If your knowledge of the Allman Brothers (like mine) is limited to southern rock toppers like Midnight Rider, Ramblin’ Man or even the straight-up blues of One Way Out then you really haven’t experienced the Allman Brothers. And that’s a little like saying you haven’t experienced the color blue or the fragrance of wisteria on a summer evening or lightning across the desert.
As expressive and transcendent as these hit songs are the band takes things to an entirely different level when they open up and start jamming. In Memory of Elizabeth Reed, a song that takes its name from a headstone in a cemetery the band used to visit, lets band members open up their full box of colors. Wikipedia has a stirring review of the Fillmore East live sessions that have been mixed (or unmixed) to create a masterful jazz fusion tour de force that owes more to Miles Davis than to Southern Comfort.
This may be music for sitting and sipping but I’ve added it to my “go for a run” playlist because the Allman Brother’s relentless go-forward rhythms are perfect for the last mile when I’m dogging it.
