Duane Allman - An Anthology, Vol. 2
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Free Music Notes for An Anthology, Vol. 2
Free Music Review: not vol.1,but still great
Hit: 5 Stars
I agree the first volume had some stronger stuff,(try matching "Loan me a Dime"anywhere),but it is a bit overkill on lots of stuff I already had.If you're a fan,you already own the Allman Bros.tracks and "Layla"etc.This volume has more rarities and unreleased songs.Worth owning for Johnny Jenkins"Walk On Guilded Splinters"and Herbie Manns"Push Push".More guitar brilliance from the late,great Skydog.Cant beat it!Free Music Review: How is this possible?
Hit: 5 Stars
How is it possible that a man who was only around for a few years and only made music professionaly for fewer years could have two carear spanning anthologies? This is something I would expect to be made for Jimmy Page but the fact that two, two disc anthologies are made for this man not only astounds me but makes me happy. Duane was original and still to this day is one of the greatest guitar players ever, easily the best as far as slide goes.
With both anthologies in my collection its easy to see, this the second far better. This goes deeper into the mans music showing his skills not only as a songwriter ('Happily Married Man') and as a musician. As soon as the very first Allman Brothers record was released Duane became themost wanted studio musician at the time. This is what we mostly see here, with great Allman Brothers songs as well as rare studio cuts and work with other artist.
Songs like 'Matchbox' 'Dimples' and 'Waiting For The Train' show why Duane is such a legend. other incomplete tracks like the opener 'Happily Married Man' evoke thoughts of wonder. Every time I listen to something with Duane on it I cant help but think, what could have been? At least we have the music forever.
Free Music Review: better than the first
Hit: 5 Stars
Even now listening to the two anthologies, it's hard to believe the second is stronger than the first. The session work digs deeper into obscurity, and finds more unique cuts and the ABB material is less obvious.
The set opens with one of two self penned DA songs that I am aware of (Little Martha being the other). Obviously an incomplete track waiting for Brother Duane to come back and cut the guitar solo, it is outrageously funny with a solid kick musically. Again, session work with King Curtis and the Queen of Soul are included as well as a romp with Ronnie Hawkins through matchbox. The call and resonse between DA's guitar and King Biscuit Boy on harp (not to mention the incomparable Eddie Hinton on guitar) is a thing of beauty.
Other highlights include excellent slide on Dr. John's Walk on Gilded Splinters and Come on Into My Kitchen with Delaney and Bonnie, and a stretch into Jazz on Herbie Mann's Push Push, Also included is a really sweet Hourglass outtake, Been Gone Too Long that shows that Gregg was a great soul singer as a teenager and Duane knew just where to put the fill. The ABB songs are led by a version of Dimples from Ludlow Garage. (This was the first time many of us realized there was the possibility of significant archival material of high quaility)
Essential listening for the best of the best of the guitar players
Free Music Review: Dedicated to a Brother
Hit: 5 Stars
Volume II holds true that teamwork aside, Duane's briefest of fills totally complemented the action. Therefore, solve the puzzle for what Rick Hall overlooked when Duane recorded an original composition that sounds like it has tongue-in-cheek honesty: "Happily Married Man." His rhythm guitar sounds like it's waiting for something to develop, galloping joyfully alongside Berry, Paul Hornsby, and Johnny Sandlin--but when it's time for a starburst solo...there's nothing but the same chords. More fun abounded when Duane sat in with Aretha Franklin; King Curtis was back beside him. Lady Soul drowns her sorrow when she cries, "It Ain't Fair," and she could make a glassblower's lungs look weak. The real charm is David Hood's bass, which skips along beside Curtis's sax. Duane does play sidekick, but with deliberate slow-as-ketchup lines.This CD reminds us that "You Reap What You Sow," and Otis Rush knows the Laws of Karma. Duane buzzes like a huge angry hornet, but Otis's Cobra Recordings shows that he could do 6-string surgery. Ronnie Hawkins and friends come to the rescue, as Carl Perkins's "Matchbox" sparks up everyone, Duane chirps and glides again, and the house was rockin'. Wilson Pickett was also nearby, "Born To Be Wild." There's no standout artist solo here (except for Pickett), which makes the song fit so well. Speaking of fast cars, Duane's Aladdin's Lamp wishes for a customized set of wheels in "No Money Down" must have been a salesman's nightmare, and Chuck Berry was the co-signer of this loan. More a novelty song (especially with Duane's vocals), his sincere singing makes you expect he found the object of his wishes.
The Hourglass reappear with "Been Gone Too Long," a tune that could have been taken elsewhere. Arthur Conley's "Stuff You Gotta Watch" follows, featuring Duane's insect-humming tone. With politeness to LuLu, you tried, dear, but you didn't light the pilot flame in the stove for that "Dirty Old Man." Duane's tingling lead sings on her shoulder, but she doesn't have enough heat to melt butter (Bonnie Bramlett hickory slow-smoked it on D&B's Accept No Substitute.) The first side ends with "Push Push," with Duane joining flautist Herbie Mann, future Stuff members Richard Tee and Cornell Dupree, a syncopated percussive motor run by Ralph McDonald and Bernard Purdie, and Chuck Rainey's bass. This jam really has fine moments; it's more of a subtle, sensuous, recreational ritual, letting the players use touch and tone to mold rich textures.
A Johnny Jenkins voodoo-enhanced performance calls for disciples to "Walk on Gilded Splinters." Duane quacks away on slide dobro, and a percolating rhythm section bubbles away with help from Butch Trucks, Jaimoe's timbales, Pete Carr's guitar, gospel-rich backup vocals, and Paul Hornsby's keyboards. Boz Scaggs also shows up, "Waiting for a Train," and Duane's dobro yodels as much as Boz. That twang came in handy when Ronnie Hawkins delivers the news: "Don't Tell Me Your Troubles," and Duane's resonator dances a lively jig.
Sam Samudio kept the groove belonging to John Lee Hooker's "Goin' Upstairs" while Duane cross-stitched slide, and reunited with Delaney & Bonnie for a live recording in New York, using an acoustic shuffle. All's fair in love and music at Ludlow Garage in 1970: "We don't do this song very much, but I feel like singin', so I guess that's what we're gonna do," taking the Brothers through a raucous romp on Hooker's "Dimples." Dickey's solo really rasps and files as well as Duane's, and his (Duane's) rough vocals really work here. Duane, aka the Dog, lent his chugging bottleneck to The Duck (Johnny Sandlin) and the Bear (Eddie Hinton). Eddie's lead guitar is overmatched by Duane, so `enjoy my company while there's time' may be the answer.
The final three songs bring Duane back with the Brothers, sawing away on "Done Somebody Wrong,' cutting a funky "Leave My Blues at Home," and "Midnight Rider" closes the Fillmore East as he and Dickey really play up each other's strengths. Duane did that for everyone, so eat that peach for peace-and his music!
Free Music Review: Of course it's a 5!
Hit: 5 Stars
There will always be songs on here you like less than the others, or less than on =An Anthology= [vol. I], but this cannot =not= be a 5. C'mon, man! You have Duane singing "Dimples" live with the Brothers in 1970.04 (also on =Ludlow Garage=); what a tight performance, and such aggressive guitars. This is one of Duane's smokingest short solos (not even two minutes) ever--it just cuts and pushes until hits a searing, one-of-a-kind peak. Duane doesn't just let it all hang out--his soul is blasting forth out of him. Plus, you gotta love the history splayed out here (though not in chronological order). For example, you have Duane singing on a couple lighthearted cuts from his 1969.02 sessions with Berry Oakley at Muscle Shoals, a month before the Allman Brothers Band was born. I say "lighthearted," but at one point in "Happily Married Man," Duane seems to about to choke on what perhaps is the true tragedy of the situation, before getting the wind back in his sails, so to speak--or carefree bluster, rather--and rollicking out. It must be admitted, though, that this one never got its guitar solo overdubbed in the middle!
This album shows well the wide range of Duane's talents as a session man, from the Delta blues of "Come On in My Kitchen" with Delaney and Bonnie to the funky soul jazz of "Push Push" with Herbie Mann--and a ton of R&B in between. I'm not convinced that all that guitar on Otis Rush's "You Reap What You Sow" isn't Otis, though--I've found the Otis tape, and all the soloing is Otis (97% sure).
Would this be the number one Duane album--to take to Mt. Desert Island, Maine, or to give to an Allman Brothers neophyte, or to give instead of chocolates next Valentine's Day--before =At Fillmore East= or, say, =An Anthology=? Or =Layla=?! Probably not, but you gotta have it, and so do they.