Gregg Allman - lead vocals, organ, guitar; Dan Toler - guitar; David Frankie Toler - drums; Chaz Trippy - percussion; Bruce Waibel - bass; Tim Heding - keyboards, background vocals
After a number of hit and misses with both his solo and Allman Brother releases during the late '70s and early '80s, singer/organist Gregg Allman hit a home run with 1987's I'm No Angel, his first Epic Records disc and his return to the gritty R&B-drenched blues rock that the early Allman Brothers albums featured. This group was assembled around the success of I'm No Angel, and didn't make any effort to shy away from the early Allman's sound.
Much of the material in this show comes from the band's first three albums, on which Gregg obviously had a greater influence. He opens the concert with "Don't Want You No More" and "It's Not My Cross To Bear," the two leading tracks on the first Allmans album. He includes Muddy Waters' "Trouble No More" and closes with "Whipping Post," also from their self-titled debut.
"Hot 'Lanta," "Please Call Home," and "Statesboro Blues" also make appearances during this set, and Allman plays these classic songs with passion and conviction. They sound as strong as they did in the early days of the Allmans, and much better than when he performed them in later years with the post-Eat A Peach lineup. There were also a number of tracks from the new LP Gregg Allman was promoting at the time, including the title track, "I'm No Angel," which is one of the highlights of the show.
After the deaths of Duane Allman and Berry Oakley from unrelated motorcycle accidents in 1971 and '72, respectively, The Allman Brothers Band essentially split into two distinct musical divisions. There was the Gregg Allman-side of the band, which was more loyal to the original 1969/70 blues-rock sound; and the Dickey Betts side, which was more country and jam-band oriented. Both had brought success to the Allmans, but musically it was pretty clear where Gregg Allman wanted to be.