Delaney & Bonnie with The Allman Brothers & King Curtis “A&R Recording Studios FM 1971″ recorded 1971 released 2015 US Country Rock,Blues Rock,Jazz,Soul,Gospel (Bootleg)
full spotify
https://open.spotify.com/album/1h7ZGmzsPwixGpQ0f0je9l
This (71 minutes) set is from 1971 and the sound is very decent considering the era and the conditions. There’s a few sonic glitches along the way but the music comes shining through nicely. The booklet has a very short essay on the concert and the music along with a couple of b&w photos of the band. Is this the best place to hear D&B? Probably not. But if their music is your thing, and if you can find this set at a decent price you should probably buy it. Be aware there’s some talk between songs that some fans may not like. But the comments mostly add to the atmosphere of the concert. The whole thing has a relaxed feel–like friends getting together to sing and play some old favorites.
A few highlights. After some ads from concert sponsor Singer, the band begins an acoustic set with Robert Johnson’s "Come On In My Kitchen”, with Delaney & Bonnie (D&B) on vocals and Duane Allman on slide guitar for a nice easy version of this great tune. Basically the first half of this concert is acoustic based which is fine because the front porch style feel of the vocals along with some fine playing make this pretty cool if you’re a D&B fan. Similarly “Goin’ Down The Road Feeling Bad” is another great version of this well known song. There’s a jarring tape glitch for a couple of seconds but once you know it’s there you pass over it and listen to the tune. “Poor Elijah” is another fine performance with a down home gospel feel that ends seemingly because the players just felt like it. Sam Clayton played the conga drums along with Delaney on guitar/vocals, Bonnie on vocals and Allman on slide guitar on this acoustic set.
After the acoustic song “The Ghetto” there’s a lengthy (6 minutes) announcement before the band comes back for the electric set. Hearing this long musical pause once is enough for atmospheric purposes–Delaney especially sounds very relaxed.. Members of this band (but not all) include D&B, members of Little Feat, Duane Allman on guitar, Gregg Allman on piano, and King Curtis on tenor sax.
Beginning with “Livin’ On The Open Road” this is reminiscent of the D&B and Friends band albums. The band has tightened up some which helps the music. “Better Relations” is a nice up tempo performance with slide guitar and horn fills and some good vocals from D&B. “The Love Of My Man” slows things down a bit with Bonnie on lead vocals with some nice slide guitar fills from Allman along with another guitarist. Curtis’ tenor sax has some fills that help this tune’s soulfulness. After a short “chat” the band get into the blues with a lengthy (7 minutes) “12 Bar Blues (Don’t Want Me Around)”, with Delaney on lead vocal. King Curtis gets a good solo in that really adds to this tune with more horns in the background comping away. Duane Allman comes in for a solo with some laid back slide guitar sounding like you’d hope. At one point the band lays out letting Allman do his thing. This is one of the best performances here.
Another 2+ minutes “chat” and then the band ends things with a jam on “Only You Know & I Know” which stretches out for 18 minutes. This is one of those times you wish you were sitting in the audience. D&B blend their voices that’s reminiscent (if you’re a D&B fan) of past performances, and all the while the whole band (including some fine percussion work and a drum solo) works out behind them. Allman gets another chance to play some slide guitar here and there along with a nice organ solo–not Gregg Allman–who gets in a piano solo later on, and Curtis’ always great tenor sax blowing. Sitting in the audience must’ve been quite something listening to all the great musicians on this long, good time jam.
Is this some long lost treasure? Well, maybe not. Is this the first place to hear D&B? No. Or the Allman brothers? No. But as a curiosity from that period when D&B were making some good records, and had a band made up of some of the best musicians of the era, this is worth adding to your D&B shelf to pull out once in a while. The loose, jammy, come-together feel is pretty cool. It’s an example of that whole period when musicians came together to play and have some fun playing some favorite tunes. Not essential, but at a good price–for deep D&B/Allman fans–there’s some nice moments…..by Stuart Jefferson…..~
There’s a whole lot to like, and a little not to like. Of the 71 minutes and 15 tracks, there are only 9 songs due to all the stage banter. The music, though, is phenomenal. The first half is all acoustic, which is a real treat. I’ve never heard Duane Allman play so much acoustic guitar, and his slide really shines, especially on “Poor Elijah” (a tribute to Robert Johnson). The electric section is even better. Greg Allman joins the full Delaney & Bonnie band on piano (they already had a Hammond organist), and King Curtis sits in spectacularly on sax. While the stage banter is, at times, interesting (Delaney’s hype for the upcoming Concert for Bangladesh), I wish they would have saved the room for more songs. The DJ promises an hour-plus electric set, but if they played that long, only 5 songs made the album. While some of the detail are a bit puzzling, it does not detract from the overall effect. It’s some of the best music I’ve purchased in quite some time….by… Misterian….~
- Bonnie Bramlett - vocals
- Delaney Bramlett - guitar, vocals
- Duane Allman - slide guitar
- Greg Allman - piano, vocals
- King Curtis - saxophone
- Kenny Gradney - bass
- Sam Clayton - congas
- Joe Johansen - guitar
- Chuck Morgan - drums
- Daryl Leonard - trumpet
- Larry Britt - trombone
- Jerry Jummonville - saxophone
- Gordon De Witty - piano, organ
Recorded at A & R Studios, New York City, NY, July 22, 1971
for a live WPLJ FM Broadcast Duane Allman plays on tracks 2, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 13 & 15.
1. announcer
2. Come On In My Kitchen
3. chat 1
4. Goin’ Down The Road Feeling Bad
5. chat 2
6. Poor Elijah
7. The Ghetto
8. announcer
9. Livin’ On The Open Road
10. Better Relations (= Alone Together)
11. The Love Of My Man
12. chat 3
13. 12 Bar Blues (Don’t Want Me Around)
14. chat 4
15. Only You Know & I Know Jam
