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The Allman Brothers Band... Enough Said

jgullo
/
Flickr - Creative Commons
Gregg Allman of The Allman Brothers Band, playing in New Jersey, April 2009.

Obviously I do intend to say something, but what more can you say? The Band has held its place in the upper reaches of the concert and festival world on and off for 45 years now and can still sell out show after show. They pioneered the two and three lead guitarist line up and, along with The Grateful Dead, double drummers. Their appeal covers fans of Blues, R&B, Rock, Country.

After several early groups together, older brother guitarist Duane Allman (slide guitar and lead guitar) and younger brother Gregg Allman (vocals, organ, songwriting) formed The Allman Brothers Band along with Dickey Betts (lead guitar, vocals, songwriting), Berry Oakley (bass guitar), Butch Trucks (drums), and Jai Johanson (drums). People say they are the archetypal Southern Rock band and they certainly help popularize the Jam band style of extended improvisation.

http://youtu.be/ezPZxfS1jys

Soon after forming the group released two lack luster studio albums but they were first and foremost a live act and it was on stage they truly came to life. Fortunately for us their record company recognized that fact and presented the world with one of the best ever live albums, Live at Fillmore East which included the iconic tracks "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed" and "Whipping Post."

http://youtu.be/FUvxRjYqjEQ

As the band was becoming one of the top concert acts in the world it also suffered the double tragedy of the motorcycle accident death of Duane Allman in late 1971 and soon after also lost bassist Berry Oakley. The group recovered quickly and added new members who were augmented over the years by many greats passing through the band.

http://youtu.be/ewKcjWFiBZs

I believe that no awards are too much for The Allman Brothers who will surely remain one of the great giants of American music. And hey, the only real reason I'm writing about them here is as an excuse to run some video of them, so enjoy. I will!

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