Because I get so wrapped up in trying to listen to new artists
\n(as well as trying to shear down the size of the “to be reviewed”
\npile in the Pierce Memorial Archives’ inbox), I often find that
\nI’ve been neglecting some artists whose work I’ve collected over
\nthe years and I still enjoy listening to. I could easily take a
\nday, dig out all the albums from one particular group, and just
\nwallow away the sunshine with my music, a big bag of Cheetos and a
\ntwo-liter of Pepsi. (Advertising graft from the brand names
\npreviously mentioned graciously accepted.)<\/p>\n
One such group I haven’t listened to in a long while is The
\nAllman Brothers Band. I remember the sheer joy I experienced when I
\nlistened to their box set
\nDreams<\/i> for the first time, and how I quickly discovered
\nthere was more to this band than just their classic album
\nEat A Peach<\/i>. Regrettably, I don’t have the time or the bag
\nof Cheetos to indulge a complete review of their discography, so
\nwe’ll settle for their out-of-print best-of from 1975,
\nThe Road Goes On Forever<\/i>.<\/p>\n
A compilation of 17 tracks (only one of which was a certified
\n“hit” on the radio at that time), this two-record set is an
\nexcellent primer for someone who is interested in discovering who
\nThe Allman Brothers Band were in the first half of the ’70s. While
\nnumerous other greatest hits packages have come out in recent
\nyears, this collection could be the best thought-out.<\/p>\n
Pretty much staying in chronological order,
\nThe Road Goes On Forever<\/i> allows the listener to hear the
\nprogression of Gregg and the late Duane Allman from a heavy blues
\ninfluence to a country rock band of the highest caliber. While
\nthere is sure to be debate over why certain songs were not included
\non this set (“In Memory Of Elizabeth Reed” comes to my mind), there
\nis something for everyone on this set.<\/p>\n
One listen to the bass line on “Dreams” and its step-like rhythm
\nand you’ll have a hard time getting it out of your head. Berry
\nOakley (the second member of the band to die under tragic
\ncircumstances) was a premier bassist who knew both his role in the
\nmusic and how to make the most out of every note. (No disrespect
\nmeant to the family of the late Lamar Williams, who took over the
\nbass after Oakley’s death in a motorcycle accident.) The interplay
\nbetween Gregg Allman’s keyboard work and vocals, as well as the
\nguitar work of Duane Allman and Dickey Betts, is something that you
\ncan appreciate almost immediately.<\/p>\n
The inclusion of live material from
\nThe Allman Brothers At Fillmore East<\/i> is a nice treat, and
\nproves to the listener how good this outfit was onstage in their
\nheyday. The renditions of “Statesboro Blues,” “One Way Out” and
\n“Stormy Monday” (which might have been left off a CD reissue – bad
\nmove) are powerful testaments to the band.<\/p>\n
The best moments for me on
\nThe Road Goes On Forever<\/i> – besides hearing “Ramblin’ Man”
\nfor the umpteenth time and not getting tired of it – are some of
\nthe more gentle moments the band produced. “Blue Sky” is still a
\nfavorite of mine, while “Jessica” is an instrumental that will have
\nyour foot tapping so hard it will look like you’re having muscle
\nspasms. But the true moments of glory come on “Melissa” (which is
\ndelivered tenderly by Gregg Allman) and the instrumental “Little
\nMartha”, which closes out the album. This last track is a poignant
\nreminder of the talent the world lost in 1971 with Duane Allman’s
\ndeath, and I could not think of a finer tribute to him than
\nallowing this guitar duet to close the album.<\/p>\n
At last count, there are about a half dozen “best-of” sets for
\nthe Allman Brothers Band examining several incarnations of the
\nband, but
\nThe Road Goes On Forever<\/i> sticks out as the first, and quite
\npossibly, the best of the bunch. This is a record you’re going to
\nhave to do some searching for, but you’ll know it’s worth it as
\nsoon as you drop the stylus onto the vinyl.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":25018,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"artist":[5655],"rating":[5646],"class_list":["post-36223","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-the-allman-brothers-band","rating-rating-a"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/36223","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36223"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/36223\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25018"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36223"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36223"},{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=36223"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=36223"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}