Well-Tuned: Absolutely, Live Is Best, But
Photo is festivalgelände during Rock am Ring at Nürburgring, Nürburg, Rheinland Pfalz, Germany on 2017-06-04, Photo: Sven Mandel via Wikimedia Commons
Through the years I have been fortunate to see many bands live in concert. The best? A tie between Pink Floyd and the Eagles. The worst? It was a Christian Rock band whose name I have purged from memory.
Of course, there are bands and artists that I wish I could have witnessed live. Number one on that list is Led Zeppelin. Being that I was just eleven years old when they broke up after the death of their drummer, John Bonham the possibility of seeing them in concert in my lifetime was near zero. I did have a slight chance of seeing them play at London’s O2 Arena back in 2007. It was a reunion with John Bonham’s son Jason filling in for his dad. Celebration Day, the name of the concert was a tribute to the legendary music executive, Ahmet Ertegun. He was responsible for signing Led Zeppelin in 1968 to Atlantic Records. He was a monumental figure in the band’s success as they took over the world back then. He passed away after a fall at a Rolling Stones concert in 2006. There were many tributes played in his honor, but Celebration Day was the show, the one everyone was waiting for.
Once I had heard about Celebration Day I jumped into the ticket lottery pool. Sure, I knew I had just as much of a chance of getting struck by lightning while getting eaten by a great white shark in the middle of the Ohio River but hey, it was still a chance. A friend of mine happened to work for British Airways at the time and she was going to hook me up with tickets to get over there. Lodging? I would have slept on a park bench if I had to.
As I am sure you can surmise, the closest I ever got to Celebration Day was the documentary released in 2012. Before Celebration Day, Zeppelin reunited in 1985 for Live Aid, 1988 for the Atlantic Records anniversary concert and when they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995. The 2007 show eclipsed the previous three reunions due to the solid, well-rehearsed performance that night. Fans witnessed the true consummation of the power still wielded by the band that was as strong as it once was when John Bonham was still alive, making for a very special evening indeed. As it is well known amongst the Zep fans out there, singer Robert Plant has been adamant over the years that he will not front the band on a tour. John Paul Jones, Jimmy Page and Jason Bonham had considered going out on the road with a new lead singer after the buzz of Celebration Day but came to their senses and scuttled the idea. After a few auditions and some more toying around with the possibilities, they knew that a Led Zeppelin tour without Plant would be a fallacious move.
Even though I may never see them in person I still get to rock out to my massive Zeppelin collection of their live and studio albums, plus the remixes and outtakes that have been released over the years. As I have said before, I listen to them every day…
There was another band that had eluded me over the years. There were many opportunities to see them live but something would always get in the way. That group was The Allman Brothers Band. They would always come to my area whenever they toured. Either I would be out of town when they were around or some other reason, like a family emergency or my work schedule would get in the way the day of the show, every damn time.
The Allman Brothers became my white whale concert. I never gave up hope though until Greg Allman passed 2017. So many opportunities, now gone forever. Of course, there are offshoots of the band still making music, still touring.
Bands such as Gov’t Mule (who I have seen and recommend) and the Allman Betts Band that includes Devon Allman, Duane Betts and Berry Duane Oakley; all sons of the founding members of The Allman Brothers Band, who continue the tradition of the Allman Brothers, creating their own music while dipping into the deep well of the Brothers catalog while out there on the road to complement their live performances.
Even though I will never get to see the Allman Brothers in person there are many live recordings out there to experience them in that capacity. One particular double album is listed as arguably the best live concert ever recorded. Right up there with the masterfully controlled chaos of The Who’s, Live at Leeds released in 1970 (which I plan on discussing in a future article).
In 1971 The Brothers played at the Fillmore East in New York City. Over the course of two evenings the epic double album At Fillmore East was born. The albums contained just seven songs, two of them taking up whole sides. Clocking in at just under seventy-seven minutes the recordings were made when the band was peaking. They were well known for their improvisation during concerts and those two nights at the Fillmore did not disappoint. Greg Allman’s brother Duane, who was their lead guitarist and the heart and soul of the band, delivered a true tour de force during those shows. Paired with guitarist Dickey Betts, the two extemporized so flawlessly with the rest of the band that they ended up creating a true masterpiece that still sounds as fresh today as it did back in 1971.
Sadly, while they would go on to release albums together through the years that would set the standard for southern rock infused with the blues and jazz, the band would never truly attain the absolute brilliance of the breakthrough At the Fillmore East due to Duane’s untimely death from a tragic motorcycle accident in Macon, GA shortly after the release of At the Fillmore East. Their next album (another double) the classic Eat a Peach was the last recording by the band that featured Duane. The half-hour long version of Mountain Jam recorded during the Fillmore East shows that was included on Eat a Peach was just another glimpse of what could have been for Duane’s evolution as a virtuoso guitar player.
My personal all-time favorite Allman Brothers Band song is from At the Fillmore East. At 23:09 minutes, Whipping Post is just something one has to experience on their own to understand the inventiveness, ingenuity and amalgamation that occurred that night. It was the band at their peak of perfection, intermingling their skills to create a song that grabs hold of you from the start with Berry Oakley’s thunderous bass intro and does not let go until Greg Allman decides it is time just over twenty-two minutes later.
I may have never gotten to see my beloved Led Zeppelin or the Allman Brothers Band in person, but I have immersed myself into their momentous live recordings through the years to experience what it may have been like. I feel fortunate in that aspect to have had the opportunity to do so.
Check their live albums out. My suggestions; The Allman Brothers Band Live at the Fillmore East and Eat a Peach and/or Led Zeppelin’s BBC Sessions and How the West Was Won. Experience the raw power of these bands live, at the pinnacle of their careers outside the studio and unleashed for yourself dear reader. You won’t regret it…
Till next time.
E Pluribus Unum
