" than the counry & western original. The ABB is the only band of the many classic rock reunions of the last 15 years who may have come back stronger than before. This CD will give you a good example of why and how.

The Allman Brothers Band were on a hot streak when these shows were recorded. They had just put out their two strongest albums (Seven Turns and Shades of Two Worlds) since Brothers and Sisters and the band was playing at one of it's peaks. The disc kicks off with a smoking hot version of End of the Line which is also the opening song on Shades of Two Worlds. The Eat a Peach song Blue Sky is next and is played to perfection. Get On With Your Life and Midnight Blues rock while Southbound is full of country flavor. The disc contains a wonderful acoustic version of Melissa. Nobody Knows is jammed out while Dreams is the first song Gregg wrote for the band. The disc ends with a classic rendition of the Idlewild South song Revival. The recording quality is top notch being produced by Tom Dowd and is a MUST HAVE for any music fan!

Overall, this is a better listen than 2nd Set. However, that disc features the accoustic version of Elizibeth Reed and a couple of other gems like Warren Haynes' take on Willie Dixon's "Same Thing", making it pretty essential also. The covers on the two cd's might mislead one to think they are two halves of the same show, but actually both discs contain songs from various shows performed throughout the early 90's. Sort of "official bootlegs", these are great tour moments from one of the best bands America has ever produced.

If you like the recent incarnations of the Allman Brothers, this disc is for you. Featuring the now past lineup with Warren and Alan, First Set captures some darn good performances by the band. The solos on Blue Sky are amazing! Melissa is done in a very nice stripped down acoustic form. The rest of the disc has a consistent high energy throughout. This is a great disc for Allman fans.

As allways, The Allman Brothers Band deliver the goods! What an amazing band! Great performances from all the guys, all the way through. This band have made so many great cd's that whatever songs they choose to play at a concert it will be a great concert. I love this bands combinations of jazz, blues, greens, reds and pinks. This is a true jam-band- this is the original jam-band!

I don't know what more to say, except: BUY THIS CD!!! And while you're at it: Buy the rest of their catalogue, old and new:-) You won't be dissapointed, and you can take that to the bank!!!

An Evening With The Allman Brothers Band (1992) was recorded in 1991-92 at shows in Boston, MA., Macon, GA., and at New York City's Beacon Theater. This was during The Shades Of Two Worlds period, and this set features three songs from that album.

The opening song, End Of The Line, sounds great and but not much different from the studio version. What really jumps out and grabs you immediately is the exquisite sound of the CD; produced by At Fillmore East producer, Tom Dowd, it is clean and crisp.

Other At Fillmore East connections include harmonica player Thom Doucette, who was brought in to play on Southbound and Midnight Blues. Gregg's organ solo on Get On With Your Life flashes back to his AFE Stormy Monday solo, and is really quite enjoyable.

Dickey Betts takes center stage and sings the lead vocal on this funky version of Southbound and the classic Blue Sky, and he and Warren Haynes trade fantastic guitar solos on both. The guitar playing from both of these guys on this album is remarkable.

The band does a nice two-song acoustic set that includes the slide guitar laden Midnight Blues, and a solid version of Melissa.

Gregg Allman's legendary singing voice is at it's soulful, growling best on An Evening With, and is one of the many highlights of the epic Nobody Knows, which is the album's centerpiece. Dickey and Warren are in top form here, too, and at over fifteen minutes long, this take blows the studio version out of the water.

Dreams also sounds great and has lots of trademark ABB guitar and Gregg's vocals are right on the mark. The set closes with a warm and energetic rendition of Revival. Every song in the set is professionally performed.

The packaging is really nice, too, with lots of great photos of the band and crew. This was a good place in time for the Allmans, and it really shows in the music and the pictures.

No, An Evening With The Allman Brothers Band isn't At Fillmore East; but that's just fine because in 1992, this was right where the ABB was supposed to be. And if you ask this long-time Allman Brothers fan, this couldn't have been any better!