Flac Allman Brothers

If truth be told, the Allman Brothers Band have always been the quintessential American rock band, shaping a rootsy mix of blues, jazz, country, and rock into an elegant, nuanced sound that single-handedly created what became known as Southern rock. Full of beautiful dual guitar leads and driven by double drummers, and possessing a lead singer who, when he was on his game, had as much soul as anyone around, the Allman Brothers Band were also an improvisational band who found all kinds of new corners in their classic catalog when they played live, no matter what the configuration of the band was at the time.

Spanning four discs and 55 tracks, Dreams is one of those rare box sets that tells a story while delivering the definitive word on its subject. Its success has a lot to do with its status as Polygram/Bill Levinson's sequel to the acclaimed hit Crossroads, which summarized Eric Clapton's winding career perfectly. They follow the same approach here, gathering pre-Allman Brothers Band recordings from the clan, including cuts by the Allman Joys, selecting the hits from the classic years, and adding stray cuts by solo projects to the mix. It's a smart move and it results in a terrific box that truly offers the definitive word on one of the longest-running dramas in Southern rock. Yes, the Allmans reunited rather successfully after this box, so none of that material is here, but it's not missed – this is the story of the classic band.

The group's follow-up to their comeback album is a major step forward, with more mature songs, more improvisation than the group had featured in their work since the early '70s, and more confidence than they'd shown since Brothers and Sisters. It's all here, from acoustic bottleneck playing ("Come on in My Kitchen") to jazz improvisation ("Kind of Bird"), with the most reflective songwriting ("Nobody Knows") in their history.

Released a year after Eat a Peach, Brothers and Sisters 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. This was the first album to feature the group's new lineup, with Chuck Leavell on keyboards and Lamar Williams on bass, as well as Dickey Betts' emergence as a singer alongside Gregg Allman. The tracks appear on the album in the order in which they were recorded, and the first three, up through "Ramblin' Man," feature Berry Oakley - their sound is rock-hard and crisp. The subsequent songs with Williams have the bass buried in the mix, and an overall muddier sound…

“Duane Allman was bursting with energy…he was a force to be reckoned with. His drive and focus, as well as his intense belief in himself and our band, was incredible. He knew we were going to make it. We all knew we were a good band, but no one had that supreme confidence like he did, and it was a great thing, because his confidence and enthusiasm were infectious…it says a lot that his hero was Muhammad Ali. That kind of supreme confidence that Ali had – that’s where Duane was coming from.” Dickie Betts

Four-disc collection features 36 tracks in all, culled from ABB's shows between July 25 and August 10, 2003, in Indianapolis, Pittsburgh, Darien Center, NY, Hartford, CT, Charlotte, NC, and Raleigh, NC. The 2003 lineup of the group included founding members Gregg Allman, Butch Trucks and Jaimoe, plus Warren Haynes, Marc Quiñones, Oteil Burbridge and Derek Trucks.