Given its principals’ forebears, The Allman Betts Band exhibits no small amount of courage in its decision to pool talent for recording and roadwork. Still, the first fruits of its efforts on both fronts have been promising, including this initial studio project. Recorded in Muscle Shoals in what seems nothing less than a deliberate gesture meant to invoke the spirits of the great musicians who’ve worked within the famed studio (including, most conspicuously in this case, the late Duane Allman, the guitarist who found the iconic Brothers of Southern rock), the septet does justice to its legacy with Down To The River.
The nine tracks are sequenced with the same astute logic that distinguishes the ensemble’s live sets. “All Night” begins the record promisingly, as its somewhat unpredictable time and chord changes allow for a small taste of improvisation to whet the appetite. For this ABB to fulfill its potential on the jamming front, however, the group will need to regularly and capably extend itself along those very same lines, as it does, in fact, on “Shinin’:” Johnny Stachela’s ingenious, near-brilliant slide guitar work presents the first highlight in an arrangement that also features contrast between the singing voices of the two namesakes of the group.
Duane Betts’ somewhat reedy nasal tones immediately hearken to his father Dickey’s, which is to say it’s not nearly so strong as his peer Devon Allman’s. But Gregg’s son betrays a certain affectation in his phrasing, which is particularly noticeable on “Try.” Fortunately, some well-placed background harmonies camouflage this minor fault, though not nearly so fully as the tandem guitars, which also serve the purpose of hiding the pedestrian progression at the core of the song. Still, that composition, like the surprise inclusion of the late Tom Petty’s “Southern Accents,” speaks to the Allman Betts Band’s shared (and broad) sense of history.
An additional and more practical manifestation of that collective (and most precocious) self-awareness is the overall savvy applied to this endeavor. Interweaving with the otherwise unobtrusive and graceful bass-playing of Berry Oakley Jr., drummer John Lum and percussionist R Scott Bryan enrich the mid-tempo gait of this Heartbreakers’ number, turning its basic rhythm hypnotic, an effect amplified by the echo applied to the group singing on the fade. Meanwhile, placing the longest track here in the very center of the track sequence is a wise move indeed, as is the mix of acoustic and electric guitars that build on the soft opening crescendos directly reflecting the title of “Autumn Breeze.”
As the near nine-minute cut progresses, more involved guitar work will immediately evoke the classic sound of the Allman Brothers Band, especially as it’s buttressed by the strong flow of Hammond organ below it from Chuck Leavell. The fact that the increasingly complex playing compares so favorably to the antecedents of the Allman Betts Band (including the latter-day lineup circa 2003’s Hittin’ The Note) speaks as much to the intrinsic skill of this unit as to its future potency in a more mature state; the group purposefully maintains the structure of the arrangement for the duration, no doubt with the astute input from producer Matt Ross-Spang (Jason Isbell, Margo Price, John Prine and Elvis Presley).
Unfortunately, “Good Ol’ Days” hardly measures up as a piece of material or performance, offering proof Allman-Betts are not always articulate verbally or instrumentally. A sharp guitar figure the likes of which adorns “Melodies Are Memories” might alleviate the ponderous quality, as would a less heavy-handed vocal delivery from Allman. But the juxtaposition of the two tracks downplays the faults of the former as much as it highlights the assets of the latter, the careful balance of which exemplifies a knowing sense of proportion in place throughout Down to the River.
Closing this forty-plus minutes with the voices of both leaders, plus the correspondingly effective multiple guitars on “Long Gone” depicts not just another opportunity for the septet to stretch out in a concert setting, it also hints at the aptitude and the latent sense of mission at work within this recorded debut of the Allman Betts Band.
