Listening Session: Allman Brothers Band Fillmore West ‘71

A few years back, my good friend and subscriber

Andy Beichler

sat down for a live listening session on his kick-ass radio show called One More Ride at his alma mater, Berea College.¹

We recorded this 2.5 years after I’d finished my Ph.D. dissertation² and to years before I published Play All Night.

Andy is truly one of my favorite people to talk Allman Brothers with—talk music in general with.

In listening back, I can tell I’m still sorting through my various talking points. I was about halfway through turning the dissertation into the book.

I really dig our discussions about the tracks he played on his show: “DKMW” “Dreams” “Stormy Monday” and “YDLM”

Here’s a playlist of all of the songs I discuss in the video:

🍄 Playlist to accompany Fillmore West ‘71 listening session

Ticket blanks for the ABB’s January 1971 San Francisco run.

TRANSCRIPT CLEANED UP FOR PRINT

Turning my Ph.D. dissertation into Play All Night! Duane Allman and the Journey to Fillmore East³

Give us just a quick summary of your doctoral dissertation on the Allman Brothers.

I got struck by the Allman Brothers bug toward the end of college. They just grabbed hold of me and never let go.⁴

I've been thinking a lot about them for 25 years or so. “What is it about this band?”

My goal was to put the original band era in a little bit of historical context to better understand the music. The dissertation was my first attempt to make sense of that.

“What is it about the Allman Brothers Band? Why are they special? Why did they strike me when they did?”

By October 2022, I turned the dissertation into Play All Night.

I wasn’t necessarily trying to convince the unconverted. I was trying to make sense of it for me. Thanks for reading along while I sort all this out. 🍄