Recording information: Beacon Theatre, New York, NY (03/25/2003-03/26/2003).
ONE WAY OUT can be seen as a sequel to the Allman Brothers Band's 2000 live album, PEAKIN' AT THE BEACON. Both albums were recorded within a couple of years of each other during the band's legendary annual Beacon residencies, but PEAKIN' marked the end of founding member Dickey Betts's tenure and mainly featured older material. In contrast, the group's first live album with new guitarist Derek Trucks (founding drummer Butch Trucks's nephew) draws much of its material from the '03 studio album, HITTIN' THE NOTE. Consequently, when the band lays into the elegiac "Old Before My Time" or the blues barn-burner "Woman Across the River," there's a freshness to it that hadn't been felt in the Allman camp for some time. Of course, the revamped Allmans can still tear into a staple like "Whipping Post" with imposing ferocity, Greg Allman's voice having gained gravitas with age. That can't be a bad thing for somebody who dedicates his life to singing the blues.
