The Grateful Allman Brothers

This was for Dave’s Turntable Talk, and he wanted us to pick either an artist, or an album, or even one song that has risen steadily in our estimation through the years. I picked two…because they are similar and both happened at the same time with me. 

I’m cheating a bit, but I got permission from the principal. I simply could not pick between the Grateful Dead and the Allman Brothers. I always liked them both, but didn’t really LIKE them until the teens, around the same time. Thanks, Dave, for another intriguing question.

In the 1980s, I had a greatest hits package by both bands, and I thought I was doing fine. One day, I needed to pick a book from Audible, and I happened to pick Gregg Allman’s book The Cross I Bear, which I would put up there with the Keith Richards book Life. I started to get into the book, and then I started to listen to the music, and I was blown away. In that book, he talked about The Grateful Dead, and I soon got Dead’s drummer Bill Kreutzmann’s book Deal about his life, and the same thing happened. 

This is how a young Max got into music in the first place: by getting Beatles books and going from there. In those books, the author would mention other artists, and I would have to check them out. Out of that, I got the Who, Kinks, Stones, and the rest. 

Both of these bands seem to be related to each other. Two jam bands, one from the West Coast and their southern brother in Macon, Georgia. Both were led by a strong lead guitarist and two drummers. They did have separate styles, but live, you could expect a different concert night to night. Both of them treated their road crew much better than other bands. They considered them just as important as the band itself. 

Both bands pulled from American styles: blues, country, folk, and jazz. The Dead leaned into folk, bluegrass, and psychedelic experimentation, while the Allmans drew more heavily from Delta blues and Southern soul. But in both cases, their sound was a gumbo rather than a single style.

As I got into them, what grabbed me about the Grateful Dead were the lyrics that Hunter and Garcia wrote and the beautiful melodies they wrote. With the Allmans, it was that driving music. I always thought they were more intense than the Dead. Their songs were not as deep, but I loved the music. I instantly fell for both bands. I threw away the greatest hits packages and started to explore more of their albums, and I’m better for it. 

It’s a shame we didn’t have more Allmans with Duane and more Dead with Pigpen. Those two losses changed the dynamics of both bands. Both of these bands had talent to burn, and the Allmans put that to the test. After losing Duane, they lost their melodic bass player, Berry Oakley, a year after Duane’s passing. 

If I had to pick my favorite album by both bands, it would be Eat A Peach by the Allmans and American Beauty by the Grateful Dead, although Wake of the Flood would be a close second.  Without them, there’s no Phish, Widespread Panic, or modern jam band scene. Both are considered the patron saints of improvisational rock, each with its own branch on the family tree.

They did share a stage at the Fillmore East in 1970 with Duane and Pigpen. They also played massive shows together at Watkins Glen and at RFK Stadium, both in 1973. 

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Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, Alternative music, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player. Not the slightest bit interested in politics at all.

27 thoughts on “The Grateful Allman Brothers”

  1. Pingback: The Grateful Allman Brothers – MobsterTiger

  2. Thanks again for taking part, Max. Good picks and I can see how you can put them together somewhat with their similar-ish sounds and jam band sensibilities. And each with just one big hit single means there’s a lot more about them than what many expect

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      2. Oh…no I like Uncle Johns Band much more and even Truckin…and with the Allmans all of those songs that hit on Fillmore East.

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  4. Excellent article, Max! I always preferred the Allman Brothers over the Dead, though my cousin Greg who passed a couple years ago, loved the Grateful Dead and tried to convince me numerous times how great they were/are.
    We love Tedeschi Trucks band, no doubt from Derek’s connection to the Allman band early on.

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    1. I like that band as well. It’s funny I started to get into them around the same time…and they are similiar…no doubt in a lot of ways…but the Allmans are more intense musically.

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  5. The recorded version of “Mississippi Half-Step” includes violin by Vassar Clements, who also played with Garcia as part of Old & In the Way (a bluegrass band). Also appearing on “Wake of the Flood” was Doug Sahm on bajo sexto (though I’d have to listen to the whole album to try to find his contributions. I can’t find a listing of where he appears).

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    1. Sahm keeps popping up when I look for different things. I didn’t know he played with them before…I’m watching him live with Garcia on a video right now. I have to dig into his solo stuff from the 70s.

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  6. There is a famous radio broadcast featuring Duane Allman and Jerry Garcia took place on November 21, 1970, at WBCN-FM studios in Boston. The acoustic jam session also included Grateful Dead guitarist Bob Weir. The spontaneous performance came about after both the Grateful Dead, and the Allman Brothers Band had played concerts in Boston that evening.

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    1. Thank you! I missed both the Dead and Allmans because it took me a while to get into them. I regret it but like you I’ve wore both bands albums out.

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  8. They are both bands that you sort of hop on board and roll along with wherever the band is going. Its the journey, not the eventual place they get to. Just enjoy the ride, whether it’s fast, slow or meandering.

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  9. As I previously commented on Dave’s blog, The Grateful Dead and The Allman Brothers Band are both groups who rose significantly in my appreciation. As such, I could have picked any of them for this round. In my case, The Allmans would have been a more obvious choice since I’ve listened to more of their music than the Dead. For the latter, apart from specific songs here and there, it comes down to “American Beauty” and “Workingman’s Dead,” both albums I’ve come to dig!

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  11. I am no expert on either band, but I know the Allman Brothers music better than the Dead’s. Having said that, there are certain Dead songs that I think are wonderful. I love “Playing In The Band”, “U.S. Blues”, and the funk of “Shakedown Street.” “It’s Not My Cross To Bear” is probably my favorite Allman Brothers song, but I could name several more. My brother went to the Summer Jam in ’73. Watkins Glen is about a 45 minute drive from where I live. One of my older sisters went to Woodstock too. The funny thing is, I’ve never asked them about any of it. I better pump them for information before we’re all dead. I’m going to try to watch the Night Stalker movie tonight or tomorrow and comment on it.

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    1. Oh I would LOVE to know about Watkins Glen…one commenter here…Jim went to it. But I like all of those songs you mentioned and especially U.S. Blues…I also like the one that I posted that I won’t even try to spell!

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      1. Have you heard the sad story of two teenagers, Mitchel Weiser and Bonnie Bickwit who were hitchhiking to the Watkins Glen concert and were never heard from again? I guess the story was on Dateline or one of those shows quite a few years ago, and someone I work with was talking about it the next day. I was surprised I had never heard anything about it before.

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      2. No…I never heard that before! That is terrible. You know many times when that happens, and I hope they just ran off, but they usually find their car in a lake or somewhere…I hope that is not the case.
        Well scratch that…they were hitch hiking.

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