CoronaVinyl Day 3 (Box Set): Beginnings by The Allman Brothers Band

For an explanation of CoronaVinyl, click here.

Day 3 of the CoronaVinyl experiment is supposed to feature a box set.  I consider a box set to be a collection of one or more full albums (of full albums worth of collected songs, unreleased songs, etc.) packaged into one set.  I have plenty of box sets in CD form, but not many in vinyl.  However, as I was scouring my collection to see if anything fit the mold, I came across Beginnings by The Allman Brothers Band, which was released in 1973 and is a double album containing the band's first two studio albums, 1969's eponymous debut album and 1970's Idlewild South.  That's good enough for my definition of a box set.

Many of the songs on those first two albums appeared in live form on the band's iconic At Fillmore East live album released in 1971.  Even at their beginnings (pun intended, motherfuckers!), the band was tight and really good.  Of course, lead guitarist Duane Allman would die in a motorcycle accident in October 1971, but the band would continue on without him.  

Both albums feature what you have come to expect from the Allmans -- bluesy jams with ripping guitars and great percussion, underlaid (if that's a word) by Gregg Allman's organ.  Back in my studying days, I used to listen to a lot of Allman Brothers, since their extended jams provided a good background for pretty much anything, but particularly when I had a lot to read and didn't want to be too distracted by paying attention to lyrics.

Favorite song from Side 1 (Side 1 of The Allman Brothers Band):  "Trouble No More"
The Allman Brothers band had some great blues covers over the years, and "Trouble No More" is one of them.  They took Muddy Waters's song and made it their own, adding body to the original.

Favorite song from Side 2 (Side 2 of The Allman Brothers Band):  "Whipping Post"
"Whipping Post" might be my favorite Allman Brothers song.  Penned by Gregg Allman, it's a bluesy, organ-heavy, soulful song about being betrayed by your woman, but feeling like you can't necessarily leave her -- so you feel like you've been "tied to the whipping post."  This version is 5:17, but they turned it into a live 23-plus minute jam on the At Fillmore East album.

Favorite song from Side 3 (Side 1 of Idlewild South):  "Midnight Rider"
Side 1 of Idlewild South is four Allman Brothers classics -- "Revival," "Don't Keep Me Wonderin'," "Midnight Rider," and the jazzy instrumental jam "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed."  I like all four songs, but am going with "Midnight Rider."  It does a great job of capturing the feeling of a cowboy on the run, with those clip-clopping congas (presumably played by Jai Johanny Johanson) and Dicky Bett's slide guitar complementing Duane Allman's acoustic work.

Favorite song from Side 4 (Side 2 of Idlewild South):  "Hoochie Coochie Man"
Call me a sucker for blues covers, but the Allmans' cover of this Willie Dixon-penned blues classic (probably most famously recorded by Muddy Waters in 1954) is really good.  Berry Oakley sings lead vocals on this one, and he does more than admirably, with a throaty performance.  Musically, the band is just jamming, as they put their own spin on one of the most famous blues songs ever written.