For the first time anywhere -- officially or not -- two (mostly) complete performances by
the Allman Brothers at the Atlanta International Pop Festival over the Fourth of July weekend (they were the bookends of the fest) in 1970 have been issued with stellar sound, complete annotation and cool liner notes. The festival took place while
the Allmans were in the process of recording their second album,
Idlewild South, when they appeared on July 3 as the hometown openers of the entire festival and proceeded to blow the minds of over 100,000 people -- for their last set on July 5 at 3:50 a.m. they performed in front of as many as 500,000. Musically, other than a somewhat stiff version of "Statesboro Blues," the July 3 set is magical. There is a stunning version of "Dreams" lasting almost ten minutes with beautiful Hammond/guitar interplay between
Gregg and
Dickey. Long and ferocious versions of "Whipping Post" and "Mountain Jam" are here, but the track on the July 3 set is
Berry Oakley's feral vocal read of
Willie Dixon's "Hoochie Coochie Man." " A short (5:49) version of this song, it has a rock & roll immediacy that is strained out of the longer versions to gain the improvisational edge. Disc one also restores
Gregg Allman's "Every Hungry Woman," to its rightful place -- previously only having been available on an anthology. Harp player
Thom Doucette, no stranger to
ABB fans, is here aplenty, adding his righteous, stinging harp lines to many tracks on both nights. The way
Gregg's organ playing is recorded here offers a new view of just how integral an anchor he was for both guitarists to play off. He is a monster musician and, even at this early date, was showing off his improvisational and rhythmic skills.