105. The Allman Brothers, "At Fillmore East"

 


Widely regarded as the greatest rock live album of all time, this album is great if you love seemingly endless guitar noodling and songs that never really go anywhere.  Am I being too harsh?  I'm being too harsh probably.  I bet this album is great if you're fucking rocked on acid or whatever.  As regular readers are no doubt aware, I am not a fan of long jams and do you think this album has long jams?  Let me tell you.  This was a double album with SEVEN SONGS.  Side two and side four both have ONE SONG.  One song!  

Just so I don't come off as a complete dick and musical ignoramus, there are things about this album I like.  I like "Statesboro Blues," the album opener, which comes in at a relatively tight 4:19, and is a great blues boogie.  It's a cover of a 1928 Blind Willie McTell song, and features absolutely incendiary guitar interplay between Duane Allman and Dickey Betts.  This the kind of jamming I can get behind; it has a point, a structure, and you can see how the guitar solos progress from start to finish.  It's a big contrast with, say, "You Don't Love Me," the 19-minute song that makes up side two and a lot of times sounds like they're just flailing around without anyone much caring.  YMMV.

"Whipping Post," the album's closer, which was recorded at like 5 in the fucking morning, no joke, has always bothered me, and not just because it's 23 minutes long.  I think maybe it's comparing woman troubles to a vicious and sadistic punishment inflicted on slaves, especially ironic considering the Allmans' long history of incorporating Confederate iconography into their merch and look (despite having a black drummer, Jai Johanny Johanson).  Anyway, can you imagine still being at a show at 5 in the morning?

Speaking of cocaine, I encountered a humorous anecdote while reading up on this album: photo shoots for the cover, which were being done in Macon, Georgia, were not going great and everyone was in a bad mood until Duane spotted his coke dealer and ran down the alley and scored an 8-ball and that's why everyone in the picture is suddenly smiling.  

Is this album in my personal Top 500? Uh, no.

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