It's a song album, Hortense. One of the strongest in their catalog. If you want the extended jamming, it ain't here. You can get that somewhere else - maybe on an Allman Brothers album? If you want an upbeat, rocking album of fine, fine tunes, ideal for that Sunday cookout or crack whore party in the Winnebago, this is for you. Played and sung with heart and soul and - balls.
Six of the ten are written/cowritten by Mr. Betts, three by Gregg, and they're aces. Some of it swings, all of it rocks, and it sounds fantastic. I'd rather listen to this than any Betts-less Brothers Band album you care to throw at me. When he went, he took half the band's heart with him. Gregg (and I love that guy) needed Dickie's country-sprung lift, the joy in playing and singing which is all over this album.
Be happy. Seize the opportunity. We're Four Or Five brothers of the road.
My interest in anything Allman Brothers post-Duane starts and stops with Dickey Betts.
ReplyDeleteEven when Duane was around, Dickey still delivered the goods. It's his soloing on Live At Fillmore during Elizabeth Reed (his composition) which lifts the top of your head off. And he did the unbelievable by stepping up after Duane died, keeping the band going, and writing their biggest hits. He's a freaking hero.
DeleteNo doubt. Though really, for me it comes down to voice and compositions. Betts' country-inflected work talks to me much more than Gregg's boogie-woogie and blues stuff and I have not much use for Gregg's generic vocal stylings.
DeleteGeneric vocal stylings? That's a little harsh. Allman wrote some great songs, had absolutely the right voice for them, and played pretty good keys. Tended to be a bit glum, where Dickey was always up for a good time.
DeleteAllman and Betts had a love/hate relationship as deep as the Davies brothers. When the Superdome opened, there was an inaugural concert that featured the Allmans (1975). There was close to a 90 min break between the act before them and when they took the stage, that emptied the Dome considerably. They played two songs (piss poorly), and announced they were taking an intermission. 30 mins later, they returned, and Betts had a shiner and Allman had a bandage over the bridge of his nose.
ReplyDeleteI only saw them once, I'm guessing in '73 - the first Knebworth Festival. They headlined, and it was pretty ecstatic. We had those luminous colored bracelets you could break open and paint your face with ...
ReplyDeleteHi Farq thanks for your comment on my blog. Always been into Mr Betts’ guitar playing with the Allmans but never got into what I’ve heard of his solo stuff. Is there a recommended non-Allmans album? And the only time I saw the Allmans was in San Diego 1997 and it was OK but I’m sure not at all like being at the Fillmore in 1971. And talkin of Knebworth and luminous colours, I was there 1978 for Zappa and the Tubes and it was cool but the colours were starting to fade by then.
DeleteHighway Call is something of a classic. I'll up it later, along with hard-rocking Pattern Disruptive.
DeleteI saw them before that Superdome downer - both with Duanne and Oakley, and then without both of them. Never saw the configuration without at least Betts. Had lost all interest at that point.
ReplyDeleteI lost count of the number of times I saw The ABB at the Fillmore East. Summer and spring of '70,71'72 were spent mostly running into NYC to the Fillmore, gettin' high and listening to them jam. College ended in '72, so work to eat became a priority. But we still managed to see them a few more times. I never got into the 3:05 length songs, always the jams.
ReplyDeleteOnce lost our friend in the subway headed up to Port Authority. He fell asleep and spent the night ridin' the rails. His mother called the next morning in a panic. We had no idea what happened to him. But luckily he made his way home to Jersey about 10 AM the next day.
Ahhhhh the halcyon days of our youth.
Port Authority! Its beauty rivals that of Chartres Cathedral! A sunny palace of ease and contenment!
DeleteHere's BOTR, Highwy Call, and Pattern Disruptive:
ReplyDeletehttps://workupload.com/file/uEfYM89v2yN
Thanks for the DB solo extras. Quite a contrast between the 2 albums! Highway Call is the one but I coulda definitely have got more into the heavy Pattern Disruptive vibe if it didnt have the dreaded 80’s production sound. That power-snare-reverb thing they had goin back then is always particularly hard for these ears to take!
DeleteNothing with Great Southern? Have to look it up on the old computer, but I have some more Betts in case anyone wants more Dick...ey
ReplyDeleteItunes has a Great Southern live album that is basically a remake of the Allmans live at the Filmore. Surprised at how good it sounded.
DeleteI have the Great Southern albums, some live stuff, all good, but I never intended to turn this blog into a complete discography give-away! Please do step up yourselves if you want to see/hear more.
DeleteI like to try something slightly different - this time, looking at BOTR as a Dickey Betts-led album, rather than a failed Allman Bros. record. It's pop-rock, and nothing wrong with that.
If you only just read this piece - shame on you. SHAME!!!!!
ReplyDeleteRetirement doesn't suit you, if the best you can be is a scold. Shame is for bad Xtians. Foregoing, as I do, religion or the sense that the Universe has morality, I'm incapable of shame. Sham? Sure! But no shame.
DeleteBe that as it may, your stamp o' approval will lead me to give a try to BOTR.
And kudos for defending Gregg's contribution. He not only had a great voice/keys/feel for their classic stuff, but, objectively, he was a stellar musical artist.
C in California
They were the perfect band. Egos clashing, talents competing, and finally coming together to produce music that will probably outlive humans to listen to it. Saw them live, only once, but that's a memory - the recordings, the records, are as fresh as the day they were cut.
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