Published on May 20, 2002
By 1976, The Allman Brothers Band existed only in people’s
memories. Disagreements over the musical direction the band should
go in, compounded with founding member Gregg Allman’s testimony
against a member of the band’s crew in a drug case, splintered the
band like a balsa wood bridge under the weight of an 18-wheeler.
The remaining members vowed never to work with Allman again, and it
seemed like one of the most influential bands of the early ’70s was
history.
It’s interesting, then, that
Wipe The Windows, Check The Oil, Dollar Gas, a 1976
compilation of live tracks culled from concerts featuring the “Mark
III” version of the band (that is, after the deaths of Duane Allman
and Berry Oakley), is such a powerful piece of work. Some hold this
set up to
At Fillmore East in comparison, and immediately turn their
noses down at these tracks. In truth, this is unfair – after all,
you’re now competing with the ghost of Duane Allman, a battle
that’s just not worth staging.
Is this set perfect? No. Is it enjoyable? Very much so –
something I don’t think I’d have predicted after listeining to
Brothers And Sisters and
Win, Lose Or Draw prior to this album. (Once again, I’m
working from vinyl – to be honest, I think I bought this 10 years
ago, and this was the first time I ever listened to it. Funny how
this job works.) For as musically unstable as the Allmans seemed
after the deaths of Duane Allman and Oakley, this set proved their
greatest strength was in concert.
One full album’s worth of material is taken from a set performed
at Winterland in 1973. One can almost understand why the whole show
wasn’t featured – if it was, it would have been the second live
album recorded at one of Bill Graham’s venues. But if either the
Allmans or Polygram (whoever wins the battle for tapes that is in
the courts right now) were wise, they’d put this whole show out
soon, ’cause the energy is infectious. Sure, the live version of
“Ramblin’ Man” proves this has to be a song performed with two
guitarists; Dickey Betts sounds naked without having a harmony
guitar line echoing his parts. But when Gregg Allman and crew can
breathe life into “Wasted Words” and “Southbound,” you know
something is going right. As for the latest version of “In Memory
Of Elizabeth Reed,” purists will probably find something to piss
and moan about, but I actually like some of the newer twists thrown
into the song. Let’s remember, this is a jazz-rock song, and jazz
is a living being which is constantly evolving. So why shouldn’t
this song grow as the band grows?
The last three tracks, pulled from two dates in California late
in 1975, show that even while the band was involved with so much
infighting, they could still launch fireworks on stage. Daring to
go back to their self-titled album with the two-fer of “Don’t Want
You No More” and “It’s Not My Cross To Bear,” Gregg Allman dares to
suggest that the group was finally ready to shed the albatross that
was the loss of two core members of the group. The live version of
“Jessica” which closes this disc out dares to challenge the
original studio version pound for pound with the energy the band
pours into it. Interesting to note that Gregg Allman’s organ lines
help provide a second “guitar” line to Betts’s lead – something I
wouldn’t have bet on after listening to “Ramblin’ Man”.
If all the tracks on
Wipe The Windows, Check The Oil, Dollar Gas crackled with
this much power, you could light all of California every time
someone played this album. Sadly, this isn’t the case. “Ain’t
Wastin’ Time No More,” pulled from a New Year’s Eve 1972 gig in New
Orleans, is almost mournful in delivery – not what the original on
Eat A Peach was meant to be. The rendition of “Come And Go
Blues” from Watkins Glen in 1973 isn’t bad, but it really wasn’t a
strong song to begin with. In the band’s defense, their take on
“Can’t Lose What You Never Had” (again from one of the 1975
California shows) does shake off the ghosts of the original they
recorded on
Win, Lose Or Draw.
If this live set does anything correctly, it highlights the work
of bassist Lamar Williams, whose contributions always seemed to be
buried in the mix. It’s unfortunate that this turned out to be the
final appearance by Williams with the Allmans on record; he was one
of the few members who did not reunite with Allman in 1979, and
died of Agent Orange-related cancer in1983.
Wipe The Windows… is an album that has undoubtedly
been overlooked throughout the years, but is a disc that shows just
how good the Allman Brothers Band was, even near the end of the
first stage of their career. It did not, however, mark the complete
end of the band; a few members decided to let bygones be bygones
and re-formed the group with Gregg Allman, leading to their 1979
album
Enlightened Rogues… but that’s another review for
another day.