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Jaimoe

Johanson came up in the R&B world and began drumming at an early age, often accompanied by friend Lamar Williams on bass. Johanson backed soul singers, including a membership in Otis Redding's touring band in 1966, and afterward touring with the acclaimed soul duo, Sam & Dave. After joining up with Duane Allman in February 1969, he quickly became the first recruit into Allman's new group, soon joined by bassist Berry Oakley, fellow drummer Butch Trucks, guitarist Dickey Betts and lastly Allman's younger brother, singer, organist and pianist Gregg Allman. The group, quickly named after the brothers Allman, began recording demos that April in Macon, Georgia, which became the group's spiritual home.

The band's mixture of blues, jazz and rock, spearheaded by the dual lead guitars of Betts and Allman, and the double-drums of Trucks and Jaimoe, were unique at that time, and they rapidly became known as an act that "you had to see live". Their first two albums, their eponymous debut (November 1969) and Idlewild South (September 1970) brought positive critical reviews but only limited commercial success. Their third album, however, recorded live in March 1971 at one of their favorite concert halls, Bill Graham's Fillmore East in New York City in March 1971, made them one of the biggest rock acts in America. At Fillmore East became a RIAA certified gold album in late October 1971, finally bringing the group the chart success that had eluded them. The band quickly suffered tragedy, however. Duane Allman was killed in a motorcycle accident a few days later. Shaken by the loss of Allman, the group soldiered on and released "Eat A Peach", which reached #4 in the Billboard charts in 1972, a hybrid studio and live album, with outtakes from the Fillmore East concerts and studio cuts both with and without their original leader.

After touring in late 1971 and early- to mid-1972 as a five piece band, the group added keyboardist Chuck Leavell to their line-up, and began recording their fifth album. After recording only a handful of tracks, however, Berry Oakley was also tragically killed in a motorcycle accident mere blocks from where Duane Allman had been struck. Lamar Williams, a bass guitarist who was a friend of Johansen became a member of the group in the wake of Oakley's death. The album that resulted, 1973's Brothers and Sisters, added more of a country feel to their trademark sound and gave the group their only hit single, "Ramblin' Man". Just prior to the release of the album, they co-headlined the largest one-day rock concert in American history, in 1973 Summer Jam at Watkins Glen, complementing the Grateful Dead, and The Band as a support act.

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Album Review

Allman Brothers Band: Syria Mosque Pittsburgh, PA January 17, 1971

Read "Syria Mosque Pittsburgh, PA January 17, 1971" reviewed by Doug Collette


On the surface, The Allman Brother Band's Syria Mosque Pittsburgh, PA January 17, 1971, would appear to be just another in a long line of live releases featuring the original six-man lineup of the archetypal Southern blues- rockers. It is, however, markedly superior on many fronts. Granted, this title hardly renders obsolete ABB's seminal concert release At Fillmore East (Capricorn, 1971). And while the audience recording that is The Final Note (ABBRC, 2020) does not compare favorably to ...

3
Album Review

The J. & F. Band: Me And The Devil

Read "Me And The Devil" reviewed by Mark Corroto


We are back to the whippin' post with Me And The Devil, the fourth Allman Brothers-inspired release from Long Song Records, and the third by The J&F Band; and while it is far from being a guilty pleasure, the music does beg to be heard at high volume. In 2016, drummer Tiziano Tononi, bassist Joe Fonda, violinist, Emanuael Parrini and their smoking band recorded an Allman Brothers tribute Trouble No More...All Men Are Brothers (Long Song, 2017). It ...

3
Album Review

Allman Brothers Band: Trouble No More: 50th Anniversary Collection

Read "Trouble No More: 50th Anniversary Collection" reviewed by Doug Collette


The gold-embossed lettering on the front and back cover of the roughly 5" by 7" slipcase enclosing the Allman Brothers Band's box set Trouble No More belies its otherwise generic art work. Yet the graphic design isn't all that gives the lie to an otherwise positive first impression gleaned from 50th Anniversary Collection. A glance at the sixty-one tune track-listing plus a cursory perusal of Kirk West's stellar photos inside the eighty-eight page booklet are also somewhat deceiving: while this ...

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New York @ Night

Jaimoe's Jasssz Band at the Iridium

Read "Jaimoe's Jasssz Band at the Iridium" reviewed by Peter Jurew


Jaimoe's Jasssz Band The Iridium New York, NY July 24, 2017 When guitarist Duane Allman was looking to start a band in 1969, the first musician he hired was drummer Jai Johanny Johanson. Just 24 years old at the time, Johanson, becoming known from Memphis to Muscle Shoals simply as Jaimoe, was already a veteran of the R&B circuit, having toured with Sam & Dave and Otis Redding. Crossing paths in the evolving music scene, ...

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Talkin' Blues

Talkin' Blues with Jaimoe

Read "Talkin' Blues with Jaimoe" reviewed by Alan Bryson


As a 2012 recipient of a Grammy Award for Lifetime Achievement, Jaimoe needs no introduction. He has been a beloved figure on the music scene for over four decades, as a veteran of the R&B circuit with Otis Redding, Percy Sledge and Joe Tex, and as a founding member of the legendary Allman Brothers Band and the critically acclaimed band Sea Level.In late 2011 his Jaimoe's Jasssz Band released Renaissance Man (Lil'Johnieboy Records, 2011), an album that is ...

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Performance / Tour

Jaimoe's Jasssz Band

Jaimoe's Jasssz Band

Source: All About Jazz


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Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Syria Mosque...

The Allman Brothers Band Recording Company
2022

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Me And The Devil

Long Song Records
2021

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Trouble No More: 50th...

Universal Music Group
2020

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