Back in the Saddle 1991 Vintage T-Shirt - Retro Western Style Tee for Men & Women - Perfect for Concerts, Rodeos & Casual Wear

In the mid-1980s it looked like the Allman Brothers Band were down and out. After their split in 1982, Gregg Allman and Dickie Betts each struggled with ailing solo careers, playing ever smaller venues and unable to attract record deals, while Jaimoe Johanson joined local bands in Macon, Georgia and Butch Trucks quit the music business altogether. Yet popular culture took a significant turn toward the end of the decade, and a number of factors set the stage for their successful relaunch in 1989. The emergence of Stevie Ray Vaughan in 1984 reawakened a wider interest in the blues, while the introduction of the CD format saw older artists, from Eric Clapton to Led Zeppelin, releasing remastered compilations of their work in definitive box-sets that led to their rediscovery by a younger generation of music listeners. Within this changing climate, Gregg Allman s unexpected solo success in 1987 with the I m No Angel album paved the way for the band s return, announced to coincide with the celebration of their twentieth anniversary in 1989 and the release of their own four-disc career retrospective, Dreams. Enlisting bassist Allen Woody from ex-Lynyrd Skynyrd drummer Artimus Pyle s band and guitarist Warren Haynes and pianist Johnny Neel from Dickie Bett s own ensemble, the reinvigorated Allman Brothers Band hit the road in June 89 and the following year returned to the studio to record Seven Turns, their first LP in almost a decade. Reuniting with Tom Dowd, the producer who had shaped their sound back in the early seventies, the album confirmed that the band was back in business, with a renewed sense of purpose and their strongest line-up since their heyday. 1991 was a busy year for the group, back in the studio to record Shades of Two Worlds and out on the road for over 80 shows across the US, Europe and Japan. Having lost Johnny Neel the previous year but having brought on board percussionist Marc Quiñones to add further ammunition to their rhythmic arsenal, the concert presented on Back In The Saddle 1991, recorded on a Saturday evening at the Cal Expo Amphitheater in Sacremento, captures this line-up of the Allman Brothers Band at the peak of their powers. The chemistry between guitarists Warren Haynes and Dickie Betts is electrifying, their synergy during renditions of instrumentals old ( In Memory of Elizabeth Reed , Jessica ) and new ( Kind of Bird ) a highlight of the set, while Gregg Allman s vocal performance demonstrates an artist restored by the new collective surrounding him, before the substance abuse issues began to take hold once again. This two-disc set is an essential instalment in the Allmans canon, a thrilling document of the act at the apex of their resurgence in the 1990s and an immersive experience for those who want to hear the extraordinary range of a band reborn.