With Gregg playing organ, writing songs and singing lead, and with the backing of Phil Walden, manager of the late Otis Redding, the Allman Brothers Band was ready to conquer America. With twin lead guitars and two drummers, the Allmans had a unique sound that merged Miles Davis with soul and the blues, and all of the players had been around and were equipped for battle.
However, they were based in Macon, GA, and the sixties had come somewhat later to the South. Thus the Allmans adopted the strategy of bands like the Dead, regularly playing for free in places like Piedmont Park in Atlanta, building a loyal audience where they would otherwise have been unknown. Playing for free in the park was old hat in California, but it was a new thing in Georgia.
Seeing the natal Allman Brothers Band in mid-'69 for free must have spun around a lot of heads. The Allman Brothers started to tour around, and crowds were knocked out everywhere they went, so every time they came back to a city they had a bigger crowd. By November , just as the Allman Brothers were breaking out to a huge national audience with their third album, the unforgettable Live At Fillmore East double-lp, leader Duane Allman died in a motorcycle crash.
Unbelievably, almost a year to the day later, Oakley died in a motorcycle crash himself, not far from the site of Duane's death. Astonishingly, the next Allman Brothers album, Brothers And Sisters , was the band's biggest album ever, behind classic hits like "Rambling Man" and "Jessica. I do not necessarily think that the individual band members were that close personally.
Nonetheless, the bands were kindred spirits in many ways, and great musicians, and seemed to have enjoyed playing together. July 7, , Piedmont Park, Atlanta, GA After the triumph of the Atlanta Pop Festival in , which was actually held out in the suburbs, promoter Alex Cooley held a free "thank you" concert in Piedmont Park in Atlanta on the Monday afternoon following the festival. The Grateful Dead were flown in from Chicago. Although the Allmans had played earlier in the day, the Dead would not have seen them play.
The Dead closed the show. After the Dead set, there was some jamming, and it appears that Duane and Jerry were both on stage, although no one can confirm if it was at the same time. The day after was the Lincoln's Birthday holiday. At least one night, members of the Allman Brothers, including Duane, and Love drummer George Suranovich went over to an infamous joint called Slug's to see Pharaoh Sanders.
This piece of evidence is one of the clues to me that shows that while Duane enjoyed jamming with the Dead, it wasn't more important than other musical explorations. It was one of the first Northern cities where the Allman Brothers had a staunch following.
Ironically enough, there were only two acoustic guitars, so Weir and Duane and then Garcia and Weir played a few numbers, but the tape is more of a curio than anything else. At this time, both groups were popular but not huge live attractions, and both camps seemed to have recognized that sharing a bill would allow them to play much larger places.
My own inference is that Berry Oakley, the effective leader of the Allmans at this time, would have been the one most in favor of the Dead and the Allmans working together on an extended basis. An entire tour was actually booked for Fall '72, sadly trumped by Oakley's death.
For the scheduled San Francisco dates, on December , , different acts opened for the Dead, the last time the Grateful Dead had openers at a non-New Years Winterland show. I am aware that there is some dispute about the date of this show--it was originally scheduled for Thursday July but the entire weekend will be the subject of a future post. These were really huge shows for the era, as full-sized stadium concerts were still quite rare.
The fact that the Dead and the Allmans together were more than twice as attractive a bill than either band as headliner was a significant flag to promoters like Bill Graham, who would make multi-act stadium acts a staple of the rock world in the next few years. The auto racing track was the site of the annual United States Formula 1 Grand Prix which would be won in by the great Ronnie Peterson in a Lotus 72 Cosworth , and it could absorb a huge crowd.
In response to Woodstock, the state of New York had passed a law banning concerts that lasted more than one day. The Dead supplied the 60s vibe, and The Band were paragons of credibility back in the day, but the Allman Brothers were unquestionably the big-money headliners, the straw stirring the drink. All three bands played extended "soundchecks" the day before the official concert, as the crowd was already huge. By the day of the show, the crowd was estimated at an incredible , Goode," but it doesn't seem to have been musically memorable.
I gather there were other stations, but I don't know which ones or how many. The broadcast functioned like a nationwide Watkins Glen. San Francisco was still the official capital of "free concerts," even if none had been held in the city for quite some time.
The Watkins Glen concert had in many ways been a last hurrah of the 60s. There was a huge, friendly crowd, bands and promoters made some money, but most people got in for free, the mood was relaxed and a good time was largely had by all. The outdoor jam vibe had been established by the Grateful Dead and their friends in Golden Gate Park a mere six years earlier, and now it was almost outdated. In some ways, the Allman Brothers New Year's Eve broadcast from the Cow Palace was the last high water mark for an avowedly San Francisco style of music, jamming the blues for hours on end as if time had no meaning, with everyone listening for free.
In that respect, it was appropriate that Jerry Garcia was there to provide both an actual and symbolic link to the Fillmore and Golden Gate Park. Live music isn't really free, of course. Some entity, almost certainly Capricorn Records the Allmans' label had to have paid for the radio time. Since the Allman Brothers played from about 10pm until 4 am, the cost of the radio time was not prohibitive at that hour. On the East Coast, the time would have been 1am until dawn, an even less expensive time slot, so Capricorn would have gotten some bang for their buck.
Nonetheless, the record company would have paid the radio stations for the lost ad revenue, and charged it against the Allman Brothers' future royalties. I assume that the great concert that was played encouraged the sales of a lot of Allman Brothers albums, so it probably worked out OK, but its important to remember that radio broadcasts on commercial FM stations were business propositions.
Garcia's actual appearance on stage on New Year's Eve was paradoxical. On one hand, Garcia continually grumbled over the years that New Year's Eve concerts weren't that fun. Nonetheless, having turned down a lucrative concert date at the Cow Palace, Garcia ended up showing up to play anyway.
It goes without saying that the Garcia and the Grateful Dead's peculiar choices were only possible because they owed no allegiance to a record company. At the end of , with Wake Of The Flood selling profitably, the Grateful Dead's financial condition was good, and they could afford to turn down high profile shows on a whim.
Yet Garcia seems to have been unable to resist the opportunity to play anyway. He was onstage for around two hours with the Allman Brothers, a full night's work by the standards of regular musicians. At the time, both groups were rising bands that were helping to expand the genre of "Southern Rock" that had come to prominence due to the fame of the Allman Brothers. Charlie Daniels, a veteran session musician and producer in Nashville, had gone solo in Rush would tour heavily throughout much of , sharing the stage with the likes of Blue Oyster Cult, Hawkwind, Uriah Heep and Nazareth.
And, even more to the point, drummer-extraordinaire Neal Peart would enter the equation later that year after Rutsey's health issues and creative differences, some say forced him out of the fold. What's more, the album's two singles, the tough-nosed 'Finding My Way' and the poppier 'In the Mood' , also started to tweak some charts, and thus the legend of Rush had begun in earnest.
As for the long-forgotten 'Not Fade Away' , it was pressed up in a miniscule run of just a thousand copies and has never been legitimately reissued in any form. That would kick ass. That would be great. One problem though: I have found that no show is anywhere near as animated in terms of crowd participation as the Dead. I have seen 50, people stand in a cold rain singing that song, and , standing in heat screaming it at the top of their lungs.
I have never seen a crowd approaching that size at a Rush show, and the audience participation is much more subdued. You're right though, it would be great. I annoy all the losers who dont know any of the words to the songs.
Trust me, I airdrum, do the Lerxst shuffle, and conduct certain parts especially with Neil's cowbells Bangkok and glocks Trees. Trust me, I airdrum, do the Lerxst shuffle, and conduct certain parts especially with Neil's cowbells Bangkok and glocks Trees Maybe you do all those things, but there's not 50, of you, which was a small venue for the Dead during the 80's and 90's.
I was having a Beatles moment, and quoted the original lyrics Cool idea Grizz! Posted 30 May - AM why not? I almost did at my first one. Singing that back to the band at Dead shows was one of the best experiences of my life and i would love to do it for Rush. For the Big Jam, Billy and Mickey come back and begin a slow burn. No matter, for they are helped along by Phil's frenetic bass patterns. Then comes Jerry howling. Things slow down a bit for their effortless re-grouping and the first morsels of Miracle, which is very PHAT.
Then they settle like an eagle on it's nest into Wharf Rat. Some despise this song, but this is not one of those throw aways from the 19th Century. Oh no. The GD attack this song with grave elan' and it works in spades.
Oh, gilded song, song that oxidize not. Songs that tarnish not. But wait. Out of Wharf they do the Dark tease and drift back to Wharf. This is indicative to me, of some decided anger on the GD's parts. For some reason I sense this show, with a setlist composed of not oft loved Dead Head songs is sort of a counter-protest to the fans, to the promoters, to anyone and everyone who had ears to hear, and to know.
And pop! Phil stands up and nails Box and it acts as a deciding revamp back into the reality of known. Thanks Chalkie, David Gans, and Archives. Reviewer: grillybeen - favorite favorite favorite favorite - December 10, Subject: what a long strange summer tour it has been!
All the shrooms we ingested might have had something to do with that. I will never forget during space I experienced galactic flight in a grateful dead propelled mother ship, milehigh stadium elevated beyond the atmosphere then gently bringing us back to earth.
Only at a grateful dead show, big thanks boys! Reviewer: unagriot - favorite favorite favorite favorite favorite - December 2, Subject: Shattered, shoodoobie Pardon this review that is light on songcraft and long on the personal, but that fucking concert shattered my life when I needed that most. I had never seen the dead I had never been to Denver and I was lonely and dirty, living in a 86 ford taurus for weeks. I was 19 but with the beard and crazyeyes I was able to get a few bottles of fortified wine.
With that in a coke cup I wandered the parking lot looking for tickets and in a minute I met a irish drunk deadhead hustler and I traded a little color tv I had for a handful of hits. He gave me a freebee and said this one was in his wallet and a little weak, since it was a first trip he wanted to ease me in. White blotter. Sanatana was hazy and all the women near me were loosening up to the weird vibe. I entered the music and understood what the big deal was, I had broken through the curtain of Touch of Grey playerhating I had as a 80s metalhead and heard the actual music, IkoIko lifted me up and I got as close to the stage as I could.
Peaking I needed to cling to the hallways and there was a man in full rainbow hippie outfit, the rainbow afro, everything and he was holding nachos like a prize and as he walked by he dropped them and he wanted to cry but to me it was the funniest thing I had ever seen and I shouldn't have laughed at the poor human being but I was following my brain up the fire escape.
So I watched Kevin Costner at the drive in on the other side of the fence and it was the worst movie I had ever seen and then I noticed I had been sitting on an ant hill.
I walked to dunkin donuts and slowly came back to earth, maybe I picked up some of that badvibe, the fuckin blotter like thousands of freight trains through thousand of tiny mind tunnels that night. It busted my cherry, having those peaks and valleys alone lost and without a guide fortified me for all the other later excursions into the mind that the dead seemed to quantify, we have lost something now that that tribe has dispersed.
Something will replace it but it is sometime a long wait when you are staring at Kevin Costner in tight covered with ant bites. Did I just say that out loud? Reviewer: dmilks - favorite favorite favorite favorite - April 17, Subject: not the best of summer Mid 1st set Iko is awesome, Eyes is amazing. Several other gems too. In contrast to several previous reviews: I was at this one up close on the floor , and witnessed a very sober, middle aged, mellow crowd. I remember it was a hot, sunny day, and most everyone seemed very sober to me.
This show was added to the tour after the preceeding dates were all scheduled. Reviewer: jhwygirl - favorite favorite favorite - March 31, Subject: Strange show I agree, it was a pretty strange vibe. I think it was due to the fact that it was the 'end of the road' since there wouldn't be a show for another month or so My recollection was that the sound system absolutely sucked! Didn't Phil kick a speaker at some point?
Plus their voices were 'tired'.. Santana had held up the start of the show, arriving late due to his pot bust. So energy was weird, due to having been seated in the stadium a little too long before anything got started. I had a great time. Thanks for the memories! I know what you're talkin about Very HIGH! Absolutely NUTS!!! I saw lots of people guzzling whiskey in their seats and openly indulging in the finest illicit street drugs!
Woman walking around naked :0 Dangerous fireworks going off in the parking lot. Good show, but totally different atmosphere. I was an east coast transplant living in Boulder at the time and I attended this show. I definitely remember it was a strange show. There were tons of people dosing there faces off and like the other reviewer said people definitely going around with big supersoakers and dosing people. I remember there was kind of a scary vibe about it because it was like heavy acid wash not some mics a hit shit they were using.
What happened was, when everyone went in to the show they came in and took all the animals left tied to bumpers on long leashes with bowls of water, of course and took 'em to the pound. Not cool. Bad vibes. Also, this is the first show where I actually liked Picasso Moon.
Reviewer: Lilypad - favorite favorite favorite - August 31, Subject: Mile-High indeed I am glad that the previous reviewer noted how tweaked out the crowd was at this show. All these years, I've wondered if I was just feeling prudish that night. Even for the admittedly spacey standards of a Dead show, I remember this as a downright scary crowd; people were partying like they had something to prove. Either the previous reviewer and I saw the same guy being hauled out on a stretcher, or there were multiple guys-on-stretchers.
The Dead were acting strange too, come to think of it. Plus, the whole "Dark Star" taunt. I look back on this experience now, and still I can only say: "Huh? Bruce and Vince are very ham-handed keyboardists. They are good, but they play very thick, dense parts. Having them both up there fighting for bandwidth was probably not a great idea.
Still, this show was a pretty good way to spend a deathly hot summer afternoon at Mile High Stadium.
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