61: The Allman Brothers record Live At The Fillmore East
At Fillmore East was released in July, 1971 by the Allman Brothers Band. The double-live album remains one of the top-selling albums in the band’s catalogue, is one of the critical heights of their career, and is accepted as one of the greatest live recordings in the history of rock music. It was recorded at the Fillmore East music club, the legendary rock venue in New York City in two days; March 12-13, 1971. It showcased the band’s mixture of blues, Southern rock and jazz. The cover of Blind Willie McTell’s “Statesboro Blues” opens the set and showcases Duane Allman’s legendary slide guitar work. “Whipping Post” became the standard for a long, epic jam that never lost interest, while “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed”, with its harmonized melody, Latin feel and burning drive, invited comparisons with John Coltrane. Several songs recorded during the same set of shows, including “One Way Out”, “Trouble No More”, and the memorable “Mountain Jam”, were later released on Eat a Peach, the latter spanning two sides of the double album. At Fillmore East peaked at #13 on Billboard’s Pop Albums chart. In 2003 VH1 named the album the 59th greatest album of all time. It was also ranked #49 by Rolling Stone on their list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. In 2004, it was one of 50 recordings chosen that year by the Library of Congress to be added to the National Recording Registry.
I was told that the Allman Brothers were opening for the Grateful Dead and the recording was somewhat impromptu, as the equipment was already set up to record the Dead. Does anyone know if there is any truth to the rumor I’m trying to spread?
October 17th, 2007 at 4:04 pmThis should be numero uno. The greatest live album ever. A truely great album.
October 17th, 2007 at 6:18 pmTo Bordentowntony–The Dead and ABB did appear together at FE, but it was a year earlier, Feb ‘70. Both bands were recorded over that weekend and the shows have been released as Bear’s Choice, a Dick’s Pick set, and a live ABB disc. By the time ABB recorded Live @ FE in March ‘71, they were amazingly good. I was privileged to see them at FE on the final weekend in June ‘71 and at the Central Theater, Passaic NJ in Sept ‘71. Six years later, I met Butch Trucks in Jacksonville. He told me the Passaic shows were the best they ever played.
October 18th, 2007 at 3:06 pmI was lucky enough to see the brothers (with Duane and Berry) three times within a five month period in 1971. Probably the tightest blues band ever. Shortly after that period, both Duane and Berry died in motorcycle accidents. I consider myself fortunate to have caught the band while it was at its peak.
November 30th, 2007 at 10:50 am