The Allman Brothers Band "Brothers And Sisters" 1973*****

I was just reading an interview of the recently departed Gregg Allman to MOJO magazine. Of all the twists and turns of his life (the murder of his father when he was only 2 years old, professional strife and success, struggle with alcoholism, numerous marriages - one of which with Cher) the defining one which he kept coming back to was the death of his brother Duane at a motorcycle accident, aged only 24, and just as the band he had founded was taking off. Gregg soldiered on with the band for nigh on 40 years, keeping the fire of Southern Rock burning - and not in any nationalist way. You see, contrary to other bands, The Allman Brothers didn't need to fly the confederate flag. In Duane's words "We're just plain old Southern cats, man. Not proud or ashamed about it, that's just who we are". They didn't bother with any civil war references, didn't think twice about hiring a black drummer despite knowing that'd make them unwelcome in some places. Their mix of deep southern blues and soul, country, hard rock and jazzy improvisations was all they needed to be instantly adored by Southern audiences and rock/blues fans everywhere. By 1972-3 they were selling out stadiums while their "Eat A Peach" LP, mostly recorded with Duane still in the band but released after his death, had hit no.4 in the charts. The question then was "Can they possibly match the brilliance of their previous albums without Duane? Can there even be an Allman Brothers Band without him?" To make matters worse, halfway through the recording of their new album, tragedy struck again: bassist Berry Oakley died in an accident eerily similar to that of Duane: while riding his motorcycle, on the very same stretch of road. Despite these losses weighing heavily on the band, "Brothers And Sisters" turned out to be a triumph from start to finish. Singer/keyboardist Gregg and (previously second) guitarist Dickey Betts seriously upped their game, delivering their best writing, playing and singing to that point - arguably the best of their career, ever. Betts actually stepped upfront writing most of the songs and singing lead on the album's big hit "Ramblin' Man", an ode to freedom and living on the road. Guest player Les Dudek added more lead guitar, the twin guitar attack on this track reminiscent of the days with both Duane and Betts in the band. Dudek also co-wrote (with Betts) and played acoustic on the wonderful instrumental "Jessica" but he wasn't destined to become a full time member. New members added during these sessions included Oakley's replacement Lamar Williams on bass and pianist Chuck Leavell, nowadays an informal Rolling Stone. The latter added a jazzy New Orleans flavour to the mix, his duel against Bett's electric guitar on the uplifting "Southbound" being one of the album's highlights. "Pony Boy Blues" is the last of the Betts compositions here, a country-ish ballad with superb slide guitar. Gregg Allman's songs include rocker "Wasted Words" and two pure blues songs "Jelly Jelly" and "Come And Go Blues" to counterbalance Betts' country leanings. Both the album and lead single "Ramblin Man" were very successfull, securing the band a lot of airplay and (especially) huge concert audiences. Probably Southern Rock's single best moment.

***** for Ramblin Man, Southbound, Jessica

**** for Wasted Words, Come And Go Blues, Jelly Jelly, Pony Boy Blues