allmabest

The Allman Brothers – Eat a Peach

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  • With roughly Double Plus (A++) grades on all FOUR sides, this copy is guaranteed to blow the doors off any other Eat A Peach you’ve heard – fairly quiet vinyl too for early Capricorn pressings
  • Side one was sonically very close to our Shootout Winner – you will be shocked at how big and powerful the sound is
  • These pressings have the immediacy that will put these wild and crazy southern rockers right in your living room (particularly on sides one, two and three)
  • The heartfelt radio-friendly songs such as “Melissa” and “Little Martha” keep up the energy and kick the enjoyment factor up another level, maybe even two
  • 5 stars: “The record showcases the Allmans at their peak, and it’s hard not to feel sad as the acoustic guitars of ‘Little Martha’ conclude the record, since this tribute isn’t just heartfelt, it offers proof of Duane Allman’s immense talents and contribution to the band.”
  • If you’re a fan of the band, this title from 1972 is clearly one of their best
  • The complete list of titles from 1972 that we’ve reviewed to date can be found here.

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Gregg Allman – Laid Back

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  • A stunning 2-pack copy with Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) sound on side one of the first disc and Nearly Triple Plus (A++ to A+++) sound on side two of the second disc – just shy of our Shootout Winner
  • Here are just a few of our notes for these incredible pressings: “tubey guitars” “very full bodied vox,” “very rich and relaxed.”
  • We were surprised at how well recorded the album is – dramatically better than the Allmans’ album from the same year, Brothers and Sisters
  • Full-bodied and Tubey Magical, with especially smooth, present vocals – this is the sound we love at Better Records
  • 4 1/2 stars: “Recorded in the same year as the Brothers and Sisters album, this solo debut release is a beautiful amalgam of R&B, folk, and gospel sounds, with the best singing on any of Gregg Allman’s solo releases.”
  • This is our pick for Gregg Allman’s best sounding album. Roughly 150 other listings for the best recording by an artist or group can be found here on the blog.

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The Allman Brothers – Idlewild South

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  • This early Atco pressing has the energy, body and punch this music needs, with both sides earning INCREDIBLE Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) grades or close to them
  • Easily the group’s best sounding studio recording and especially impressive on a copy like this
  • Cue up “Midnight Rider” or “In Memory of Elizabeth Read” to hear the Allman Brothers magic in these grooves
  • 5 stars: “The best studio album in the group’s history, electric blues with an acoustic texture, virtuoso lead, slide, and organ playing, and a killer selection of songs, including ‘Midnight Rider,’ ‘Revival,’ ‘Don’t Keep Me Wonderin’,’ and ‘In Memory of Elizabeth Reed’…”

Drop the needle on Midnight Rider or In Memory Of Elizabeth Read to hear what this copy can do. You get lots of extension both up top and down low that make the overall sound far more engaging and musical than what you’d hear on most copies.

The copies with fuller, smoother, more natural vocals — and lively guitars — tended to do very well in our shootout.

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The Allman Brothers – … At Fillmore East

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  • With four superb sides, all boasting Double Plus (A++) sound, these vintage Pink Label pressings are guaranteed to blow the doors off any other copy of …At Fillmore East you’ve heard
  • This is one of the all-time great live albums, and with a copy like this one YOU ARE THERE at the Fillmore
  • The WHOMP factor here kicks up the excitement – here is the low end foundation that lets the extended guitar jams work their magic
  • Marks in the vinyl are sometimes the nature of the beast with these vintage LPs – there simply is no way around them if the superior sound of vintage analog is important to you
  • 5 stars: “At Fillmore East is like a great live jazz session, where the pleasure comes

When the music sounds this good, with this kind of rich, musical tonality and big, open soundstage, it just WORKS.

We’ve been looking for great copies of this one forever, but most of them are trashed and don’t sound all that good. A transparent, lively copy like this one really lets everything that’s great about this music come through. You can easily pick out each of the musicians and follow their contributions over the course of the songs.

The huge WHOMP factor throughout kicks up the excitement and sets the necessary foundation for the crazy guitar jams to sound correct. The top end has the kind of extension that brings out the ambience and spaciousness of the recording.

You can really hear the extension on the top end when you listen to the drumming. The cymbals are clear and silky sweet. In fact, the drums on this album are some of the most well-recorded drums I have EVER heard on a live rock record. (more…)

The Allman Brothers – Brothers and Sisters

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  • We guarantee there is dramatically more richness, fullness, vocal presence, and performance energy on this copy than others you’ve heard, and that’s especially true if you own whatever Heavy Vinyl pressing is currently on the market
  • Not the best recording quality the band ever got — for better sound you have to go with the first four albums, and we would be happy to find them for you, eventually…
  • 4 stars on Allmusic and the band’s commercial peak
  • “The Allman Brothers Band’s first new studio album in two years shows off a leaner brand of musicianship, which, coupled with a pair of serious crowd-pleasers, ‘Ramblin’ Man’ and ‘Jessica,’ helped drive it to the top of the charts for a month and a half and to platinum record sales.”

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The Gregg Allman Band – Playin’ Up A Storm

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  • A surprisingly well-recorded album – the sound is exceptionally rich, smooth and natural in the best tradition of Seventies Analog
  • “Playin’ Up a Storm is a well-made, expertly performed set of blues-rock, soul-pop, and straight-ahead rock & roll …the thing that makes it one of Allman’s best solo efforts is the terrific performances. Not only is he in fine voice, delivering each song with conviction, but his supporting band – featuring such luminaries as Dr. John and Bill Payne – is sterling.”

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The Allman Brothers – The Allman Brothers

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  • An excellent copy of the band’s debut, with seriously good Double Plus (A++) grades on both sides and reasonably quiet vinyl, especially on side one
  • Forget whatever dead-as-a-doornail Heavy Vinyl record they’re making these days – if you want to hear the Tubey Magic, size and energy of this wonderful album, a vintage pressing like this one is the way to go
  • 4 1/2 stars: “This might be the best debut album ever delivered by an American blues band, a bold, powerful, hard-edged, soulful essay in electric blues with a native Southern ambience. There isn’t a bad song here, and only the fact that the group did even better the next time out keeps this from getting the highest possible rating.”

This album has some of the ABB’s very best music and on a copy like this, sonics, but man is it tough to find a good one. We’ve been picking these up for years and the fact that it took us until 2016 to get any copy at all on the site should tell you something.

Here’s a perfect example of an album that’s so mediocre on the average pressing that we had practically given up hope of hearing the record sound good. But we’re not ones to run away from a challenge, so we kept picking up copies, figuring out a few things in the process. Eventually, we made real progress and today we can proudly post a copy that’s beyond worthy of Hot Stamper status. (more…)