Brothers & Sisters - THE ALLMAN BROTHERS BAND****

Wasted Words/Ramblin' Man/Come & Go Blues/Jelly Jelly/Southbound/Jessica/Pony Boy

Prior to the release of Brothers & Sisters the Allmans had tragically lost Duane Allman & Berry Oakley in motorcycle accidents. Despite these setbacks this release topped the US album chart with Ramblin’Man reaching No. 2 in the singles chart. (US:1 UK:42)

“It is a bit surprising how good this album is considering the passing of Duane Allman and Berry Oakley. It would have probably been easier to disband than continue without two of the founding members. Instead, the group steps it up and produced Brothers & Sisters. In particular, the efforts of Dickey Betts should be noted as he takes the Allmans guitar playing in a different direction. He also is responsible for more than half of the tracks on this album, including Ramblin' Man.”

“The Allman Brothers Band were never known for their amazing studio albums, but they were necessary as a foundation for their live releases. There is a solid foundation underpinning this album, with upbeat and faster paced country songs, slower blues inspired ballads, and all the room for extended improvisation. However, that room is often times left empty compared to their previous albums.”

“The album sees them develop slightly from the dual-guitar southern rock blues-jam sound that they had done so much to popularise. Here they begin to assimilate a slightly more rootsy country-rock sound, with Gregg Allman’s opening Wasted Words being one of the finest examples of this revised sound. The whole album has an unmistakably American 70s rock vibe, at an audio junction where multicultural long-haired hippydom, blues-rock, country-rock and FM radio rock meet for a jam.”

“Competently played and sung but rather unexciting southern blues, verging more towards country-rock. That said Jessica is one of the sunniest tracks ever made, guaranteed to put you in a good mood, and Ramblin’ Man is superb as well. But as a whole the album didn't blow me away.”

“The Allman's give it a shot without Duane. You have to give them credit for going on, but this is the last album where they had even a little of the creative spark they'd once had. Brothers & Sisters has two gems, great as almost anything the Allmans ever did, Ramblin' Man and Jessica, and a solid rocker in Southbound. The rest vary from decent to mediocre.”