Published on Apr 13, 2002
It would be too easy to write off
Brothers And Sisters, the 1973 outing from The Allman
Brothers Band, as a must-own album. After all, it does contain two
of the best-known tracks from the band, “Ramblin’ Man” and
“Jessica”. It would be easy to invoke the pity clause, since the
band was still recovering from the 1971 motorcycle accident which
took the life of Duane Allman. If that wasn’t enough heartbreak,
the Greek tragedy continued in 1972 when bassist Berry Oakley was
killed in another motorcycle accident, blocks from Duane Allman’s
fatal crash… just over a year to the day of the first
crash.
Yet if one who’s familiar with the Allmans to this point in
their career really sits down and listens to
Brothers And Sisters, two words should come to their mouths:
“Uh oh.” While this is still very much a listenable album, it does
reflect the strain the band had been under dealing with tragedy
after tragedy, and the stress begins to take its toll.
In all fairness, the fact that any band could go on after the
deaths of two key members in just over a year is an amazing display
of heart, and I honestly cannot imagine how Gregg Allman and
company were able to keep things going after Oakley’s death. And it
might seem that I’m making light of Dickey Betts’s skills as a
guitarist and songwriter. Nothing could be farther from the truth.
Listen to the instrumental “Jessica,” and hear how all the
influences the Allmans had been playing since the late ’60s finally
merge in this jazz-rock number. It is a tad overplayed on radio,
admittedly, but it’s still a tour de force that is rightfully seen
as one of the best songs in the Allmans’ repertoire.
Yet this, the band’s fifth disc (not including
Beginnings, a re-packaging of the Allmans’s first two
albums) shows how important both Duane Allman and Oakley were to
this group. There is a noticeable change in the band’s overall
sound, though to lay all the blame on the loss of the two players
is not quite accurate.
To be sure, the focus moves a little away from the blues
stylings that Gregg Allman had down pat, and if any of the Allman
Brothers Band albums can be called “southern rock,” this one is
most definitely the closest to being pigeonholed as such. But a
third key element for the Allmans is missing – namely, producer Tom
Dowd, who knew how to capture the band’s sound in all its gritty
glory. Brothers And Sisters finds the production duties shared
between the band and Johnny Sandlin – and the resulting sound, a
tad more polished than previous albums, doesn’t quite sound right
for the kind of music the Allmans had been playing. A key element
of their sound had been a “dirty” sound – meaning simply that the
band was captured almost as if they were in a live setting, without
the sterility of the studio.
I don’t recall where I read it, so forgive me if I don’t give
credit where credit is due, but one review of this disc I read
noted that Oakley’s bass is higher in the mix, while replacement
bassist Lamar Williams is almost buried among the other
instruments. Whoever noted this is absolutely right – something
which is unfair to Williams, since he seems like he was able to
hold his own with the rest of the band.
As for the bulk of the music – well, “Ramblin’ Man” and
“Jessica” are almost universally recognized, and I do happen to
like both tracks, so forgive me if I turn my focus on the other
five. Musically, it just sounds like the band’s heart wasn’t
totally in these tracks – “Wasted Words,” one of the final tracks
with Oakley, features Gregg Allman sounding damned uncomfortable,
while “Southbound,” “Come And Go Blues” and “Jelly Jelly,”
listenable tracks admittedly, don’t quite stand up as well as other
selections from the Allmans’ discography.
“Pony Boy,” written by Betts, almost seals the deal on how the
group’s sound is going to go. It’s almost as if Betts had the heart
of a country player, but played rock laced with country influences
to pay the bills. Like most of the album, it’s listenable, but it’s
not the group’s best work.
One thing which gets unnoticed in general is that the two best
songs feature guest musician Les Dudek. His presence on “Jessica”
is limited to acoustic guitar – no major sin there – but he’s
credited with lead guitar on “Ramblin’ Man”. I don’t know why, but
it concerns me that the best track the Allmans have has to rely on
an outside musician to help push it over the edge.
For that matter, one can’t really blame Gregg Allman if his
heart isn’t in this record. The addition of pianist Chuck Leavell
places a lot of the keyboard responsibilities on his shoulders –
leaving little for Allman himself to do. Item to note: Allman is
not involved at all on “Pony Boy”. ‘Nuff said.
It should be viewed as a miracle that
Brothers And Sisters ever came together at all, and it does
show on two tracks that the Allmans could overcome anything thrown
their way. But this album also showed, with apologies to Superman,
that the men of steel were starting to get tired.