By the end of 1973, the Allman Brothers Band were the most popular touring band in America. They drew crowds like few others, on a par with those attracted by the Grateful Dead. So it goes without saying, that when the two groups were on the same bill, pandemonium often ensued. A legendary event at the Watkins Glen Grand Prix Racecourse on July 28, 1973, when the Allmans, the Dead and The Band drew an estimated 600,000 people – at the time the largest outdoor rock concert ever – illustrates this point to.
Thus, given their status at the time, when the Allman Brothers chose to play New Year's Eve in the Bay Area at Bill Grahams Cow Palace, it was a benediction indeed they quite simply could have played anywhere they damn wanted. And there was a paradox – wasn't San Francisco's New Year's Eve slot by now the exclusive property of the Grateful Dead? This dilemma however was somewhat addressed, live to an FM radio audience sometime after midnight, when Jerry Garcia and Bill Kreutzmann joined the Allman Brothers Band onstage. At the time, Garcia's appearance seemed to cement a synergistic relationship between the two bands that became enshrined in rock history. At the same time, it turned out to be the end of an era not just for the two bands, but for a certain aura in post-60s rock, none of which seemed obvious at the time.
- Gregg Allman: Lead Vocals, Organ, Electric Piano
- Dickey Betts: Lead Guitar, Slide Guitar
- Lamar Williams: Bass
- Chuck Leavell: Piano
- Butch Trucks: Drums, Percussion
- Jai Johanson: Drums
Guest performers (Disc 3)
- Jerry Garcia: Guitar
- Bill Kreutzmann: Drums
- Boz Scaggs: Vocals, Guitar
CD1
01. Wasted Words (5:28)
02. Done Somebody Wrong (6:02)
03. One Way Out (9:51)
04. Stormy Monday (8:59)
05. Midnight Rider (5:01)
06. Blue Sky (7:43)
07. In Memory of Elizabeth Reed (17:31)
08. Statesboro Blues (6:58)
09. Southbound (7:22)
10. Come and Go Blues (5:29)
CD2
01. Ramblin' Man (8:06)
02. Trouble No More (4:22)
03. Jessica (12:59)
04. Les Brers in A Minor (6:09)
05. Drum Solo (8:07)
06. Les Brers in A Minor Pt 2 (9:50)
07. Whipping Post (11:53)
08. Linda Lou-Mary Lou (9:18)
09. Hideaway-You Upset Me (10:09)
CD3
01. Bo Diddley-Mountain Jam (27:12)
02. Save My Life (18:55)
03. Blues Jam (11:22)
04. You Don't Love Me (9:49)
05. Will the Circle Be Unbroken (4:46)
06. Mountain Jam (8:01)
