SACD – Midnight Matinee

ramblings and ventures into music on SACD

The Allman Brothers At Fillmore East
Capricorn UIGY-15032 (℗2013 ©1972)
Japanese SHM-SACD

(Brief sojourn on our venture into the world of audiophile or higher resolution music formats)

Experiencing Allman Brothers Band at Fillmore East brings a smile to the face.This is sheer listening pleasure, especially as this SACD brings out all the nuances and details of the live act – the Fillmore East shows being hailed as the best concert recording. Fillmore East is also Duane Allman’s last album.

The Allman Brothers are a Southern country rock jamming band with all the blues and jazz structure as you can hear for yourself. The Japanese SHM-SACD includes the original seven tracks from the three nights of the spirited performances. The evening starts with Duane Allman on slide guitar on Statesboro’s Blues. Done Somebody Wrong is a rollicking blues with guitar lead and boogie bass. Stormy Monday is the sad blues. The long trademark jams are the band at its best, long but so good. Dickie Betts’s In Memory of Elizabeth Reed (from Idlewild South) with lead guitar trade-offs and the drum solo parts carry the album to the last and seventh track on the SACD. Whipping Post is a whopping 23 minutes and its tease on the fade out notes can only leave the fan or listener at home yearning more of what is to be delivered, Mountain Jam as heard in its entirety on Eat A Peach).

1	Statesboro Blues Written-By – Will McTellWritten-By – Will McTell	4:22
2	Done Somebody Wrong Written-By – Clarence Lewis, David C. Thomas, Elmore James, Morgan RobinsonWritten-By – Clarence Lewis, David C. Thomas, Elmore James, Morgan Robinson	4:35
3	Stormy Monday Written-By – T.Bone Walker Written-By – T.Bone Walker	10:28
4	You Don’t Love Me Written-By – Willie Cobbs Written-By – Willie Cobbs	19:18
5	Hot ‘Lanta Written-By – Oakley, B., Trucks, B., Betts, D., Allman, D., Allman, G., Johanson, J.J.Written-By – Oakley, B., Trucks, B., Betts, D., Allman, D., Allman, G., Johanson, J.J.	5:22
6	In Memory Of Elizabeth Reed Written-By – D. Betts Written-By – D. Betts	13:05
7	Whipping Post Written-By – G. Allman Written-By – G. Allman	23:10

tracks listing from the wikipedia

some impressions of music

Angel Ciair
Art Garfunkel

There was a lot on the line when Art Garfunkel was coming out with his first solo album.

ANGEL CLARE
LP KC 31474 (1973) STEREO/CQ 31474 QUADRAPHONIC

1: TRAVELING BOY (Williams; Nichols)
2: DOWN IN THE WILLOW GARDEN (Monroe)
3: I SHALL SING (Van Morrison)
4: OLD MAN (Newman)
5: FEUILLES-OH (Trad) – DO SPACE MEN PASS DEAD SOULS ON THEIR WAY TO THE MOON? (J. S. Bach; Grossman)
6: ALL I KNOW (Webb)
7: MARY WAS AN ONLY CHILD (Hammond; Hazlewood; Milchberg)
8: WOYAYA (Amarfio; Osei; Tontoh; Bedeau; Richardson; Amao; Bailey)
9: BARBARA ALLEN (Trad)
10: ANOTHER LULLABY (Webb)

Art Garfunkel (vocals)
Larry Knechtel, Michael Omartian (keyboards)
Louie Shelton, Larry Carlton, Dean Parks (guitars)
Joe Osborn (bass)
Hal Blaine, Jim Gordon (drums)

Other musicians:
J. J. Cale, Fred Carter, Jerry Garcia, Paul Simon (guitars)
Carl Radle (bass)
Tommy Tedesco (mandolin/bouzouki)
Jules Broussard, Jack Schroer (saxophones)
Jorge Milchberg (charango)
Stuart Canin (violin)
Milt Holland (percussion)
Dorothy Morrison, Sally Stevens, Jackie Ward & St. Mary’s Choir (vocals)

Remastered from the original analogue tapes by Michael J. Dutton

The feel of the album is a voyage through time. Traveling Boy. Mary was an only child. Old Man from Randy Newman. The renaissance nature of Feuilles-on.

The calibre of musicians involved with the creation of this album is jaw-dropping. The names from the Wrecking Crew abound.

What drew me to acquiring this on SACD was the early foray into the SACD world and the modest price of the album. As a fan of Garfunkel with Paul Simon and owning a few of their albums along with solo recordings, I looked forward to hearing the voice of Garfunkel through SACD.

The most familiar track All I Know starts with a slow build and then absolutely soars. The moment did not let me down and for this makes the whole experience worthwhile.