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Just Peachy: New Box Set Celebrates 50 Years of The Allman Brothers Band

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The November 1969 arrival of the self-titled The Allman Brothers Band heralded the arrival of a group which would change the face of music. Duane Allman, Gregg Allman, Dickey Betts, Berry Oakley, Jai Johanny Johanson (a.k.a. Jaimoe), and Butch Trucks fused rock, blues, and country with jazz-inspired improvisation to become one of the most beloved bands of all time. On February 28, UMe and Mercury Records will celebrate 50 years of The Allman Brothers Band with a remarkable, career-spanning box set available on 5 CDs or 10 LPs. Trouble No More: 50th Anniversary Collection contains recordings from the group's Capricorn, Arista, Epic, and Peach years.

Produced by Bill Levenson, John Lynskey and Kirk West, Trouble No More boasts 61 Allman Brothers Band classics, rarities, and live tracks spanning their entire 45-year career. Additionally, it premieres seven previously unreleased tracks beginning with the Allmans' original 1969 demo of the Muddy Waters song which lends this collection its name: "Trouble No More." It was the first demo recorded for The Allman Brothers Band. Appropriately, "Trouble No More" also concludes the box set with a live performance from the band's last-ever show at New York's Beacon Theatre in 2014.

Trouble No More is sequenced chronologically and thematically to represent all of the group's lineups, and so each disc of the CD version showcases one era of Allman history. CD 1, The Capricorn Years 1969 - 1979 Part I, spans the Allmans' earliest years and such albums as The Allman Brothers Band, Live at Ludlow Garage, Idlewild South, and the seminal At Fillmore East. The Capricorn Years 1969 -1979 Part II, on the second disc, chronicles the live and studio double album Eat A Peach which featured the final recordings of Duane Allman made in 1971 before his unexpected death. This disc continues with cuts from Brothers and Sisters (the Allmans' only No. 1 album which yielded their only top 10 Pop single, "Ramblin' Man") as well as live tracks from the Mar y Sol Festival and New York's A&R Studios (released in 2016).

The third disc covers two eras, The Capricorn Years, 1969-1979 Part III/The Arista Years, 1980-1981. It opens with live performances from their Summer Jam show of July '73 at Watkins Glen including an unreleased "Mountain Jam." Five albums are covered here, culminating in 1981's Brothers of the Road, their second and final Arista platter, Brothers of the Road. Their eighth studio album, it was their only one without Jai Johanny Johanson, their final LP to feature bassist David Goldflies and guitarist Dan Toler, and their only album with drummer David Toler.

The Allmans broke up in 1982 but reunited seven years later to mark their twentieth anniversary. Their first retrospective box set, Dreams, was also issued that year. The revitalized band, now a seven-piece featuring guitarist Warren Haynes, signed with Epic Records. Disc Four covers 1990-2000 and the Epic studio albums Shades of Two Worlds and Where It All Begins plus live tracks such as an unreleased "I'm Not Crying."

The final disc of Trouble No More, The Peach Years 2000-2014, found the Allman Brothers Band persevering as Dickey Betts departed and Derek Trucks joined the lineup. Three unreleased cuts feature on this disc, two of which are from the 2005 annual stand at the Beacon.

The 5-CD edition will be packaged in a slipcased 12-panel digipak, which also houses an 88-page booklet. The 10-LP version is packaged in a wood veneer-wrapped slipcase, with each two LPs in one of five gatefold jackets. (The vinyl set is also to be released as a limited edition colored vinyl pressing available exclusively from uDiscover Music, with each LP pressed on orange and red splatter colored vinyl to evoke the inside of a peach.) Both the CD and LP boxes have an almost 9,000-word essay by John Lynskey; previously unpublished photos and memorabilia images; and an overview of the band's 13 different line-ups. Finally, a digital version of the album will mirror the 5CD edition for streaming and download, including as an Apple Digital Master. All of the recordings in the box set have been newly mastered by Jason NeSmith at Chase Park Transduction in Athens, Georgia.

The Allman Brothers Band's Trouble No More: 50th Anniversary Collection is due from Mercury/UMe on February 28, just weeks before a March 10 celebration of the band's legacy at Madison Square Garden. The sold-out concert by The Brothers - Jaimoe, Warren Haynes, Derek Trucks, Oteil Burbridge, and Marc Quinones - plus special guests has already sold out. You can check out the track listing and pre-order links for Trouble No More below!

The Allman Brothers Band, Trouble No More: 50th Anniversary Collection (Mercury/UMe, 2020)

5CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
10LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada

Disc 1: The Capricorn Years 1969-1979, Part I

  1. Trouble No More (Demo) *
  2. Don't Want You No More
  3. It's Not My Cross To Bear
  4. Dreams
  5. Whipping Post
  6. I'm Gonna Move To The Outskirts Of Town (Live at Ludlow Garage, Cincinnati, OH - 4/11/1970)
  7. Midnight Rider
  8. Revival
  9. Don't Keep Me Wonderin'
  10. Hoochie Coochie Man
  11. Please Call Home
  12. Statesboro Blues (Live at Fillmore East, New York, NY - 3/12-13/1971)
  13. Stormy Monday (Live at Fillmore East, New York, NY - 3/12-13/1971)
  14. In Memory Of Elizabeth Reed (Live at Fillmore East, New York, NY - 3/12-13/1971)

Disc 2: The Capricorn Years 1969-1979, Part II

  1. One Way Out (Live at Fillmore East, New York, NY - 3/12-13/1971)
  2. You Don't Love Me/Soul Serenade (Live at A&R Studios, New York, NY - 8/26/1971)
  3. Hot 'Lanta (Live at A&R Studios, New York, NY - 8/26/1971)
  4. Stand Back
  5. Melissa
  6. Blue Sky
  7. Ain't Wastin' Time No More (Live at Mar y Sol Festival, Vega Baja, Puerto Rico - 4/2/1972)
  8. Wasted Words
  9. Ramblin' Man
  10. Southbound
  11. Jessica
  12. Early Morning Blues (Outtake) *

Disc 3: The Capricorn Years 1969-1979, Part III / The Arista Years, 1980-1981

  1. Come and Go Blues (Live at Watkins Glen, NY - 7/28/1973)
  2. Mountain Jam (Live at Watkins Glen, NY - 7/28/1973) *
  3. Can't Lose What You Never Had
  4. Win, Lose Or Draw
  5. High Falls
  6. Crazy Love
  7. Can't Take It With You
  8. Pegasus
  9. Just Ain't Easy (Live at Merriweather Post Pavilion, Columbia, MD - 7/19/1979)
  10. Hell & High Water
  11. Angeline
  12. Leavin'
  13. Never Knew How Much (I Needed You)

Disc 4: The Epic Years 1990-2000

  1. Good Clean Fun
  2. Seven Turns
  3. Gambler's Roll
  4. End Of The Line
  5. Nobody Knows
  6. Low Down Dirty Mean (Live at The Beacon Theatre, New York, NY - 3/10-11/1992)
  7. Come On Into My Kitchen (Live at Radio & Records Convention, Los Angeles, CA - June 1992)
  8. Sailin' 'Cross The Devil's Sea
  9. Back Where It All Begins
  10. Soulshine
  11. No One To Run With
  12. I'm Not Crying (Live at The Beacon Theatre) *

Disc 5: The Peach Years 2000-2014

  1. Loan Me a Dime (Live at World Music Theatre)*
  2. Desdemona (Live at The Beacon Theatre, New York, NY - 3/15-25/2001) *
  3. High Cost Of Low Living
  4. Old Before My Time
  5. Blue Sky (Live at The Beacon Theatre) *
  6. Little Martha (Live at The Beacon Theatre, New York, NY) *
  7. Black Hearted Woman (Live at The Beacon Theatre, New York, NY - 10/28/2014)
  8. The Sky Is Crying (Live at The Beacon Theatre, New York, NY - 10/28/2014)
  9. "Farewell" speeches (Live at The Beacon Theatre, New York, NY - 10/28/2014)
  10. Trouble No More (Live at The Beacon Theatre, New York, NY - 10/28/2014)

Disc 1, Track 1; Disc 2, Track 12; Disc 3, Track 2; Disc 4, Track 12; Disc 5, Tracks 1-2 and 5-6 previously unreleased
Disc 1, Tracks 2-5 from The Allman Brothers Band (ATCO, 1969)
Disc 1, Track 6 from Live At Ludlow Garage (Polydor, 1990)
Disc 1, Tracks 7-11 from Idlewild South (ATCO, 1970)
Disc 1, Tracks 12-14 and Disc 1, Track 2 from At Fillmore East (Capricorn, 1971)
Disc 2, Tracks 2-3 from Live From A&R Studios, New York City, August 26, 1971 (The Allman Brothers Band Recording Company, 2016). Track 2 previously released on Dreams (Mercury, 1989)
Disc 2, Tracks 4-6 from Eat a Peach (Capricorn, 1972)
Disc 2, Track 7 from Mar y Sol (ATCO, 1972)
Disc 2, Tracks 8-11 from Brothers and Sisters (Capricorn, 1973)
Disc 3, Track 1 from Wipe The Windows, Check The Oil, Dollar Gas (Capricorn, 1976)
Disc 3, Tracks 3-5 from Win, Lose Or Draw (Capricorn, 1975)
Disc 3, Tracks 6-8 from Enlightened Rogues (Capricorn, 1979)
Disc 3, Track 9 from Dreams (Mercury, 1989)
Disc 3, Tracks 10-11 from Reach For The Sky (Arista, 1980)
Disc 3, Tracks 11-12 from Brothers Of The Road (Arista, 1981)
Disc 4, Tracks 1-3 from Seven Turns (Epic, 1990)
Disc 4, Tracks 4-5 from Shades Of Two Worlds (Epic, 1991)
Disc 4, Track 6 from Play All Night: Live At The Beacon Theatre 1992 (Epic/Legacy, 2014)
Disc 4, Track 7 from Epic promo album ESK 4632, 1992
Disc 4, Tracks 8-11 from Where It All Begins (Epic, 1994)
Disc 5, Tracks 3-4 from Hittin' the Note (Peach, 2003)

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Joe Marchese

JOE MARCHESE (Editor) joined The Second Disc shortly after its launch in early 2010, and has since penned daily news and reviews about classic music of all genres. In 2015, Joe formed the Second Disc Records label. Celebrating the great songwriters, producers and artists who created the sound of American popular song and beyond, Second Disc Records, in conjunction with labels including Real Gone Music and Cherry Red Records, has released newly-curated collections produced and annotated by Joe from iconic artists such as Dionne Warwick, Diana Ross and The Supremes, Smokey Robinson and The Miracles, The Spinners, Johnny Mathis, Bobby Darin, Meat Loaf, Laura Nyro, Melissa Manchester, Liza Minnelli, Darlene Love, Al Stewart, Michael Nesmith, and many others. Joe has written liner notes, produced, or contributed to over 200 reissues from a diverse array of artists, among them America, JD Souther, Nat "King" Cole, Paul Williams, Lesley Gore, Dusty Springfield, BJ Thomas, The 5th Dimension, Burt Bacharach, The Mamas and the Papas, Carpenters, Perry Como, Rod McKuen, Doris Day, Jackie DeShannon, Petula Clark, Robert Goulet, and Andy Williams. Over the past two decades, Joe has also worked in a variety of capacities on and off Broadway as well as at some of the premier theatres in the U.S., including Lincoln Center Theater, George Street Playhouse, Paper Mill Playhouse, Long Wharf Theatre, and the York Theatre Company. He has felt privileged to work on productions alongside artists such as the late Jack Klugman, Eli Wallach, Arthur Laurents, Betty Comden and Adolph Green. In 2009, Joe began contributing theatre and music reviews to the print publication The Sondheim Review, and in 2012, he joined the staff of The Digital Bits as a regular contributor writing about film and television on DVD and Blu-ray. Joe currently resides in the suburbs of New York City.

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Comments

  1. Not a ton here that fans don’t already have... Especially the many of us who have the old Dreams box set (Still a gold standard for box sets).

    While there’s a lot of wonderful live music here, how about releasing the full shows of Mar Y Sol, Watkins Glen, Merriweather, the “Unplugged” performance that “Come On In My Kitchen” is from (It was briefly available as a benefit disc over two decades ago)?

    The band’s final show from 2014 can be purchased online, but that (Incredible) show should’ve had a wider, general release in nicer packaging thru retailers (Shortsighted it apparently wasn’t filmed either).

    Giving the fans who already have most of this a repackaging of the same, with only a few rare trinkets, is not the way to go. Forgetting this collection missed the 50th anniversary by a year, there’s so much more the ABB organization could be doing.

    Following examples set by the Grateful Dead and Bob Dylan camps would be welcome.

    Reply

    • Replaying to my own comment, I should add that for a new(er) fan, this may not be a good place to start.

      Covers all era of the band, and gives enough of a taste of the Epic era and the excellent Hittin’ the Note album for people to take a deeper dive on those (All three Epic albums and Hittin’ are highly recommend to own in full... I’m especially fond of Shades of Two Worlds).

      But those albums, and the run of albums starting with the 1969 debut thru Brothers and Sisters are all “must haves” anyhow (I also like Enlightened Rogues), and most fans of the band will have all of those.

      So that leaves the paltry handful of rarities, only some of which are truly “previously unreleased” at this point. More full live “vault” releases need to happen now, while there’s still an audience for this stuff.

      Finally, while the CDs are very reasonably priced (Seeing it under $50 some places), the $500 vinyl list price is going to give those buyers sticker shock.

      Some are selling it for a bit less, but I still have to wonder how many units will actually sell at over $400 for the vinyl LPs.

      Reply

      • Oh good lord... I meant to say “It may be a good place to start” or “NOT a bad place to start”!

        On it’s own, this is a nice collection. Way too pricy for vinyl buyers, I’d think, but a good collection.

        Just not something long time fans, who have the vast majority of the songs here, is going to need. For newbies, this collection actually looks pretty great.

        Reply

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