ABC
ABC in 2008
Background information
Origin	Sheffield, England
Genres	New Wave, synthpop, pop rock, dance-rock
Years active	1980–present
Labels	EMI, PolyGram, Neutron
Website	abcmartinfry.com
Members
Martin Fry
Past members
See: Members

ABC are an English New Wave band, that charted ten UK and five US Top 40 singles between 1981 and 1990. The band continues to tour and released a new album, Traffic, in 2008.

History[link]

Formation[link]

ABC has its roots in the band Vice Versa. Vice Versa was formed in 1977 in Sheffield by Stephen Singleton, Mark White and David Sydenham. They founded their own label, Neutron Records, releasing the EP Music 4. They had similarities to The Human League, whom they supported in 1978.^[1] Martin Fry, who wrote the fanzine Modern Drugs, interviewed the band; shortly afterwards, they asked him to join as synthesizer player. Fry accepted. Within a short time, the band evolved into ABC, with Fry taking over on lead vocals.^[1][2][3][4]

Chart success: 1981–1991[link]

The group's first single, "Tears Are Not Enough", made the UK Top 20 in 1981. Soon afterwards, David Robinson left the band and was replaced by drummer David Palmer.^[4] In 1982, the band released their debut album The Lexicon of Love, which reached number one in the UK Albums Chart.^[4] Produced by Trevor Horn, it often featured in UK critics' lists of favourite albums: it ranked 42nd in The Observer Music Monthly's "Top 100 British Albums" (June 2004) and 40th in Q magazine's "100 Greatest British Albums" (June 2000). The band had three Top 10 hits during 1982: the singles "Poison Arrow", "The Look of Love (Part One)" and "All of My Heart". Several high-concept music videos were made.

ABC found it difficult to follow up on the success of their debut. The second album, Beauty Stab, was released in November 1983.^[4] It performed poorly in comparison to its predecessor. Gary Langan, who had engineered The Lexicon of Love, was its producer. The first single from the album, "That Was Then But This Is Now", briefly appeared in the UK Top 20, followed by a Top 40 showing for "S.O.S.". The band eschewed remixes for the project and so the 12" single for "That Was Then But This Is Now" featured the disclaimer "This record is exactly the same as the 7" version. The choice is yours."

Stephen Singleton retired from the band in 1984. Fry and White then enlisted Fiona Russell-Powell (known as Eden) and David Yarritu. This lineup recorded the 1985 album How To Be A...Zillionaire!,which had a cartoon-type theme. ABC's chart fortunes in the UK dwindled further with this album, but the group did score its first US Top 10 hit with "Be Near Me", which also made the UK Top 30. The album also featured the singles "(How to Be a) Millionaire", "Vanity Kills" and "Ocean Blue".^[4] Keith LeBlanc from Tackhead programmed much of the beatbox work for the album. ABC was one of the first bands to do video scratching for several videos from the How to Be a... Zillionaire album, including the video for "Be Near Me".

After a hiatus, during which Fry was treated for Hodgkin's disease, he and White reconvened as a duo, recording the album Alphabet City in 1987. Best known for "When Smokey Sings", a tribute to Smokey Robinson, the album also spawned "The Night You Murdered Love" and "King Without a Crown" as singles.^[4] All three tracks would make the CD version of the group's first anthology.

In 1989, the duo issued Up, their fifth and final PolyGram studio album. This time experimenting with house music, ABC scored a minor UK hit with the single "One Better World". They released a second single from the album, "The Real Thing". During this period, the group worked on a couple of outside productions aimed at the house music scene. One was Paul Rutherford's (Frankie Goes to Hollywood) solo album and first single release; the other was for Lizzie Tear on the group's own Neutron label.

In 1990, the band released a greatest hits compilation album, Absolutely. This covered all of ABC's albums up until 1990 and featured all of their singles. The compilation made the UK Top 10. A video package featuring promos was also released. One new song, "The Look of Love '90", was released to promote the package.

The group moved to the EMI label (and MCA in North America), where they recorded the 1991 LP Abracadabra. "Love Conquers All", the first single, barely placed in the UK chart, though the Italian production team Black Box provided remixes of "Say It" which appeared in the US dance charts.

Martin Fry also collaborated with M People in 1991 on their first album, Northern Soul, recording the vocals for the song 'Life'. However, when the Northern Soul album was re-released in 1992, and again in 1995, this track was omitted.

Comeback[link]

Fry resurrected the band's name in 1997 for the album Skyscraping, an homage to several of his musical heroes, including David Bowie, Roxy Music, and The Sex Pistols. A collaboration with Glenn Gregory of Heaven 17 and Keith Lowndes, the album again was met with critical approval rather than broad commercial success. However, three singles were released, "Rolling Sevens", "Skyscraping", and "Stranger Things", complete with extra B-sides.

In 1999, ABC released their first live album, The Lexicon of Live. The album covered most of their major hits. Although Fry was the only member left, he had a backing band and adorned the album cover in his trademark gold lamé suit.

Look of Love – The Very Best of ABC was released in 2001. Although essentially a reissue of greatest hits package Absolutely (from 1990), the album featured two new songs by Fry, "Peace and Tranquility" and "Blame". A companion DVD, along with a bonus disc of remixes, was also released.

In 2004, the VH1 show Bands Reunited attempted to get the line-up of Fry, Palmer, Singleton and White together for a reunion concert. Fry and Palmer appeared and played together (with help from Nick Beggs of Kajagoogoo) for the first time in over twenty years. Singleton and White opted not to participate.

Following a tour of the United States in May and June 2006, Fry and Palmer, together with session keyboardist Chuck Kentis, put together a new ABC album, Traffic. It was released on 28 April 2008. Gary Langan, who worked on The Lexicon of Love and Beauty Stab, mixed and produced the album. The first single, "The Very First Time", debuted on BBC Radio 2 in January, was added to the station's "A" playlist for the week beginning 29 March and was released as a download track on 1 April. ABC performed two songs from Traffic during the 2008 Regeneration Tour of the US: "Ride" and "The Very First Time".

On 1 September 2007, ABC performed a set with other 1980s acts at Retrofest at Culzean Castle in Ayrshire, Scotland. This appearance included a rendition of "Addicted to Love", with Tony Hadley of Spandau Ballet and Peter Cox of Go West.

In the summer of 2008, ABC toured the US as part of the 2008 Regeneration Tour, which also featured The Human League, Belinda Carlisle, A Flock of Seagulls, and Naked Eyes.

In April 2009, ABC performed the Lexicon Of Love album live at the Royal Albert Hall, accompanied by the BBC Concert Orchestra. Anne Dudley of Art of Noise, who arranged and played keyboards on the original record, conducted the performance. A music review in the 13 April 2009 edition of The Independent newspaper, described the performance as a "glorious night that has placed one of the Eighties' most perfectly constructed albums back near the top of the pop pantheon".

In 2009 ABC toured the US as the headliner of the 2009 'Regeneration Tour',^[5] which also featured Terri Nunn of Berlin, Wang Chung, and the Cutting Crew.

In June, July and August 2011, ABC performed at a few locations around the UK as well as Las Vegas, Nevada.

October 2011 saw ABC performing dates in Melbourne, Australia, their first time there for many years.

Discography[link]

• The Lexicon of Love (1982)
• Beauty Stab (1983)
• How to Be a...Zillionaire! (1985)
• Alphabet City (1987)
• Up (1989)
• Abracadabra (1991)
• Skyscraping (1997)
• Traffic (2008)

Pop culture influence[link]

• In 2009, the song "The Look of Love" was performed by the cast in a song and dance number on the US CW TV serial drama series Valentine, as part of the plot in which the goddess Aphrodite makes a love match at a karaoke bar.
• The track "So Hip It Hurts" from How To Be A Zillionaire featured in the 1986 film Tough Guys.
• ABC had three number one hits on the US Dance Charts: "The Look of Love" (18 December 1982), "Be Near Me" (28 September – 5 October 1985) and "When Smokey Sings" / "Chicago" (29 August – 5 September 1987).
• Fiona Russell Powell, who joined the group for ABC's 1985 album How To Be A Zillionaire, was part of the original line-up of the pre ABC band, Vice Versa. According to an article that was published on 7 March 1997,^[6] she 'chickened out' of Vice Versa's first live gig, and the job as frontman went to Fry.
• ABC was profiled in a 2004 documentary about bands hailing from Sheffield in the late 1970s-to-early 1980s. Original ABC saxophonist, Stephen Singleton, was interviewed for Made In Sheffield, along with members of The Human League and Heaven 17.

Members[link]

Current members

• Martin Fry – lead vocals (1980–present)

Touring members

• Matt Backer - guitar (2008-present)
• Rob Hughes - saxophone (2008-present)
• Andy Carr - bass (2008-present)
• Lily Gonzalez - percussion (2008-present)
• Steve Kelly - keyboards (2008-present)
• Richard Brook - drums (2009-present)

Former members

• Mark White – guitar, keyboards (1980–1992)
• Stephen Singleton – saxophone (1980–1984)
• Mark Lickley – bass (1980–1982)
• David Robinson – drums (1980–1982)
• David Palmer – drums (1982, 2004–2009)
• Alan Laramee Taylor - bass (1982, 1985-1987)
• Alan Spenner - bass (1983; died 1991)
• Andy Newmark - drums (1983)
• Fiona Russell-Powell – vocals (1985)
• David Yarritu – vocals (1985)
• Glenn Gregory – vocals (1995–1997)
• Keith Lowndes – guitar (1995–1997)

See also[link]

• Honeyroot
• List of number-one dance hits (United States)
• List of artists who reached number one on the U.S. dance chart

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website of ABC and Martin Fry
• Fansite Lexicon of ABC Martin Fry with News, Discography, History, Photos, Forum
• Official MySpace of ABC and Martin Fry
• ABC (band) discography at Discogs
• Mantrap (1983) at the Internet Movie Database
• Photos from the 23 and 24 June 2009 Regeneration Tour

Look up ABC, ABCs, or abc in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

ABC are the first three letters of the Latin alphabet. They may refer to:

Broadcasting media[link]

• American Broadcasting Company, a private US broadcaster
• Australian Broadcasting Corporation, national publicly funded broadcaster of Australia
• ABC Radio, the former name of Cumulus Media Networks, an American radio network (formerly owned by the American Broadcasting Company)
• ABC (Swedish news programme), a regional news programme
• Asahi Broadcasting Corporation, a Japanese commercial television and radio station
• Associated Broadcasting Company, a Philippine television network
• Associated British Corporation, a former British film and television company
• ABC (newspaper), Spanish daily newspaper

Cars[link]

• ABC (1906 automobile), an American car
• ABC (1920 automobile), an English car
• ABC (1922 automobile), a planned American car
• Active Body Control, a type of automobile suspension technology
• ABC Motors, an English manufacturer of aircraft, aero engines and cars

Companies[link]

• ABC Stores (Hawaii), a chain of convenience stores
• ABC Group, a department store
• ABC Learning Centres, an Australian child care business
• Agricultural Bank of China, a bank in the People's Republic of China
• Aerated Bread Company, a former and once famous British bakery and tea-room chain
• Appalachian Brewing Company, an American brewery
• Arab Banking Corporation
• ABC Cinemas, a UK cinema chain
• Anglo Belgian Corporation, diesel engine manufacturer
• Audit Bureau of Circulations, publication circulation auditing companies
  • Audit Bureau of Circulations (India)
  • Audit Bureau of Circulations (UK)
  • Audit Bureau of Circulations (North America)

Computer science[link]

• ABC (computer virus), virus
• ABC (programming language), an imperative general-purpose programming language and programming environment developed at CWI, Netherlands by Leo Geurts, Lambert Meertens, and Steven Pemberton
• Artificial Bee Colony Algorithm, a search algorithm used for optimizing multi-variable and multi-modal numerical functions
• ABC (stream cipher), a stream cipher algorithm
• ABC (Yet Another BitTorrent Client), a free software, open source BitTorrent client based on BitTornado
• ABC, a line of computer models designed by Dataindustrier AB of Sweden
• ABC notation, a language for notating music using the ASCII character set
• Abstract base class, a programming language concept
• Acorn Business Computer, a series of microcomputers announced at the end of 1983 by the British company Acorn Computers
• Alcatel Business Communications, a telecommunications protocol
• Atanasoff–Berry Computer, an early electronic digital computer

Economics[link]

• ABC analysis, an inventory categorization technique
• Activity-based costing, an accounting method

Mathematics[link]

• abc conjecture, a concept in number theory
• ABC formula
• Approximate Bayesian computation, a family of statistical techniques

Medicine and biology[link]

• Abacavir, an antiretroviral drug used to treat HIV/Aids
• ABC (medicine), a mnemonic for "Airway, Breathing, Circulation"
• ABC model of flower development, a genetic model
• Abortion – breast cancer hypothesis, a posited connection between breast cancer and abortion
• Aneurysmal bone cyst, a kind of lesion
• ATP-binding cassette transporter, a transmembrane protein
• ABC strategy for "Abstinence, be faithful, use a condom", a sex education strategy

Motorcycles[link]

• ABC motorcycles

Music[link]

Songs and albums[link]

• ABC (album), a 1970 album by The Jackson 5
  • "ABC" (song), a 1970 song by The Jackson 5
• ABC (Jin album), a 2007 album by Chinese-American rapper Jin. ABC is Jin's fourth overall album, which was released on February 20, 2007
  • "ABC" (Jin song), Jin's first single off his 4th album "ABC" (American-born Chinese)
• "ABC" (Pipettes song)
• Alphabet song, or "the ABC's", a song used to teach children the alphabet
• ABCs (song), the first official single by rapper K'naan on his album Troubadour

Groups[link]

• ABC (band), a UK New Wave band
• Another Bad Creation, an American R&B and rap musical group
• Acid Black Cherry, a Japanese Rock band
• Alien Beat Club, a Danish pop band

Record labels[link]

• ABC Classics, an Australian record label
• ABC Records, an American record label

Other music[link]

• O2 ABC Glasgow, a music venue
• ABC notation, a musical notation language

Organizations and projects[link]

Ornithological[link]

• African Bird Club, a British ornithological charity
• Australian Bird Count, a project of the Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union

Political[link]

• All Basotho Convention, a political party in Lesotho
• Americans Battling Communism, an anti-communist organization in the United States
• Anarchist Black Cross, an anarchist political support organization
• Anything But Conservative, or ABC campaign, 2008 Canadian federal election political campaign
• Association of British Counties, an advocacy group
• Anti-Bases Campaign, an organisation campaigning to remove foreign military bases and intelligence installations from New Zealand, and to dismantle the Government Communications Security Bureau

Religious[link]

• Association of Baptist Churches in Ireland, a Republic of Ireland and a United Kingdom based Christian denomination

Sports[link]

• Amateur Boxing Club (alternate name of Amateur Boxing Association of England), the governing body of amateur boxing clubs in England
• Indianapolis ABCs, a Negro league baseball team that played in the early to mid 1900s

Other organizations and projects[link]

• African Black Coalition, a University of California student organization
• Aircraft Builders Council, a provider of aviation products liability insurance
• American Bowling Congress, now part of the United States Bowling Congress

Places[link]

• ABC nations, a political term referring to Argentina, Brazil and Chile
• ABC Islands (Alaska), a term referring to Admiralty Island, Baranof Island, and Chichagof Island
• ABC islands (Lesser Antilles), a term referring to Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao
• ABC Region, an industrial area outside of São Paulo, Brazil
• Academia Británica Cuscatleca (ABC), a school in Santa Tecla, El Salvador
• Altnabreac railway station (National Rail code), in Scotland
• American Bank Center, an arena located in Corpus Christi, Texas

Publications and media organizations[link]

• ABC (Audit Bureau of Circulations UK), a circulation-auditing organization in the UK and Ireland
• ABC (newspaper), a Spanish newspaper founded in 1903
• Alphabet book, or ABC book, any of several children's books depicting the alphabet
• America's Best Comics, an imprint of DC Comics
• Audit Bureau of Circulations (North America), a circulation-auditing organization in North America
• Audit Bureau of Circulations (India), a circulation-auditing organization in the India

Technology[link]

• ABC Dry Chemical, a fire extinguishing agent
• ABC weapon or Weapon of mass destruction
• Aerial bundled cable, for power lines
• Automatic Buffer Couplers, railway couplers
• Alice, Bob and Charlie (and variants), a nomenclature convention used in cryptography

Other uses[link]

• ABC Futebol Clube, a football (soccer) club based in Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil
• Advanced Booking Charter, a kind of air travel
• Air batu campur, also known as ais kacang, a Malaysian dessert
• Alcoholic beverage control state, the American system of state regulation of alcoholic beverage sales
• Alien big cat or phantom cat, a large feline that has been purported to appear in regions outside its indigenous range
• Alphabet, a standardized set of letters
• American-born Chinese, people of Chinese ethnicity born in the USA
• Andrew Cunningham, 1st Viscount Cunningham of Hyndhope (1883–1963), nicknamed ABC, a British World War II admiral
• Archbishop of Canterbury
• Asian brown cloud A layer of air pollution
• "ABC-DEF-GHI", a song from the television show Sesame Street
• "Always Be Closing", a sales and marketing aphorism that stresses the importance of completing as many possible sales as often as possible. Notably expounded on by the character Blake in the David Mamet-written movie Glengarry Glen Ross

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

Look up band in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Band may refer to:

Clothing, jewelry, and accessories[link]

• Bands (neckwear), two pieces of cloth fitted around the neck as part of formal clothing for clergy, academics, and lawyers
• Bandolier or bandoleer, an ammunition belt
• Belt (clothing)
• Wedding ring or wedding band
• Strap, an elongated flap or ribbon, usually of fabric or leather

Science and technology[link]

• Band (radio), a range of frequencies or wavelengths used in radio transmission and radar
• Rubber band, a short length of rubber and latex formed in the shape of a loop
• Möbius strip or Möbius band, an artifact with interesting topological features
• Band (mathematics), an idempotent semigroup
• Spectral bands, part of the optical spectra of polyatomic systems
• Metals and semiconductors
  • Valence band
  • Conduction band
  • Band gap

Medicine and biology[link]

• Bird ringing, or bird banding, placing a numbered bands of metal on birds' legs for identification
• A group of animals, such as gorillas or coyotes
  • Herd
  • Flocking (behavior)
• Band cell, a type of white blood cell
• Protein band, see Coomassie
• Gastric band, a weight-control measure

Organizations[link]

• Bands (Italian Army irregulars), military units once in the service of the Italian Regio Esercito
• Brazilian broadcast television network Rede Bandeirantes, nicknamed Band or Band Network
• The Band (wrestling), the Total Nonstop Wrestling name for the professional wrestling stable New World Order

Society and government[link]

• Band society, a small group of humans in a simple form of society
• The primary unit of Native Americans in the United States
• Band (First Nations Canada), the primary unit of First Nations Government in Canada

People[link]

• Band (surname)

Places[link]

• Band, Mureş in Romania
• Bánd, a village in Hungary

Music[link]

• Band, a company of musicians—see Musical ensemble
  • Rock band
  • Concert band
  • School band, a group of student musicians who rehearse and perform instrumental music together
  • Marching band, a group of performers that consist of instrumental musicians who generally perform outdoors and incorporate some type of marching (and possibly other movements) with their musical performance
• The Band, a Canadian-American rock and roll group
  • The Band (album), its eponymous album released in 1969

See also[link]

• All pages beginning with "Band"
• All pages with titles containing "Band"
• Banding (disambiguation)
• Drum and bugle corps (disambiguation)
• Stripe (disambiguation)

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

The Allman Brothers Band
Background information
Origin	Jacksonville, Florida, U.S.A.
Genres	Southern rock, blues rock, folk rock, hard rock, blues
Years active	1969–1976, 1978–1982, 1989–present
Labels	Capricorn, PolyGram, Arista, Epic, Sanctuary
Associated acts	Gov't Mule, The Dead, The Derek Trucks Band, Derek and the Dominos, Hour Glass, Great Southern, Sea Level
Website	www.allmanbrothersband.com
Members
Gregg Allman Butch Trucks Jai Johanny "Jaimoe" Johanson Warren Haynes Marc Quiñones Oteil Burbridge Derek Trucks
Past members
Duane Allman Dickey Betts Berry Oakley Chuck Leavell Lamar Williams Dan Toler David Goldflies David "Frankie" Toler Mike Lawler Allen Woody Johnny Neel Jack Pearson Jimmy Herring

The Allman Brothers Band is an American rock/blues band once based in Macon, Georgia. The band was formed in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1969 by brothers Duane Allman (slide guitar and lead guitar) and Gregg Allman (vocals, organ, songwriting), who were supported by Dickey Betts (lead guitar, vocals, songwriting), Berry Oakley (bass guitar), Butch Trucks (drums), and Jai Johanny "Jaimoe" Johanson (drums).^[1] While the band has been called the principal architects of Southern rock,^[2] they also incorporate elements of blues, jazz, and country music, and their live shows have jam band-style improvisation and instrumental songs.

The band achieved its artistic and commercial breakthrough in 1971 with the release of At Fillmore East, featuring extended renderings of their songs "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed" and "Whipping Post" and often considered one of the best live albums ever made. George Kimball of Rolling Stone magazine hailed them as "the best damn rock and roll band this country has produced in the past five years."^[3] A few months later, group leader Duane Allman was killed in a motorcycle accident. The group survived that and the death of bassist Oakley in another motorcycle accident a year later; with replacement members Chuck Leavell and Lamar Williams, the Allman Brothers Band achieved its peak commercial success in 1973 with the album Brothers and Sisters and the hit single "Ramblin' Man". Internal turmoil overtook the band soon after; the group dissolved in 1976, reformed briefly at the end of the decade with additional personnel changes, and dissolved again in 1982.

In 1989, the group reformed with some new members and has been recording and touring since. A series of personnel changes in the late 1990s was capped by the departure of Betts. The group found stability during the 2000s with bassist Oteil Burbridge, Warren Haynes and Derek Trucks, (the nephew of their drummer), serving as its guitarists, and became renowned for their month-long string of shows in New York City each spring. The band has been awarded eleven gold and five platinum albums between 1971 and 2005^[4] and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995. Rolling Stone ranked them 52nd on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time in 2004.^[5]

Band history[link]

Beginnings[link]

The band was formed in Macon, GA, and consisted of Duane and Gregg Allman, Dickey Betts, Berry Oakley, Butch Trucks, and Jai Johanny Johanson.^[1] Brothers Duane and Gregg Allman grew up in Daytona Beach, Florida, and had been playing music publicly since the early 1960s. They formed a garage band called the Escorts in 1963, which evolved into the Allman Joys in 1965.^[6] From there the brothers formed Hour Glass and moved to Los Angeles. The Hour Glass released two failed albums on Liberty Records in 1967 and 1968.^[1][6] They were all released from the contract except Gregg, who Liberty thought might have some commercial potential.^[6] Gregg and Duane had previously met Butch Trucks and his band The 31st of February while touring as the Allman Joys, and decided to record an album with them in September 1968, shortly after the breakup of Hour Glass. This album was eventually released as Duane & Greg Allman on the Bold Records label in 1972. Duane Allman played on Wilson Pickett's hit version of "Hey Jude" and became the primary session guitarist for FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, recording with Aretha Franklin, King Curtis, Percy Sledge, and others.^[6] Allman started jamming with Dickey Betts, Butch Trucks and Berry Oakley in Jacksonville. Eddie Hinton, with whom Duane Allman had played in Muscle Shoals, was considered to play guitar, but Hinton refused in order to join the Muscle Shoals studio band.^{[citation needed]} Duane brought in Jaimoe, a drummer he had played with in the past.

Jaimoe, percussionist

Gregg was in Los Angeles, fulfilling the Hour Glass contract with Liberty Records. He was summoned back to Jacksonville.

Duane Allman playing guitar at the Fillmore East, 1971

The Allman Brothers Band played numerous shows in the South before releasing their debut album, The Allman Brothers Band in 1969 to critical acclaim. It featured future jam standards "Whipping Post" and a 12/8 time slide guitar tour de force "Dreams". A cult following began to build.

Idlewild South was released in 1970 to critical success and improved sales. Produced by Tom Dowd it featured the upbeat "Revival" and the moody-but-resolute "Midnight Rider". After completing the Idlewild South sessions Duane Allman joined Eric Clapton and his ad hoc Derek and the Dominos to record the classic Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs.

1971 saw the release of a live album, At Fillmore East, recorded on Friday and Saturday March 12 and March 13 of that year at the legendary rock venue the Fillmore East. The album was another huge hit. Rolling Stone listed At Fillmore East as number 49 on of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.^[7] It showcased the band's mix of jazz, classical music, hard rock, and blues, with arrangements propelled by Duane's and Betts' dual lead guitars, Oakley's long, melodic "third guitar" bass runs, the rhythm section's pervasively percussive yet dynamically flexible foundation, and Gregg Allman's gritty Ray Charles-like vocals and piano/organ play which all completed the band's wall of sound. The rendering of Blind Willie McTell's "Statesboro Blues" was a straight-ahead opener, the powerful "Whipping Post" (with its famous 11/4 bass opening) became the standard for an epic jam that never lost interest, while the ethereal-to-furious "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed" invited comparisons to John Coltrane and Miles Davis.^[8][9]

The Allman Brothers were the last act to play the Fillmore East before it closed in June 1971. The final shows achieved legendary status, partly due to bands literally playing all night; in 2005 Gregg Allman would relate how the jamming musicians lost track of time, not realizing it was dawn until the side doors of the Fillmore were opened and the morning light poured in.

The band continued to tour; decades later, a special-order recording of one of their final concerts in this lineup, S.U.N.Y. at Stonybrook: Stonybrook, NY 9/19/71, would be released.^[10] It reveals that Duane Allman's slide guitar playing on "Dreams" and other songs was touching the farthest reaches of both that instrument and his imagination.^[10]

Loss and triumph[link]

Dickey Betts on guitar

Duane Allman died not long after the Fillmore East album was certified gold, killed in a motorcycle accident on October 29, 1971 in Macon, Georgia, when he collided with the rear of a flatbed truck that had turned in front of him. The group decided to carry on. The album continued to gain FM radio airplay, with stations even playing 13-minute and 23-minute selections.

Dickey Betts filled Duane's former role in completing the last album Duane participated in, Eat a Peach, released in February 1972. The album was often softer ("Blue Sky", "Little Martha") and wistful in tone ("Melissa", "Ain't Wastin' Time No More"), capped by the 34-minute "Mountain Jam" reverie taken from the Fillmore East concerts. Writer Greil Marcus described parts of Eat a Peach as an "after-the-rain celebration... ageless, seamless... front-porch music stolen from the utopia of shared southern memory."

The group played some concerts as a five-man band, then decided to add Chuck Leavell, a pianist, to gain another lead instrument but without, however, directly replacing Duane. This new configuration debuted on November 2, 1972, on ABC's In Concert late-night television program.

Days later, on November 11, 1972, Berry Oakley died from head injuries he received in another motorcycle accident near Napier Avenue and Inverness Street, only three blocks from the site of Duane's accident the previous year. The common retelling that it was at exactly the same site as Duane's death is incorrect, as is the legend that the Eat a Peach album is named for what was being carried by the truck involved in Allman's accident.^[11] Both Duane and Berry were 24 years old, yet another coincidence.

Oakley was replaced by Lamar Williams at the end of 1972, in time to finish the next album, Brothers and Sisters, released in August 1973.

Dickey Betts was becoming the group's unofficial leader.^[6] Brothers and Sisters included the group's best known hits, "Ramblin' Man" and "Jessica", both written by Betts; the former reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 as a single, while the latter was a seven-minute instrumental hit.

The Allman Brothers Band had become one of the top concert draws in the country. Probably their most celebrated performance of the era took place on July 28, 1973 at the Summer Jam at Watkins Glen outside Watkins Glen, New York, in a joint appearance with The Grateful Dead and The Band. An estimated 600,000 people made it to the racetrack where this massive outdoor festival took place.

In the wake of the Allman Brothers Band's success, many other Southern rock groups rose to prominence, including the Marshall Tucker Band (who played as the Allman Brothers Band's opening act for many shows on their 1973 tour) and Lynyrd Skynyrd.

Another peak of the Allmans' success came on New Year's Eve, 1973, when promoter Bill Graham arranged for a nationwide radio broadcast of their concert from San Francisco's Cow Palace. New arrangements of familiar tunes such as "You Don't Love Me" went out over the airwaves, as the show stretched out over three sets, with Boz Scaggs sitting in, along with Grateful Dead members Jerry Garcia and Bill Kreutzmann (Allmans and Grateful Dead members guested at each other's shows multiple times in the early 1970s).

Turmoil and dissolution[link]

Gregg Allman, playing organ and singing

Personality conflicts started to tear the band apart, however. Gregg Allman and Dickey Betts both began solo careers, while Allman married Cher, separated quickly, reconciled, and eventually separated again, all in a storm of publicity; drug abuse took its toll on the entire band. Musically, Betts and Leavell were pulling in opposite directions, with Allman trying to mediate.

The tension resulted in the uneven Win, Lose or Draw (1975), with some members not participating on all tracks or doing so only from afar. The few stand-out tracks included a stop-start take on Muddy Waters' "Can't Lose What You Never Had", Betts' instrumental "High Falls", and Allman's Jackson Browne-influenced title song.

The band managed to limp along until 1976, when Gregg Allman was arrested on federal drug charges and agreed to testify against a friend and tour manager and bodyguard for the band, John "Scooter" Herring. Leavell, Johanson, and Williams formed Sea Level, while Betts worked on his solo career. All four swore that they would never work with Allman again.

Meanwhile, Capricorn Records released a compilation album, The Road Goes On Forever, and a poorly received live album, Wipe the Windows, Check the Oil, Dollar Gas. Neither sold very well.

The group reformed in 1978 and released the strong Enlightened Rogues (1979). It featured new members Dan Toler (guitar) and David Goldflies (bass), who replaced Leavell and Williams, both of whom concentrated on Sea Level instead. "Crazy Love" was a minor hit single, and the instrumental "Pegasus" got some airplay, but overall The Allman Brothers Band was no longer as popular as before, and financial woes plagued both the group and Capricorn Records, which collapsed in 1979. PolyGram took over the catalogue, and the Allman Brothers Band signed to Arista Records. The group released a pair of critically slammed albums, firing Jaimoe in the process, and then disbanded once again in early 1982.

Allman quickly formed the Gregg Allman Band with the Toler brothers Dan and David ("Frankie") (drums) in 1982 and began touring small venues and clubs. Betts, Leavell, Trucks and Goldflies formed the band Betts Hall Leavell Trucks (BHLT). Neither garnered attention from any record labels. BHLT would dissolve two years later.

The Allman Brothers Band reunited in 1986 for a pair of benefit concerts for promoter Bill Graham in New York and Macon. Allman, Betts, Trucks, Jaimoe, Leavell, and Dan Toler performed together but no subsequent reunion plans for the band were made. The following year, the Gregg Allman Band and the Dickey Betts Band co-headlined a theatre and club tour. After each band played a set of music, Betts, Allman and the Tolers performed a closing set of Allman Brothers music together.

In 1987, Epic Records signed both Allman and Betts to separate solo contracts. The Gregg Allman Band had a surprise FM hit single with the title track to the 1987 album I'm No Angel. Just Before the Bullets Fly quickly followed from Allman in 1988. The Dickey Betts Band, including Warren Haynes, was also formed during this time and released the album Pattern Disruptive in 1988. This series of collaboration among bandmembers and interest from a major label during the late 1980s laid the groundwork for the next era of Allman Brothers Band activity and success.

Revival[link]

Warren Haynes, vocalist and guitarist

In 1989 The Allman Brothers reunited and returned to popular consciousness of the American public, spurred by Gregg's recent FM radio success, the release of archival material by PolyGram, and the start of regular appearances on the American summer outdoor amphitheatre circuit. Warren Haynes (guitar, vocals), Johnny Neel (keyboards and harmonica), and Allen Woody (bass guitar) joined originals Allman, Betts, Jaimoe and Trucks. Leavell opted to go on tour again with the Rolling Stones, with whom he has been a touring member since 1982.

After the 20th Anniversary tour, the band signed to Epic Records and released Seven Turns (1990), which got excellent reviews. This was followed by Neel's departure and a series of moderately-selling, but critically well-received albums including Shades Of Two Worlds (1991) and Where It All Begins (1994, certified Gold by the RIAA 1998), both featuring new percussionist Marc Quiñones. Warren Haynes and Allen Woody formed their own side project Gov't Mule in 1994. In 1995, the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and in 1996 they won the Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance for "Jessica". When Haynes and Woody decided to concentrate full-time on Gov't Mule in 1997, Haynes was replaced on guitar by Jack Pearson, while Woody was replaced on bass by Oteil Burbridge. Derek Trucks, nephew of original Brother Butch Trucks, replaced Pearson in 1999.

In 2000, the band forced Dickey Betts out for "personal and professional reasons." For this tour, he was replaced by Jimmy Herring. Betts then filed a lawsuit against the other three original members and the summer separation turned into a permanent divorce. Also in 2000, former bassist Allen Woody was found dead on August 26. The band did release the live CD Peakin' at the Beacon that year which chronicled the now-annual March tradition of a many-night stand at the Beacon Theater in New York City. The band has sold out the 2900-seat Upper West Side Manhattan theatre 188 times since 1989. The tradition is known as the "Beacon Run" among fans, who travel from across the United States, Canada and Western Europe to see these annual March and April shows.

2000s onward[link]

Derek Trucks playing slide guitar, 2009

Warren Haynes began appearing with the Allmans again in 2000 and rejoined full-time in 2001, while also maintaining his active schedule with Gov't Mule. (Haynes also toured during this time and later in the decade with former members of the Grateful Dead). Haynes' return marked a new period of stability and productivity for the band after nearly four years of lineup shifts. The Haynes-produced Hittin' the Note was released in 2003 to popular and critical acclaim, as was the Live At the Beacon Theatre DVD film (2003, certified Platinum 2004). The live CD One Way Out (2004) also chronicled the Beacon concerts.

The Allman Brothers garnered back to back Grammy Award nominations in 2003 and 2004 in the category of Best Rock Instrumental for performances of "Instrumental Illness" from Hittin' The Note and One Way Out. In 2003, Rolling Stone magazine named Duane Allman, Warren Haynes, Dickey Betts, and Derek Trucks to their list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time,^[12] with Allman coming in at #2 and Trucks being the youngest guitarist on their list.

The Warren Haynes and Derek Trucks lineup continued the band's connection with younger music fans via concert pairings with popular jam bands The String Cheese Incident, moe, and Dave Matthews Band among others. The Allman Brothers Band continue to be a major attraction at the Bonnaroo Music Festival since 2003. Since 2005, the Allmans have staged their own two day Wanee Music Festival at the Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park in Live Oak, Florida. The Allmans, Gov't Mule and The Derek Trucks Band perform on different stages along with younger roots artists including the North Mississippi Allstars, Robert Randolph and The Family Band, Medeski, Martin and Wood, Devon Allman's Honeytribe, Nickel Creek, Mofro and others.

Allman Brothers songs have been used in various advertising campaigns and television programs, with the most well-known use being that of "Jessica" used in both the 1977 and 2002 formats of the BBC television series Top Gear. "Jessica" was also used in the film Field of Dreams. It was also the opening song of a famous radio show in the State of Bavaria, Germany during the 70s known as "Club 16" (http://peterhammer.de/sound4/br/club16outro.html with an example while the show ends. )

Oteil Burbridge, bass guitarist, 2005

The band cancelled their Beacon run for 2008 due to Gregg Allman recovering from hepatitis C treatments,^[13] but they were back on the road that summer for the amphitheater circuit. On November 20, 2008, The Allman Brothers Band received the Legend Of Live Award at the 2008 Billboard Touring Awards ceremony in New York.^[14] The award recognized "a touring professional who has had a significant and lasting impact on the concert industry."^[15] At the ceremony, Gregg Allman talked about his brother Duane, saying: "It happens to be today would have been his 62nd birthday and I'm sure he's looking down on this and is really proud of us. We'll keep coming back until we can't come back no more."^[14]

The Allman Brothers Band celebrated their 40th anniversary in 2009.^[15] That year's Beacon run also marked the 20th anniversary of their appearances in that venue; and the band focused on paying tribute to Duane, inviting guest appearances from those who had played with him.^[13] The 15-night stand was considered to be the best Beacon run of all,^[16] highlighted by two nights of the first-ever stage appearance of Eric Clapton with the band and performances of numbers from Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs.^[16] Guests on other nights included members of the Grateful Dead, Phish, Levon Helm and his band, and represented genres from bluesman Buddy Guy to jazz great Lenny White to rap-rock-country eccentric Kid Rock.^[16] On March 26, three days after the actual anniversary of the band's 1969 forming, what's been known as the "Legendary Jacksonville Jam", the band featured no guests but performed their first two albums in their entirety.^[16]

In March 2010, The Allman Brothers Band's New York run changed venues from the Beacon Theater to the far uptown United Palace Theatre, but in March 2011, the Allman Brothers returned to the Beacon Theater, playing their 200th show there on March 26.

In 2012, the Allman Brothers Band was awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.

Awards and recognition[link]

Guest appearances during the "Beacon Run" are common. Here Eric Clapton joins the band in March 2009 to play songs from 1970's classic Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs, which had featured Duane Allman.

• Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance, 1996, "Jessica"
• Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, 2012
• Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, 1995
• Rolling Stone Magazine's "Greatest...of All Time" lists:
  • 100 Greatest Artists of All Time (2004): #52^[17]
  • 500 Greatest Albums of All Time (2003): #49 for At Fillmore East^[18]
  • 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time (2003):
    • #2 Duane Allman^[19]
    • #23 Warren Haynes^[20]
    • #58 Dickey Betts^[21]
    • #81 Derek Trucks^[22]
  • 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time (2011):
    • #9 Duane Allman^[23]
    • #16 Derek Trucks^[24]
    • #61 Dickey Betts^[25]

Discography[link]

• The Allman Brothers Band (1969)
• Idlewild South (1970)
• At Fillmore East (1971)
• Eat a Peach (1972)
• Brothers and Sisters (1973)
• Win, Lose or Draw (1975)
• Wipe the Windows, Check the Oil, Dollar Gas (1976)
• Enlightened Rogues (1979)
• Reach for the Sky (1980)
• Brothers of the Road (1981)
• Seven Turns (1990)
• Shades of Two Worlds (1991)
• An Evening with the Allman Brothers Band: First Set (1992)
• Where It All Begins (1994)
• An Evening with the Allman Brothers Band: 2nd Set (1995)
• Peakin' at the Beacon (2000)
• Hittin' the Note (2003)
• One Way Out (2004)^[26]

Lineups[link]

Original members in bold.

See also[link]

• Almost Famous
• List of rock instrumentals
• Gregg Allman Band
• Sea Level
• Gov't Mule
• The Derek Trucks Band
• The Allman Brothers Band Museum (the "Big House")
• Red Dog Long Term Roadie and supporter of the band.

References[link]