At Fillmore East is a blues-rock double live album by The Allman Brothers Band, released in July of 1971 (see 1971 in music). Their breakthrough success, At Fillmore East remains one of the top-selling albums in the band's catalogue, is one of the critical heights of their career, and "is generally accepted as the greatest live recording in the history of rock music", in the opinion of Popmatters.com's Chuck Hicks ^*.

History

Recorded at the Fillmore East music club, the legendary rock venue in New York City, on Friday and Saturday March 121971 - March 13,1971, it showcased the band's unique mixture of blues, Southern rock and jazz. The cover of Blind Willie McTell's "Statesboro Blues" which opens the set showcases Duane Allman's legendary slide guitar work in open E Tuning. "Whipping Post" became the standard for a long, epic jam that never lost interest (opening in 11/8 time, somewhat unusual territory for a rock band), while the ethereal-to-furious "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed", with its harmonized melody, Latin feel and burning drive invited comparisons with John Coltrane (especially Duane's solo-ending pull-offs, a direct nod to the legendary saxophonist).

The album was produced by Tom Dowd, who condensed the running time of various songs, occasionally even merging multiple performances onto one track. At Fillmore East peaked at #13 on Billboard's Pop Albums chart.

Several songs recorded during the same set of shows, including "One Way Out", "Trouble No More", and the memorable "Mountain Jam", were later released on Eat a Peach, the latter spanning two sides of the double album. "Mountain Jam" is based on Donovan's "First There Is A Mountain" and features all of the band's members in extensive solos.

Those songs were later included in their entirety, along with uncut versions of some, re-edited versions of others, and some previously omitted tracks, on a new release of the Fillmore material entitled The Fillmore Concerts. "Stormy Monday" gained back a harmonica solo, and "Don't Keep Me Wonderin'" and "Drunken Hearted Boy" were now included as well.

2003 saw the release of a two-disc Deluxe Edition of At Fillmore East. It compiled all the released versions of the Fillmore material, some material from the collection Duane Allman: An Anthology and the Dreams box set, and remixed the material with a better soundstage than the 1992 release The Fillmore Concerts.

In 2003 the TV network VH1 named At Fillmore East the 59th greatest album of all time. In 2004, it was one of 50 recordings chosen that year by the Library of Congress to be added to the National Recording Registry.

Track listings

At Fillmore East

1. "Statesboro Blues" (Will McTell) – 4:17
2. "Done Somebody Wrong" (Clarence L. Lewis, Bobby Robinson, Elmore James) – 4:33
3. "Stormy Monday" (T. Bone Walker) – 8:44
4. "You Don't Love Me" (Willie Cobbs) – 19:15
5. "Hot 'Lanta" (Gregg Allman, Duane Allman, Dickey Betts, Butch Trucks, Berry Oakley, Jai Johanny Johanson) – 5:17
6. "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed" (Betts) – 13:04
7. "Whipping Post" (G. Allman) – 22:56

The Fillmore Concerts

Disc 1

1. "Statesboro Blues" (Willie McTell) – 4:15
2. "Trouble No More" (McKinley Morganfield) – 3:46
3. "Don't Keep Me Wonderin'" (G. Allman) – 3:20
4. "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed" (Betts) – 12:59
5. "One Way Out" (Marshall Sehorn, Sonny Boy Williamson, James) – 4:55
6. "Done Somebody Wrong" (Lewis, Levy, James) – 4:11
7. "Stormy Monday" (Walker) – 10:19
8. "You Don't Love Me" (Cobbs) – 19:24

Disc 2

1. "Hot 'Lanta" (D. Allman, G. Allman, Betts, Oakley, Johanson, Trucks) – 5:11
2. "Whipping Post" (G. Allman) – 22:37
3. "Mountain Jam" (Donovan Leitch, D. Allman, G. Allman, Betts, Oakley, Johanson, Trucks) – 33:47
4. "Drunken Hearted Boy" (Elvin Bishop) – 7:33

At Fillmore East Edition

Disc 1

1. "Statesboro Blues" (McTell) – 4:17
2. "Trouble No More" (Morganfield) – 3:43
3. "Don't Keep Me Wonderin'" (G. Allman) – 3:27
4. "Done Somebody Wrong" (James) – 4:33
5. "Stormy Monday" (Walker) – 8:48
6. "One Way Out" (Sehorn, Williamson, James) – 4:56
7. "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed" (Betts) – 13:04
8. "You Don't Love Me" (Cobbs) – 19:24
9. "Midnight Rider" (G. Allman) – 2:55

Disc 2

1. "Hot 'Lanta" (D. Allman, G. Allman, Betts, Oakley, Johanson, Trucks) – 5:20
2. "Whipping Post" (G. Allman) – 22:53
3. "Mountain Jam" (Leitch, D. Allman, G.Allman, Betts, Oakley, Johanson, Trucks) – 33:39
4. "Drunken Hearted Boy" (Bishop) – 7:33

Credits

• Duane Allman – lead guitar, slide guitar
• Gregg Allman – organ, piano, vocals
• Dickey Betts – guitar, vocals
• Berry Oakley – bass guitar
• Jai Johanny Johanson – drums, congas, timbales
• Butch Trucks – drums, tympani

Special Guests

• Thom Doucette – Harmonica ("Don't Keep Me Wonderin'", "Done Somebody Wrong", "Stormy Monday" and "You Don't Love Me")
• Randolph "Juicy" Carter – Saxophone ("Hot 'Lanta")

Special Guests (The Fillmore Concerts)

• Bobby Caldwell – Percussion ("Drunken Hearted Boy")
• Elvin Bishop – Vocals ("Drunken Hearted Boy")
• Steve Miller – Piano ("Drunken Hearted Boy")

Production (At Fillmore East)

• Tom Dowd – Producer, Liner Notes
• Aaron Baron – Engineer
• Larry Dahlstrom – Engineer
• Dennis M. Drake – Mastering
• Jim Marshall – Photography

Production (The Fillmore Concerts)

• Tom Dowd – Producer
• Jay Mark – Mixer
• Dan Kincaid – Digital Mastering
• Bill Levenson – Executive Producer
• Kirk West – Associate Producer
• Terri Tierney – Project Coordination
• Richard Bauer – Art Direction
• Jim Marshall – Graphic Concept
• Jimmy Guterman – Liner Notes

External links

• Collected reviews
• BBC review

United States National Recording Registry | 1971 albums | Allman Brothers Band albums | Double albums | Live albums | Grammy Hall of Fame Awards | Universal Deluxe Editions