At Fillmore East

I usually don't like live recordings. There are a few exceptions. This isn't one of them. The music was pretty good and worth listening to again. The recording quality is mediocre. If I'd been at the concert, it might have been great. As it was, it was just average and a bit too long. 3/5

I didn't think that was ever going to end. Holy crap.

Not my kind of thing … too long and rambling

tight, but closer to elevator music than to any kind of statement

A pretty good listen, but they were killing me with the 20 minute songs .

erratic/ecstatic

it's blues rock, it's ok, but i'm not a fan of live albums and also i really don't like 20 minutes long tracks with just guitar rambling

Not bad music. I like the Allman Brothers, but this was a bit of a slog to get through. The studio versions are better and more concise. 3/5

A very good live album to be fair, but cmon guys. Way over an hour of your guitar riffs? Way too long

3 ⭐️

Clearly very talented and would probably make good background music.

For me, the Allman Brothers' album “At Filmore East” is the ultimate blues rock album. Everything fits together perfectly, the band just grooves, and the jam parts are great. Unfortunately, this fantastic live recording is not only the Allman Brothers' first live album, but also the last album recorded together by the eponymous brothers Duane and Greg. That makes it all the more important to listen to it—simply because there is almost nothing else like it.

I’m at a 10. It’s probably higher.

Just go fucking listen to it. Seriously, there’s nothing I can say. I’m at a loss for words, and nothing I type would do it justice. That’s the best live album I’ve ever heard in my life. It’s one of the best *albums* I’ve ever heard in my life, period. Just go listen with headphones in. It's in the top 10 we've gotten, at least for my tastes, and we’ve gotten 706 so far. An unbelievably mesmerizingly technical masterpiece.

Just a lot of jamming.. Was a bit long, but I enjoyed most of it.

I knew these guys are incredibly talented before going into this, and I love bands who jam but this was almost too much jam for me.

I like The Allman Brothers Band, but I don't like live albums. Some songs become unnecessarily long because of the mini-jam sessions. This doesn't mean the jam sessions aren't good or aren't worth listening to, but it can be overdone. This album is a case of it being overdone. Case in point: Whipping Post. Studio version is just over 5 minutes and the live version on this album is nearly 23 minutes.

1001 Albums Vol. 0002: At Fillmore East
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Introduction: Yet another band I have barely heard of and another album I've literally never heard of. From my few minutes of research, I'v deduced that this is a live album (obviously) recorded all the way back in 1971. It served as this band's third overall release and utilized songs from the band's first two albums. I have not and likely will not listen to the original studio releases of these songs, but I have deduced that the versions of the songs present on this album are extremely extended versions of those present on their first two albums. This fact alone somewhat elevates my view of this album already. The fact that there was true time and effort put into extending these songs to such extreme lengths for a live show should really show how much the artist truly cared about their fan base and making the best show possible. One could argue that this is something that almost every artist does. This statement does hold truth to it. Many artists will rewrite sections of their songs to give the performer a chance to speak to/hype up the audience in some way. Some songs will even be rewritten in an attempt to include the audience in the song. One such example of the latter is the bridge section of Creeping Death by Metallica. With that said, the length that the Allman Brothers extended/rewrote these songs are actually crazy. Whipping Post's studio version clocked in at barely over five minutes while this live performance of the same song clocks in at over twenty-three minutes. Nearly twenty minutes of performance was added just to this one song. These extreme extensions are seen throughout many of the album's songs too. Again, this should show just how much care the Allman Brothers gave to making their performance as great as they possibly could. This amount of care brings me hope that this will truly be an incredible live performance to hear in audio form. I likely won't appreciate these songs as much as I would if I were to listen to the studio versions beforehand, yet that wasn't the task given to me. Anyway, with that lengthy introduction out of the way, let's get into this album.
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Track 1: Statesboro Blues - Well, I wouldn't necessarily consider myself to be much of a fan of Southern Rock or Country Rock at all, yet I still found myself interested in this song. Firstly, for a live show recorded back in 1971, this sounds absolutely amazing. To be honest, I wouldn't be surprised if someone were to have absolutely no idea what they were listening to and mistook this for a studio recording of some random song. That's how good the recording quality is. The song itself is pretty interesting as well. I am especially a fan of the guitar present throughout almost the entirety of the song. I especially like the guitar solo segments as well. Other small elements such as the keyboard moving its way in and out with the melody help elevate this song's enjoyability as well. The song is very simplistic, yet the simplistic nature of this song's melodies helps one focus on the depressing lyrics of personal hardships as well. I have done a bit of research into this song, and it's lyrics are meant to be a reflection of one of the band member's lives growing up in Statesboro, Georgia. This personal reflection of this particular member helps to add to the amount of insight that this song gives. Overall, while this song has a very simplistic nature that likely wouldn't be seen in our modern world, I still consider it to be an enjoyable and unique song at the time of its making. It managed to blend classic rock with blues in a way that worked and was likely original at the time of this album's release.
Statesboro Blues Score: 8/10
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Track 2: Done Somebody Wrong - This may be somewhat of a controversial statement, yet I believe that I like this song even more than the first. The production level is the exact same, the guitar work on this song is even better than on the first in my opinion, the vocals work and mix well with the melody, the harmonica on this song was genuinely amazing as well, and so on. This song uses another very simplistic and repetitive melody, yet the length of the harmonica and guitar solo sections help disguise this while listening to the full song. The faster pace helps this song feel more energetic, which is something that is very important when artists are performing live. From what I've gathered, the Allman Brothers reserved this song to be exclusively played during live shows. I am unable to find a studio recording of this song. To me, this fact adds some value to this song. Like I said in the intro, something that makes live shows genuinely great to listen to is the amount of care put into the performance. Reserving a song that is genuinely not bad to a live show helps boost that feeling of care about the overall show. The lyrics themselves are much more simplistic than the last song, the song seemingly referring to someone who has ruined their relationship with someone, yet the fact remains that there was genuine care put into a song that many fans of the band would not ever hear. Overall, I find this song to be genuinely enjoyable while reflecting what makes a live show meaningful at the same time.
Done Somebody Wrong Score: 9/10
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Track 3: Stormy Monday - This is probably my favorite track on the album so far. This song doesn't bring the same high-energy guitar playing throughout its entire length, yet the blues atmosphere more than manages to make up for that. The two guitar and one keyboard solos are a highlight in this song as well. The lyrics seem to speak of the sadness/slog of the weekdays. This is a concept that I myself can relate too along with pretty much everyone else in the entire world. My only real critique about this song is it's length. Most of the song uses the exact same melody throughout. This can obviously get a bit monotonous with a length of over eight minutes. That being said, this one critique doesn't stain my appreciation for this song all too much. I lost my previous description of this track and don't feel like writing anything too in-depth again, so I'm going to leave this song at that.
Stormy Monday Score: 9/10
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Track 4: You Don't Love Me - This entire album just keeps getting better and better. This is the first super-extension song on the album. It clocks in at over nineteen minutes long. That being said, most of what is presented in this song is absolutely not filler. We start out with that I would assume to be the studio version of the song being played before breaking out into around twelve minutes of nonstop guitar solos and methodical instrumentation. There are even segments present in this song of just guitar. These sections are probably the weakest of the entire song, yet the amazing execution of said guitar still make them extremely entertaining to listen too. That being said, some of these segments extend a bit too long. It does take a bit for a complex melody to pick back up after the initial version of the song has ended, yet it feels so good when it does. The payoff from hearing an energetic melody pick back up just felt so unexplainably good to listen too. This feeling is also present by the oddly peaceful melody present at the end of the song. It feels so unusual to hear something like this when I have heard nothing but Southern Rock so far, yet I like it a lot. If this were simply a live version of the studio recording, I likely would have given this song around an eight, yet the jam present propels this song much higher. Before I move on, I will mention the lyrical meaning of this song despite it not being the highlight at all. The song's meaning is pretty simple, it seems to be about a man who's woman doesn't love him anymore. He's going to cry to his mom and dad about it while telling everyone about what girls do to you as well. It's pretty simple yet it doesn't really matter. Overall, I genuinely find this song to be the first masterpiece I have heard on this album. The guitar playing is perfect, the amount of care put into this performance is amazing, and so on. This song scores just shy of a ten; however, due to the fact that it can get somewhat boring around its middle. Other than that, I have absolutely nothing but feelings of appreciation for this song.
You Don't Love Me Score: 9/10
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Track 5: Hot 'Lanta - This is the first instrumental track found on this album. Right away I will say that this track is the weakest I have heard off this album so far. It's not bad at all, yet it doesn't manage to live up to the greatness of its predecessors. The entire jam has a very wacky tone to it that fits very well with what we have heard off the album so far. There are many different elements that the band uses in this jam that make the song still feel fresh after its five minute runtime is up. The keyboard, drum, and guitar solos present here are incredible like always and work well with the main melody. The release-like section at the end of the song is something I especially am a fan of as well. Overall, there isn't much to say about this song that what I have said above. This is hopefully the closest to filler that we will get on this album.
Hot 'Lanta Score: 8/10
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Track 6: In Memory Of Elizabeth Reed - If I had to describe this song in a single sentence, I would write the following: "This song is a thirteen minute instrumental that consists of guitar, keyboard, and drum work that will make make you think "My God" all the way through." This song is the best on the entire album so far. It is also the second extended song on the album. Like I said above, the instrumentation work on this song is absolutely amazing. The slow and groggy melody in the beginning building up to the fast-paced, non-stop solos is absolutely incredible, not to mention the solos themselves are the best we've heard on the entire album so far. The guitar work here is especially incredible. The final few minutes of fast-paced stringing genuinely impressed me to the point where a small look of awe came across my face. I had heard that this song was incredible, yet I wasn't expecting it to be this incredible. The progression of free impression solos with the melodies is extremely impressive as well. Overall, this song is incredible. I can't think of a single thing I would change about it to make it better. This song takes my second ten I've ever given on this site.
In Memory Of Elizabeth Reed Score: 10/10
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Track 7: Whipping Post - I was genuinely in awe for almost the entirety of this song. This song is the pinnacle of the entire album. The guitar work is at it's peak, the lyrics are at their peak, the vocals are at their peak. This genuinely felt as if it were meant to be a finale to a genuinely great album. I'd say the guitar work here manages to top even the last track's as well. This song is the last on the album. It's also an extended track as well. It clocks in at over twenty-three minutes in length, yet none of that time is filler. From the crazy, fast-paced guitar work during the first ten minutes and the last few before the final section, to the more mundane, slow-paced sections of this track, to the near-minute in length crescendo of almost every instrument heard throughout this album at the end of the track, everything about this track is perfect. I am especially a fan of the buildup section that exits the first mundane portion of this track. These mundane sections are not boring either unlike in You Don't Love Me. The first one has enough going on with the great guitar to keep me entertained all the way through. The second feels like it was made to be an outro to the entire album as a whole. These sections both work very well unlike in the previous song. As I said above, this track is lyrically great as well. It follows someone who has been squeezed by his partner for all he has. It uses a metaphor of being tied to a whipping post to emphasize how this person feels. This lyrical complexity combines well with the way the chorus is delivered by the singer, his voice beginning to roll with a hint of anger as he delivers it. This song literally feels as close to perfection as one could possibly get with this same level of production and same overall feel that this album goes for. I genuinely can't think of anything else that this album could do to make a song better than this and still have it feel like it belongs in this album. This song takes the first eleven I have given out on this site.
Whipping Post Score: 11/10
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Conclusion: This album is good, really good. I can see why this is generally considered to be one of the best live albums ever recorded. Like I said in the intro, it genuinely felt like the band cared about giving the best possible live performance they could. The songwriting varies a little in quality, yet it overall remains very strong in every song across the album. The style this album goes for feels very set while still exploring every possible avenue it could as well. Every song felt different and unique, all killer no filler. The fusion of blues themes with the extremely energetic rock atmosphere is something that works extremely well on this album as well. Lyrically, this album could use a bit of work. Most songs that contain lyrics feel a bit dated in the topics that they choose to cover. The things they have to say have been spoken time and time again in the decades that would follow this album's release. Even at this album's release there were many songwriters already covering similar topics as this band was. That being said, this is just a small issue that didn't really drawback the quality of this album all that much. What didn't drawback the quality at all was the production. The production on this album is absolutely amazing. The guitar, the keyboard, the drums all mix in such a good way. Like I said at some point above, I would not be surprised at all if someone believed they were listening to a studio recording if they had no idea what this album was. In fact, there were times where I actually forgot I was listening to a live album. That statement alone should speak volumes about how good this album's production and quality is. This quality in audio allows the guitar, drum, harmonica, and keyboard solos to sound absolutely amazing throughout each song. Overall, this album is great in pretty much every aspect. It isn't perfect in absolutely every aspect, yet the fact still remains that it is extremely influential, extremely well-produced, and extremely well-written. I am glad to have gotten something of this quality as my second album on this site. (Reevaluated my first twenty-five albums and decided to bump the score up from a 9/10 to a 10/10)
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At Fillmore East Score: 10/10
Song Average: 9.1/10

I wasn't familiar with the Allman Brothers... this album is ultimately a big olde jammin' session, I enjoyed it well enough on first listen, doubt I'd revisit.

I usually HATE live albums (apart from Stop Making Sense of course) but this is a really good album. The instrumentals are really nice and “ In memory of Elizabeth reed” was definitely my favourite.

Just feels like a long jam session, as is the Allman Brothers wont I suppose, which can be ok sometimes, but filling a CD with just 7 meandering songs is criminal, that's an average of 10 minutes each. It ebs and flows, but you gotta be in a jammy bluesy frame of mind to appreciate this.

The Allman Brothers Band has never really been my cup of tea as far as '60s and 70's rock goes, however, I liked this a little more than I thought. Let's talk about the shorter songs first. The problem is that I just don't really gel with any of them regardless of how good the performances are. Sure, they are technically doing a great job, but I've previously mentioned that this sort of blue rock is kind of whatever to me. Now, of greater interest is the jams here. And I will say, I like a good jam, but I am kind of picky. These songs, comprising nearly 3 full sides of the album are a mixed bag to me. I don't think You Don't Love Me is really worth the 20 minute for example. However In Memory Of Elizabeth Reed is something I can connect a little more to. The playing is super emotive, and I think the pacing and instrumental phrasing makes the whole song work really well. And Whipping Post is somewhere in the middle. I think the performance is a little overlong, and the pacing is a little uneven, but there are some pretty transcendent moments of full band guitar music across the 23-ish minute piece. The highs here are interesting enough that it saves At Filmore East (a little bit) to me. However, I still don't get a ton out of the full package.