The seminal Allman Brothers album, Brothers and Sisters, takes center stage in the book by the same name and by Alan Paul who wrote the incredible One Way Out, an oral history of the band. This book focuses solely on this album and the events surrounding the band and in society at the time.

You'll find out how the band members coped after losing two of their band members, Duane Allman and Berry Oakley, who both acted as bandleaders. You'll discover how they could record this memorable album that spawned one of their most famous, if not the most famous, hit, Ramblin' Man. You'll learn how the Allman Brothers helped to get Jimmy Carter elected. And, for those interested in 1970s celebrity culture, how Gregg Allman made Cher turn his way.

At first, I could not figure out how the author could write a book on one album. Was there enough material to chew on? Yes. Many chapters devote time to how the members individually dealt with the blow of Duane and Berry dying so young and so unexpectedly. That really rocked the foundation of the band and left many of the members with scars and drug problems. It very definitely led to the band losing their way without their unofficial leaders at the helm.

I enjoyed hearing about the creation of Brothers and Sisters and how Ramblin' Man became such a hit despite Dickey Betts (who goes by Richard during this time period) not liking how his voice sounded. You also get some insight into the creation of groups like the Marshall Tucker Band and their greatest competition, Lynyrd Skynyrd. Even though I'm not a huge fan of either one, I gained more respect and really enjoyed hearing about their rises to fame. And I was intrigued by their relationship with the Grateful Dead and how unforeseen events changed that relationship for good.

Since I was a little kid when Jimmy Carter was elected, it was interesting to hear how the Allman Brothers influenced his campaign. I had heard about that but didn't know much about the origins or results other than Carter was our eventual President. Although these passages could run a little slow, it was important to note that this was the first real campaign that showed how a rock band could play a part in electing a President.

And, of course, my interest piqued when you hear the story of how Gregg met Cher and their subsequent relationship. It was kind of a "meet-cute" type of story really and gave me some insight into their relationship. Obviously, it didn't end well, but she wasn't necessarily a negative influence on Gregg, and they were a gorgeous-looking couple. I'm sure that I need to read this from Cher's perspective because I don't think everything was unicorns and rainbows.

This book isn't just a book about a popular album or an influential rock band. It's a piece of history that really expanded my knowledge of the 1970s politically and culturally. I enjoyed reading the book and am glad I was awarded the opportunity because there's so much more to the book than one hit song that you still hear on the radio.

Growing up listening to 70s rock, courtesy of my parents, the Allman Brothers Band was always a bit of a knowledge gap. Everyone knows “Ramblin’ Man,” everyone knows the tragedy of Duane Allman, everyone knows the Gregg Allman and Cher relationship.

This book aims to dig deeper, to understand the band specifically while recording their album “Brothers and Sisters,” but also showcasing what lead to that album and the aftermath of it. I found the parts discussing the close relationship with the Grateful Dead - another gap in my musical knowledge - to be especially fun to read about. What a time it must have been to see these bands play together for hours on end!

Thanks to St. Martin’s Press for the ARC!

I am a big fan of the Allman Brothers Band music, as is my husband, but I really didn’t know much about the history of the band. I vaguely knew facts, like multiple original band members had passed and that there had been a variety of members over the years, but I had no idea the absolutely tragic history the band truly had, losing those two foundational band members so young, almost exactly a year apart. I thought it was really interesting how this book focuses on the most tumultuous period of the band’s existence and intimately showed how the remaining band members all dealt with the losses differently to ultimately come together and create their most commercially successful album.

Enough of a history of the band is provided in this book that, if you’re not familiar, you will have context as the author hones in on this specific time period of the band’s history for most of the book. In addition to the production of the Brothers and Sisters album, you also get a peek into what life was like on the road with ABB, the development of Gregg Allman’s first solo record Laid Back, the business behind the band and the Capricorn record label, how songs like “Jessica” and “Ramblin’ Man” came to be, and Gregg and Cher’s marriage. I personally loved hearing the inspiration for “Jessica,” which is considered one of the most joyous instrumental songs.

There were a few chapters that also covered other bands in the era that overlapped and had connections with ABB, including the Grateful Dead and the Marshall Tucker Band. I wasn’t as enthralled in those chapters and those specific to the creation of the album, but this also isn’t a usual read for me (and I’m not a Dead Head by any means haha), so I was less interested in those chapters.

All that to say, I highly recommend this book for fans of ABB and that 70s southern rock era. I’m not a big nonfiction reader and I flew through this, really excited to learn more of the background behind the songs I know and love. There’s a lot of detail into how the songs came together, some of which went over my head as a music lover but not a musician by any means, but I still found it really interesting so I’m sure a musician would LOVE that detail.

I will post my review of this book on my Instagram on August 7.

This book gives a glimpse at what was going on behind the scenes of the Allman Brothers band in the early 1970s.
It appealed to me because I love the group’s music and theirs was just one of the many sounds of the 70s.
I was most interested in the relationship between Cher and Greg Allman, in all its brevity.
I found the ending ti be rather abrupt. I think it could have been smoothed out more.

Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's for the opportunity to tead Brothers and Sisters by Alan Paul. Having followed The Allman Bros. since their earliest days, owning all their albums, and reading every word written by them and about them, this book filled in some holes in my knowledge. It still makes me sad.

3.5 Stars

My favorite genre in reading is the rock biography, and I was intrigued to delve into this classic band. They have a history of tragedy, losing two founding band members within about a year- both due to motorcycle accidents. Also, founding member Gregg Allman famously married iconic entertainer Cher. Author Alan Paul wrote a comprehensive biography of this band back in 2012 in the oral history format called "One Way Out: The Inside History of the Allman Brothers Band". This newer offering focuses on the creation of their most successful album "Brothers and Sisters" (contains their one major hit "Ramblin' Man") in the wake of the deaths of members Duane Allman (lead guitarist, band leader) and Berry Oakley (bassist). It also details The Allman Brothers' kinship with The Grateful Dead and other southern rock bands sprouting up such as The Marshall Tucker Band and Lynyrd Skynyrd.

I decided to read this author's previous biography of the band to get a better sense of their history thinking that it would help me to appreciate this newer book more. However, it had the reverse effect. I loved the 2012 oral history biography "One Way Out: The Inside History of the Allman Brothers Band", a very fulfilling biographical offering on The Allman Brothers Band. This spotlight on a small chunk of their history left me feeling unfulfilled in comparison to the prior biography. I found out a little more about Gregg Allman's whirlwind marriage to Cher (she smelled like a mermaid according to Gregg), some of lead guitarist Dickie Bett's marital relationships, certain concerts/festivals and comparative bands from the time, business dealings- but my reader experience of this book paled in comparison to "One Way Out".

Thank you to the publisher St. Martin's Press who provided an advance reader copy via NetGalley.

My thanks to both NetGalley and the publisher St.Martin's Press for an advanced copy of this book looking at a band balanced on the precipice of success and imploding, and that tension that traveled with them like a shadow throughout the 1970's.

Great art is not created in a vaccum. Whether it is one chef or a brigade of chefs adding their own special ingredients to the meals, one of the largest influences in the creation of art is what is happening at the moment. And life changes a lot in a moment. A band of brothers, close as can be, has lost a key member in fact for one member of the band a literal brother. The famous one, the one the people knew, who could quietly, but powerfully in the right direction. A year later another loss, just as shocking, leads to not just two members joining a band, but the added tension of who is actually in charge of the direction of the band. Folk music influences meets country music influences. Add in drugs, label problems, crew problems. That is a lot of ingredients being added to that soup. And yet it all lead to the creation of an album that become a template for the Allman Brothers sound, and Southern Rock in general. Brothers and Sisters: The Allman Brothers Band and the Inside Story of the Album That Defined the '70s by Alan Paul is the second book to look at this band, this one focusing more on their actions in the 70's from concerts to political, to one becoming the cover star of People Magazine.

The Allman Brothers were making a name for themselves when tragically their founder and spiritual leader Duane Allman was killed in a motorcycle accident. After barely taking time off the band did their healing on the road, and tried to come to terms with the band, and continuing on. A year later with plans to record, they suffered another loss, this time losing Berry Oakley, their bassist, in another motorcycle crash. The band had just added one new player, and now needed another. The album that followed was their longest one to record, which was understandable. The biggest problem was who was in charge, and where were the songs coming from, which since both songwriters Dickey Betts and Greg Allman had different influences, lead to creative discussions. And amazing music. The book also looks more in depth at the Allman Brothers relationship with the Grateful Dead, and their performance at Watkins Glen New York. Also the rise of Southern Rock, which one could say the band has a hand in, their political work with Jimmy Carter, and helping in his campaign. And about Greg and Cher, and what that did to media and the rise of celebrity magazines.

More than a follow-up to Alan Paul's One Way Out: The Inside History of the Allman Brothers Band this book draws on new sources and interviews that have been previously been hidden under a insider to the band's desk. The contemporaneous notes fill in many gaps, that drugs or loss of key people might have otherwise been lost to time. The writing is great, and never is too much, which can happen in rock biographies. Paul is very good at getting the story right, even if Paul has to share four different versions. Paul really makes this look effortless, though I know this writing is very hard to do well. There is a lot more about the solo albums both Greg Allman and Dickey Betts were working on, more about the new members joining the band, and even the influences that members were drawing on for their performances. I had no idea about the influence of the Grateful Dead on the band, though it does make sense, though I can't get over Dickey Betts wanting to steal their sound so much. Also reading about the behind the scenes stories about the Watkins Glen concert was a favorite section for me.

A book that demands music to be played while reading. I really owe a generous donation to the Internet Archive for the amount of times I have listened to the Dead and the Brothers play their February 11 show. The ending really is epic. Another exceptional book, with a real warts and all way of telling the story, and a need to get to the truth. Alan Paul really is quite good at this, and I can't wait to see what Paul unearths next.

I really enjoyed this book. Covers a lot of ground but focuses mainly on the rebuilding of the band following the death of their founder and undisputed leader, the late great guitar legend Duane Allman; then the further devastation of losing Duane's consigliere within the band, bassist Berry Oakley, a year later.

I'm slightly more than a casual fan of The Allman Brothers Band, but not anywhere near a superfan or true disciple. I know the most popular songs, a handful of rarities from both the band and various solo projects, and have owned a copy of Live at Fillmore East on vinyl, cassette, CD, and probably even 8-track (Yep, I'm old). I'm more an old Blues guy who stumbled onto the band and then reverse engineered their sound to become a bigger fan of many of their influences. Point being -- I went in to this read knowing some stuff but with big gaps in my knowledge of The Allman Brothers Band .

This book filled in a lot of blank spots in my overall knowledge of the band. The author managed to get hours and hours of previously unreleased interviews (on tape) with various band members that offer a lot of inside perspective and candid observations that you probably won't find anywhere else. The narrative flow gets a little sidetracked from time to time and some of the trickier aspects of the business side of things (contract issues, management, royalties, etc.) can be a little dull but overall this is a really good, informative book.

It truly is an inside view of how this great band rebuilt itself from near extinction into something that was more successful and (arguably) greater than before... And, to a lesser degree, it looks at how unresolved issues and petty rivalries eventually destroyed that success.

BOTTOM LINE: This is the true story of a legendary band, told well, and worth your time. Any fan of Classic Rock should enjoy it!

This is a great read. Taken from hundreds of hours of tape recorded interviews by the main players. Brothers and Sisters covers an often overlooked chapter in the band's life - what happened after Duane and Berry died to tragically young. Loved learning about their connections with the Grateful Dead (I never knew all that) and how much they helped in Jimmy Carter's presidential campaign. I didn't know the band set up an organization to help Native Americans and played multiple benefits for their cause, either. I highly recommend this book for all lovers of rock music.

I've been an ABB fan for decades, and was really excited to read through this biographical sketch of the band....but it was just difficult to plow through. It jumped around in time and was a little boring...which the ABB was anything but! It has good stories in it, and if you can stick with it, you'll learn a little something about rock history.

This Book!!!! Alan Paul has written a remarkable book about the Allman Brothers Band from the time right before Duane's death, to Berry Oakley's death, to Gregg's meeting Cher, to the continued bad feelings between Gregg and Dickey Betts that went on for decades. The Allman Brothers Band was the sound of the early 70's; the best rock band in the world! Even though they didn't appreciate that title, they did define the Southern rock sound. Drugs in that world hurt them...Phil Walden hurt them...the deaths of their family and band members really destroyed them. This book was one gasp after the next for me! So incredibly sad! And now Gregg is gone and Butch Trucks committed suicide a few years ago. It was great to read about Cowboy and to read what Tommy Talton and Scott Boyer had to say since they were close with the Band. This was a great book, very sad in so many areas, and so very enlightening. If they had only had the tools to deal with their fame, drugs, emotions and alcohol...I bet they'd still be playing, larger than life.

Thank you to Alan Paul for the research (incredible that you ended up with all those cassettes) and to NetGalley and St. Martin's Publishing Group for the eGalley in exchange for this very honest review.