The Rock & Roll Hall
of Fame induction (in the first year of eligibility)...90 live gigs in
'94...the H.O.R.D.E. festival... Woodstock '94...five live network television
appearances... No doubt about it: 1994 was a landmark year in the 25-year
history of the Allman Brothers Band. Then, Epic Records proudly introduced
2nd Set: the sequel to the acclaimed 1992 collection, An Evening With The
Allman Brothers Band (which is Gold in US).
Featured on 2nd Set are the
previously unreleased "The Same Thing" written by Willie Dixon and originally
recorded by Muddy Waters in 1964; a scorching six-minute version of another
ABB blues anthem, Willie Cobbs "You Don't Love Me"; an anthemic 16-minute
improv on "Jessica," and a one-time-only acoustic performance of the instrumental
classic "In Memory Of Elizabeth Reed." 2nd Set is produced by Tom Dowd,
the legendary studio veteran whose association with the Allman Brothers
Band goes back to 1970's Idlewild South.
Rarely does a band of the
Allman Brothers Bands legendary status reach a second peak of creativity,
performing ability and popular acclaim 25 years after first creating the
lexicon of jam-oriented rock. But consider:
The four Epic albums by the
Allman Brothers Band--Seven Turns, Shades Of Two Worlds, An Evening With...,
and Where It All Begins--have earned steadily increasing sales and acceptance.
Allman Brothers Band concerts
are consistent sell-outs (including six nights in May 95 at New York's
Radio City Music Hall and five nights at the Tower Theater in Philadelphia),
drawing on one of the most diverse and enthusiastic audiences in contemporary
music. From Guitar World: "These days the crowds at their shows reflect
both their rich heritage and their current strength. Grizzled, leather-clad
bikers rub elbows with fresh-faced, tie-dyed hippies. Buttoned-down businessmen
leap out of their seats, overtaken by musical epiphanies the likes of which
they haven't known for years. Pretty women of all ages dance ecstatically
in the aisles...and guitar heads from each of these camps explode in paroxysms
of frenzied air-guitar glee."
Press coverage has been strongly
and consistently favorable since the Allman Brothers Band's return to full-time
action in 1989. From New York Newsday: "The Allmans ultimately define themselves
as a quintessential American institution, one in which the traditional
and transcendental continue their ongoing shuffle. If there were a country-and-African
sub-genre, this would be it." From Rolling Stone: "Twin leads, two drummers,
an impossibly soulful vocalist--no American band ever emerged with the
sheer power of the Allmans."
In his induction of the Allman
Brothers Band into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1995, Willie Nelson
said:
"The Allman Brothers Band
took what moved them and merged it into something unique that audiences
love: a sound that redefined the direction of rock and roll, and opened
the doors to a spirit of experimentation that continues in today's music.
"The Allman Brothers Band
were and still are one of the most exciting live bands ever to hit the
stage. They became road warriors with a vengeance and left devoted fans
wherever they went... [The ABB is] a band that reflects so many of my sentiments
about music: originality, a determination not be confined musically or
stylistically but instead to forge your own way and make music that moves
you, a devotion to the road, and understanding that beyond pleasing yourself
as an artist, the only other consideration should be the people, the fans
who come to hear you. And so with pleasure, I give you rock and roll's
greatest jammin' blues band, the Allman Brothers Band!"
