Rating:
Genre:
Rock
Release Date: 05/01/2001
Gregg Allman's tour in support of his debut solo LP,
Laid Back, led to the recording of this album (originally two LPs) at
Carnegie Hall in New York and
the Capitol Theatre in Passaic, NJ. It's a match for
Laid Back in musical value and then some, with a good, wide range of repertory and great performances throughout by all concerned, plunging head-first and deep into
blues,
R&B,
honky tonk, and
gospel. Strangely enough, the album contains only three of
Laid Back's songs --
"Don't Mess Up a Good Thing" opens the show in a properly spirited, earthy manner, but it's the second song,
"Queen of Hearts," in a soaring rendition, with gorgeous backing by
Annie Sutton,
Erin Dickins, and
Lynn Rubin, and superb sax work by
Randall Bramblett and
David Brown, that shows
Allman in his glory as a singer and bandleader.
Allman gives a lively, raucous,
honky tonk-style rendition of the
Elvis Presley hit
"I Feel So Bad," complete with a killer guitar solo by
Tommy Talton, and
"Turn on Your Lovelight" gets an extended treatment worthy of
the Allman Brothers Band. One would expect that, with
Chuck Leavell and
Jaimoe present in the band, there were be more similarity to
the Allmans' sound, and that they'd be prominently featured, but
Tommy Talton and bassist
Kenny Tibbetts get more of a spotlight. Several
Allman Brothers songs are present here, in more laid-back and lyrical versions, and the
Capricorn Records band
Cowboy -- essentially serving as the core of
Allman's touring band -- gets a featured spot with two songs,
"Time Will Take Us" and
"Where Can You Go," that leave one wanting to hear a lot more concert material from them, and from
Talton as a singer.
The Gregg Allman Tour was reissued on CD in late 2001 by
Polydor in a clearer, sharper remastered edition that contains
Martin Mull's complete introduction of the band.
~Bruce Eder, All Music Guide
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