Even without Dickey and Duane, the Allman Brothers’ final concert is a southern-rock masterpiece

By Steve Newton

Every music fan has opinions, and you could say that every hardcore Allman Brothers Band fan has more opinions than most.

For example, I’ve heard some ABB followers complain that the band took a nosedive after guitarist Dickey Betts was given the boot back in 2000, and eventually replaced by slide-guitar master Derek Trucks.

I’ve even heard some diehard fans claim that the band was never the same after guitarist and band leader Duane Allman died in a motorcycle crash back in 1971.

But if you ask me–and even if you don’t–I’d say that, even without Dickey and Duane, the Allman Brothers Band was a southern-rock force to be reckoned with. Case in point being the group’s final concert, which is being released as a three-CD package by Peach Records on November 22.

Final Concert 10-28-14 captures the Allmans’ last-ever gig, which took place ten years ago at the Beacon Theatre in New York City. As well as vocalist-keyboardist Gregg Allman and fellow founding members Jaimoe and Butch Trucks on drums, the lineup at the time included Trucks and Warren Haynes on lead and slide guitars, bassist Oteil Burbridge, and percussionist Marc Quinones (who Betts once described to me as “a piece of dynamite”).

Warren Haynes was brought into the ABB fold by his former Dickey Betts Band boss for the Allman Brothers’ “second reunion” in 1989, and is one of the main reasons the group remained vital until its retirement after this show. His supreme talents as a guitarist and as a soulful singer are evident throughout Final Concert‘s 29 tracks, whether on old blues gems like Elmore James’ “The Sky is Crying” and Sonny Boy Williamson’s “Good Morning Little School Girl” or the beloved, Betts-penned “Blue Sky”.

Another of my favourite Dickey Betts-written songs that’s included is “Southbound”, off the 1973 Brothers and Sisters album. Rolling Stones keyboardist Chuck Leavell wasn’t around to play his amazing honky-tonk piano solo on the live version, but Trucks steps up with a primo bottleneck blast that almost makes up for it.

And for those who just love to hear the Allman Brothers in their element–stretching out and improvising–a four-minute version of “Mountain Jam” is featured on Disc One, with another 20 minutes of the jam-happy instrumental included on Disc Three via two separate reprises.

All in all, Final Concert 10-28-14 won’t replace certain live recordings that feature Duane Allman (At Fillmore East) or Dickey Betts (An Evening With the Allman Brothers: First Set), but the gifted guitar team of Trucks and Haynes–and the smokin’ hot band in general–certainly makes it a worthy addition to any Allman Brothers album collection.

Track listing:

Disc 1:
1. Little Martha
2. Mountain Jam
3. Don’t Want You No More
4. It’s Not My Cross To Bear
5. One Way Out
6. Good Morning Little School Girl
7. Midnight Rider
8. The High Cost of Low Living
9. Hot ‘Lanta
10. Blue Sky
11. You Don’t Love Me/ Soul Serenade/ You Don’t Love Me

Disc 2:
1. Statesboro Blues
2. Ain’t Wasting Time
3. Black Hearted Woman
4. The Sky Is Crying
5. Dreams
6. Don’t Keep Me Wonderin’
7. In Memory of Elizabeth Reed
8. JaMaBuBu
9. In Memory of Elizabeth Reed (reprise)

Disc 3:
1. Melissa
2. Revival
3. Southbound
4. Mountain Jam Reprise
5. Will The Circle Be Unbroken
6. Mountain Jam Reprise 2
7. Whipping Post
8. Farewell Message
9. Trouble No More

To hear the full audio of my interviews with former Allman Brothers Band members Dickey Betts, Gregg Allman, Warren Haynes, and Derek Trucks subscribe to my Patreon page, where you can also eavesdrop on over 500 my uncut, one-on-one conversations with the legends of rock since 1982.