If, as another reviewer asserts, this album was a "commercial failure" in initial release, it's sure news to me. I was freshly back from my third Nam tour when I stuffed my seabag full of such as this at Yokosuka BX in '69. It looked to be selling pretty briskly, and it was certainly getting plenty of airtime on KPPC and KDYA when we hit the States. (Having heard -nothing- like it before, "Who in the -hell- is -this-?" we were asking ourselves in LA.)

This is ground zero for the Southern Rock genre, right -here-. Sadly, however, it is the only viable evidence of how -unusual- the original lineup -- with Duane -- was compared to all that followed... from Lynard Skynnard to .38 Special. What I mean is this: Please don't -pre-judge this album -before- you hear it -because- you have heard LS, .38S -and- the later ABB work. -This- is not -that-.

Opus One here is -blues- and -funk-, not country. These are (mostly) white boys with black hearts; a position rarely occupied in this genre subsequently. "It's Not My Cross to Bear," and "Whipping Post" are arguably two of the truly "great" songs in the entire blues pantheon, and far closer to the Real Deal (with or without Kal David) than Eric or Jimmy or even Keith were playing at the time. "Black Hearted Woman" and "Every Hungry Woman" (women figure considerably in all this) -taught- me how to play funk guitar. (They're quite a workout for -both- hands.)

I've seen them several times, and for whatever reasons, they pretty much shy away from the material here on stage... even though it was this work -en toto- that pitched them over the fence into national consciousness. I've no idea why they ignore most of these tunes on stage, but it's worth mentioning because, despite the uniformly impressive nature of it all, you will -not- find some of these tracks -anywhere- else, live or repackaged.

If there's a drawback, it's the original sound quality. A digitally filtered remastering is really called for here, to return things to the luster they enjoyed through our monkeypod Sansui's when a decent bag cost a nickle.

Los Allman Bothers son una de las formaciones más sólidas de blues rock americano de fines de los 60's, y aunque eso no es poco su nivel no está a la altura de sus competidores ingleses. No hay nada que decir respecto a su capacidad para asimilar y ejecutar el blues, contando con dos competentes guitarristas y una buena sección de apoyo, pero su ortodoxa aproximación a este estilo los hace ser una buena banda pero no más que eso.

Cuando en esa época ya han pasado muchas cosas dentro del rock americano se podría esperar algo un poco más aventurado por parte de los Allman, justamente algo como Dreams o Whipping Post, por mucho los temas más interesantes y donde se abren a nuevas cosas, el primero 7 minutos de electrizante blues sicodélico y el segundo un denso blues con un toque propio. Los 5 temas restantes son correctos pero fácilmente olvidables, dejando la impresión que sería mejor recurrir a otros discos para quedar conforme.

jaimeurrutia, de Chile. Callete la maldita boca infeliz.
Es el mejor album de los Allman Brothers Band.
5 estrellas para jaime por idiotez y sordera ;-)