At Fillmore East

Untitled

At Fillmore East is a double live album by The Allman Brothers Band. The band's breakthrough success, At Fillmore East was released in July 1971. It ranks Number 49 among Rolling Stone magazine’s 500 Greatest Album of All Time and remains among the top-selling albums in the band’s catalogue.

History

Recorded at the Fillmore East concert hall, the storied rock venue in New York City, on Friday and Saturday March 121971–March 13,1971, it showcased the band's mixture of blues, Southern rock and jazz. The cover of Blind Willie McTell's "Statesboro Blues" which opens the set showcases Duane Allman's slide guitar work in open E Tuning. "Whipping Post" became the standard for a long, epic jam that never lost interest (opening in 11/8 time, unusual territory for a rock band), while the ethereal-to-furious "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed", with its harmonized melody, Latin feel and burning drive invited comparisons with John Coltrane (especially Duane's solo-ending pull-offs, a direct nod to the jazz saxophonist).

The album was produced by Tom Dowd, who condensed the running time of various songs, occasionally even merging multiple performances onto one track. At Fillmore East peaked at #13 on Billboard's Pop Albums chart.

Two other songs recorded during the same set of shows, "Trouble No More", and the memorable "Mountain Jam", were later released on Eat a Peach, the latter spanning two sides of the double album.

Those songs were later included in their entirety, along with uncut versions of some, re-edited versions of others, and some previously omitted tracks, on a new release of the Fillmore material entitled The Fillmore Concerts (1992). "Stormy Monday" gained back a harmonica solo; "Don't Keep Me Wonderin'" and "Drunken Hearted Boy" were included as well.

In 1998 a 5.1 DTS mix of the original version was released with Duane Allman in the left rear channel, Dickey Betts in the right rear channel, Jai Johanny Johanson in the front left channel, Butch Trucks in the right front channel and Gregg Allman and Berry Oakley both spread out over the front and center channels.

2003 saw the release of a two-disc edition entitled At Fillmore East Deluxe Edition. It compiled all the released versions of the Fillmore material, some material from the collection Duane Allman: An Anthology and the Dreams box set, and remixed the material with a better "soundstage" than the 1992 release.

In 2003 the TV network VH1 named At Fillmore East the 59th greatest album of all time. That same year, it was also ranked #49 by Rolling Stone on their list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. It was one of 50 recordings chosen in 2004 by the Library of Congress to be added to the National Recording Registry. The song "Whipping Post" is part of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll list. None of the pictures for the cover of the band was actually taken at the Fillmore East. The photographer Jim Marshall took the cover shot near the band's headquarters in Macon, Georgia, where the band had relocated from Florida to be near manager Phil Walden's new Criteron Studios.

Normally the band hated being photographed; the cover of The Fillmore Concerts shows them displaying terminal boredom. However, during the session, Duane spotted a dealer friend, raced over and grabbed a bag of contraband, then returned to his seat, discreetly clutching the stash in his lap. This cracked up all the members, resulting in a memorable image.

The back cover shows their road crew gathered in the same spot with 16 oz. cans of Pabst Blue Ribbon beer provided by the photographer as a reward to the roadies for lugging out and stacking the band's heavy equipment for the photo shoot. Their expressions clarify their thoughts about the brand.

Track listing

At Fillmore East

Side one

1. "Statesboro Blues" (Will McTell) – 4:17
2. "Done Somebody Wrong" (Clarence L. Lewis, Bobby Robinson, Elmore James) – 4:33
3. "Stormy Monday" (T. Bone Walker) – 8:44

Side two

1. "You Don't Love Me" (Willie Cobbs) – 19:15 ("Soul Serenade"/"Joy to the World" medley in the ending portions)

Side three

1. "Hot 'Lanta" (Gregg Allman, Duane Allman, Dickey Betts, Butch Trucks, Berry Oakley, Jai Johanny Johanson) – 5:17
2. "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed" (Betts) – 13:04

Side four

1. "Whipping Post" (G. Allman) – 23:03

The Fillmore Concerts

Disc one

1. "Statesboro Blues" (Willie McTell) (March 12 second show) – 4:15
2. "Trouble No More" (McKinley Morganfield) (March 12 second show) – 3:46
3. "Don't Keep Me Wonderin'" (G. Allman) (March 13 first show) – 3:20
4. "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed" (Betts) (March 13 first show/March 13 second show) – 12:59
5. "One Way Out" (Marshall Sehorn, Sonny Boy Williamson, James) (June 27) – 4:55
6. "Done Somebody Wrong" (Lewis, Levy, James) (March 13 second show) – 4:11
7. "Stormy Monday" (Walker) (March 13 second show) – 10:19
8. "You Don't Love Me" (Cobbs) (March 13 first show/March 12 second show) – 19:24

Disc two

1. "Hot 'Lanta" (D. Allman, G. Allman, Betts, Oakley, Johanson, Trucks) (March 12 second show) – 5:11
2. "Whipping Post" (G. Allman) (March 13 second show) – 22:37
3. "Mountain Jam" (Donovan Leitch, D. Allman, G. Allman, Betts, Oakley, Johanson, Trucks) (March 13 second show) – 33:47
4. "Drunken Hearted Boy" (Elvin Bishop) (March 13 second show) – 7:33

At Fillmore East Deluxe Edition

Disc one

1. "Statesboro Blues" (McTell) – 4:17
2. "Trouble No More" (Morganfield) – 3:43
3. "Don't Keep Me Wonderin'" (G. Allman) – 3:27
4. "Done Somebody Wrong" (James) – 4:33
5. "Stormy Monday" (Walker) – 8:48
6. "One Way Out" (Sehorn, Williamson, James) – 4:56
7. "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed" (Betts) – 13:04
8. "You Don't Love Me" (Cobbs) – 19:24
9. "Midnight Rider" (G. Allman) – 2:55

Disc two

1. "Hot 'Lanta" (D. Allman, G. Allman, Betts, Oakley, Johanson, Trucks) – 5:20
2. "Whipping Post" (G. Allman) – 22:53
3. "Mountain Jam" (Leitch, D. Allman, G.Allman, Betts, Oakley, Johanson, Trucks) – 33:39
4. "Drunken Hearted Boy" (Bishop) – 7:33

Credits

• Duane Allman – lead guitar, slide guitar
• Gregg Allman – organ, piano, Vocals
• Dickey Betts – lead guitar, Vocals
• Berry Oakley – bass guitar
• Jai Johanny Johanson – drums, congas, timbales
• Butch Trucks – drums, tympani

Special Guests

• Thom Doucette – Harmonica on "Don't Keep Me Wonderin'", "Done Somebody Wrong", "Stormy Monday" and "You Don't Love Me"

Jim Santi - Tamborine

Special Guests (The Fillmore Concerts)

• Bobby Caldwell – Percussion on "Drunken Hearted Boy"
• Elvin Bishop – Vocals on "Drunken Hearted Boy"
• Steve Miller – Piano on "Drunken Hearted Boy"

Production (At Fillmore East)

• Tom Dowd – Producer, Liner Notes
• Aaron Baron – Engineer
• Larry Dahlstrom – Engineer
• Dennis M. Drake – Mastering
• Jim Marshall – Photography

Production (The Fillmore Concerts)

• Tom Dowd – Producer
• Jay Mark – Mixer
• Dan Kincaid – Digital Mastering
• Bill Levenson – Executive Producer
• Kirk West – Associate Producer
• Terri Tierney – Project Coordination
• Richard Bauer – Art Direction
• Jim Marshall – Graphic Concept
• Jimmy Guterman – Liner Notes
• John Perkins - Best Boy

External links

• Collected reviews
• BBC review