The Allman Brothers Band - Eat A Peach

The best album by the Allman Brothers Band, period. Even better, more diversified than their breakthrough Fillmore live set. And the last one with slide guitar virtuoso, Duane Allman. "Eat A Peach" includes everything you can ask for in a blues record. It's surely the best studio album ever released by a jam band, on the other hand I don't know if I can call it like that 'cause large parts were recorded live.


There's amazing selection of tracks... Gentle acoustic instrumental piece by Duane called "Little Martha" closes the album. Somewhere in the middle we can find two classic covers, Elmore James' "One Way Out" and Muddy Waters' "Trouble No More" which are the angriest boogie pieces I've heard in a long time. Nearly as good as originals! "Ain't Wastin' Time No More" was a single and peaked at #77 only, which is a shame: nice lyrics and catchy piano riffs got me rocking :)

"Eat A Peach" has a strong follow up (1973's "Brothers and Sisters"), but also marks the end of the best times for the Allman Brothers Band, great band that still plays in the South. It's a kind of experimental album: "Les Brers In A Minor" sounds like an improvised jazz piece, I really miss Miles on it ;) And there's "Mountain Jam". 34 minutes of various ramblings and solos by every member of the band... A love-hate relationship IMHO, not the best tune for a party, but I'd like to hear it live.

Contrasts between "sweet & lovely" tunes like "Melissa" or "Blue Sky" and heavy blues tracks are something really worth hearing, I love to hear the album in its original form. And there's this 2006 deluxe edition with, sadly, no new tracks from that sessions, but a new disc with Allman's 1971 yet another Fillmore performance.