A portion of Duane Allman’s final concert with the Allman Brothers Band, recorded just 12 days prior to the guitarist’s death, will be released this October.
The Final Note, featuring seven songs from the Allmans’ October 17, 1971 concert in Owings Mill, Maryland, is one of a pair of archival releases the Southern rock jam band will release on October 16th; the other is a full recording of their July 19, 2005 concert in Erie, Pennsylvania, JamBase reports.
The tape for The Final Note was unearthed by Sam Idas, a young radio journalist at the time who brought his cassette recorder to the October 17, 1971 gig to interview the band; he also recorded seven of that concert’s songs. Twelve days later, on October 29th, Duane Allman died following a motorcycle crash at the age of 24.
“My only intention was to record the interview,” Idas said in a statement. “This was a brand-new cassette recorder with an internal microphone, and I had one 60-minute cassette tape. I was sitting there with the recorder in my lap, and I remember thinking ‘Why don’t I try this out? I can record the concert!’ It was a totally spontaneous decision. I’d been to many concerts, but this was the only time I had the thought—and the motivation—to record the show.”
Idas had forgotten about the cassette recording until a few years ago, when a friend asked him if he still had the concert on tape. The band added, “Despite the obvious limitations that come with a 50-year-old cassette tape, modern technological enhancements help restore the magic of this significant night.”
The Final Note will also come with a booklet featuring never-before-published photos from the show, liner notes from band archivist John Lynskey and a photo of Idas’ cassette.
The Final Note Track List
1. Statesboro Blues
2. Trouble No More
3. Don’t Keep Me Wondering
4. One Way Out
5. In Memory Of Elizabeth Reed
6. Hot ‘lanta
7. Whipping Post
From Rolling Stone US
