Duane Allman - Skydog, The Duane Allman Retrospect [2013] (7 x CDs) a

Duane Allman - Skydog, The Duane Allman Retrospect [2013] (7 x CDs)

It’s difficult to call a guitarist who routinely shows up in the upper reaches of “100 Greatest Guitarists Ever” lists underappreciated, and yet the first impression the towering seven-disc box set Skydog: The Duane Allman Retrospective makes is that Duane Allman does not receive his proper due. Sure, the Allman Brothers Band are one of the staples of classic rock, a band that carved out the blues-drenched sound of Southern rock while also establishing a template for jam bands to come, and Duane’s contributions were crucial in making Layla & Other Assorted Love Songs Eric Clapton’s finest moment, and that would be enough for a substantial legacy even if Allman hadn’t died in a tragic motorcycle accident at the age of 24, but that was only part of the story. The rest is told on Skydog, a box set that has its origins on a collection Bill Levenson began in the early ’90s, just after he compiled the four-disc Allman Brothers Band box, Dreams, in 1989, which didn’t see fruition until 2013, after years of work by the renowned rock & roll archivist and Galadrielle Allman, Duane’s daughter. Both had their reasons for delivering a testament to everything Duane Allman achieved in his short life, and that dedication pays off wildly on Skydog, as great a box set as has ever been released.

Much of the greatness in Skydog lies in its thoroughness, how it treats Allman’s work outside of the Allman Brothers Band not as a digression but rather a focus. The Allman Brothers Band account for just 21 of the 129 songs here, not popping up until toward the end of disc three, by which time Duane has been heard playing gangly R&B guitar in his teenage R&B band the Escorts, expertly mimicking the Yardbirds in the Allman Joys, marrying psychedelia and blues in the Hour Glass, essaying an early version of “Melissa” in the 31st of February, and, especially, making himself heard on sessions for Clarence Carter, Wilson Pickett, Laura Lee, King Curtis, and Arthur Conley recorded down in Muscle Shoals, Alabama (sessions with Aretha Franklin were cut up in New York). He’d also traded solos with Otis Rush and blazed a trail on Boz Scaggs’ eponymous 1969 LP, sessions that emphasized how his guitar was getting increasingly gutsy and gritty, characteristics that could be heard on the Allman Brothers Band’s 1969 debut. Positioned as it is here, the first Allmans album is not the start of something, but rather a pivotal point in a long journey that continued to unfold long afterward. On-stage, the Allmans improvised with imaginative ferocity, and the back half of Skydog showcases a restless, fearless musician, one who was eager to tangle with his idol Eric Clapton in Derek & the Dominos, rush on-stage with the Grateful Dead, guest with Delaney & Bonnie, and sit in with jazz flautist Herbie Mann. By the end of the set, Duane Allman seems to have had his hand in every kind of music being made in America at the turn of the ’60s, and the depth and scope of his achievement is staggering, especially when you consider that so much of this was recorded in a mere four years. While the records released by the Allman Brothers Band do hint at this range, Skydog tells a story unheard on any other Allman-related albums, including the excellent 1989 box Dreams. This is an epic narrative illustrating how soul, blues, country, psychedelia, jazz, and garage rock melded into modern rock & roll and, in turn, this is a biography of a musician who was instrumental in that evolution, a guitarist whose name is well-known but whose work is still not thoroughly appreciated. Skydog rights that wrong in glorious fashion. (AllMusic)

I consider myself fortunate to have a copy of this magnificent box. Rhino have done a wonderful job on the package and the music in my opinion, but why issue it as a limited edition of only 10,000 which is bound to keep prices up!! If you are wondering, is it as good as everyone says - yes, it is

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Track Lists

CD1

01 Escorts Turn On Your Love Light 2:33

02 Escorts No Name Instrumental 3:13

03 Escorts What’d I Say 4:04

04 Allman Joys Spoonful 2:27

05 Allman Joys Gotta Get Away 2:38

06 Allman Joys Shapes Of Things 2:47

07 Allman Joys Crossroads 3:32

08 Allman Joys Mister, You’re A Better Man Than I 4:45

09 Allman Joys Lost Woman 5:24

10 Hour Glass Cast Off All My Fears 3:31

11 Hour Glass I’ve Been Trying 2:39

12 Hour Glass Nothing But Tears 2:29

13 Hour Glass Power Of Love 2:51

14 Hour Glass Down In Texas 3:08

15 Hour Glass Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) 3:01

16 Hour Glass B.B. King Medley: Sweet Little Angel / It’s My Own Fault / How Blue Can You Get? 7:07

17 Hour Glass Been Gone Too Long 3:03

18 Hour Glass Ain’t No Good To Cry 3:08

19 31st Of February Morning Dew 3:46

20 31st Of February Melissa 3:13

21 Bleus Milk And Honey 2:34

22 Bleus Leavin’ Lisa 2:43

23 Bleus Julianna’s Gone 2:59

CD2

01 Clarence Carter The Road Of Love 2:54

02 Clarence Carter Light My Fire 2:49

03 Wilson Pickett Hey Jude 4:06

04 Wilson Pickett Toe Hold 2:49

05 Wilson Pickett My Own Style Of Loving 2:41

06 Wilson Pickett Born To Be Wild 2:45

07 Laura Lee It’s How You Make It Good 2:32

08 Laura Lee It Ain’t What You Do (But How You Do It) 2:05

09 Spencer Wiggins I Never Loved A Woman (The Way I Love You) 3:01

10 Arthur Conley Ob-la-di, Ob-la-da 3:00

11 Arthur Conley Stuff You Gotta Watch 2:15

12 Arthur Conley Speak Her Name 2:39

13 Arthur Conley That Can’t Be My Baby 2:22

14 Wee Willie Walker A Lucky Loser 2:20

15 Lovelles I’m Coming Today 3:00

16 Lovelles Pretending Dear 2:38

17 Aretha Franklin The Weight 2:53

18 Aretha Franklin It Ain’t Fair 3:22

19 Soul Survivors Darkness 2:56

20 Soul Survivors Tell Daddy 2:30

21 Soul Survivors Got Down On Saturday 3:10

22 King Curtis Hey Joe 2:56

23 King Curtis Foot Pattin’ 4:49

24 King Curtis Games People Play 2:46

25 King Curtis The Weight 2:47

26 Sweet Inspirations Get A Little Order 2:06

CD3

01 Barry Goldberg Blues Band Twice A Man 4:26

02 Duane Allman Goin’ Down Slow 8:46

03 Duane Allman No Money Down 3:27

04 Duane Allman Happily Married Man 2:42

05 Otis Rush Me 2:58

06 Otis Rush Reap What You Sow 4:55

07 Otis Rush It Takes Time 3:27

08 Duck And The Bear Going Up The Country 2:36

09 Duck And The Bear Hand Jive 2:43

10 Boz Scaggs Finding Her 4:11

11 Boz Scaggs Look What I Got 4:15

12 Boz Scaggs Waiting For A Train 2:43

13 Boz Scaggs Loan Me A Dime 13:04

14 Allman Brothers Band Don’t Want You No More 2:30

15 Allman Brothers Band It’s Not My Cross To Bear 5:01

16 Allman Brothers Band Black Hearted Woman 5:07

17 Allman Brothers Band Trouble No More 3:47

CD4

01 Allman Brothers Band Every Hungry Woman 4:13

02 Allman Brothers Band Dreams 7:19

03 Allman Brothers Band Whipping Post 5:18

04 Ronnie Hawkins One More Night 2:24

05 Ronnie Hawkins Will The Circle Be Unbroken 2:52

06 Ronnie Hawkins Matchbox 3:08

07 Ronnie Hawkins Down In The Alley 5:11

08 Ronnie Hawkins Who Do You Love 2:16

09 Lulu Marley Purt Drive 3:24

10 Lulu Dirty Old Man 2:22

11 Lulu Mr. Bojangles 3:10

12 Lulu Sweep Around Your Own Back Door 2:42

13 Johnny Jenkins I Walk On Gilded Splinters 5:19

14 Johnny Jenkins Rollin’ Stone 4:56

15 Johnny Jenkins Down Along The Cove 3:00

16 Johnny Jenkins Voodoo In You 4:52

17 John Hammond Shake For Me 2:43

18 John Hammond Cryin’ For My Baby 2:40

19 John Hammond I’m Leavin’ You 3:20

20 John Hammond You’ll Be Mine 2:40

21 Doris Duke Ghost Of Myself 3:09

CD5

01 Eric Quincy Tate Comin’ Down (Demo Version) 2:52

02 Allman Brothers Band Hoochie Coochie Man (Live) 5:01

03 Allman Brothers Band Midnight Rider 3:00

04 Allman Brothers Band Dimples (Live) 5:01

05 Allman Brothers Band I’m Gonna Move To The Outskirts Of Town (Live) 9:23

06 Delaney & Bonnie Soul Shake 3:10

07 Laura Nyro Beads Of Sweat 4:50

08 Allman Brothers Band Don’t Keep Me Wonderin’ 3:31

09 Delaney & Bonnie Living On The Open Road 3:05

10 Ella Brown A Woman Left Lonely 3:26

11 Ella Brown Touch Me 3:02

12 Bob Lance More Than Enough Rain 5:54

13 Derek And The Dominos I Am Yours 3:37

14 Derek And The Dominos Why Does Love Got To Be So Sad? 4:43

15 Derek And The Dominos Have You Ever Loved A Woman 6:54

16 Derek And The Dominos Layla 7:04

CD6

01 Sam Samudio Me And Bobby Mcgee 3:31

02 Sam Samudio Relativity 3:16

03 Sam Samudio Goin’ Upstairs 5:07

04 Ronnie Hawkins Don’t Tell Me Your Troubles 2:17

05 Ronnie Hawkins Sick And Tired 2:47

06 Ronnie Hawkins Odessa 3:21

07 Delaney & Bonnie Gift Of Love 2:11

08 Delaney & Bonnie Sing My Way Home 4:04

09 Allman Brothers Band Statesboro Blues (Live) 4:19

10 Allman Brothers Band In Memory Of Elizabeth Reed (Live) 13:06

11 Grateful Dead Sugar Magnolia (Live) 7:21

12 Allman Brothers Band One Way Out (Live) 4:58

13 Herbie Mann Push Push 10:06

14 Herbie Mann Spirit In The Dark 8:01

15 Herbie Mann What’d I Say 4:59

CD7

01 Delaney & Bonnie Come On In My Kitchen (Live) 3:42

02 Delaney & Bonnie Going Down The Road Feeling Bad (Live) 4:03

03 Delaney & Bonnie Medley: Poor Elijah / Tribute To Johnson (Live) 4:52

04 Allman Brothers Band You Don’t Love Me / Soul Serenade (Live) 19:27

05 Cowboy Please Be With Me 3:43

06 Allman Brothers Band Stand Back 3:26

07 Allman Brothers Band Blue Sky 5:11

08 Allman Brothers Band Blue Sky (Live) 11:25

09 Allman Brothers Band Dreams (Live) 17:57

10 Allman Brothers Band Little Martha 2:11

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