Enlightened Rogues [Remaster]

Performer: The Allman Brothers Band
Engineer: Steve Gursky
Producer: Tom Dowd
Distributor: (Independently by Label)

Notes: Allman Brothers Band: Gregg Allman (vocals, Fender Rhodes, Clavinet, organ); Dickey Betts (vocals, acoustic, electric & slide guitars); "Dangerous" Dan Toller (acoustic & electric guitars); David "Rook" Goldflies (bass); Butch Trucks (drums, congas, background vocals); "Jaimoe" Johanny Johanson (drums, congas). Additional personnel: Jim Essery (harmonica); Joe Lala (percussion); Mimi Hart, Bonnie Bramlett (background vocals). Recorded at Criteria Studio, Miami, Florida. All tracks have been digitally remastered. The Allman Brothers closed out the '70s with a solid if unspectacular set that's aged better than one might have expected. It may not be particularly innovative, but it lacks nothing in the grit and sass departments. The album begins ("Crazy Love") the way it ends ("Sail Away"), which is to say with two dive-bomb blasts of Dickie Betts' slide guitar. In between there's a nod to John Lee Hooker with "Can't Take It With You," the Chicago blues shuffle of "Need Your Love So Bad," and "Try It One More Time," a '60s style soul ballad. The most interesting piece here, however, is Betts' "Pegasus," a complex instrumental that opens in vaguely Latin mode, segues into some jazz-fusion passages, and concludes with a modal psychedelic jam that seems a homage to some of the San Francisco bands of the '60s.

They're known as the founding fathers of Southern rock, but the Allman Brothers were actually much more progressive than the musical school they inspired. They reclaimed the US-influenced blues-rock of Cream et al. and brought it back to America, adding country and jazz touches. They were noted for their improvisatory skills, particularly the inspired dual-guitar work of Dickey Betts and the late Duane Allman. Even after the deaths of Duane and original bassist Berry Oakey and the departure of Betts, the band soldiered on strongly into the 21st century, led by founding singer/organist Gregg Allman.

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