Dec 14

Whipping Post

Greatly Appreciated

WHIPPING POST
 
 
"Whipping Post"  is a song by The Allman Brothers Band.  Written by Gregg Allman, the five-minute studio version first appeared on their 1969 debut album The Allman Brothers Band.  But the song's full power only manifested itself in concert, when it was the basis for much longer and more intense performances.  On the Allman Brothers' 1971 double live album At Fillmore East, a 22-minute version of the song takes up the entire final side.  It was this recording that garnered "Whipping Post" spots on both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll list and Rolling Stone‍ ' s list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time".  (More from Wikipedia)
 
 
When buying two- or three-album sets, be sure to see whether all of the albums are actually inside the cover; it is hard to tell by feel.  That is particularly true if the price seems unusually attractive.  I have literally lost count of how many times I have seen a copy of the Allman Brothers Band' At Fillmore East where the disc with the outstanding "Whipping Post" performance on it is missing.  I picked up Neil Young's Decade retrospective album one time at a very good price; only two of the three albums were included, but I went for it anyway.  Several decades later (ahem), when I was picking up Katrina debris, I found a copy of Decade on the far bank of the little bayou behind our house; and sure enough, only two of the albums were in the cover.  That is the only unquestionable example of a record that floated that far from the house. 
 
(November 2012)
 
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Missing Links by Link Protrudi and the Jaymen is an unusual album in that Side 1 is at 33 rpm, and Side 2 is at 45 rpm.  I know of only one other such album, a retrospective album by the Allman Brothers Band simply called The Allman Brothers.  This was a release by the band's label Capricorn Records in the UK as an introduction to the Brits by one of America's best.  In this case, Side 1 is a few early songs by the band and is at 45 rpm, while Side 2 is the side-long performance (at 33 rpm) of "Whipping Post" as taken from their live album, At Fillmore East.  The latter might be the Allman Brothers Band's best known song, at least among those familiar with all of their work. 

 

You might notice at the very end of "Whipping Post" the opening notes of the next song that they play at the concert, "Mountain Jam", an improvised jam that is based on a Donovan song, "There Is a Mountain".  If you want a real treat, and you also own a copy of the band's next album, Eat a Peach (originally a double LP), you should play the side-long "Whipping Post" from At Fillmore East, followed by "Mountain Jam", which takes up two album sides of Eat a Peach.  Those three album sides constitute nearly an hour of top-notch live rock and roll where there is not a single wasted note or pointless solo.  This is evidently how they closed their set at Fillmore East that night, and what a show it must have been! 

 

(February 2013)
 
Last edited: March 22, 2021