Gregg Allman - organ, vocals; Dickey Betts - guitar, vocals; Dan Toler - guitar; Chuck Leavell - keyboards, vocals; Bruce Waibel - bass; Butch Trucks - drums; Jai Johanson - drums; Guest: Paul Butterfield - harmonica on "One Way Out."; Guest: Felix Cavaliere - organ, vocals on "Good Lovin'" and "Key To The Highway"; Guest: Mick Taylor - guitar on "Key To The Highway"; Guest: Stephen Stills - guitar, vocals on "Key To The Highway"; Guest: Carlos Santana - guitar on "Key To The Highway"
This is an extraordinarily exciting set. Not only does it document the triumphant return of The Allman Brothers Band after several years of inactivity during the mid-1980s, but also contains a star-studded cast of special guests that includes blues legend Paul Butterfield; former singer/organist for The Rascals, Felix Cavaliere; former Rolling Stones lead guitarist Mick Taylor; and the impeccable Carlos Santana.
Promoter Bill Graham helped get the band back together after an ugly drug trial in the '80s had broken them apart. Guitarist Dickey Betts had been pursuing a successful solo career with a label deal on Arista Records and a hot, Allmans-styled band, Great Southern. Gregg Allman had done a few solo albums that were modestly successful, and he had been involved in an arguably embarrassing marriage and musical partnership with Cher. Still, the Allman Brothers albums released in the late 1970s on Capricorn and early 1980s on Arista failed to bring the band back to their pre-1975 glory when they were the godfathers of Southern rock.
The band hit the ground running with "Midnight Rider" from their 1970 Idlewild South album, a song that made it onto Gregg Allman's first solo album. From there, they rock out on several of their classic tunes, including "Blue Sky" and "Jessica" from 1973's Brothers and Sisters; "One Way Out" (with guest Paul Butterfield on harmonica) from 1972's Eat A Peach; and the blues standard, "Statesboro Blues," from the legendary At Fillmore East.
They return for an encore with former Rascals leader Felix Cavaliere, who leads the band through his 1965 classic "Good Lovin'." They are joined by Carlos Santana and former Rolling Stone Mick Taylor for an impassioned version of the Big Bill Broonzy classic "Key To The Highway" (which the late Duane Allman had brought to the Derek and the Dominoes sessions).
This one is not to be missed.