Track Listing

1. Ain't Wastin' Time No More - Johnny Sandlin, The Allman Brothers Band, Tom Dowd
2. Ramblin Man - The Allman Brothers Band, Johnny Sandlin, Buddy Thornton, Ovie Sparks, Berry Oakley, Jaimoe, Les Dudek, Chuck Leavell, Richard Betts, Gregg Allman
3. Come And Go Blues
4. Jelly Jelly
5. Southbound
6. Jessica
7. Pony Boy

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #7417 in Music
• Released on: 1998-07-06
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered
• Dimensions: .21 pounds
• Running time: 38 minutes

CD Description
Three songs into these sessions, bassist Berry Oakley was killed in a motorcycle accident, eerily similar to the one that had claimed founding member Duane Allman a year earlier. Given these circumstances, it is amazing that, on balance, BROTHERS AND SISTERS is probably the Allman Brothers' strongest studio effort. Songwriter and guitarist Dickie Betts really hits his artistic stride here; his "Ramblin' Man", for example, not only has country soul to burn but also features one of the all-time great fadeouts, with the instrumentation building on itself and soaring into the stratosphere.
Founding member Gregg Allman, whose contributions lean more toward the band's blues roots, is in equally good form. In particular, "Wasted Words" and "Jelly Jelly" plumb seemingly bottomless depths of feeling, and the band, notably pianist Chuck Leavell, renders them with an effortless textural transparency and swing. Though not as essential as the Allman Brothers' first four albums, the superb writing and performances on BROTHERS AND SISTERS still place it among their finest releases.

Customer Reviews

Brothers, Sisters, Babies and Jeremy Clarkson
This cd represented a change in direction for the Allmans. With Duane Allman no longer around, the decision was taken to stick with Dickey Betts as a lone guitarist and to bring in Chuck Leavell on piano. Two on drums, two on keyboards and one on guitar. Sounds weird, huh?

The music is the real change of direction, with Dickey taking a bigger role in the writing and the vocals. Net result is that five of the tracks have a country/blues feel to them. The exceptions are tracks 3 (a bit Supertrampy) and 4 (more Greg Allman bluesy). The country ones are the ones I prefer.

Track 6 (Jessica) if you didn't know is the theme music for Top Gear (or was until they replaced the Allmans version with something horrible, modern and tinny).

And track 7 is a great one for getting my baby son to sleep. I can sit him in my lap and tap my hands to the music on his thighs, and he's gone. Totally sparko! But I'm not telling the missus my secret.

All in all, an excellent album. I rate it above Eat a Peach and just below Beginnings and the Fillmore.

4½ stars. The Allman Brothers' final classic album
"Brothers And Sisters" is often considered the Allman Brothers' last great album (until 1990 anyway).
It features sole guitarist and occational lead vocalist Richard "Dickey" Betts and newly added 21-year-old pianist Chuck Leavell, and sees the Allman Brothers Band starting to move away from the almost pure blues of their earliest records, focusing more on Southern rock with a country flavour (like on the melodic country rocker "Ramblin' Man").

The lengthy jams are mostly absent, and the songs are tighter and perhaps a little less experimental. Dickey Betts is a magnificent guitarist, but where Duane Allman was primarily a bluesman, Betts is also a country rocker, and the choice of material obviously mirrors this difference.
There is still some great, swinging blues rock here, though, particularly classics like "Wasted Words" and "Southbound", which still pepper the band's set list 35 years later. "Jelly Jelly" is a fine slow blues, penned by Gregg Allman, and Dickey Betts plays some truly sublime acoustic slide guitar on his own country-blues-fusion "Pony Boy", one of the album's finest songs.

"Brothers And Sisters" features some great interplay between Betts and Chuck Leavell, and it was the Allmans' most lighthearted and pop-oriented record at the time, topping the charts for a month and a half and going platinum.
Some listeners may miss the gritty blues of the group's previous efforts, but others will probably find it to be more immediately accessible. Either way, "Brothers and Sisters" is one of the Allman Brothers' most diverse and enjoyable records.
4½ stars - highly recommended.

Brothers
I think this is the last great Allmans album.With brother Duane having moved on, Dickey Betts contributes some classics to the brothers set list.Gregg allman proves what a great blues vocalist he is with his world weary delivery.The album opens with "Wasted words" with some fine lyrics from Gregg.The two blues numbers are excellent with some fine lead guitar from Dickey at the end of "Jelly roll(Blues)the new piano player Chuck leavell adds some nice touches on "Come and go Blues" with Gregg's Hammond swirling as backup. The outstanding cut here is the rocker "Southbound" with brilliant interchange between Betts and Leavell."Jessica" as we know is a classic alongside Betts "Rambling man" "Pony boy" ends the album on a country song written by Betts,most of his solo material was country music. I can't end without mentioning bass player Brother Berry Oakley who had more freedom to play melodic bass lines due to the Allmans having two drummers.Brother Berry was killed in a motorbike crash just two blocks from where Duane was killed.After his death,for me ,that was the end of the magic !A band that didn't have much luck,but brought us some brilliant music!