At Fillmore East |
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Recorded: March 12-13, 1971 and June 27, 1971 Released: July 1971 Peak: 13 US, -- UK, 44 CN, -- AU, 11 DF Sales (in millions): 3.0 US, -- UK, 3.0 world (includes US and UK) Genre: blues rock |
Tracks, Disc 1: (Click for codes to charts.)
Tracks, Disc 2:
* Added to the 1992 double disc release The Fillmore Concerts
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Rating: 4.398 out of 5.00 (average of 38 ratings)
Quotable: “One of the best live albums in rock history.” – Tom Moon, 1,000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die “The pinnacle of the Allmans and Southern rock.” – Stephen Thomas Erlewine, AllMusic.com Awards:(Click on award to learn more).
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The Band’s Early YearsGuitarist Duane Allman and his singer/songwriter/keyboardist brother Gregg Allman were born in Nashville, Tennessee, but were raised in Daytona Beach, Florida, after moving there in 1959. They performed together as the Allman Joys, the Hour Glass, and the 31st of February before forming the Allman Brothers Band in 1969.That group included singer/songwriter and guitarist Dickey Betts, bassist Berry Oakley and drummers Butch Trucks and Jai Johanny “Jaimoe” Johanson. They released their self-titled debut in 1969. Their sophomore effort, Idlewild South, followed in 1970. Neither had a significant impact, reaching #188 and #38 on the Billboard album chart respectively. Their Breakthrough Live Album“The group did their best work in a live setting” AM3 and was “just beginning to generate national attention when it pulled into Manhattan’s Fillmore East auditorium for its first headlining stand in March 1971. All four shows from the run…were recorded” TM and edited into “the justifiably lauded At Fillmore East.” AM3 The album “transformed this fast-rising curiosity…into one of the truly great American rock bands of all time.” TMAt Fillmore East is an “unbeatable testimony to the Allman Brothers’ improvisational skills,” 500 how the group “connected with the crowds…and how the reciprocal energy gave birth to rock’s greatest live double LP.” 500 It “is like a great live jazz session, where the pleasure comes from the musicians’ interaction and playing” AM1 on “lengthy improvisational jams” NRR and “loose and free-floating solos.” TM “This epochal live set captures the peak of the Southern rock jam.” EW’93 “For fans of Southern rock or jam bands, this is a must: the Allmans live at the peak of their powers.” SY The album “established the Allmans among the rock elite” TM and “remains one of the best live albums in rock history.” TM Duane Allman’s Swan SongThe dual-guitar attack of Duane Allman on side and Dickey Betts on six-string was at “its hair-raising peak, fusing blues and jazz with emphatic force.” 500 “When one finishes his climb to the mountaintop, the other begins.” TM “Just when that settles down, along comes organist (and vocalist) Gregg Allman, working out on a hot-sounding Hammond B3 to extend the marathon a bit further. (Check out his romp through the eight-minute "Stormy Monday.") .” TMDuane’s “slide has never sounded better.” EW’93 Sadly, though, his death via a motorcycle accident at age 24 made this his swan song and created “one of the great ‘what if’s’ of rock history, as one can only surmise what heights he might have reached.” AM3 Producer Tom Dowd and Studio EditingThe “album that brought the Allmans so much acclaim is as notable for its clever studio editing as it is for its performances. Producer Tom Dowd skillfully trimmed some of the performances” AM1 “with an ear toward making the album as strong as possible for the home listener.” AM3 Of course, even edited, “the music isn’t necessarily concise (three tracks run over ten minutes, with two in the 20-minute range).” AM1Depending on one’s point of view, Dowd either “should’ve left them well enough alone,” AM3 since this is “not necessarily an ‘accurate’ documentary of the concert experience” AM3 or, “far from being a sacrilege, this tactic helps present the Allmans in their best light.” AM1 It “showcase[s] the group’s terrific instrumental interplay, letting each member (but particularly guitarist Duane and keyboardist/vocalist Gregg) shine.” AM1 “Dowd’s revisionism…sometimes did no favors to the music; for example, Rudolph ‘Juicy’ Carter’s sax detracts from Hot ‘Lanta.” AM3 “Where In Memory of Elizabeth Reed is concerned – Dowd edited the version here together from two different performances, first and second shows, the dividing line being where Duane Allman’s solo comes in.” AM2 It is “mixed lower than on the version listeners first heard in 1971 – as a result, the power and beauty of the solo doesn’t stand out quite as effectively.” AM3 “Not that this is the only concert album where this kind of editing has been done, but the original…contained a single take of the song, and some purists may prefer that.” AM2 The Fillmore Concerts“At Fillmore East was not the last word on the classic ABB’s live recorded legacy;” AM3 more material “from the same Fillmore sessions” AM3 showed up on “1972’s Eat a Peach, …the two volumes of The Duane Allman Anthology (1972 and 1974) and the ABB’s Dreams box set (1989). It added up to two-plus hours of prime live Allman Brothers Band with Duane kicking the group up to stratospheric heights, but it was also rather piecemeal.” AM3In 1992, along came The Fillmore Concerts, which seemingly remedied this situation with a two-CD set…combining music” AM3 “from the two Fillmore shows that originally comprised At Fillmore East and the concert portions of Eat a Peach, plus one track (One Way Out) from a Fillmore show from a couple of months later.” AM2 Dowd transferred “the 16-track masters from each show…to digital,” AM2 restored the edits done for At Fillmore East, and remixed the material. “The sound is sterling and the two-hour-plus running time makes this a dream for fans of the band, as well as an improvement on the original releases of this material.” AM2 Live at Fillmore East: Deluxe Edition“In 2003 came the ‘Deluxe Edition’ of At Fillmore East, and they arguably got it right this time. Out the window went the…Fillmore Concerts remixes and alternate takes… [in favor of the] At Fillmore East versions that first dazzled listeners during the year they were recorded.” AM3 The additional material added to The Fillmore Concerts is all here as well, most notably “the definitive version of Mountain Jam with Duane’s stunning solo after the drum break, culminating in his moving take on ‘Will the Circle Be Unbroken.’” AM3“It’s all sequenced logically, with the bluesy stuff kicking things off and the band stretching out and reaching for the heavens as the set progresses. This is the ABB at its thrilling apex…and it’s all presented in a handsome, high-quality package with a nice essay by Dave Thompson and photos both familiar and never before seen.” AM3 The deluxe edition of 1972’s Eat a Peach features a second disc of live recordings from the June 27, 1971 Fillmore East concert. Two of those songs – ‘One Way Out’ and Midnight Rider – show up on both collections, but the other seven songs on the Eat a Peach deluxe edition are unique to that collection. In addition, “you can listen to the 33-minute ”Mountain Jam” without having to flip over the LP.” EW’93 One could conclude that this is yet another repackaging of live Allmans material by a mega-label attempting a quick cash-in. But for a…listener seeking to experience the best of the Allman Brothers Band’s greatest incarnation – with Duane Allman at the very heart of the music – there is no better package than this.” AM3 In any format, these performances run “circles around more than 99 percent of the guitar albums ever released” AM2 and “remain the pinnacle of the Allmans and Southern rock at its most elastic, bluesy, and jazzy.” AM1 Other SongsHere are thoughts on individual songs not yet mentioned.“Whipping Post”
“Stormy Monday” “Statesboro Blues” and “Trouble No More” Notes:Original 1971 release was a double album of seven songs that fit on 1 CD. The 1992 2-CD set The Fillmore Concerts added five more songs, including “Trouble No More” and “Mountain Jam,” which were originally released on Eat a Peach. Finally, in 2003, a 2-CD Deluxe Edition set was released that included everything on The Fillmore Concerts plus the song “Midnight Rider.” |
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First posted 3/12/2012; last updated 11/18/2024. |
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