The Allman Brothers - "Eat A Peach" (Dedicated To A Brother)

I first 'really' heard the Allman Brothers while living in Eugene, Oregon. Eugene is a typical hippie town with hackie sack loving, dreadlock growing, patchouli wearing, granola eating, Grateful Dead worshipping, Earth First rangers skipping about. This very town and it's 60's throwback culture turned me on to one of my favorite bands of all time, The Allman Brothers Band. The Allman's produced 3 incredible records (Allman Brothers Band, Idlewild South, and At The Fillmore) prior to the untimely death of guitarist Duane Allman in 1971, when he drove his Harley Davidson into the back of a peach truck in Georgia (their homestate). The band then released the record entitled "Eat A Peach" (Dedicated To A Brother), that contained the last remaining recordings with Duane, as well as a few excellent live gems to round it out to a full record. "Eat A Peach' contains one of the most beautiful love songs ever, the earnest "Melissa." This would be the 1st of their songs I would instantly take too, from there the love affair began. The Allman Brothers became an obsessive band for me and I never left home for a tour or long trip without a copy of at least one of their records by my side. The ultimate travel companion for me. Duane's guitar playing and his brother Greg's soulful voice (not too mention stellar piano playing) are some of the best Southern 'blue eyed soul,' white boy blues jam rock you'll ever hear. Through their records, I was also introduced to the work of producer/engineer extraordinare Tom Dowd and the many great artists he worked with (Ray Charles, Cream, and Aretha Franklin, to name a few). Growing up on mostly Punk, Hardcore and a bunch of Rock and Roll my older sister introduced/turned me on too, The Allman Brothers and their bluesy 3 minute to 30 minute hippy jams were a foreign thing to me. Something I hesitated to investigate, but It just goes to show the more open you are - the more you're apt to learn about and love. In the immortal words of skater Jason Jesse "Fuck guidelines!"

(Download - "Melissa")
(Download - "One Way Out")

Comments

[jeff]

another good song on that album is mountain jam. its like a 20 some odd minute cover of donovan's 'first there is a mountain' which is another amazing track (and another story altogether...)

[shelby]

I just am totally into Sam James posts.. You better write about FREE 'fire and water'.. the best drum sounds and amazing jams. You blew my mind with that one. That and 'sneaking sally from the alley'.. ;) this thing reminds me of good LA times.

[Tim]

duane didn't die running into a peach truck, man, that's myth. in interviews, when asked the question, "How are you helping the revolution?" he would say, "I'm hitting a lick for peace and everytime I'm in Georgia, I eat a peach for peace."

[Travis Keller]

cop

[Tim Palmer]

Eugene, Oregon?

[sam james velde]

Hey Tim- Thanks for reading. I guess this is up for debate, cuz if you check most literarary facts on the band it'll tell he died via motorcycle accident. In fact, he died 14 days after "At The Filmore East" went gold in 1971. Sad, but hey, ....who really knows? I heard Jim Morrison is alive and lives in the South American jungle....just down the river from Tupac!

[Tim]

thanks for writing this. it fills me with sunshine and penis references.

I just realized how big of a music dork I am:
when I saw the track title "one way out" I immediatly thought "up above."

[Darryl]

I'm listening to the 'A Decade of Hits - 1969-1979' CD on my shitty ass little boom box and burning down a doobie. If you dig these mp3's check out this CD, it's full of good shit. The song Southbound is simply amazing, very bluesy. Defiantly look that one up on your legal p2p programs.

[John]

Mountain Jam tip: You know those "jukeboxes" that download songs off the internet? If you ever find yourself stuck in a bar that you hate, make things better by spending the $1.50 and download "Mountain Jam" from the live album Ludlow's Garage. It's like 40 minutes or something.

[TC]

In the words of Neil Young, "it's better to burn out than it is to rust." Thank God for Duane.