"Mountain Jam" is an

improvised Improvisation is the activity of making or doing something not planned beforehand, using whatever can be found. Improvisation in the performing arts is a very spontaneous performance without specific or scripted preparation. The skills of impr ...

instrumental An instrumental is a recording normally without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through semantic widening, a broader sense of the word song may refer to inst ...

jam Jam is a type of fruit preserve. Jam or Jammed may also refer to: Other common meanings * A firearm malfunction * Block signals ** Radio jamming ** Radar jamming and deception ** Mobile phone jammer ** Echolocation jamming Arts and ente ...

The Allman Brothers Band The Allman Brothers Band was an American rock band formed in Jacksonville, Florida in 1969 by brothers Duane Allman (founder, slide guitar and lead guitar) and Gregg Allman (vocals, keyboards, songwriting), as well as Dickey Betts (lead guita ...

, based on Donovan's 1967 hit song "

There Is a Mountain "There Is a Mountain" is a song and single written and performed by British singer-songwriter Donovan, released in 1967. Background The lyrics refer to a Buddhist saying originally formulated by Qingyuan Weixin, later translated by D. T.&nbs ...

". The first known recording of a performance was done on May 4, 1969, at Macon Central Park. "Mountain Jam" was originally released in 1972 on the album '' Eat a Peach'', as recorded at the

Fillmore East The Fillmore East was rock promoter Bill Graham's rock venue on Second Avenue near East 6th Street in the (at the time) Lower East Side neighborhood, now called the East Village neighborhood of the borough of Manhattan of New York City. I ...

concert hall in March 1971 (during the same sessions that produced their prior live double album ''

At Fillmore East ''At Fillmore East'' is the first live album by American rock band the Allman Brothers Band, and their third release overall. Produced by Tom Dowd, the album was released on July 6, 1971, in the United States by Capricorn Records. As the title ...

''). It is this rendition that is best known. Other live recordings were released on the Allmans albums '' Fillmore East, February 1970'', '' Live at Ludlow Garage: 1970'', '' Live at the Atlanta International Pop Festival: July 3 & 5, 1970'', '' The Fillmore Concerts'', and

deluxe edition The terms special edition, limited edition, and variants such as deluxe edition, or collector's edition, are used as a marketing incentive for various kinds of products, originally published products related to the arts, such as books, prints, r ...

of ''

'' (1971). Notably, '' Live at the Atlanta International Pop Festival: July 3 & 5, 1970'' contains two recordings of the song, the second of which features guest musicians

Johnny Winter John Dawson Winter III (February 23, 1944 – July 16, 2014) was an American singer and guitarist. Winter was known for his high-energy blues rock albums and live performances in the late 1960s and 1970s. He also produced three Grammy Award-win ...

on slide guitar and Thom Doucette on harmonica.

Origin and influences

There was much interplay in the development of this song between The Allman Brothers Band and another highly influential

jam band A jam band is a musical group whose concerts (and live albums) are characterized by lengthy improvisational " jams." These include extended musical improvisation over rhythmic grooves and chord patterns, and long sets of music which often ...

, the Grateful Dead. According to the book ''Bill Graham Presents'', one night at the Fillmore East when The Allman Brothers were there with the Grateful Dead and Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac, Bill Graham came into an area where Duane Allman, Peter Green, and Jerry Garcia were jamming together on "There Is a Mountain". Preceding The Allman Brothers Band's official release of the song, the Grateful Dead had briefly referenced "There Is a Mountain," both live and in studio. They can be heard quoting a few bars of it in their song "Alligator" on their 1968 album ''

Anthem of the Sun ''Anthem of the Sun'' is the second album by rock band the Grateful Dead, released in 1968 on Warner Bros/Seven Arts. It is the first album to feature second drummer Mickey Hart. The band was also joined by Tom Constanten, who contributed avant ...

''. An example of the Dead jamming live on the "There Is a Mountain" riff can be heard at the 4:53 mark on the version of "Alligator" they performed at their August 21, 1968, show at the Fillmore West. Conversely, after the Allman Brothers Band release, The Grateful Dead performed a 22:57 version of "Mountain Jam" on July 28, 1973, at the

Summer Jam at Watkins Glen The Summer Jam at Watkins Glen was a July 1973 rock festival outside Watkins Glen, New York, that featured the Allman Brothers Band, Grateful Dead and the Band. The July 28, 1973 event long held the Guinness Book of World Records entry for "l ...

. They also played a 55-second version of "Mountain Jam" to transition between "

Going Down the Road Feeling Bad "Going Down The Road Feeling Bad" (also known as the "Lonesome Road Blues") is a traditional American folk song, "a white blues of universal appeal and uncertain origin". Recording history The song was recorded by many artists through the years. ...

" and " Not Fade Away" on November 6, 1970, at Capitol Theater in

Port Chester, New York Port Chester is a village in the U.S. state of New York and the largest part of the town of Rye in Westchester County by population. At the 2010 U.S. census, the village of Port Chester had a population of 28,967 and was the fifth-most popu ...

Structure

Some 33:41 in length in its March 1971 '' Eat a Peach'' performance, the instrumental features solos from all of the band members.

Duane Allman Howard Duane Allman (November 20, 1946 – October 29, 1971) was an American rock guitarist, session musician, and the founder and original leader of the Allman Brothers Band, for which he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame i ...

starts with a

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

solo, after which

Gregg Allman Gregory LeNoir Allman (December 8, 1947 – May 27, 2017) was an American musician, singer and songwriter. He was known for performing in the Allman Brothers Band. Allman grew up with an interest in rhythm and blues music, and the Allman Br ...

solos on Hammond organ, followed by a guitar solo by

Dickey Betts Forrest Richard Betts (born December 12, 1943) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, and composer best known as a founding member of The Allman Brothers Band. Early in his career, he collaborated with Duane Allman, introducing melodic tw ...

. Midway through the song there is a drum duet by

Butch Trucks Claude Hudson "Butch" Trucks (May 11, 1947 – January 24, 2017) was an American drummer. He was best known as a founding member of The Allman Brothers Band, for which he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995. Trucks was born ...

and

Jaimoe John Lee Johnson (born July 8, 1944), frequently known by the stage names Jai Johanny Johanson and Jaimoe, is an American drummer and percussionist. He is best known as one of the founding members of the Allman Brothers Band. Johanson played ...

, later joined by a

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

solo by

Berry Oakley Raymond Berry Oakley III (April 4, 1948 – November 11, 1972) was an American bassist and one of the founding members of the Allman Brothers Band, known for long melodic bass runs. He is ranked number 46 on the ''Bass Player'' magazine's list ...

. Then the whole band returns with Duane leading them; this produces some of his best-known slide guitar, 23 minutes in. Besides the titular basis, Jimi Hendrix's " Third Stone from the Sun" is also quoted musically in the piece, roughly 22 minutes in. Also heard near the finish is a section of the hymn, "

Will the Circle Be Unbroken "Will the Circle Be Unbroken?" is a popular Christian hymn written in 1907 by Ada R. Habershon with music by Charles H. Gabriel. The song is often recorded unattributed and, because of its age, has lapsed into the public domain. Most of the ch ...

". The recording ends with Duane thanking the audience for coming and introduces his bandmates then himself.

References

{{authority control 1972 songs The Allman Brothers Band songs Rock instrumentals Songs written by Donovan