Forums dot lukpac.org

The great thing about that is, the original album that brought the Allmans so much acclaim is as notable for its clever studio editing as it is for its performances. Producer Tom Dowd skillfully trimmed some of the performances down to relatively concise running time (edits later restored on the double-disc set The Fillmore Concerts), at times condensing several performances into one track.

It is also a slightly less honest release, where "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed" is concerned -- Dowd edited the version here together from two different performances, first and second shows, the dividing line being where Duane Allman's solo comes in. Not that this is the only concert album where this kind of editing has been done, but the original Live at the Fillmore contained a single take of the song, and some purists may prefer that.

lukpac wrote:I'd like to hear that sometime, actually.

dudelsack wrote:I just have the original Polydor CD release. Sounds good to me. Interestingly, I tried to make a CD-R with the "Eat A Peach" tracks added in (restoring the transition to Mountain Jam, for instance). I was foiled by the fact that the tracks from EAP had a slightly different sound to them.
Both CDs were mastered by Dennis Drake, IIRC.

CitizenDan wrote:This might be what Luke was talking about, but the point on "You Don't Love Me" where the TFC version differs is obvious -- when the band stops so Duane can play alone, on the LP, his guitar feeds back for a few seconds, but at that point on TFC, it decays naturally.

Now these performances finally sound as glorious as they did those heady nights at the Fillmore. The clearest example of Tom Dowd's approach to the project comes in the 13-minute version of "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed" that is pieced together from multiple takes, one of them being the March 13 (first show) version that appeared on the original album. The band played the song three times during it's Fillmore stand. "one of them I hated," Dowd says, "But two of them were fantastic!" Dowd and mixer Jay Mark mixed down those two version (sic) and proceeded to, as Dowd puts it, "take this song apart. I came to the conclusion that in the first half of the song, up to Duane's solo, I had a better band performance and Dickey Betts' solo on the version that we had not used before. Starting with Duane's solo, though, it's the original version. Twenty-one years later, I know 'Liz Reed' as well as I know any song, certainly more than I did in that time of instant decisions. Putting the two versions together showed off the song the best. Listen to it! Listen to the togetherness of Dickey, Duane, and Gregg on the theme lines, and how [drummers] Butch and Jaimoe adjust to the changes up front. There's much more exciting interplay now, more like the band sounded those nights."