Allman Brothers Band "At Fillmore East" 180gm 2LP Audiophile LP

Format: Numbered limited edition reissue, remastered  180gm, 2LP, gatefold cover

Label: Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab

Released: 2015

Country: U.S.

Original Master Recording – GAIN 2™ Ultra Analog  180g Series

This 1971 album ranks #49 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time List and includes epic trasks “Whipping Post” and “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed.”

Fillmore East is synonymous with some of the greatest concerts ever staged.   Yet the venue belongs to one group: The Allman Brothers Band.   This groundbreaking double album is why.   As the collective's breakthrough, it broadcasts to the world wowing improvisational flights and seamless musical fusion the likes of which no one had ever heard.   In communion with the crowd, the band establishes an interactive blueprint for all shows that followed, while its high-wire displays of powerhouse soloing and time-stretching arrangements remain the stuff of hall-of-fame legend.

While the record features multiple works the band never laid down in a studio, At Fillmore East is a meticulously conceived affair.   The Allmans prepped rough sketches and layouts of the tunes, carving out spaces for each member's solos, and leaving the direction of such entirely up to the individual.   As a result, the effort — anchored by iconic producer Tom Dowd's stellar production — presents a jazz-drifting rock band benefiting from both a sense of assured direction as well as opportunistic freedom.

Indeed, At Fillmore East is the rare sound of a group letting it all go, fearlessly maneuvering through bluesy shuffles, exquisite laments, graceful instrumental passages, and frenetic swamp-laden boogies.   Achieved via a combination of virtuosic skill, visionary ambition, and natural chemistry, the six-piece burns white-hot with intensity and persuades via a padlock-tight rhythm section on which Duane's searing slide playing and Gregg's bottom-of-the-stomach vocals glide, each aural utterance coaxing on their respective mates to strive for new heights.

The evidence abounds on the rollercoaster thrills of the dipping and diving “Whipping Post”; the biscuit-and-gravy purity of an aptly tempestuous “Stormy Monday,” complete with harmonica from guest Tom Doucette; the flaming inertia established on the celebratory “Hot 'Lanta”; and the jam-heavy hopscotch of an elastic “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed,” one of numerous standout moments for lead guitarist Dickey Betts.   It seems as if everyone knew what they were experiencing.

“The audience would kind of play along with us,” revealed Gregg Allman, years later.   They were right on top of every single vibration coming from the stage.”   Add to this symbiosis hallmark front-and-back cover photography by Jim Marshall, and you have a record so steeped in lore, it's almost myth.   But it's real.   And oh, how it now sounds so glorious.

Tracklisting

1. Statesboro Blues
2. Done Somebody Wrong
3. Stormy Monday
4. You Don't Love Me
5. Hot 'Lanta
6. In Memory Of Elizabeth Reed
7. Whipping Post