ALLMAN BROTHERS BAND Continue 40th Anniversary Tour

        MUSIC NEWS - The ALLMAN BROTHERS BAND opened the West Coast portion of their 40th Anniversary tour last week in grand ABB fashion, chock full of tunes and guests.  Two sold-out shows at the Fox Theatre in Oakland, CA (5/12 & 5/13), then playing with the Dead and the Doobie Brothers (btw- watch for new Ted Templeman produced album from the Doobies!) at a sold-out Gorge Amphitheatre gig in Washington state on May 15th, and followed it up with two star-studded nights (5/19 & 5/20) at Los Angeles’ historic Greek Theatre. 

In L.A., the group;  GREGG ALLMAN (vocals and keyboards), BUTCH TRUCKS (drums and tympani), JAIMOE (drums), WARREN HAYNES (vocals, lead and slide guitar), DEREK TRUCKS (slide and lead guitar), OTEIL BURBRIDGE (bass) and MARC QUINONES (congas and percussion),  welcomed special guests to the stage.  On night one, Tom Petty and bandmates Benmont Tench and Mike Campbell joined the group for two Bob Dylan covers, “It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry” and “Highway 61 Revisited,” with Tench also sitting in for “The Sky Is Crying.”  Longtime group friend Bruce Willis played harmonica on “You Don’t Love Me” and “Southbound” (also with Tench).  On night two, Susan Tedeschi, wife of DEREK, played “Little By Little,” Ziggy Marley helped the Allman Brothers Band with their first-ever version of “I Shot The Sheriff” (along with Ms Tedeschi) and Conan O’Brien’s horns section jazzed up “Same Thing,” “Soulshine,” “Into The Mystic,” “Little By Little” and “I Shot The Sheriff.”