Yes, some of the music on this 3 disc collection had been released back in a 1997 compilation, but what you have here is not only essentially everything that the original Allman Brothers recorded during their now-legendary gig at the Fillmore East from Feb 11, 13 & 14 1970 on their tour with The Grateful Dead and Arthur Lee’s Love, but you have the choice of hearing a “complete” concert culled together, or each individual one with what was able to be recorded each specific night. Either way, it’s a winner of a set.
This “musical diary” is from the cache from the Owsley Stanley Foundation, dedicated to the man who made the historic recordings as the Allman Brothers was just a fledgling group. The band at this time had just released their eponymous debut, and were a heavy mix of jazz, blues and rock, deeply influenced by albums by Miles Davis and John Coltrane. The charter team of Duane Allman/slg, Gregg Allman/B3-voc, Dickey Betts/g, Berry Oakley/b-voc, Jaimoe/dr-perc and Butch Trucks/dr were starting to gain traction with their unique sound, with this tour being about a year before their 1971 Fillmore East double album put them over the top.
The comparisons with that later album make for fascinating listening, as there are 3 quite different interpretations of “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed” , all still shorter than the later version, and all much more jazzy with searing guitar work reminiscent of Carlos Santana during a sizzling soul sacrifice. Ousley growls through the frenetic riffs and hard hitting drums on “Hoochie Coochie Man” with snarling sliding guitar work by Duane on the searing “Statesboro Blues” and the double lead strings by Betts and Duane on “Trouble No More”. Gregg agonizes with his Hammond on a deep blues of “Outskirts of Town” and the fairly concise 8 minute take of “Whipping Post” (which would become a 22 minute opus on the next tour) is lead by a relentless bass line by Oakley. There is a 30 minute “Mountain Jam” edited from to different nights as well a chance for you to hear incomplete takes of the three evenings. These guys knew how to swing, rock and dig deep-the sound from these tapes is excellent, with the vibes jumping out at you. Local rednecks making good, and setting a template for hundreds of other bands to follow. Nothing like the original