Greg Allman | Through the Shattered Lens

If there was ever song which perfectly fused the two into the music genre commonly as blues rock it would The Allman Brothers Band’s iconic song from their 1969 self-titled album, “Whipping Post”.

I consider “Whipping Post” one of the greatest rock songs ever created. It’s blues origins could be heard throughout the song from the near-perfect slide-guitar playing by one of rock’s greatest guitarists in Duane Allman. The lyrics to the song is classic existential blues of an evil woman the cause of one’s ruination and of the metaphorical whipping post the song’s subject is put through.

While brother Greg’s vocalizing has been a highlight for some the true highlight of the song comes from the band’s two lead guitarists. The song manages to showcase both player’s skills in two separate guitar solos that come after the songs two verses and choruses. We get Duane Allman performing magic with the first guitar solo in slide-guitar fashion with Dickey Betts joining in on the tail end on rhythm guitar. The second guitar solo has the two performers switching roles with Duane augmenting Bett’s electric guitar work with some slide work on acoustic guitar.

The song’s lyrics were written by Duane’s brother Greg who is also the band’s lead singer. His vocals in this song comes out as if coming from the very depths of perdition. There’s genuine, fierce emotion in the singing by Greg Allman and everyone else who has covered the song never seem to replicate the very same emotion which made “Whipping Post” so great the moment it was first heard in 1969 and continues to be great as a new generation in the 21st century gets introduced to the band.

The studio version of the song is powerful in it’s own right…

…but it’s the 22-minute long live recording At Fillmore East that the song has attained mythical status.

Whipping Post

I’ve been run down
I’ve been lied to
I don’t know why,
I let that mean woman make me a fool
She took all my money
Wrecks my new car
Now she’s with one of my good time buddies
They’re drinkin’ in some cross town bar

Sometimes I feel
Sometimes I feel
Like I’ve been tied
To the whipping post
Tied to the whipping post
Tied to the whipping post
Good lord I feel like I’m dyin’

(guitar solo)

My friends tell me
That I’ve been such a fool
And I have to stand down and take it babe,
All for lovin’ you
I drown myself in sorrow
As I look at what you’ve done
Nothin’ seems to change
Bad times stay the same
And I can’t run

Sometimes I feel
Sometimes I feel
Like I’ve been tied
To the whipping post
Tied to the whipping post
Tied to the whipping post
Good lord I feel like I’m dyin’

(guitar solo)

Sometimes I feel
Sometimes I feel
Like I’ve been tied
To the whipping post
Tied to the whipping post
Tied to the whipping post
Good lord I feel like I’m dyin’

Great Guitar Solos Series

What else to follow up a guilty pleasure than with a classic southern rock song that I still consider one of the best examples of what made 70’s American Rock an equal of the huge British invasion that was currently happening in the US with mega bands like Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin and The Who. It’s this song from one of the preeminent Southern Rock groups of the 70’s, The Allman Brothers Band, that arrives as the latest “Song of the Day”.

“Midnight Rider” is a great Southern rock tune which successful melds not just blues guitar playing but country and gospel songwriting and vocalizing. It’s well-known for Greg Allman’s powerful vocals and Dicket Betts lead guitar work. Yet, I consider this song as reaching “one of the greatest” status because of the rhythm guitar (with an acoustic guitar no less) work by one of the greatest (call it hyperbole but I truly believe him to be one of the best ever) guitarists who ever picked up the instrument whether one’s genre of music was jazz, flamenco, rock, blues, metal, rock and everything in-between. Duane Allman’s acoustic guitar work makes this song what it is. It’s a rhythm that he sets which everyone else in the band orbits around with their own talent rising to meet it on equal footing.

For some people this song was first experienced as the opening track to Rob Zombie’s underappreciated “grindhouse road flick” The Devil’s Rejects. Others of more recent time probably heard it as part of the GEICO insurance company’s 2013 ad-campaign. It doesn’t matter where one has heard it. The more people who hears it and experiences just why this song continues to be a staple of what made 70’s American rock scene such a great one the better people will be for having heard it.

Long live, Duane Allman.

Midnight Rider

Well, I’ve got to run to keep from hidin’,
And I’m bound to keep on ridin’.
And I’ve got one more silver dollar,
But I’m not gonna let ’em catch me, no,
Not gonna let ’em catch the Midnight Rider.

And I don’t own the clothes I’m wearing,
And the road goes on forever,
And I’ve got one more silver dollar,
But I’m not gonna let ’em catch me, no
Not gonna let ’em catch the Midnight Rider.

And I’ve gone by the point of caring,
Some old bed I’ll soon be sharing,
And I’ve got one more silver dollar,

But I’m not gonna let ’em catch me, no
Not gonna let ’em catch the Midnight Rider.

No, I’m not gonna let ’em catch me, no
Not gonna let ’em catch the Midnight Rider.