Sons of Legendary fathers lay down a fitting new chapter to the Allman and Betts legacies.
The first thing that hits you about ‘Pale Horse Rider’ the atmospheric opening track and first single from The Allman Betts Band’s new release ‘Bless Your Heart’ is how timeless it sounds, the cascading guitars and the wonderful vocal, it’s a great song to start a new page in the new legacy,but it’s just the first shot fired on an album that continues to hit some fine notes.
Man that organ that swells in the intro of ‘Carolina Song’ hits the spot! And those guitars and gospel tinge to the vocal, this is huge! And it doesn’t stop – the carefree rock and role, slide guitar and horns of ‘King Crawler’ lifts the mood to deliver a real good-time song, before you’re stopped in your tracks by the crawl and dance of ‘Ashes of My Lovers’ – it’s a spellbinding song that makes you realise that the music you’re listening to has as any layers and nuances as a fresh seam of rock.
‘Savannah’s Dream’ starts out all mystical and well, dream-like before the steady organ beat comes in like an awaking and the drums shuffle by before guitar skips in with that breezy Allman’s lilt (imagine ‘Jessica’) – it’s a wonderful blue-sky instrumental ad sits nicely up against the nice straight ahead rock of ‘Airboats and Cocaine.’ The half-way point is marked by The wonderful ‘Southern Rain’ a classic Blues that is so, so smooth before the jangle of and simplicity of the clean flowing ‘Rivers Run.’
‘Magnolia Road’ evokes Duane and Devon’s father’s band, all the elements are there and we’re served up a righteous sweet Southern noise full of soul that can’t help but raise a smile. I love it! ‘Should We Ever Part’ has a wonderful energy, sublime guitars and almost a touch of Tom Waits about it as it wails and builds to a sweet crescendo.
‘The Doctor’s Daughter’ starts with piano and a mournful guitar and almost takes on a Beatles-like feel as the tale unfolds. It’s an enigmatic song with a brooding emotion that really pulls at you all the way to the Spanish-style guitar that closes us out eight minutes later. It’s a lovely contrast to the simple and pleasingly polite ‘Much Obliged’ which seems to drift by on a warm wind, tip its hat and mosey on past.
Closer ‘Congratulations’ from those very first bars of piano sounds like a classic and short as it is the bittersweet tale of moving on is one that will stay with you. It’s a wonderful way to close the curtain on a album full of treasures.
Timeless.
9/10
