Pile Poil j'écoute ça

sergers2000 a écrit:

Concert Summary
Gregg Allman - lead vocals, organ, electric piano
Dickey Betts - lead guitar, slide guitar
Lamar Williams - bass
Chuck Leavell - piano
Butch Trucks - drums, percussion
Jai Johanson - drums
Few bands could have recovered from such tragic personnel losses as did The Allman Brothers Band in 1973. After the death of Duane Allman in 1971 and Berry Oakley the following year, few would have thought The Allman Brothers Band could carry on. One key to the group's remarkably successful recuperation was their recognition of the futility of trying to replace such distinctive musicians. Rather than go through the anguish of trying, the group brought in fresh blood in the form of pianist Chuck Leavell and bassist Lamar Williams. With the release of Brothers and Sisters, they ventured in a more countrified direction that won many new fans while retaining a good portion of the old. Then, in a remarkable twist of fate, the band suddenly had a hit single racing up the charts with "Ramblin' Man." Unexpectedly, the Allman Brothers had become the most popular live act in America.
On this tour, the band was primarily playing huge sporting arenas and outdoor festivals, such as Watkins Glen that summer. But since The Grateful Dead was on hiatus, they agreed, as another favor to Bill Graham, to take over for his annual New Year's Eve celebration.
Following Bill Graham's classic introduction, the band kicks off with "Wasted Words," followed by several of their best known earlier songs. Betts' guitar playing had become far more expressive by this point and, much to the surprise and delight of loyal fans, had come to absorb a lot of Allman's electric bottleneck slide technique. Unfortunately, a reel change caused the end of "Midnight Rider" and most of "Blue Sky" to be cut. The true magic, however, begins with the nearly 18-minute set closing, "Elizabeth Reed." where the band begins seriously improvising. The improvisations on this tune, showcasing incredible interplay between Leavell and Betts, proves just how inventive and distinctive Betts had become. Following this incredible jam, the band takes a break as all prepare for midnight.
Gregg Allman - lead vocals, organ, electric piano
Dickey Betts - lead guitar, slide guitar
Lamar Williams - bass
Chuck Leavell - piano
Butch Trucks - drums, percussion
Jai Johanson - drums
Guest: Jerry Garcia - guitar
Guest: Bill Kreutzmann - drums
Guest: Boz Scaggs - vocals, guitar
The second set of the Allman Brother's headlining slot for Bill Graham's New Year's Eve concert begins approximately five minutes before the midnight madness of the New Year's Eve countdown. Following the countdown, the band continues with the kickoff song "Statesboro Blues," a tune they learned from Taj Mahal. The next hour focuses primarily on material from Eat a Peach and their new album, Brothers and Sisters, featuring stellar versions of "Southbound," "Come And Go Blues," "Ramblin' Man" and an outstanding 13+ minute version of "Jessica." One of the highlights of this entire night is a rare live performance of "Les Brers In A Minor." This monumental tune clocks in at almost half an hour, including drum solos; this is where the band begins really stretching out and venturing into unknown territory.
Shortly before the half hour point in this song, the first two guests wander out on stage. Much to the audience's pleasure, two Grateful Dead members, drummer Bill Kreutzmann and guitarist Jerry Garcia, join in on the festivities with no fanfare or announcement. Tentatively feeling his way into the jam, Garcia's distinctive guitar begins blending in and before you know it the familiar sound of "Whipping Post" morphs out of "Les Brers" and they are off into another great jam, now with Garcia and Betts intertwining leads over the rest of the ensemble. They are having so much fun that Gregg never bothers singing the verses and they continue to jam on "Whipping Post" instrumentally. At this point, Boz Scaggs plugs in and as he steps up to the microphone, the musicians let him lead the jam into a relaxed groove into "Linda Lou/Mary Lou" before ending this incredible sequence.
Boz leads this amazing conglomeration of musicians through another 50 minutes of jamming, based loosely on the classic "Hideaway" and then "Bo Diddley" but venturing in and out of many themes within. Garcia in particular is loving every minute, and his playing is thoughtful and quite a delicious compliment to Betts' more aggressive style.
Gregg Allman - lead vocals, organ, electric piano
Dickey Betts - lead guitar, slide guitar
Lamar Williams - bass
Chuck Leavell - piano
Butch Trucks - drums, percussion
Jai Johanson - drums
Guest: Jerry Garcia - guitar
Guest: Bill Kreutzmann - drums
Guest: Boz Scaggs - vocals, guitar
Guest: Les Dudeck – guitar
This is the third and final set of this long New Year's Eve night, and by this point, many of the musicians need a well deserved break, but Boz Scaggs, Betts, Leavell, Kreutzmann and a few others are still ready to go. They invite another respected guitarist, Les Dudeck, out on stage and this smaller ensemble delivers a highly charged blues set, again with Scaggs handling the vocal duties. They wind their way through a few more improvisational blues jams, ending with the hottest blues jam of this set.
Bill Graham then comes out on stage to make a surprising announcement. Apparently, a young couple attending the show wished to get married, so Bill found a Reverend in the house and invited them to get married on stage during the break.
At this point in the wee hours of the morning, the musicians are up for more, and once again Jerry Garcia joins The Allman Brothers Band for this entire set. As a humorous homage to the newly married couple, they kick off this final set with, "You Don't Love Me," performed as an instrumental. Once again, Betts and Garcia take things to soaring heights, and Garcia begins to noodle around on the traditional "And We Bid You Goodnight," with a few bars of "Old Lang Syne" thrown in for good measure. Surely the audience figured they were finally winding things down, but just at the point where it sounds like things are coming to a mellow close, the familiar riff of "Mountain Jam" begins.
To totally exhaust every last bit of energy out of the crowd, the group launches into yet another great jam, with Garcia and Betts having one last go, thus bringing this monumental concert to a close.
Read more about the Allman Brothers in Crawdaddy!:
"Chuck Leavall: Wrapped Up in Trees"