The Allman Brothers Band have announced the release of a pair of archival concerts, including the final show featuring Duane Allman in October 1971. In addition to Duane’s last show, The Allman Brothers will also release full-show audio from July 19th, 2005 at the Warner Theatre in Erie, PA, considered by the then-band members to be one of their finest of the time. The two concerts will be released as The Final Note on CD on October 16th.
Announced on Friday, The Final Note captures seven tracks–roughly the first 60 minutes of the concert–from The Allman Brothers Band’s show at the Painters Mill Music Fair in Owings Mills, MD on October 17th, 1971. On October 29th, a mere 12 days after this concert, Duane Allman died in a motorcycle accident at the age of 24. The audio was captured on a hand-held tape recorder by 18-year-old music journalist Sam Idas, who was there to record an interview with the band.
“My only intention was to record the interview,” Idas said in a press release. “This was a brand-new cassette recorder with an internal microphone, and I had one 60-minute cassette tape. I was sitting there with the recorder in my lap, and I remember thinking ‘Why don’t I try this out? I can record the concert!’ It was a totally spontaneous decision. I’d been to many concerts, but this was the only time I had the thought—and the motivation—to record the show.”
The original tape, which has been lovingly restored to modern standards, features classic ABB staples “Statesboro Blues”, “Trouble No More”, “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed”, “Whipping Post”, and more. Along with the recording of the show, the cover of the CD release will be adorned with previously-unseen photos from that very show. The physical release will also contain liner notes from ABB archivist John Lynskey, and a photo of the original cassette tape which Idas used to record the show.
The second release features The Allman Brothers Band’s full performance from July 19th, 2005 in Erie, PA. This show itself was hand-chosen by the group’s lineup as one of their finest. In 2005, The Allman Brothers Band featured Gregg Allman, Jaimoe, Butch Trucks, Oteil Burbridge, Marc Quinones, Derek Trucks, and Warren Haynes.
As for what made this show so special, audiences and the band alike could feel it from the rare show-opening “Mountain Jam” all the way through the concert. Featuring standout renditions of the band’s classics including “High Cost of Low Living”, “Jessica”, and the show-closing “One Way Out”, the group also tackled some rare covers including “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down” and “Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright”.
“I was feeling it while they were playing,” said ABB manager Bert Holman. “Ultimately, I knew it had been a great night when they started coming off the stage and everyone was like, ‘Man, that was a great show!’ I remember Oteil and Derek particularly being pumped about it, Haynes was pleased, and Butch was just raving about how over-the-top the show was. They all told me that they needed a copy of the show, which says a lot right there.”
See the full tracklist from both concerts below, and visit The Allman Brothers Band’s website for details on ordering CDs. Head on over to Relix to listen to “Don’t Keep Me Wondering” from July 19th, 2005.
[H/T Relix]