American soul band 1967-1968
Hour Glass
was an American
soul
band based in
Los Angeles, California
in 1967 and 1968. Among their members were two future members of the
Allman Brothers Band
(
Duane Allman
and his brother
Gregg
) and three future studio musicians at the
FAME Studios
in
Muscle Shoals, Alabama
(
Pete Carr
,
Johnny Sandlin
and
Paul Hornsby
).
[2]
History
[
edit
]
Formed by members of two disbanded rival groups that had played the same southern circuit, The Allman Joys (based in Florida) and the Men-its (based in Alabama), the group was booked in early 1967 into a month-long engagement in
St. Louis, Missouri
, where they met members of the
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
, whose manager,
Bill McEuen
, arranged for them a contract with
Liberty Records
.
Moving to Los Angeles, they were soon opening for groups like
The Doors
and
Buffalo Springfield
and recording their
eponymous debut album
, full of lighthearted poppy soul that was unlike what the group was performing in clubs and theatres in California such as
The Fillmore Ballrooom
and
Troubadour
. These songs were chosen from a pool of staff writers, including
Jackson Browne
and
Jimmy Radcliffe
, whose song "Nothing But Tears" was the
A-side
of the Hour Glass' debut single. The ensuing album flopped, perhaps in part because the material did not really reflect the group's tastes or strengths. In fact, the Hour Glass generally refused to perform these songs in their live shows, focusing instead on their gritty, blues- and R&B-inflected southern sounds, along with a couple of originals by Gregg Allman.
The group members were unhappy at not being able to perform as often as they had been accustomed due to the label's concern with overexposure. Losing bassist Mabron McKinney and his successor Bob Keller, they soldiered on, performing concerts and recording a second album,
Power of Love
, which featured bassist
Pete Carr
from Daytona Beach.
[2]
However,
Power of Love
, which also featured the songwriting skills of Gregg Allman and material that fit the group much better than the material on their debut, nonetheless flopped.
[2]
In a last-ditch effort, the members left Los Angeles to work at the
FAME Studios
in
Muscle Shoals, Alabama
, where they recorded a handful of tracks that showed their full potential in the studio.
[2]
After these tracks were rejected by Liberty, the group returned to the Southeast, did a few more gigs, and called it quits.
[3]
Duane and Gregg Allman went to Jacksonville, Florida, where they jammed with folk-rockers
The 31st of February
, featuring drummer
Butch Trucks
. The others went back to Alabama and did some session work in Muscle Shoals.
After the 31st of February demos were rejected by that group's label, Gregg Allman decided to return to Los Angeles to pick up the pieces of the Hour Glass' deal with Liberty. He recorded several tracks in Los Angeles with studio musicians. A single, a remake of Tammy Wynette's country hit "D.I.V.O.R.C.E.," was released on Liberty under the name "Gregg Allman and the Hour Glass." However, it too failed to chart, and the remaining tracks for a planned album were scuttled and only issued twenty-five years later as bonus tracks on reissues of the Hour Glass's Liberty recordings.
Duane Allman re-joined his former Hour Glass bandmates in Muscle Shoals, where he met drummer J. Johanny "Jaimoe" Johanson. Interested in recruiting bassist
Berry Oakley
of Jacksonville psychedelic blues band the Second Coming, whom he had met the previous July at an Hour Glass performance at Jacksonville's Comic Book Club, Allman and Johanson left Muscle Shoals for Florida, where Allman began sitting in with Oakley's band. Impressed with Second Coming guitarist
Dickey Betts
' playing, Allman decided to add him to his fledgling line-up as well. With the addition of a second drummer, former 31 February drummer Butch Trucks, and brother Gregg on vocals and organ, who would at this point abandon his solo career in Los Angeles, the new line-up became the Allman Brothers Band.
Personnel
[
edit
]
- Duane Allman
- guitars, electric sitar, vocal
- Gregg Allman
- vocal, organ, piano, guitar
- Paul Hornsby
- piano, organ, guitar, vocal
- Johnny Sandlin
- drums, guitar, gong
- Mabron McKinney
- bass (1967)
- Bob Keller - bass (1967)
- Pete Carr
- bass, guitar, vocal (1967?1968)
Discography
[
edit
]
Albums
[
edit
]
Singles
[
edit
]
October 1967: "Nothing But Tears" / "Heartbeat"
- from
Hour Glass
(1967)
March 1968: "Power of Love" / "I Still Want Your Love"
- from
Power of Love
(1968)
June 1968: "
D-I-V-O-R-C-E
" / "Changing of the Guard" (as Gregg Allman and the Hour Glass)
- Side "A" new recording by Gregg Allman and session musicians, Side "B" from
Power of Love
(1968)
September 1968: "She Is My Woman" / "Going Nowhere" (as Gregg Allman and the Hour Glass)
- Side "A" new recording by Gregg Allman and session musicians, Side "B" from
Power of Love
(1968)
October 1968: "Now Is the Time" / "She Is My Woman" (as Gregg Allman and the Hour Glass)
- Side "A" from
Power of Love
(1968), Side "B" previously released on 45 in September 1968
January 1969: "I've Been Trying" / "Silently" (as Gregg Allman and the Hour Glass)
- from
Hour Glass
(1967)
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]
|
---|
|
Studio and
contemporary
live albums
| |
---|
Retrospective
live albums
|
- Live at Ludlow Garage: 1970
- Fillmore East, February 1970
- American University 12/13/70
- Live at the Atlanta International Pop Festival: July 3 & 5, 1970
- S.U.N.Y. at Stonybrook: Stonybrook, NY 9/19/71
- Macon City Auditorium: 2/11/72
- Nassau Coliseum, Uniondale, NY: 5/1/73
- Boston Common, 8/17/71
- Play All Night: Live at the Beacon Theatre 1992
- Live from A&R Studios
- The Fox Box
- Cream of the Crop 2003
- Fillmore West '71
- The Final Note
- Warner Theatre, Erie, PA 7-19-05
- Down in Texas '71
- Syria Mosque
- Manley Field House, Syracuse University, April 7, 1972
|
---|
Compilations
and box sets
| |
---|
Video albums
| |
---|
Original songs
| |
---|
Cover songs
| |
---|
Associated bands
and artists
| |
---|
Related articles
| |
---|
|
|
---|
Studio albums
| |
---|
Live albums
| |
---|
Compilations
| |
---|
Singles
| |
---|
Other songs
| |
---|
Related articles
| |
---|