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.
Disc 1
01-The Escorts - Turn on Your Love Light
02-The Escorts - No Name Instrumental
03-The Escorts - What'd I Say
04-The Allman Joys - Spoonful
05-The Allman Joys - Gotta Get Away
06-The Allman Joys - Shapes of Things
07-The Allman Joys - Crossroads
08-The Allman Joys - Mister, You're a Better Man Than I
09-The Allman Joys - Lost Woman
10-The Hour Glass - Cast Off All My Fears
11-The Hour Glass - I've Been Trying
12-The Hour Glass - Nothing But Tears
13-The Hour Glass - Power of Love
14-The Hour Glass - Down in Texas
15-The Hour Glass - Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)
16-The Hour Glass - B.B. King Medley Sweet Little AngelIt's My Own FaultHow Blue Can You
17-The Hour Glass - Been Gone Too Long
18-The Hour Glass - Ain't No Good to Cry
19-The 31st of February - Morning Dew
20-The 31st of February - Melissa
21-Bleus - Milk and Honey
22-Bleus - Leavin' Lisa
23-Bleus - Julianna's Gone
Disc 2
01-Clarence Carter - The Road of Love
02-Clarence Carter - Light My Fire
03-Wilson Pickett - Hey Jude
04-Wilson Pickett - Toe Hold
05-Wilson Pickett - My Own Style of Loving
06-Wilson Pickett - Born to Be Wild
07-Laura Lee; The Memphis Horns - It's How You Make It Good
08-Laura Lee; The Memphis Horns - It Ain't What You Do (But How You Do It)
09-Spencer Wiggins - I Never Loved a Woman (The Way I Love You)
10-Arthur Conley - Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
11-Arthur Conley - Stuff You Gotta Watch
12-Arthur Conley - Speak Her Name
13-Arthur Conley - That Can't Be My Baby
14-Willie Walker - A Lucky Loser
15-The Lovelles - I'm Coming Today
16-The Lovelles - Pretending Dear
17-Aretha Franklin - The Weight
18-Aretha Franklin - It Ain't Fair
19-The Soul Survivors - Darkness
20-The Soul Survivors - Tell Daddy
21-The Soul Survivors - Got Down on Saturday
22-King Curtis - Hey Joe
23-King Curtis - Foot Pattin'
24-King Curtis - Games People Play
25-King Curtis - The Weight
26-The Sweet Inspirations - Get a Little Order
Disc 3
01-The Barry Goldberg Blues Band - Twice a Man
02-Duane Allman - Goin' Down Slow
03-Duane Allman - No Money Down
04-Duane Allman - Happily Married Man
05-Otis Rush - Me
06-Otis Rush - Reap What You Sow
07-Otis Rush - It Takes Time
08-The Duck & The Bear - Going Up the Country
09-The Duck & The Bear - Hand Jive
10-Boz Scaggs - Finding Her
11-Boz Scaggs - Look What I Got
12-Boz Scaggs - Waiting for a Train
13-Boz Scaggs - Loan Me a Dime
14-The Allman Brothers Band - Don't Want You No More
15-The Allman Brothers Band - It's Not My Cross to Bear
16-The Allman Brothers Band - Black Hearted Woman
17-The Allman Brothers Band - Trouble No More
Disc 4
01-The Allman Brothers Band - Every Hungry Woman
02-The Allman Brothers Band - Dreams
03-The Allman Brothers Band - Whipping Post
04-Ronnie Hawkins - One More Night
05-Ronnie Hawkins - Will the Circle Be Unbroken
06-Ronnie Hawkins - Matchbox
07-Ronnie Hawkins - Down in the Alley
08-Ronnie Hawkins - Who Do You Love
09-Lulu - Marley Purt Drive
10-Lulu - Dirty Old Man
11-Lulu - Mr. Bojangles
12-Lulu - Sweep Around Your Own Back Door
13-Johnny Jenkins - I Walk on Gilded Splinters
14-Johnny Jenkins - Rollin' Stone
15-Johnny Jenkins - Down Along the Cove
16-Johnny Jenkins - Voodoo in You
17-John Hammond, Jr. - Shake for Me
18-John Hammond, Jr. - Cryin' for My Baby
19-John Hammond, Jr. - I'm Leavin' You
20-John Hammond, Jr. - You'll Be Mine
21-Doris Duke - Ghost of Myself
Disc 5
01-Eric Quincy Tate - Comin' Down [Demo Version][Demo Version]
02-The Allman Brothers Band - Hoochie Coochie Man [Live]
03-The Allman Brothers Band - Midnight Rider
04-The Allman Brothers Band - Dimples [Live]
05-The Allman Brothers Band - I'm Gonna Move to the Outskirts of Town [Live]
06-Delaney & Bonnie; The Memphis Horns - Soul Shake
07-Laura Nyro - Beads of Sweat
08-The Allman Brothers Band - Don't Keep Me Wonderin'
09-Delaney & Bonnie - Living on the Open Road
10-Ella Brown - A Woman Left Lonely
11-Ella Brown - Touch Me
12-Bobby Lance - More Than Enough Rain
13-Derek & the Dominos - I Am Yours
14-Derek & the Dominos - Why Does Love Got to Be So Sad
15-Derek & the Dominos - Have You Ever Loved a Woman
16-Derek & the Dominos - Layla
17-Duane Allman; Eric Clapton - Mean Old World
Disc 6
01-Domingo Sam Samudio; The Dixie Flyers - Me and Bobby McGee
02-Domingo Sam Samudio; The Dixie Flyers - Relativity
03-Domingo Sam Samudio; The Dixie Flyers - Goin' Upstairs
04-Ronnie Hawkins; The Dixie Flyers; The Memphis Horns - Don't Tell Me Your Troubles
05-Ronnie Hawkins; The Dixie Flyers; The Memphis Horns - Sick and Tired
06-Ronnie Hawkins; The Dixie Flyers; The Memphis Horns - Odessa
07-Delaney & Bonnie - Gift of Love
08-Delaney & Bonnie - Sing My Way Home
09-The Allman Brothers Band - Statesboro Blues [Live]
10-The Allman Brothers Band - In Memory of Elizabeth Reed [Live]
11-Grateful Dead - Sugar Magnolia [Live]
12-The Allman Brothers Band - One Way Out [Live]
13-Herbie Mann - Push Push
14-Herbie Mann - Spirit in the Dark
15-Herbie Mann - What'd I Say
Disc 7
01-Delaney & Bonnie - Come on in My Kitchen [Live]
02-Delaney & Bonnie - Going Down the Road Feeling Bad [Live]
03-Delaney & Bonnie - Poor ElijahTribute to Johnson [Live]
04-The Allman Brothers Band - You Don't Love MeSoul Serenade [Live]
05-Cowboy - Please Be with Me
06-The Allman Brothers Band - Stand Back
07-The Allman Brothers Band - Blue Sky
08-The Allman Brothers Band - Blue Sky [Live]
09-The Allman Brothers Band - Dreams [Live]
10-The Allman Brothers Band - Little Martha
