"It's pure magic"! Was für ein bärenstarkes, zweites Album der Allman Betts Band! Der Blues-/Southern- und Jamrock mit dem Spirit der legendären The Allman Brothers Band lebt auf höchstem Level weiter. Und es bleibt (fast) alles in der Familie! Devon Allman (Gregg Allman's Sohn), Duane Betts (der Sohn von Dickey Betts) und Berry Duane Oakley jr. (Sohn des Allman Brothers-Gründungsmitglied und Ursprungsbassisten Berry Oakley) übertragen die DNA der Allmans auf ganz natürliche Weise in die Musik der Allman Betts Band und zelebrieren mit ihren exzellenten Mitstreitern Johnny Stachela (neben Allman und Betts dritter Gitarrist im Bunde - ein überragender Saiten- und Slidekünstler), R. Scott Bryan (percussion, drums), John Lum (drums) und John Ginty (keyboards) einen geradezu hinreißenden, jammigen und bluesigen Southern Rock-Sound voller Hingabe, Herzblut und Leidenschaft, voller herrlicher, unbekümmerter und freier Spielfreude und mit genau der Authentizität, die Duane, Gregg, Dickey, Berry sr. und ihre noch lebenden Kumpels) mit größtem Stolz erfüllen dürften. "Bless your heart" macht genau da weiter, wo die Band mit ihrem letzjährig veröffentlichten Debut "Down to the river" begonnen hatte - nur noch ausgereifter, weiterentwickelter und eingespielter. Ein rund 72 Minuten währendes, regelrechtes Freudenfest für alle Allmans-, Jamrrock und Southern Rock-Fans. Fantastisch!
Hier ein Original U.S.-Review:
The Allman Betts Band delivers the tie-dyed summertime goods on its brand-new album Bless Your Heart. The shows the band growing and expanding its sound and vision in remarkable ways. Group namesakes Devon Allman and Duane Betts captured the initial sparks of the band coming together on its debut effort Down to the River in June of 2019. That record was literally the sound of the first time the seven-member ABB had played together. Bless Your Heart is the blaze those sparks created. It’s a road-forged album full of the chemistry of legends and the kind of telepathic musical interplay nine bands out of ten will never reach. Allman described the sound of the set accurately as “a band that’s having a love affair with being a band.” One listen to Bless Your Heart cements that statement as the central truth of the record.
The ABB tracked Bless Your Heart at the legendary Muscle Shoals Sound Studio in Alabama on two-inch tape, just like Down to the River, and again captured lightning in a bottle. The lineup of Devon Allman (guitar, vocals), Duane Betts (guitar, vocals), Berry Duane Oakley (bass, vocals), Johnny Stachela (guitar, vocals), John Ginty (keyboards), R Scott Bryan (percussion, vocals), and John Lum (drums) demonstrates the collective power of their symbolic hometown. Allman refers to it as “The United States of Americana” and that name fits the place well. The songs reflect West Coast scenes and Gulf Coast shores, gateways of the Midwest and the swamplands of Florida, Wyoming’s Big Sky, New York’s Big Apple, and Chicago’s Big Shoulders all at once. Taken as a whole, they’re a love letter to fans of American roots music and an homage to some of the greatest rock music that’s ever been played.
Bless Your Heart begins with the expansive “Pale Horse Rider,” a mind-opening bit of Southern psychedelia that conveys a deep-seated soulfulness and despair that’s held up by Allman’s fine vocals, some beautiful harmony guitar work, and a chill mid-tempo groove. It’s plain to hear that the band pushed itself to deliver a more sweeping, panoramic experience this time and they hit that goal dead on. Allman Betts deftly steps over the dreaded Sophomore Slump that derails so many great bands and keeps listeners focused, tuned in, and turned on from the jump.
“Carolina Song” keeps the mid-speed magic going and is a classic Southern Rock track. It’s all heartfelt, gospel-tinged vocals, soaring slide guitar, and the sort of honest joy most modern rock lacks. It’s a sign of the personal depths this whole album was written from, one that’s impossible to fake. Speaking of joy, be sure to fully take in “Savannah’s Dream,” a 12-minute instrumental piece full of passion and grace that would surely make the band’s heavyweight ancestors smile with pride. It’s the kind of long-form masterpiece the original Allman Brothers perfected in their day and it keeps the family legacy going in a most beautiful way.
“Magnolia Road” is the first single from Bless Your Heart and it’s a cinch to understand that choice. It’s an uplifting and refreshing song that blends what the band does so well on its own with an obvious reverence for The Grateful Dead and The Band. The track opens up a whole new direction for Allman Betts Band that comes off as unforced and natural. Everything about it sounds like a festival in the summertime. “Should We Ever Part” and “The Doctor’s Daughter” will also leave you equally spellbound. The Allman Betts Band is one of the finest blues/rock outfits in the world right now and it feels like they’re just getting started. We’re all blessed to be along for the ride.
(Mike O’Cull / Rock & Blues Muse)
Das komplette Tracklisting:
1. Pale Horse Rider - 4:43
2. Carolina Song - 5:46
3. King Crawler - 4:04
4. Ashes Of My Lovers - 4:10
5. Savannah's Dream - 12:03
6. Airboats & Cocaine - 4:20
7. Southern Rain - 6:39
8. Rivers Run - 3:57
9. Magnolia Road - 5:17
10. Should We Ever Part - 5:07
11. The Doctor's Daughter - 8:18
12. Much Obliged - 3:37
13. Congratulations - 3:14
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