On Stage With The Allmans

Where I went to college, at Middlebury, in Vermont, they had what was known as the 4-1-4 system. What that meant was the first semester ended before Christmas, not typical when most schools required five classes and finals were AFTER Christmas, the spring semester started in the middle of February, and in the middle, for the month of January, you took only one course, INTENSIVELY! In January 1971, I took "Political Campaigning". A simulation within which you ran a political campaign. But what I didn’t know when I chose it was that it was a "gut". For those of you not intimate with the language of the prep school, and we learned ALL these terms from the prep school kids, a gut is an EASY course. One you can slide through with minimal work and still get a good grade. We were supposed to read three five hundred page books. But the teacher never asked about them, and inquiring amongst the jocks, and guts are always populated by jocks, I found that NOBODY was reading them. So, every day of the week, I strode across campus for the class, from 9-11, really, only Monday through Thursday, and then I’d rush back to my dorm room, without even stopping for lunch, put on my long underwear, sling my Rossis over my shoulder, pick up my Langes and walk down to the Mobil station. The designated place from which to hitch a ride to the Middlebury College Snow Bowl. After hitting the slopes all afternoon, maybe grabbing a 25 cent hot dog in the base lodge for sustenance, I’d come back to campus, eat dinner and then end up in Dave McCormick’s room. It was a ritual. The lights would get dim. As the evening wore on we’d light a zilch. It would start off with talk. But when the marijuana finally hit, when we were finally good and stoned, we’d just sit there, listening to the music. Staples were "Layla". "To Our Children’s Children’s Children". And "Idlewild South".

At this point, the Allman Brothers Band was just something I saw in tiny pictures on Atlantic inner sleeves. But, over that month in Dave’s room (and into spring semester!), I became INTIMATELY acquainted with their music. Dave would drop the needle on the record, those twin leads would start to sing, and we’d start our adventure.

Yes, the first side of "Idlewild South" is remembered primarily for "Midnight Rider" and "In Memory Of Elizabeth Reed". But they were set up by the opener, "Revival". A track that started softly, and built. Into a handclapping anthem. You’d hear that music and your problems would fall away. Elation would squeeze out desperation. Your body would start to move. You’d feel that everything was right with the world.

I’ve seen the Allmans a bunch of times. From everywhere to New York’s Academy of Music to Watkins Glen to Irvine Meadows. But I don’t remember ever hearing them perform "Revival".

Just before entering the theatre to see "Doubt" on Thursday night, I got e-mail from Bert Holman. To the effect that to be in New York City and miss the highlight of the week, the Allman Brothers at the Beacon, was to waste my trip.

Not that Bert’s my best friend. We’ve only met once previously. A decade ago, at the aforementioned Irvine Meadows. But he went to college with Steve Leeds, and my missive inspired him to reach out.

I was aware of the multi-week gig. The band’s annual stand at the Beacon. Fourteen shows this year. Hell, I’d even read the review in the "New York Times". But I’d made no plans. But confronted with this opportunity, I wanted to GO!

But we were booked every night.

But then Saturday night opened up.

I called Bert on the cell. Told him we couldn’t be there EXACTLY on time, but we’d arrive.

And after taking a cab from Ginny’s apartment, after entering the stage door on 75th, after being greeted by the kind of roadie that made that occupation LEGENDARY, we were led RIGHT ON STAGE! I mean RIGHT ON STAGE! Not to the wings, but to three rows of five seats right behind Gregg Allman’s organ. To the right was the icon. In front of us were Jaimoe, Butch and the third percussionist. And just to the right, stage center, were Warren Haynes, Derek Trucks and the bass player. And within SECONDS of us taking our seats in the second row, I heard that slide guitar, it was unmistakable, straight from the double live album, they were playing STATESBORO BLUES!

Woke up this morning, had them Statesboro Blues

I’ve got no idea what the Statesboro Blues are. All I know is Duane ripped all over the track, and Gregg WAILED! You could not listen to the track without your body doing the BENDS!

Right in front of us Jaimoe is pounding out the beat. You can see his body swing to the rhythm. He’s locked on. It was like being on a freight train. One that powered up and LEVITATED!

It’s so weird to be on the other side of the fence. You can feel the energy of the audience, you can see their heads bob, but up here, it was clear, the musicians were at WORK! This sound didn’t come from a computer. Rather, a collection of men had to all get on the same page, and STAY THERE! Knowing the framework, maybe the destination, but not clear in advance how the dots were going to be connected.

This was what inspired us, got us hooked. Duane Allman was POSSESSED! And when he started to play, we could FEEL IT! Didn’t matter what the player looked like, if he could make his instrument sing, we paid attention, dedicated all our energy, became FANS!

It was so different from mainstream music today. Where everything’s hyped, marketed. Hell, the Beacon felt like it existed in an alternative universe. If someone had only watched MTV, listened to terrestrial radio, they wouldn’t recognize what was going on on stage, it would be COMPLETELY unfamiliar to them. It wasn’t about STARDOM, but MUSIC! It was like being at a construction site, but they were building MUSIC! Oh, the band liked that people were watching, but that’s not why they were doing it. They were searching for the groove.

And the band didn’t lock on with every number. But then, after announcing they were going to do a new song, Gregg leaned into the mic and began singing "Desdemona".

The bands of yore put out new studio albums today and no one cares. "Rolling Stone" is about fashion and car ads. And there’s no radio station to play the record. Which is why most acts have stopped making them. They just go on nostalgia tours, playing to middle-aged people with beer guts, trying to relive their memories. But sometimes this new material is GOOD! The Allman Brothers Band’s "Hittin’ The Note" from 2003 is one of these records. And the highlight is "Desdemona". An almost ten minute track that starts off bluesy, but then in the break goes JAZZY! And it was in this number, deep into the opening set on Saturday night, that the Allmans caught fire, truly became electric. The interplay between Warren and Derek was enough to get a teenager to pick up the guitar.

Not that there were any teenagers in the audience. But jam band fans, those in their twenties who can distinguish playing from hype, they peppered the audience, it wasn’t only oldsters. They were treated to a MOMENT! Not a premeditated one, rehearsed and assembled in a recording studio, but one fashioned ON THE SPOT! It was like making the perfect loaf of bread, as opposed to buying the cookie-cutter one at the grocery store. Oh, the dimensions may not be perfect, but this handmade concoction has SOUL! It titillates your senses, puts a smile on your face.

Then Robert Randolph came on stage and they ripped it up with a twenty minute version of "Turn On Your Love Light". The old Grateful Dead staple, from the FIRST double live album.

And on the way back from the bathroom, from the bowels of the Beacon, drenched in long hair and smoke, in the wings, Bert told me the band had NEVER EVER played the number before. But since Robert was in town, they wanted to do something DIFFERENT! Wanted to do something FUN!

That’s what they’d been doing for the past two weeks. Whoever was in town. They’d called up and told them to come down. And have some FUN!

They’d had Bernard Purdie. Peter Frampton. Susan Tedeschi. An eclectic bunch of PLAYERS! And with no rehearsal, like a band in the garage, they’d worked out the numbers on stage.

This evening, after intermission, turned out the grey-haired guy sitting in the row in front of us was John Hammond, Jr. Yup, Derek came over to admire his National Steel Guitar, and then the old bluesman took to his stool and worked it out. Then, after doing a number with Warren, he strapped on an ELECTRIC! God, I’ve never seen John Hammond, Jr. PLAY an electric. Shit, I haven’t even SEEN him since 1970, which is maybe why I didn’t recognize him. With his gray hair. Now facing the sunset as opposed to the sunrise.

Not that the Allman Brothers are far behind. Who would have thought the stars of yore would become just like their forefathers, itinerant blues musicians. They play because they have to, because it’s the only thing they know. The media spotlight is not upon them, it’s solely about the music and their fans.

And as the second set flowed, I felt my mind come unmoored. The experience of yore, of the music taking me on a journey, I recognized it, it had been so long. To sit there long enough, enveloped by the music, to relax. THAT’S the concert experience. It’s not about Madonna spectacle. It’s not about dancing, sets, moving about on stage constantly to keep the audience entertained. Rather, it’s about playing music that loosens people from their everyday lives, their seats, frees them from the bullshit and allows them to see where their minds take them. Away from the mundane to the POSSIBILITIES!

And Gregg Allman played "Melissa".

But just before the show ended, close to midnight, Warren and Derek stood center stage, looked each other in the eye, and fell into that comfortable groove. Oh, so fast, so hard to replicate for the average player, but so FAMILIAR TO ME!

Yes, the band started playing REVIVAL!

Oh, Bert had told me the band had worked up seventy five numbers. That you never knew what each night would bring. I wasn’t expecting it. And then, suddenly, I was seventeen again, in Dave McCormick’s dorm room. Getting high, listening to the Allman Brothers.

But I haven’t smoked dope in thirty years. And haven’t seen Dave and most of the people I spent every evening with back then in just about as long. But I saw their faces as that southern sound came pouring out of the speakers. As the light show flashed to my left, behind the band. As the score of people standing, surrounding us on stage, started rising up and down to the music.

People can you feel it, love is everywhere

Doesn’t feel like there’s much love in the world these days. Doesn’t even feel like it’s a goal. That was a different era. When the musicians weren’t sold out whores, but pied pipers showing the youth a better way. Leading them to a land of happiness.

And that’s what the audience was. From the very first row to deep in the upper deck, people were feeling it, love was everywhere.

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  1. Comment by Allan Arkush | 2006/03/28 at 20:56:03

    Your Allmans column brought back a lot of memories for me. While I was at NYU in the late 60’s, I was lucky enough to score a job at the Fillmore East. I started as an usher, then a member of the stage crew & then I joined Joe’s Lights, so between being a dedicated customer & working there, I saw just about every show from the beginning to the end of that Rock Theatre.

    The Allmans played some of greatest live sets that I have ever heard. "Live at the Fillmore East" & "Eat a Peach" are testaments to that. My own personal favorite was the Saturday night Late show on the last weekend that the theatre was open. Between them & The J. Geils Band, they blew the roof off the place, but the 3 days with the Grateful Dead in Feb. of 1970 were also awe inspiring.

    What comes to mind today was an afternoon in Dec. of 1969, we were loading in the bands for a set of Christmas shows headlining "Blood, Sweat & Tears"(not the kool Al Kooper version), 2nd on the bill were a folkie group called "Appaloosa" & opening was a band now well over an hour late called The Allman Bros. Band. None of us on the stage crew had heard the album but the inside gatefold of them sitting naked in a stream was the source of many redneck jokes from us, the sophisticated new Yorkers.

    They arrived in a VW bus looking just like we thought they would. Road weary & lost in Manhattan. Their equipment was held together with gaffers tape & as they tuned up for their soundcheck we all gathered to watch. A countdown & then they blasted into their first number, maybe it was Hoochie Coochie Man, maybe Statesboro, I don’t remember, but I do remember the hair on the back of my neck stood up. I was in the wings about 20 feet away from Duane & for every set that weekend that’s where I tried to be. As they worked their way thru the soundcheck, doors opened & people gathered to watch. It seemed like everyone on the staff was watching & then applauding as they finished. I can’t think of another soundcheck that got applause.

    Sadly as the opening act they could only play 45 minute sets, but by the end of the weekend a petition had been sent to Bill Graham to bring these guys back for a show when they could stretch out. Which is how the legendary Feb. 1970 Dead-Allman shows came to be. Fleetwood Mac with Peter Green & The Jefferson Airplane showed up to watch & jam on that set of gigs. You can buy some of that music online & it more than holds up.

    Over the course of all their Fillmore gigs I became friendly with the band & their roadies, those were great times. Musicians who cared about playing LIVE, like their heroes. Duane was always talking about Miles Davis & Hendrix. When Duane played Garcia stood in the wings & vice versa, rock gods who were acting like normal people & were happy to get free beer & sandwiches from Schact’s Deli on 2nd Ave. We all shared our stash & they played till the sun came up. As Duane said standing in the doorway with the snow falling on Sixth st. at the end of a long night of inspiration, "It’s like leaving church."

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  3. Comment by bud prager | 2006/03/29 at 18:59:00

    MANY years ago a friend called me and said there was a band in town ,a bunch of "long haired hippies " that no one knew what to do with…would i come down to nashville and check them out…
    so down i went ..and saw these guys play at a skating rink ..the guy "handling" their destiny was songwriter john d, loudermilk…

    he said if i could get them a record deal i would be manager and have part of the publishing…i flew back the morning after the show ..called ahmet from the airport..he said "come on over" played him one song…"spoonful" ..half way through he said "you’ve got a deal"…has a record deal ever been made faster ????…

    i called jdl and expected a jubilant "incredible""…instead there was a long silence and then those unforgettable words …"isn’t that the label (atlantic) with all those ……." ????

    i was dumbstruck and said they are on their way to being a great rock label….he said he’d check it out and get back to me …he didn’t…i called ..and called …even called the groups mother ..in florida as i recall…then nothing …

    many months later i was up at atlantic ..and jerry wexler is playing "my"album…i stopped ..he looked at me and said "that was your group wasn’t it ??? " i said yes ..and he said "you’ve been fucked"…they decided to go behind my back ..went to buddy killen who had dial records (joe tex)(distrib by atlantic) and cut me out …to his great credit and honor(there once was a large degree of honor in the music business) jerry said "you brought them to us so its your call ..we’re planning to sign them but if you say no we’ll pass"

    i called jerry the next day and said sign them …but do me a favor and put it out on dial …so i fucked them back but good ..they were released on dial …they were known originally as the skating rink band, "the allman joy’s"..as casey stengal said "you could look it up"….

    bud prager

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  5. Comment by Danny Fields | 2006/03/30 at 20:05:01

    Now, we all know that the photo on the cover of the Allman Brothers Band at Fillmore East, their breakout album, and still tiresomely called (don’t get me wrong, I loved them) "the greatest live album of all time" was photographed in front of a wall in Macon, not on East 6th street. You may or may not know that the reason they’re all laughing so furiously (very rare in a group foto) is that one of them had just thunderously farted.

    Anyhow, I’m not familiar w. the Ahmet-Jerry-Walden/Capricorn connection from an insider’s Praeger-like viewpoint. At the time, I was a very junior publicist at Atlantic (that I was employable at all after my Elektra mischief-itude was thanks to Jon Landau, who recommended me to Jerry; Jon and I had sort of managed the MC5 together when Sinclair was in jail). Anyhow, one day my boss, the late and awfully sweet Bob Rolontz, asked me to do him and the company a favor and go see this band that was playing at Ungano’s, a favorite (tho unlikely) refuge for pariah bands in the early 70’s (which is where it was located as well! West 70th street, I think). Rolontz explained that a deal with Capricorn was in the offing and we had to be nice to their artists, even this obviously doomed bunch of Southern (!) white (!) hippies(!!). "I know this is definitely NOT your kind of music," Rolontz said, but we’ve got to show a presence there, even if it’s just you (said with a wing and a giggle)". "And they’re never going to get anywhere, but it’s politics." So I went, and was lifted off the earth by what I heard.

    Next day, back at Atlantic, I was buzzing about this GREAT new band that’s OURS!! I was told not to waste my enthusiasm on them, but to go out and promote something really important, Like Emerson, Field and Stream, whatever that mediocrity was called. "This Southern guitar band will never make it, not a chance." Well, that’s MY Atlantic/Allmans story, I’m sure Bud knows the details, I’m just giving you the buzz, which was at that point sub-sonic at Atlantic’s offices over a drug store in Columbus Circle.

    And while I’m being sleazy, did you know that the Epic publicity dept. had to RE-TOUCH a press-kit foto of Gregg because his sequoia-sized organ, clearly extending halfway to his knee and threatening to burst thru his Levis, absolutely dominated the shot. The girls at Epic were kvelling, the boys were stricken with awe and envy, and the offending member was air-brushed to a less overwhelming size. If you can get hold of one of the pre-castration shots, it must be worth a fortune. I suppose about a thousand or so were sent out before it became an "embarrassing issue." That Cher!!

    Best,
    Danny

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  7. Comment by Phil Walden, Jr | 2006/03/30 at 20:05:21

    The hourglass and the allman joys both preceded the abb. The hourglass was on liberty. Neither band was successful and both broke up long before the abb coalesced in 1969. The only members of all three were duane and gregg although two great capricorn producers, johnny sandlin and paul hornsby, were members as was reese wynans.

    Of course atlantic ultimately ended up with the best anyhow, the first three abb lps (thru fillmore), via their deal with capricorn, which then left to go to warners. The only reason duane ended up on capricorn was because phil and jerry wexler (both capricorns) wanted to start a new r n b singles label ala stax (they worked together in the otis redding years). Duane was doing session work in muscle shoals (long after hourglass and allman joys had disbanded at least in rock n roll time). After hearing duane’s playing on wilson pickett’s "hey jude" phil bought his contract from rick hall (fame studios).

    Duane came to macon and originally cut a number of tracks as a power trio (ala jimi hendrix) several of which appear on the anthology albums (happily married man, no money down) and many of which form the backgound for johnny jenkins "ton ton macoute", which was produced by johnny sandlin and features all of the abb along with eddie hinton and pete carr among others and is a kick ass must have lp for any duane fan. Johnny jenkins version of dr johns walk on guilded splinters is also on the anthology lp and was sampled by beck on "loser.".

    If that aint enough trivia for you, johnny jenkins and the pinetoppers were from macon and featured a sometimes lead singer named otis redding. Phil booked for frat parties when he was a teenager in macon in the late 50’s. Jenkins was a major influence on jimi hendrix who mimicked johnny’s dress and style of playing. They met in macon where hendrix would come to visit his relatives.

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  9. Comment by Adrian Barber | 2006/03/31 at 17:42:49

    I went to Jerry Wexler’s office and showed him a card. On one side it said "Adrian Barber $135 per week plus overtime." On the other side it said "Atlantic records $150M." "Well, what do you want?" Wexler said. "I’ll tell you what you want. You want two points on the next album and you are going to produce it. Now get out of here and find out what a point is."

    Next thing I knew, I was in the studio instead of Tom Dowd, who was out of town, to produce and engineer a band from the south called the Allman Brothers. I liked the name Allman Brothers. All men are brothers. Charlie Manson had the same sort of ring to it, man’s son, although that’s where the comparison ends. I had known Duane Allman from his session work on some of Aretha’s stuff while I was mixing the Cream albums. He did a solo on Aretha’s "If I Had A Nickel and You Had A Dime" that was tremendous, but it was mixed out in the end. Here he was again with his own band and I was to produce them. The Allmans were staying at the Chelsea Hotel on 14th Street. I had spent a few of those years chasing groupies up and down the halls of the Chelsea. A lot of guys did.

    They brought their gear in and set up two sets of drums, two guitars, a bass, an organ and a vocal pilot mike. I always liked to do a pilot vocal. If you get it you use it. If you don’t get it you don’t use it. Somewhere in the room there’s a pilot vocal mike, like a ghost.

    It turned out that they were really easy to work with, God’s gift to a tired engineer who had gotten used to doing take after take for hours with the Rascals. We got everything set up and did one take of the first tune, "Don’t Want You No More." It was an instrumental intro to a blues song called "Not My Cross To Bear." Both songs were great and I was impressed. Duane came back into the control room after the take. "How did you like that?" I said. "You’re the producer," Duane replied. "How did you like it?" "I thought it was fucking brilliant." "Well you’re the producer. If you like it we got it."

    There was no chance to do any fancy engineering, but the two bass drums worked really well together, as did the organ and the two guitars. I was really happy with it. At the end of the first night’s recording, we had about half the album in the can. In fact, if I had pushed it we would have had the whole album in one night. I recorded Aerosmith’s debut album almost as quickly four years later.

    Incidentally, I decided this was going to be the first album done on earphones. I was so impressed with the engineering on "Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band" and I was striving to get us caught up. I thought we were ten or fifteen years behind that. The music to the media was perfect, as it was on subsequent Beatles albums.

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  11. Comment by Joel Selvin | 2006/03/31 at 17:43:13
    "one of them had just thunderously farted"

    Photographer Jim Marshall always told me that it was because he said "Alright, smile or no drugs."


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  1. Comment by Allan Arkush | 2006/03/28 at 20:56:03

    Your Allmans column brought back a lot of memories for me. While I was at NYU in the late 60’s, I was lucky enough to score a job at the Fillmore East. I started as an usher, then a member of the stage crew & then I joined Joe’s Lights, so between being a dedicated customer & working there, I saw just about every show from the beginning to the end of that Rock Theatre.

    The Allmans played some of greatest live sets that I have ever heard. "Live at the Fillmore East" & "Eat a Peach" are testaments to that. My own personal favorite was the Saturday night Late show on the last weekend that the theatre was open. Between them & The J. Geils Band, they blew the roof off the place, but the 3 days with the Grateful Dead in Feb. of 1970 were also awe inspiring.

    What comes to mind today was an afternoon in Dec. of 1969, we were loading in the bands for a set of Christmas shows headlining "Blood, Sweat & Tears"(not the kool Al Kooper version), 2nd on the bill were a folkie group called "Appaloosa" & opening was a band now well over an hour late called The Allman Bros. Band. None of us on the stage crew had heard the album but the inside gatefold of them sitting naked in a stream was the source of many redneck jokes from us, the sophisticated new Yorkers.

    They arrived in a VW bus looking just like we thought they would. Road weary & lost in Manhattan. Their equipment was held together with gaffers tape & as they tuned up for their soundcheck we all gathered to watch. A countdown & then they blasted into their first number, maybe it was Hoochie Coochie Man, maybe Statesboro, I don’t remember, but I do remember the hair on the back of my neck stood up. I was in the wings about 20 feet away from Duane & for every set that weekend that’s where I tried to be. As they worked their way thru the soundcheck, doors opened & people gathered to watch. It seemed like everyone on the staff was watching & then applauding as they finished. I can’t think of another soundcheck that got applause.

    Sadly as the opening act they could only play 45 minute sets, but by the end of the weekend a petition had been sent to Bill Graham to bring these guys back for a show when they could stretch out. Which is how the legendary Feb. 1970 Dead-Allman shows came to be. Fleetwood Mac with Peter Green & The Jefferson Airplane showed up to watch & jam on that set of gigs. You can buy some of that music online & it more than holds up.

    Over the course of all their Fillmore gigs I became friendly with the band & their roadies, those were great times. Musicians who cared about playing LIVE, like their heroes. Duane was always talking about Miles Davis & Hendrix. When Duane played Garcia stood in the wings & vice versa, rock gods who were acting like normal people & were happy to get free beer & sandwiches from Schact’s Deli on 2nd Ave. We all shared our stash & they played till the sun came up. As Duane said standing in the doorway with the snow falling on Sixth st. at the end of a long night of inspiration, "It’s like leaving church."

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    1. Comment by bud prager | 2006/03/29 at 18:59:00

      MANY years ago a friend called me and said there was a band in town ,a bunch of "long haired hippies " that no one knew what to do with…would i come down to nashville and check them out…
      so down i went ..and saw these guys play at a skating rink ..the guy "handling" their destiny was songwriter john d, loudermilk…

      he said if i could get them a record deal i would be manager and have part of the publishing…i flew back the morning after the show ..called ahmet from the airport..he said "come on over" played him one song…"spoonful" ..half way through he said "you’ve got a deal"…has a record deal ever been made faster ????…

      i called jdl and expected a jubilant "incredible""…instead there was a long silence and then those unforgettable words …"isn’t that the label (atlantic) with all those ……." ????

      i was dumbstruck and said they are on their way to being a great rock label….he said he’d check it out and get back to me …he didn’t…i called ..and called …even called the groups mother ..in florida as i recall…then nothing …

      many months later i was up at atlantic ..and jerry wexler is playing "my"album…i stopped ..he looked at me and said "that was your group wasn’t it ??? " i said yes ..and he said "you’ve been fucked"…they decided to go behind my back ..went to buddy killen who had dial records (joe tex)(distrib by atlantic) and cut me out …to his great credit and honor(there once was a large degree of honor in the music business) jerry said "you brought them to us so its your call ..we’re planning to sign them but if you say no we’ll pass"

      i called jerry the next day and said sign them …but do me a favor and put it out on dial …so i fucked them back but good ..they were released on dial …they were known originally as the skating rink band, "the allman joy’s"..as casey stengal said "you could look it up"….

      bud prager

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      1. Comment by Danny Fields | 2006/03/30 at 20:05:01

        Now, we all know that the photo on the cover of the Allman Brothers Band at Fillmore East, their breakout album, and still tiresomely called (don’t get me wrong, I loved them) "the greatest live album of all time" was photographed in front of a wall in Macon, not on East 6th street. You may or may not know that the reason they’re all laughing so furiously (very rare in a group foto) is that one of them had just thunderously farted.

        Anyhow, I’m not familiar w. the Ahmet-Jerry-Walden/Capricorn connection from an insider’s Praeger-like viewpoint. At the time, I was a very junior publicist at Atlantic (that I was employable at all after my Elektra mischief-itude was thanks to Jon Landau, who recommended me to Jerry; Jon and I had sort of managed the MC5 together when Sinclair was in jail). Anyhow, one day my boss, the late and awfully sweet Bob Rolontz, asked me to do him and the company a favor and go see this band that was playing at Ungano’s, a favorite (tho unlikely) refuge for pariah bands in the early 70’s (which is where it was located as well! West 70th street, I think). Rolontz explained that a deal with Capricorn was in the offing and we had to be nice to their artists, even this obviously doomed bunch of Southern (!) white (!) hippies(!!). "I know this is definitely NOT your kind of music," Rolontz said, but we’ve got to show a presence there, even if it’s just you (said with a wing and a giggle)". "And they’re never going to get anywhere, but it’s politics." So I went, and was lifted off the earth by what I heard.

        Next day, back at Atlantic, I was buzzing about this GREAT new band that’s OURS!! I was told not to waste my enthusiasm on them, but to go out and promote something really important, Like Emerson, Field and Stream, whatever that mediocrity was called. "This Southern guitar band will never make it, not a chance." Well, that’s MY Atlantic/Allmans story, I’m sure Bud knows the details, I’m just giving you the buzz, which was at that point sub-sonic at Atlantic’s offices over a drug store in Columbus Circle.

        And while I’m being sleazy, did you know that the Epic publicity dept. had to RE-TOUCH a press-kit foto of Gregg because his sequoia-sized organ, clearly extending halfway to his knee and threatening to burst thru his Levis, absolutely dominated the shot. The girls at Epic were kvelling, the boys were stricken with awe and envy, and the offending member was air-brushed to a less overwhelming size. If you can get hold of one of the pre-castration shots, it must be worth a fortune. I suppose about a thousand or so were sent out before it became an "embarrassing issue." That Cher!!

        Best,
        Danny

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        1. Comment by Phil Walden, Jr | 2006/03/30 at 20:05:21

          The hourglass and the allman joys both preceded the abb. The hourglass was on liberty. Neither band was successful and both broke up long before the abb coalesced in 1969. The only members of all three were duane and gregg although two great capricorn producers, johnny sandlin and paul hornsby, were members as was reese wynans.

          Of course atlantic ultimately ended up with the best anyhow, the first three abb lps (thru fillmore), via their deal with capricorn, which then left to go to warners. The only reason duane ended up on capricorn was because phil and jerry wexler (both capricorns) wanted to start a new r n b singles label ala stax (they worked together in the otis redding years). Duane was doing session work in muscle shoals (long after hourglass and allman joys had disbanded at least in rock n roll time). After hearing duane’s playing on wilson pickett’s "hey jude" phil bought his contract from rick hall (fame studios).

          Duane came to macon and originally cut a number of tracks as a power trio (ala jimi hendrix) several of which appear on the anthology albums (happily married man, no money down) and many of which form the backgound for johnny jenkins "ton ton macoute", which was produced by johnny sandlin and features all of the abb along with eddie hinton and pete carr among others and is a kick ass must have lp for any duane fan. Johnny jenkins version of dr johns walk on guilded splinters is also on the anthology lp and was sampled by beck on "loser.".

          If that aint enough trivia for you, johnny jenkins and the pinetoppers were from macon and featured a sometimes lead singer named otis redding. Phil booked for frat parties when he was a teenager in macon in the late 50’s. Jenkins was a major influence on jimi hendrix who mimicked johnny’s dress and style of playing. They met in macon where hendrix would come to visit his relatives.

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          1. Comment by Adrian Barber | 2006/03/31 at 17:42:49

            I went to Jerry Wexler’s office and showed him a card. On one side it said "Adrian Barber $135 per week plus overtime." On the other side it said "Atlantic records $150M." "Well, what do you want?" Wexler said. "I’ll tell you what you want. You want two points on the next album and you are going to produce it. Now get out of here and find out what a point is."

            Next thing I knew, I was in the studio instead of Tom Dowd, who was out of town, to produce and engineer a band from the south called the Allman Brothers. I liked the name Allman Brothers. All men are brothers. Charlie Manson had the same sort of ring to it, man’s son, although that’s where the comparison ends. I had known Duane Allman from his session work on some of Aretha’s stuff while I was mixing the Cream albums. He did a solo on Aretha’s "If I Had A Nickel and You Had A Dime" that was tremendous, but it was mixed out in the end. Here he was again with his own band and I was to produce them. The Allmans were staying at the Chelsea Hotel on 14th Street. I had spent a few of those years chasing groupies up and down the halls of the Chelsea. A lot of guys did.

            They brought their gear in and set up two sets of drums, two guitars, a bass, an organ and a vocal pilot mike. I always liked to do a pilot vocal. If you get it you use it. If you don’t get it you don’t use it. Somewhere in the room there’s a pilot vocal mike, like a ghost.

            It turned out that they were really easy to work with, God’s gift to a tired engineer who had gotten used to doing take after take for hours with the Rascals. We got everything set up and did one take of the first tune, "Don’t Want You No More." It was an instrumental intro to a blues song called "Not My Cross To Bear." Both songs were great and I was impressed. Duane came back into the control room after the take. "How did you like that?" I said. "You’re the producer," Duane replied. "How did you like it?" "I thought it was fucking brilliant." "Well you’re the producer. If you like it we got it."

            There was no chance to do any fancy engineering, but the two bass drums worked really well together, as did the organ and the two guitars. I was really happy with it. At the end of the first night’s recording, we had about half the album in the can. In fact, if I had pushed it we would have had the whole album in one night. I recorded Aerosmith’s debut album almost as quickly four years later.

            Incidentally, I decided this was going to be the first album done on earphones. I was so impressed with the engineering on "Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band" and I was striving to get us caught up. I thought we were ten or fifteen years behind that. The music to the media was perfect, as it was on subsequent Beatles albums.

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            1. Comment by Joel Selvin | 2006/03/31 at 17:43:13
              "one of them had just thunderously farted"

              Photographer Jim Marshall always told me that it was because he said "Alright, smile or no drugs."

            This is a read-only blog. E-mail comments directly to Bob.