Customer Reviews

Anthology

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The Hourglass were a blues crew waiting for distribution: a young band work up B.B. King, John Lee Hooker, and Mel London with such passion. That grieving, woeful organ player is Paul Hornsby; Gregg melts the microphone with anguished howls and heart-wrenching pleas. B.B. taught Duane how fingertips cut diamonds. Note the Albert King-like influence (on "Loan Me a Dime") formation of his style, including the repetitive phrases that follow one-two in milli-second quickness, lay down a note, ring it again in a bell-like manner, or pull it off on the second try.

Wilson Pickett's scalding cover of "Hey Jude" would praise the Beatles, the Muscle Shoals players, or Pickett himself, but Duane's great white shark bite solo made the hair stand up on the back of your neck. On "The Road of Love," Clarence Carter proudly said, "I like what I'm listening to!" as he admired the fuzzy distortions of Allman's slide. Contemplate, however, when Duane reunited with Hourglass friends Hornsby and Sandlin, and added newcomer Berry Oakley for a string-bending prophetic eulogy on Champion Jack Dupree's "Goin' Down Slow." Duane's vocals could handle slow crooning without being annoying, and his guitar wept where his voice wouldn't go. Other good people lent Duane their voice or let him be their spokesman: just imagine him nodding his head in agreement, his slide dancing to Aretha's statements when she belted out "The Weight," or the slinky, sinewy electric sitar that pulsated alongside buddy King Curtis, a man with talent to blow--a Meerschaum pipe if possible?--and make notes this beautiful on "Games People Play." A ventriloquist throwing his voice, Duane added a 'talking slide' dimension to his bottleneck on John Hammond's version of Willie Dixon's "Shake for Me," mimicking human frustrations and gestures that hoot and wag wildly beside the unbridled, frenzied vocals.

Perhaps "Loan Me a Dime" is the tune that describes Duane's closeness in letting his instrument speak the words that the soul cannot say. Boz Scaggs carries the heavy hurtin' blues, but Duane's introductory solo also cried to the heavens like his heart had been pulled from his living, beating chest. Boz faces his last day on Earth with no love or hope, and Duane plays as though he's losing his, too. The follow-up solo, criticized for engineering coordination (Duane's mix get buried midway), is apparent that he did not stop playing this tune--ever. The recording session ended, the sun went down, the band went home, but Duane played this way every time: nothing came between him and the feelings he needed to release. Sensitive regional touches and dobro/slide playing find themselves nestled in the comfort of the Delta's warmth as he, Johnny Jenkins, and Berry settle back at the old farmhouse, finding shelter from that summer heat in Muddy Waters's "Rollin' Stone." Visualize baking-hot red earth beneath your bare feet back as the three men pick and pluck those strings.

Delaney & Bonnie & Friends were Duane's second family unit; his slide has the wildest time with pals "Out on the Open Road," continuing when Johnny Jenkins comes back again in "Down Along The Cove." Gentle times return when Scott Boyer and Cowboy hitch their wagon and give the reins a tug in "Please Be With Me," and Duane shimmers on dobro. Eric Clapton gives/gets a lesson in acoustic slide with Duane on Layla's "Mean Old World." The final songs embrace the group scene, and his five-alarm siren call at the opening of "Layla" make it the epic monolith of unreturned love affairs. Happily, the other five cuts are as fundamental as the laws of gravity: "Statesboro Blues"; "Don't Keep Me Wondering" (the studio version); "Stand Back," and "Dreams": the very best that modern recording could portray in bottleneck phrasing, tone, composition, and originality. By the divine right of kings, Duane had sole ownership of the inner secrets of electric slide. "Little Martha" wraps up (but not the Dreams box set with Berry's bass foundation).

Duane Allman's mastery of the guitar is beyond mortal. This album is an enjoyable listen only because of the beautiful guitarmanship peppered throughout each studio session. The most impressive of all of these is from Wisconsin alumni Boz Skaggs, and his song "Somebody loan me a dime." Allman's outro solo is akin to the sound of God. An album like this dissuades guitar players (I know), because it is so impressive, and makes one feel that they'll never reach that level of wide open virtuosity.

Although in the public eye the talents of Duane Allman were somewhat obscured by the huge shadows cast by contemporaries such as Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, and Jimmy Page (although he was certainly NOT obscured to them), this anthology, along with Volume II, convincingly demonstrates that he belongs right up in the pantheon with them.

Old fashioned rock & roll, soul, country, gut-wrenching blues and everything in between; this guy could do it all. There are stellar examples of many genres including songs from Aretha Franklin, Boz Scaggs and Delaney & Bonnie; not to mention the Allman Brothers and Derek & the Dominoes.

As another reviewer correctly stated, if this CD only had Boz Scaggs' "Loan Me A Dime" on it, it would still be worth buying. Allman's playing is AWESOME. My only complaint is that whoever mastered the original recording should have 1) Turned up Allman's guitar in the mix and 2) Not faded out the end of the song. He was just getting warmed up! What were they thinking?!?!?

This is a fine overview of a supremely talented musician.

Duane Allman was one of the great guitar legends of the 1970s. Tragically he died just before achieving superstardom, and his legend has been somewhat obscured by history. But he has never been forgotten by musicians who worked with him and those who really care about great American music.

He was one of the greatest white blues guitarists of all time--Eric Clapton said Duane was a better guitarist than himself, and Duane taught Eric how to play slide guitar--but unfortunately, there are only two albums where Duane's talent ever showed its full potential: Derek and the Dominoes' LAYLA AND OTHER ASSORTED LOVE SONGS (where he often outplayed Clapton himself) and the Allman Brothers Band's AT FILLMORE EAST. By the time those great albums were released, he was already dead of a motorcycle accident.

Fortunately, Duane cut his chops before these immortal recordings by working as a session player for various artists at the fabled Mussel Shoals recording studios. This collection gives us highlights of some of his best work in that era, along with a few choice Allman Brothers cuts.

The collection is for real guitar music fans--he played on so many records with so many artists that the songs tend to swing wildly from style to style. And unfortunately, the sound quality on these recordings is full of hiss and could be cleaned up with modern remastering techniques. Alas, that has yet to be done; this collection is basically a quick remaster of a previous release on vinyl, and doesn't even use up all the available space on CD (which it easily could). More could also be done to group the songs more effectively by style. For these reasons this collection rates only four stars; for musicianship, it deserves 5 stars at least!

Here's hoping that some day someone sees fit to release a set that uses all the possibilities of the CD format and modern remastering techniques to give us a collection that truly shows off Duane Allman's astonishing genius. In the meantime, any true guitar fan needs to hear these recordings and learn more about this man!

This Anthology is a great collection representing Duane's work & his legacy, especially outside of the ABB. The real keepers on this set are his session work with Muscle Shoals, when he worked with such artists as Aretha, Wilson Pickett, & etc. A fabulous bonus is cuts from his aborted solo album, which are extremely interesting. His work as a sideman is phenomenol, as he adds his own stamp to the cuts while never overwhelming the actual artist being recorded. It is also astounding on how GOOD he got after leaving Muscle Shoals & forming his own band. Within a 2-3 year span, he became one of the biggest talents to emerge in rock, all to end at his premature death.

This isn't a perfect "Anthology" for Duane. To begin with, this album has too many ABB cuts from their first three albums, as well as Layla from his work with the Dominos. Overlapping overkill. Chances are, if one was to pick this album up in the first place, more than likely, they would already own those albums.

A second knock on this set is, it is EXTREMELY dated. The powers to be haven't remastered a single track, & there are supposedly a wealth of unhidden treasures still unreleased commercially that was done by Duane. In the days of vinyl, this Anthology was quite a tribute to his legacy.... but now, they need to update it. Very badly.

In the mean time, this 2 disc set is still worthwhile until Duane finally gets the royal treatment with a box set. A monster talent, the heart & soul of the ABB, slide master, & much more. He pushed players such as Betts & Clapton to dig in a little deeper. A real inspiration.

Remember Duane Allman.

Duane Allman lays down some of the finest guitar work heard in the rock/blues genre in this collection of varied tunes, feels and artists. For anyone who has only heard Duane Allman as the lead player with the Allman Brothers, this CD opens the door to another side of his talent. His ability in the studio to capture just the right feel for other artist's recordings shows his diversity and continues to rank his playing right up there with the greats in rock and blues. I would have bought this for "Loan me a Dime", if it was the only tune on the CD. We lost a great talent when Duane Allman left us too early.

This collection features Duane Allman of the Allman Brothers Band on cuts from the ABB as well as his extensive work as a side man.

Duane's recordings from 1968 to his untimely death at 24 in 1971 is unmatched by most guitar players in a life time.

Duane could play blues jazz, rhythm, and monsterous leads.
Most however know him for his touch on slide guitar. Duane wrote the book on modern electric slide and it ranks with the best ever.

His feel on slide is incredible- with beautiful intonation- he stretched the limit of range and maintained clean, clear sound throughout.

The anthology albums are likly to lead you to a deep appreciation of Duane's playing. This is just a starting point though. You will also want the first four ABB albums and many of his albums as side man . Check out the cuts from Ronnie Hawkins and Johnny Jenkins. You will want these whole albums (or CDs) as well.

The feel on Wilson Picketts' "Hey Jude" is worth the price alone. Duane smokes one incredible solo at the end of this cut.

The Derek and the Dominos Layla sessions are also a must!

As Duane said: "Music is like books for people who can't read"

Duane Allman-one of the all time great guitar players!

This compilation features a collection of songs that show both the unbelieveable talent and diversity of Duane Allman. For anyone who likes gituar music, this compilation is a must. No person since Elmore James did such dynamic things with the slide gituar. The second disc features a few cuts from the Layla sessions, with Eric Clapton, which could have been the pinnacle of Allman's spectacular recorded career. If you like the Allman Brothers or slide gituar, buy this CD!

Even though I usually like actual albums instead of collections, many of these tunes are just killer. I can just see Greg and Duane and whoever else in the hourglass lighting fire to a building w/ the BB King medley. Also, was I in for a suprise when the coda(end) section of Hey Jude hit. All the screaming vocals, guitar, and horns in that section suit the song better than the repetitive, but really good, Beatles version. Also, add the great guitar playing on Loan A Dime and you have yourself a good collection started. Other great songs on here include Layla of course (although that Derek & the Dominoes album that it originates from is awesome) and all of the ABB tracks that you should have anyways.

Good music. Wonderful guitar player.

I originally purchased this album in 1973 and it has always been one of my favorites. If the recording of Loan Me a Dime (eleven plus minutes) with Boz Scaggs was the only cut on this CD, I'd still go out and buy it. Great stuff!