TROUBLE NO MORE – 50TH ANNIVERSARY COLLECTION
WHEN THE FINAL NOTES of “Trouble No More” rang out in the early morning hours of October 29, 2014 at The Beacon Theatre in New York City, the unthinkable was finally upon us, for that meant The Allman Brothers Band were truly no more. After five-plus decades as the consummate road warriors, America’s premier jam band was hanging up its collective boots for good at the venue they’d held an annual residency at for a quarter-century.
Though co-founding vocalist/keyboardist Gregg Allman passed away in May 2017,. It’s a fitting addition to the ABB canon, serving as a shrewdly curated companion to their June 1989 4CD/6LP box set. comprises 61 tracks culled from the band’s 45 years as an active recording/performing unit, spread out over five CDs nestled in a dark-brown fold-out 12-panel softpack protected by a snug, rawhide-tan slipcase. Naturally, 22 live tracks balance the proceedings alongside the myriad studio cuts and rarities, plus seven unreleased songs. The 88-page booklet contains an exhaustive 9.000-word essay from box set co-producer John Lynskey, plus scores of photos both seen and unseen. (As in-depth as Lynskey’s liner notes truly are, I still would have liked to have gotten further insight from acclaimed, best-selling ABB historian Alan Paul, but that’s a minor nitpick at best.)
