The Allman Brothers Band's Self-Titled Debut Set Stage for the Legendary Status That Followed: Includes Original Version of "Whipping Post"

Mastered from the Original Master Tapes: Mobile Fidelity's Numbered-Edition 180g 33RPM LP Provides Window Into What Went Down at New York’s Atlantic Recording Studios

1/4" / 15 IPS analog master to DSD 64 to analog console to lathe

They hailed from Macon, Georgia. They looked liked any number of young, hopeful bands straddling the violent fade of the 1960s with the advent of the 1970s. They missed the British Invasion-triggered blues revival by several years. Yet they sounded like no other group, their youthfulness belied by virtuosic abilities and interlocking interplay Miles Davis would've envied. It all starts here, on a smoldering self-titled debut that has few peers.

Mastered from the original master tapes, Mobile Fidelity's numbered-edition 180g LP of The Allman Brothers Band joins the reissue imprint’s other Allman Brothers Band titles in presenting the inimitable group's music in lifelike, uncompromising fidelity. Opening up the dynamic contrasts, clearing direct paths for the frequency ranges, and ensuring optimal balances and neutrality, this edition practically takes listeners to the producer’s chair at New York’s Atlantic Studios as the sessions went down. The Allman Brothers Band has never sounded so crisp, clear, or defined.

Having already cut its collective teeth via live shows throughout the South, the Allman Brothers Band was properly vetted for its initial major-label foray. In particular, Gregg and Duane Allman had done stints in several other collectives that recorded a handful of long-forgotten records. Duane, too, established himself as a go-to whiz-kid slide and lead guitarist, becoming a session instrumentalist for Muscle Shoals’ FAME Studios and playing with the likes of Aretha Franklin, Percy Sledge, Wilson Pickett, and others.

He and organist/vocalist Gregg’s deft touch and innate knack for soulful tonalities help define his namesake group’s eponymous debut, notched with raw-boned R&B and purifying gospel motifs that seeped into the duo’s consciousness while growing up in Jacksonville. Complemented by likeminded lead guitarist Dickey Betts and a trio of similarly minded masters, the siblings quickly changed history on this 1969 set famous for stunningly resonant blues, spirit-moving soul, and polyrhythmic rock.

Entering with a memorable one-two punch in which fluid jazz lines mutate into an anguished 12-bar blues exchange between Gregg and Duane, continuing with an edgy and worthy take of Muddy Waters’ “Trouble No More,” and closing with the landscape-shifting workout "Whipping Post," a preview of things to come, The Allman Brothers Band contains no flaws. Then there’s the aching of "Dreams," a melodic 12/8-time piece showcasing slide-guitar voodoo and psychedelic aftertastes. 

"Mobile Fidelity's reissue is a huge improvement in terms of overall instrumental clarity, dynamics and especially bass extension and clarity. The old Mo-Fi issue of rolled highs and anemic dynamics have been 100% eliminated. If you're a fan of this album and have heard it a thousand times, I promise you, you've never heard it like this…this Mobile Fidelity beats the original in every way."
-Michael Fremer, Analog Planet, February 19, 2013