The Allman Brothers Band

First, two humorous references.   In “Night at the Museum”, Ben Stiller’s character tries to defuse the conflict which erupts between tiny Union and CSA forces re-fighting the Civil War.  He tells the CSA soldiers that although they lost the war, they still have “NASCAR and the Allman Brothers”.

Even better was Dan Aykroyd’s 1977 SNL sketch, “Ask President Carter”, where unscreened callers get to ask Carter (Aykroyd) questions.  He successfully resolves an issue with a letter sorting machine, then tells a frightened teen having a bad trip to relax and listen to music.  “Do you have any Allman Brothers?”  I suppose the Grateful Dead might have been a better choice, but with Carter from Georgia, his go-to jam band would have been the ABB – especially since they supported his 1976 election campaign. 

I guess this was overdue, though I may have mentioned this earlier – just briefly in my blog on Jam Bands (11/14/08).  At that time all I had was the Fillmore East live album, although many would consider this their definitive work, for excellent reason, although it omits “Mountain Jam”.

Now I’ve had the benefit of purchasing and enjoying the first album (The Allman Brothers Band), Idlewild South, Eat A Peach, Brothers And Sisters and It All Begins, a more recent album.  Warren Haynes, now well known with Govt Mule, took over from Dickey Betts.  I even saw Haynes play with the Dead in 2004.

Core.  Studio-wise, Duane contributed to the first two albums.  Live, he’s on Fillmore East and the live elements of Eat A Peach (“Trouble No More” and “Mountain Jam”).  Obviously Fillmore East is the starting point, with the first three albums as backup.  I don’t find the “deep cuts” to be appreciably better than the “hits”, so the latter deserve their fame and the former their obscurity.

Band.

Duane Allman (guitar).  The man himself, on everything up to Eat a Peach.  Also played with the Dead a few times and plays on “Layla” by Eric Clapton.  With his mutton chops it looks like he took his styling cues from 1870, not 1970.  For that matter, it seems like Charlie Starr of Blackberry Smoke took his cue from Duane.  He died in a motorcycle accident in 1971.

Gregg Allman (keyboards & vocals).  Has anyone seen him in the same room as Rick Wakeman?  Well, not quite an exact copy.  I find him immensely cool.  He was even cooler as the bad guy in “Rush” (the drug dealer movie with Jason Patric and Jennifer Jason Leigh). 

Dickey Betts (guitar).  He stepped up to contribute more after Duane died, indeed as the band’s only guitarist until Warren Haynes joined up much later.  “Jessica” and “Ramblin’ Man” are his tunes.

Jaimoe Johanson (percussion – the INKEEPER is playing percussion).  Just kidding.  He plays drums.

Berry Oakley (bass).  Mysteriously he died one year after Duane, also of a motorcycle accident at almost the same location.

Butch Trucks (drums).  Uncle of Derek Trucks.  With a twin drum lineup – like Kreutzmann and Hart in the Dead – the ABB could do complex rhythms.  Trucks took care of the basic beats while Johanson added more exotic sounds.

Dead parallels.  Both bands are quintessential jam bands and both have two drummers and two guitarists.  They’ve played together in the past, and Warren Haynes toured with the Dead in 2004.  “Mountain Jam” winds up being 30-45 minutes long, depending on the version. Here’s an article about the bands’ relationship to each other: http://deadessays.blogspot.com/2009/08/allmans-dead.html. 

            Not everyone likes jam bands, however, and for good reason: those 30-45 minute songs.  However, just as the Dead have American Beauty, an album with short, excellent songs and no jams, most ABB songs in studio format are fairly brief and enjoyable.