FILLMORE BEAST
(formerly HOT ‘LANTA by the Allman Brothers Band)
WHITEBREAD did some other Allman’s tunes, but I was most proud of this one. It had guitar harmonies and a drum solo. It was jazzy in spots. Nice composition.
That Hammond Organ is being played by Kevin Beck at age 17. It sounds beautiful. We carried that thing all over the Northwest Corner of Connecticut. It was generously loaned to me by Mr. Alan Nero and now resides in the upstairs theatre at his Movie Theatre
THE GILSON CAFE AND CINEMA in downtown Winsted.
Derek and Jodi loved the Allman’s. Being such a novice on guitar at the time, I made Derek play this with me every practice. Just our parts. I needed it to sound good. He was also quite generous. We got those harmonies perfect, and then it was up to me to learn Dickey Betts’ guitar solo. Derek would tell me what pickup to use and the setting on the amp. We would dial it in and get it as close as possible. It sounds pretty good for only 8 months into my guitar journey. (I’ll take it!) Every day for hours leading up to this show you would find me sitting in front of my amplifier with my purple Strat going over and over and over on this solo. Derek had Duane’s part down so well it was a must that I do Dickey’s part. They contrasted so nicely. Jodi rumbles under the whole thing so well it’s easy to think what he was doing was easy, but this is an odd time signature and he and Scotty killed it.
Speaking of Scotty. That’s three minutes of technical brilliance from a 17 year old kid during that solo. I go on and on about how talented and what a genius he is, but don’t think for a second he didn’t work his ass off to get there. This whole show was a workout for him, and he was an Olympic Level cardio freak back there. He shifts gears so smoothly and we all nail the entrance ramp back into the ‘head’ (main riff) of the song. The crowd is pumped for Scotty’s solo, and they let us feel that glow after we end the song.
Man….I am SO GLAD I can hear this again. It’s been almost 33 years!
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