The Grateful Dead’s live sound engineer Owsley “Bear” Stanley recorded a few 1970 performances by The Allman Brothers Band at Fillmore East when they were on a double bill with The Grateful Dead and Love. On June 18, his recording of those concerts will be made available on all platforms through Orchard Distribution.
The recordings were taken over the course of three days, from February 11, 13 & 14, 1970. It was just one year before they recorded their legendary 1971 At Fillmore East live album, when they were on the precipice of fame. They had already recorded two of their biggest songs, “Midnight Rider” and “Whipping Post,” for their first two albums The Allman Brothers Band and Idlewild South, but the rest of their hits were yet to come until the couple of years following
The new archival live album is split into three discs. The first consists of Bear’s favorite recordings of each of the songs they performed during those three shows. The second has the leftover recordings from February 11 and 13, and the third disc has the remaining recordings from February 14. The tracklisting below makes note of the times that Bear missed part of a song due to a reel change.
Notably, each disc begins with a performance of Allman Brothers’ “In Memory Of Elizabeth Reed,” which are the earliest known recordings of that song. It’s a guitar jam written by Dickey Betts.
The live album had been available previously through The Owsley Stanley Foundation, but this is the first time they’ll be available to the general public. The foundation is famous for Stanley’s pristine recordings of legendary musicians in their prime, including “unearthed recordings” of performances by Miles Davis, Johnny Cash, The Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, Fleetwood Mac, Janis Joplin, Tim Buckley and many more.
Bear’s Sonic Journals: Allman Brothers Band Fillmore East February 1970 tracklist:
1. In Memory Of Elizabeth Reed (Feb. 14) 9:22
2. Hoochie Coochie Man (Feb. 14) 6:05
3. Statesboro Blues (Feb. 11) 4:17
4. Trouble No More (Feb. 11) 4:11
5. Outskirts Of Town (Feb. 13 & 14) 8:30
6. Whipping Post (Feb. 14) 8:11
7. Mountain Jam (Feb. 13 & 14) 30:46
8. In Memory Of Elizabeth Reed (Feb. 12) 11:58
9. Statesboro Blues (Feb. 11) 4:17
10. Trouble No More (Feb. 11) 4:42
11. Hoochie Coochie Man (Feb. 11) 4:35
12. Mountain Jam 18:49 (Feb. 11) [reel-change gap]
13. In Memory Of Elizabeth Reed (Feb. 13) 7:50
14. Outskirts Of Town 7:48 (Feb. 13) [end cut]
15. Mountain Jam 18:29 (Feb. 13) [start cut]
16. In Memory Of Elizabeth Reed (Feb. 14) 9:26
17. Hoochie Coochie Man (Feb. 14) 5:08
18. Outskirts Of Town 7:57 (Feb. 14) [reel-change gap]
19. Whipping Post 8:11 (Feb. 14)
20. Mountain Jam 35:01 (Feb. 14) [reel-change gap]
Leave a Comment