The Allman Brothers Band: Morning Dew - Non-Album Tracks, 1968-1969

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Here's the last of three albums dealing with the careers of Gregg and Duane Allman before they started the Allman Brothers Band in mid-1969.

The previous album I posted was the second Hour Glass album, "Power of Love." (NOTE: I was not allowed to post this on YouTube due to copyright issues, but it's at my music blog.) Hour Glass, which was mainly Gregg and Duane, broke up after the album came out and was generally ignored. Instead, they soon hooked up with the 31st of February, a band made up of Scott Boyer, David Brown, and Butch Trucks.

The 31st of February had already released an album to very little notice. Boyer was the band's chief guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter. He was talented, but Gregg and Duane were so talented that they basically took over the band. The five of them began working on a second 31st of February, with Gregg singing most of the songs and Duane dominating the guitar soloing.

However, in order to get himself and Duane out of their Hour Glass record contract, Gregg had promised to record a solo album for that record company. He went to Los Angeles to do that, so the 31st of February album was never quite finished. The songs "It's Not My Cross to Bear" and "Southbound" included here come from his solo album project, which also was never finished. (By the way, "Southbound" is a totally different song than a later Allman Brothers Band song with that title. "It's Not My Cross to Bear" is a song the Allman Brothers Band would later do, though this is a more stripped down demo version.)

In 1972, after Duane died and the Allman Brothers Band became huge, the second 31st of February album was finally released under the name "Duane and Gregg." At the time, it was seen as kind of a cheap cash grab, and that's true. But that doesn't take away from the fact that the music on it happens to be really good. In fact, it's almost like a lost Allman Brothers Band album. For instance, it contains an early version of "Melissa" that isn't very different from the classic Allman Brothers Band version. And personally, I think their version of the folk classic "Morning Dew" should have been a big hit. It also contains other songs that show of Gregg's songwriting skill, for instance "God Rest His Soul," which was his reaction to the death of Martin Luther King, Jr.

So far, all the songs mentioned above have been officially released, though hard to find. The last two songs on this album are still unreleased. They might or might be called Allman Brothers Band performances, depending on how you look at it.

In early 1969, with Gregg still in L.A., Duane hooked up with drummer Jaimoe and bassist Berry Oakley, crossing paths with them due to Duane's extensive work as a session guitarist. The three of them moved to Jacksonville, Florida, and reconnected with Butch Trucks, the drummer for the 31st of February, who had joined a band there called the Second Coming. That band was led by guitarist Dickey Betts. All of these people began jamming together, often on the concert stage. Basically, it was the Allman Brothers Band minus Gregg and plus a couple others, though they still called themselves the Second Coming.

The last two songs here come from these jams. "Born in Chicago" features Dickey Betts on vocals, and "Hey Joe" is a rare example of Duane Allman singing lead vocals, with a lot of his lead guitar.

At the tail end of March, Gregg finally returned from L.A. (having finally gotten out of his record contract). and joined in with the jam sessions. The musical chemistry was obvious from the very start, so Gregg, Duane, Jaimoe, Butch Trucks, Berry Oakley, and Dickey Betts formally became the Allman Brothers Band.

01 Morning Dew (31st of February with Duane & Gregg Allman)
02 God Rest His Soul (31st of February with Duane & Gregg Allman)
03 Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out (31st of February with Duane & Gregg Allman)
04 Melissa (31st of February with Duane & Gregg Allman)
05 I'll Change for You (31st of February with Duane & Gregg Allman)
06 Back Down Home with You (31st of February with Duane & Gregg Allman)
07 Well I Know Too Well (31st of February with Duane & Gregg Allman)
08 It's Not My Cross to Bear [Demo] (Gregg Allman)
09 Southbound (Gregg Allman)
10 Born in Chicago (Allman Brothers Band & the Second Coming)
11 Hey Joe (Allman Brothers Band & the Second Coming)

For a free mp3 download of all the songs on this album, check out this page at my music blog:

https://albumsthatshouldexist.blogspot.com/2019/07/the-allman-brothers-band-31st-of.html

Unfortunately, I don't know it any photo exists of the 31th of February that includes Gregg and Duane Allman. The band's second album that got released as "Duane and Gregg" just has a drawing of those two on the cover. So I used a photo of those two, taken shortly after the Allman Brothers Band was formed in mid-1969. Duane is the one with a mustache and partial beard, and Gregg has his hair hanging over his eyes. I colorized it.