The
Allman Brothers Band:
Live at American University
Live at American
University, Washington D.C. is the first release of the Allman
Brothers archival series and was issued in 2002 and sold only by
mail order. Then in 2005, it was later released on Sanctuary records
and distributed through regular retail outlets.
The performance is
exceptional throughout. The show took place on December 13, 1970,
and the first five tracks are taken from the second set, and the
first five from the second set. The tracks are sequenced to
represent the actual set list.
The show starts with three fairly short blues numbers
that are fiery, two covers and an original. The only live version of "Leave My Blues At
Home" in my collection is the fourth track and makes one yearn for more
renditions as it features some tasty guitar
solo trade offs between Duane and Dickey. Sadly, "Stormy
Monday" cuts as the tape ran out after only five minutes.
Personally, I think they should have spliced a different version or
substituted a different venue. Two extended numbers round out
the disc featuring one-of-a-kind blues jamming.
The sound quality is only
ok, which is why the grade is low. It is more sonically equivalent
to Live at Ludlow Garage
rather than the Live at the Atlanta Pop
Festival release. I'd certainly recommend
Live at American University, Washington D.C. to collectors, but due to sonics, it is
not at the top of the list among the live Allman Brothers Band
releases with Duane Allman.
by Barry
Small
©
Grade B
Order: Amazon
