Gregg Allman – Low Country Blues

Well, what can you say? This is an excellent album, and the sound quality of the vinyl is really superb. What you get is oldfashioned blues wich (in my opinion) sounds so much better on vinyl than cd. This album is a must-have for Gregg Allman fans and every serious blues-fan should at least give this album a try. This album brings you 70 years of blues-history performed by a few of the best players on the scene (Gregg Allman, T Bone Burnett, Doyle Bramhall II, etc.)

Low Country Blues could just have easily been called, My First New Album In Fourteen Years, though that may be an overstatement, because while the album is certainly new for Gregg, all but one of the tracks is original ... and I’ve been having a bit of a love / hate relationship with this album for just that reason. My first experience with the Allman Brothers was seeing them live at the Fillmore, where they recorded their legendary album. At that time the boys were all about flying low, playing off of each other, bending and shaping comfortable notes with mostly original tunes, all laced within a haze of blue smoke that hung in the air, and mixed with the lights, like a spider’s web heavy with dew in front of a big ol’ yellow moon.

Now ... with that description in mind, this is a really fine comfortable, knock you back, kick your shoes off album. Gregg got himself back in the studio, long hair and all, and lovingly recorded these sensational covers like they were his own flesh and blood, sounding fresh ... as if being heard for the very first time, with a warm homespun take, and presented with that filtered haze that I can almost still smell. This is an easy album to slip into, so easy that it’s over before you realize it. The thing that put the real smile on my face was saying, “Hey, I know that song,” then realizing that it actually was a cover, and by one of this country’s legendary artists, one who manages to showcase unique arrangements of iconic blues classics. There’s a lot of fun to be had here, so pleased don’t miss it.

Review by Jenell Kesler