THE ALLMAN BROTHERS BAND CLASSIC - BROTHERS AND SISTERS - THE DELUXE EDITION

When the Allman Brothers Band’s fifth album, Brothers and Sisters, was released on Capricorn Records in August 1973, the legendary southern blues-rock group had already achieved world-wide fame with their 1971 live album, At Fillmore East. This success was followed by the tragic loss of their founder, leader and musical visionary, guitarist Duane Allman, who died in a motorcycle crash on October 29, 1971. Arguably at the peak of their popularity, the band's album followed the release of the two-disc Eat a Peach, which came out on February 12, 1972, the last recording to include contributions by Duane.

While regrouping under the leadership of singer/organist Gregg Allman and guitarist/vocalist Dickey Betts—the last guitarist standing in a group noted for its dual leads—The Allman Brothers Band soldiered on with Brothers and Sisters, which turned out to be their most successful selling recording to date, spending five weeks at #1 and the first to achieve platinum status. To mark its 40th anniversary, the original classic recording—which includes such Allman standards as “Ramblin’ Man,” “Wasted Words,” “Jessica” and “Come and Go Blues”—will be re-released in re-mastered form on both CD and vinyl, with deluxe two-CD and four-CD box sets that include previously unreleased rehearsals, jams and outtakes on Universal Music Enterprises.

“Brothers and Sisters documents a band reinventing itself and finding a new direction after a traumatic loss,” says UMe Chairman/CEO Bruce Resnikoff. “The two deluxe editions, through these previously unreleased rehearsals, jams and outtakes, offer a priceless glimpse inside that creative process.”

The album’s famous front cover features a photo of Vaylor Trucks, the son of drummer Butch Trucks, while the back sports a shot of Brittany Oakley, the daughter of bassist Berry Oakley. The gatefold pictures the entire Allmans family: band members, roadies, wives, girlfriends, children, dogs, all in a seemingly idyllic Southern setting, capturing the family nature of the project.

The deluxe two-CD edition of Brothers and Sisters includes the original remastered recording as well as previously unreleased rehearsals of “Wasted Words,” “Trouble No More,” “One Way Out,” “I’m Gonna Move to the Outskirts of Town” and “Done Somebody Wrong”; outtakes of the instrumental “Southbound,” “Double Cross” and “Early Morning Blues,” as well as the brand-new archival find, “A Minor Jam.” The four-CD set includes two discs devoted to a live performance at Winterland in San Francisco, Sept. 26, 1973, right after Brothers and Sisters’ release, featuring an introduction by Bill Graham and previously unavailable live versions of “Done Somebody Wrong,” “Stormy Monday,” “Midnight Rider,” “Statesboro Blues,” “You Don’t Love Me” (which includes “Amazing Grace”), “Les Brers in A Minor,” “Blue Sky,” “Trouble No More” and “Whipping Post,” along with two Brothers and Sisters tracks in “Come and Go Blues” and “Jessica.”