"Relax, stay inside and listen to some music. Do you have any Allman Brothers?"

So I suppose an apology is in order or better an explanation as to where I've been with this blog.

Two things; I've been pretty busy and other priorities have come before this blog.

-Or-

You could say I took the 'summer' off. Regardless, it's been a long time coming for me to get back on my mission of blogging about what to do with all of these CDs. During this small hiatus I've also investigated converting this blog into a podcast or some sort of audible version for folks to enjoy my ramblings and musical choices off the wall all in one shot. This would be beneficial for me because typing each blog post is quite a time consuming feat for me and personally I'd like to get back into the game of broadcasting simply with this hobby of mine. Plus I think it would be a neat concept of a show/podcast due to the material discussed. I know I'm not the only one out there that still has a stack of plastic discs that they are having a tough time getting rid of. Let's face it, our music collections have been going through a dramatic revolution; and video for that matter. The other day I had a conversation with my wife about how the medium of Blu-Ray discs will be the final physical form our movies, shows, and other films will take. Eventually everything will be simply cued up on our Google machines, tablets, cell phones, etc. at the drop of a dime. All in crystal clear high def no less. I could go on about where I think we're heading, but let's save that for the podcast version of Burned Out Collection.

My ultimate plan is to have it more interactive by taking callers, emails, guests etc. and discussing everyone's music collections. I'm currently working on avenues on how to make this happen whether it be blogtalkradio or a simple podcast. It's tricky due to the legality of it all if I intend to broadcast clips of songs and I must respect the copyright regulations. So stay tuned for lack of a better phrase. We'll see where it takes us.

For now, on with the show! This post's CD pull brings us 1994's Back Where it All Begins from the Allman Brothers.

I purchased this disc in '94 during high school and amazingly have not lost the original copy. This release takes me back to those days quite a bit. Everyone goes through those phases of getting sucked into a single band's catalog and during this period I did too. Classic rock swarmed my collection during those years and being raised in the South, the Allmans were a must. As much as it may surprise some, Southern Rock is not my favorite genre, but when I do go there, I go Allmans first and foremost.

I don't know much about the history of this release other than this was the last studio release the band did with Dickey Betts; one of the founding members and original second guitarist. Oddly enough this album went Gold and Betts wrote 50% of the tunes on the record. Furthermore, the band did not have another studio record until 2003. Then again, the Allmans have always been a live band versus a studio power house.

The 10 tracks on Back Where it All Begins are a great sampling of some the best post '70's era Allman Brothers work that's out there. While I enjoy this record, only three tunes really jump out and grab me: ("Back Where it All Begins", "Soulshine", and "No One to Run With"). This is not to say that the others aren't good, it's just something about these three that get me.

1. "All Night Train" (Gregg Allman, Warren Haynes, Chuck Leavell) – 4:04
2. "Sailin' 'Cross the Devil's Sea" (Allman, Haynes, Jack Pearson, Allen Woody) – 4:57
3. "Back Where It All Begins" (Dickey Betts) – 9:12
4. "Soulshine" (Haynes) – 6:44
5. "No One to Run With" (Betts, John Prestia) – 5:59
6. "Change My Way of Living" (Betts) – 6:15
7. "Mean Woman Blues" (Betts) – 5:01
8. "Everybody's Got a Mountain to Climb" (Betts) – 4:01
9. "What's Done Is Done" (Allman, Woody) – 4:09
10. "Temptation Is a Gun" (Allman, John Friga, Neal Schon) – 5:37

The biggest standout of this bunch would have to be "Soulshine". Written by the amazingly talented Warren Haynes, this tune has become a standard favorite at Allmans shows and Warren's shows alike. "Soulshine" fits right in with other Allman Brothers classics like "Melissa", "Blue Sky", and "Crazy Love". In fact, Warren Haynes could have easily been an Allman Brother from day one back in 1969. But don't take my word for it:

It's nice to see most of these songs still make their way into heavy rotation live, even with Derek Trucks and Oteil Burbridge in the group because these are just great songs. Too often great songs get lost in the mix and are brought up out of the vaults, but sometimes you just can't deny a 'hit' when you've got one.

Crank this one up!

So with that said, I hate to admit that I listen to this disc maybe once a year if that, but when I do I go straight to my favorite three tunes. It's for this reason that I'm going to say adios to the CD and keep this in digital format. The cover art has become iconic amongst Allmans enthusiasts, but I'm more concerned with just hearing the songs; and I'm not goo goo over worrying about CD audio quality versus mp3 on this one. Regardless, snag my favorite three songs here to add to your Allman collection. You'll be glad you did.

I didn't think we would ever make enough money to pay rent by playing music.
Gregg Allman