Gregg Allman – Uncle Sam's (2-LP Vinyl)

In the decade prior to this Boston appearance in the summer of 1983, Gregg Allman had dipped his toes sporadically into his solo endeavors away from The Allman Brothers Band. He'd released three solo albums, including his sparkling debut, Laid Back, and a treasured double live collection. If nothing else, that trio of albums signified Allman's solo identity- with definitively blues-drenched soul and R&B leanings- preferring tight song arrangements that emphasized less the extended guitar improvisations popularized by his brother, Duane, and counterpart, Dickey Betts.

The Allman Brothers Band, in the mid '70s, was volleying between activity and hiatus, reconstructing itself several times, and eventually crossing into the '80s with its least successful lineup and two albums for Arista that few remember well. Yet, from that brief formation came a guitar player, 'Dangerous' Dan Toler, and his drumming brother, David, who would follow Allman out the door when the Brothers hung it up, seemingly for the last time, in 1982. A year later, here they were as members of the Gregg Allman Band, lighting up Beantown, fittingly, at Uncle Sam's, on America's birthday weekend.

"We don't need no fireworks tonight, baby," Allman says with a smile, a few songs into a fiery and bursting set that begins, instead, with a whispering, acoustic take of "Midnight Rider," then simmers with the Brothers' classic, "Dreams," as Toler establishes himself as a player of dexterity and taste, and a discernible influence from his years with Betts. Two standout Toler performances carry a pair of Brothers nuggets- "Don't Keep Me Wonderin'" and "Hot 'Lanta,"- that are the closest things to Allman's ABB persona in action. Refreshingly, Allman employs a horn section that sharpens the corners around his superb vocals, and brightens the two selections from his solo bag, "Sweet Feelin'," and the lovely swing of "Queen of Hearts."

As a first archival release from Allman's personal vault, it's a great choice. It marks, in style, the start of a five-year run with the Toler siblings that would eventually produce Allman's biggest hit, "I'm No Angel," before The Allman Brothers Band reunion at the end of the decade. And as a live experience, it forms the template that Allman would utilize over the next four decades of his solo excursions, blending Brothers standards into his solo repertoire, and allowing his iconic voice- and his predilection for soulful, Memphis-styled R&B- to shine.

— Larson Sutton, jambands.com

Double orange colored vinyl LP pressing.

Side A

Side B

Side C

Side D