Where It All Begins
The popular aphorism that "there are no second acts in America" has been contradicted by the surprising reincarnation of the Allman Brothers Band after highway deaths, drug trials and artistic lethargy hammered more than one nail in the group's coffin. After breaking up in '81, the four surviving original members, Gregg Allman, Dickey Betts, Butch Trucks and Jaimoe, reunited for a 20th anniversary tour in 1989. The results were so unexpectedly good that the band decided to stick together and have released their fourth post-reunion album,Where It All Began. Why did the Allmans' reunion succeed where so many rock and roll reunions have flopped? The Allmans' concept hasn't changed, but like the jazz and blues legends they admire, they play a little differently each time.--Geoffrey Himes