Allman Brothers Band - Hittin' the Note

There's comfort food, and there's comfort music. The Allman Brothers Band is my version of comfort food, because it reminds me of outdoor cookouts (yeah, usually BBQ because, yes, I am NC born-and-raised) and people sipping Budweiser and my dad standing by a smoking grill. And you know, the rough and tumble tightness of anything Gov't Mule guitarist Warren Hayes does makes me happy too. So, just so that you know I'm not looking at this album unbiased, I can begin. Not much has changed. The guitar is mellow and bright and on that warm vibe that the Allman Brothers Band does so well. There's the requisite grit, the requisite gravelly "oh-yeah!" peppered in guitar solos, and it's reliable. It's easy, groovy Southern rock. Like all Allman Brothers albums, there's no track shorter than 5 minutes, and there's no track without a bit of a careless moral. There's a SCORCHING, down-and-dirty blues cover of the Rolling Stone's "Heart of Stone" that will bring down the house at any summer concert outdoor venue. Mick Jagger was never this damaged. "Maydell" teaches you how to play good fuzzed-out guitar with a bit of a scat beat backing the swizzle-sticked drums. Truly bluesy, truly good, but "Desdemona" is much, much smoky bar. "Old Friend" takes a nod from the porches of Macbee, SC and makes 'em matter. And, if you like the jam band, "Instrumental Illness" is a 12 minute and 3 second ode to the fact that guitar was meant to WAIL. Look, you can't go wrong with the band that implores you to eat a peach and played at the Fillmore. They're getting older, yeah, sure, but Bob Dylan just keeps getting better, and the Allman Brothers are too. [www.allmanbrothersband.com]