First thing of note with this release is that a quarter of the album's material was recorded after Duane's death - all of Side 1's great guitar work is the product of Dickey Betts working up his best Duane Allman impression. For what it's worth, he does a very good job, especially on the opening track "Ain't Waistin' Time No More", where the clean slide playing calls to the lost soul of Duane fairly well. Equally impressive is the soft beauty of "Melissa", the prototypical southern rock gem that's warm and longing and reminiscent of some time long ago that had yet to exist. You can find a similar kind of thoughtful beauty on "Blue Sky", another one of the album's most enduring tune, one of a few studio tracks with Duane Allman's glorious work on it - it's a beautifully bittersweet track, in part because it's one of the final songs with Duane on it, but it's so bright and filled with love that it's hard to not listen to over and over again. It may very well be one of the group's shining accomplishments. Of course, even more bittersweet is the instrumental "Little Martha" that closes off the record proper, an acoustic showcase for Duane Allman that very much feels like the rightful tribute to such a fantastical player - it's melancholic with context and beautiful in style through and through, and a rightful way to end the record. It's more than just soft living on Eat a Peach, even if they showcase some of the group's most enduring material - the ripping "Stand Back" is some of the most driving rock the group has ever laid down, and the Duane guitar solo on this track is assuredly red hot. All of these moments showcase a group that's still as the pinnacle of their power, and if anything one that's only gotten stronger since Idlewild South off the back of their fantastic Fillmore set.
Speaking of the Fillmore, that brings us to the new live recordings from that concert, which shows us that the Brothers Band can still jam. No better example exists of this than the awesome power of the 33-minute "Mountain Jam", a jam so badass and expansive that it had to be split across two sides on original pressings. It's based around Donovan's "There is a Mountain", although with how adventurous the resulting 33 minutes is, you'd almost never know that it's connected to one of Scotland's best folkies. Ignoring the awe-inspiring power of Duane Allman's extended soloing, but of every member - from Gregg's clean organ moves to a drum duet between Butch Trucks and Jai Johanson before going back to Duane Allman again. It's quite possibly the best song the Allman Brothers ever captured on tape, and certainly the quintessential display of their power as a unit. We also get two more moments from the group's Fillmore performance, including the fantastic groove of "One Way Out", captured during the Fillmore East's closing show - it's as good a performance as any on the At Fillmore East album, showcasing a seemingly never-ending energy that the group had (you know, if the half-hour long jam wasn't an indication already). I particularly love the guitar dueling between Dickey Betts and Duane Allman on this song - good fun. "Trouble No More" is your standard Allman Brothers affair; this song originally appeared on their debut, but this live performance is much better for my money. The group can still jam in studio though, and without Duane, and one listen to the almost jazzy "Las Brers in A Minor" is a more than fantastic indicator of this. This is all without mentioning the incredibly rich sound of these recordings. It's a really filling record, least of all due to its two disc runtime, and a very satisfying one through and through; for my money, the only Allman Brothers record that's as consistent as this one is At the Fillmore, which is certainly complimentary.
Eat a Peach doesn't just work as a tribute to the Skydog that is Duane Allman, but it's a fantastic capture of the band through and through. It's explorative, adventuring, and with a real sense of beauty through it all. If we look at the Duane Allman Trilogy as a real thing, than Eat a Peach is the natural conclusion of his story - gone far too soon, but ending with an almighty blast of energy, followed by a certain earnest emotion and graceful reflection. It's the ideal Allman Brothers Band experience, from the studio to the live setting - everything that made the group fantastical and awesome is present on these two discs, but now with a new sense of loveliness and longing that seems almost fitting given the passing of Duane. It's a powerful record in that sense, and one perfectly invocative of both Duane's larger than life style, as well as the glory of The Allman Brothers Band - it is the platonic ideal of the group.
RATING: ✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯
Listen to Eat a Peach.
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