Gregg Allman - Midnight Rider & These Days (45 RPM, 200g)
Gregg Allman - vocals, organ, acoustic guitar [click here to see more vinyl featuring Gregg Allman]
Bill Stewart - drums
Chuck Leavell - acoustic and electric pianos, vibes
Tommy Talton - acoustic, electric and slide guitars, dobro and tambourine
Scott Boyer - acoustic, electric and steel guitars, electric piano
David Brown - bass
Buzzy Feiten - guitar
Charlie Hayward - bass
Paul Hornsby - organ, keyboards, clavinet
Jaimoe - percussion, conga
Carl Hall - background vocals
Hilda Harris - background vocals
Cissy Houston - background vocals
Emily Houston - background vocals
June McGruder - background vocals
Helene Miles - background vocals
Linda November - background vocals
Eileen Gilbert - background vocals
Maretha Stewart - background vocals
Albertine Robinson - background vocals
Jim Nalls - guitar
David Fathead Newman - saxophone
Johnny Sandlin - bass
Butch Trucks - percussion, cabasa
Ed Freeman - strings and horn arrangements, conductor
Max Cahn – violin
Tony Posk - violin
Written by Gregg Allman (A1), Robert Kim Payne (A1), Jackson Browne (B1)
1 LP, standard sleeve
Original analog Master tape : YES
Heavy Press : 200g
Record color : black
Speed : 45 RPM
Size : 12'’
Stereo
Studio
Record Press : Quality Record Pressings
Label : Analogue Productions
Original Label : Capricorn Records
Produced by Gregg Allman, Johnny Sandlin
Remastered by Ryan K. Smith at Sterling Sound
Originally released in 1973
Reissued in 2018
Tracks:
Side A:
- Midnight Rider
Side B:
- These Days
Reviews:
“Gregg Allman’s “Midnight Rider,” first recorded by the Allman Brothers Band on their second album, Idlewild South, in 1970, is the story of a man on the run – presumably from the law and on a horse – that has been recorded by numerous other artists. In three short verses, the song sums up what it must be like to be the outlaw who lives life a day at a time, moving from place to place, woman to woman, in a journey that never ends.
With “Midnight Rider,” Allman threw some paint on a canvas and handed brushes to the listeners, inviting them to use their own colors, their own imaginations, to complete the picture. Who is this “Midnight Rider?” What/who is he running from? Does he ever get caught, or does he elude his trackers to live to a ripe old age? Where some songs might be considered incomplete if these details were missing, “Midnight Rider” is a well-written classic about a faceless character that invites the listener in to make his or her own conclusions.
Many of the performers who influenced Allman’s artistic growth were straight blues writers whose songs almost exclusively used I-IV-V progressions. But unlike the material of those artists, Allman’s own writing has seldom revolved around such progressions, and “Midnight Rider” is an example of that. With the signature lick on the open A and D strings that is a cousin to licks used by Neil Young, Journey and others, “Midnight Rider,” in the key of D, utilizes a IVmi7 chord (G mi7) and a VII chord (C) for its chorus, and the solo is played over a VII chord and a VIb chord (Bb). The original guitar tunings by Duane Allman and Dickey Betts were probably standard, but some artists, including Gregg Allman himself, have been known to drop one or both E strings to D.
Another notable thing about “Midnight Rider” is that the song is so open to stylistic interpretation. Some performers (e.g., Alison Krauss and Union Station) have taken major liberties with the key, changes and tempo without losing the flavor or intent of the piece. It has been cut by bluegrassers like Krauss and Eddie Adcock, “Godmother of Punk” Patti Smith, and Canadian rockers Theory of a Deadman, and has been recorded at least three different times by Willie Nelson. Bon Jovi has performed an abbreviated version of the song as a segue into their own “Wanted Dead or Alive,” continuing the theme of a man on the run, but on a motorcycle.
“Midnight Rider” is a great song, a prime example of what can be said with only a few words, a song for all times and generations whose titular character is “bound to keep on ridin’.” You’ll be able to read more about “Midnight Rider” and other compositions by Gregg Allman in the Jan/Feb Legends Issue of American Songwriter.” Rick Moore, AmericanSongWriter
Ratings :
Discogs : 4,88 / 5