As you may have noticed in my previous “Shoulda Been Classics” article on Beethoven’s 5th, I’m stretching the definition of this category just a tad. For me, these pieces are a way to highlight a cultural artifact that I find to be underrated in some way, whether that be in the sense of being truly under appreciated or merely not appreciated in the right ways, as with Beethoven’s 5th. This second category certainly applies to today’s subject, the Southern Rock pioneers of The Allman Brothers Band.
Now, anyone with a passing familiarity with classic rock likely knows The Allman Brothers Band. They aren’t a fossil buried by years of neglect in that way. However, I do think that the true greatness of their music has been obscured for several unfortunate reasons. I would argue that, properly appreciated, The Allman Brothers Band would stand not only as the zenith of Southern Rock, but as one of the greatest American bands of all time, a homegrown answer to British interlopers like Led Zeppelin.
The main reason The Allman Brothers Band does not occupy the Southern Rock throne in America is that that seat has been usurped by another, lesser claimant. You know the one. Not that I have anything against Lynyrd Skynyrd per se; I genuinely enjoy a lot of their songs. But the mythos of the band has in many ways eclipsed the reality. It helps that they wrote the most famous rock ballad this side of “Stairway to Heaven”. The sad thing is that “Free Bird” is not that great of a song – Lynyrd’s true masterpiece is of course “Simple Man”, a heartbreaking piece of melancholy genius. And of course the tragedy of much of the band dying in an airplane crash has only elevated them in our memory.
Tragedy lies at the core of the story of The Allman Brothers Band as well. In fact the second reason TABB flies a bit under the radar is the fact that, in their prime, lead guitarist and soul of the band Duane Allman died in a motorcycle accident. Though they kept on trucking, TABB would only release 1.5 truly great albums after Duane’s death (Eat a Peach, dedicated to Duane, has Duane on roughly half the tracks; Brothers and Sisters was completely Duane free). A year after Duane’s death, bassist Berry Oakley also died, improbably in another motorcycle crash. Who knows what the legacy of TABB would be if these deaths, particularly Allman’s, had not happened.
The fact remains that the relatively slim catalog left behind by the original lineup of TABB should still qualify them for the title MASTERS OF AMERICAN ROCK. Let me lay out some reasons why I think they are unique and important among classic rock acts.
First off, their songwriting and musicianship are unparalleled. Take, for example, their only “monster hit” and most famous song, “Ramblin’ Man”. Listen below.
Most bands would KILL to write a song as perfect as “Ramblin’ Man”. Now chew on this: the song was written after Duane Allman’s death (by Dicky Betts) and does not showcase the band at their absolute best. Personally, as great as it is, I wouldn’t even put “Ramblin’ Man” in my top five list of TABB songs. Even second tier work like this displays the creative superabundance on display in TABB.
Second, the band revolutionized the way guitarists in a band related to each other. In a traditional band there would be a lead guitarist and then someone to play rhythm, along with a bassist underneath. But TABB had too much pickin’ genius to be constrained, so they adopted a dual lead guitarist format, with Duane and Dicky not only sharing the spotlight but working together in perfect harmony… literally. There is such perfection in the playing, both as they trade off and play together. What’s even better is the way they complement each other. Duane is more the fire, adding in experimentation and a rough edge, while Dicky is all ice, smooth and perfectly rounded corners. Listen to “Blue Sky”, possibly my very favorite song from TABB, and one of the last recorded with both Allman and Betts playing guitar.
Third, from a historical perspective TABB is extremely significant for the ways in which they blended a variety of musical influences together. [As a very side note, they were also important in that they embraced aspects of Southern culture while shunning its legacy of racism - no "Sweet Home Alabama" here, and they were one of the first integrated bands] You can certainly always hear the blues roots of the band, sometimes very prominently (they were fond of covering old blues songs such as “Statesboro Blues”). But they also folded in elements of jazz – Duane Allman apparently obsessed over the classic Miles Davis album Kind of Blue. This blending is showcased marvelously in the incredible “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed”, which shows TABB at its most experimental.
The above track highlights the last spectacular thing about TABB: their live presence. Really, to listen to the studio albums is to gain only a fleeting glimpse of the greatness of this band. Live, their songs unfold and grow, like one of those tiny dinosaurs you put water on to expand to enormous size. They possess a manic energy onstage (probably some of that comes from the drugs) but also a thoughtful complexity. There are the noodling solos so beloved by fans of jam bands (and so despised by critics) but also a real feeling of coherence – you always get the sense they are in complete control even when improvising. This all comes together in the live version (from their most essential album: Live at Fillmore East) of “Whipping Post”, a scathing ballad of bad love. What’s more Southern Rock than that? [I couldn't find a stand alone version of the song, so fast forward to the one hour ten minute mark on this].
If you like what you’ve heard from TABB, I’d encourage you to check them out. It’s fine to start with either of the first two of their studio albums, or Brothers and Sisters if you prefer. That should give you a good sense of the core of the band. Eat a Peach is a good step from there, as it blends studio and live performance (though you may want to skip over the monster “Mountain Jam”, which clocks in at over half an hour, till you’ve had more practice with their live performances). Then you will be ready for Live at Fillmore East in its entirety, and it will rock your world.
Here’s a few other assorted favorites I couldn’t cram into the body of the piece.
