The Allman Brothers Band A Decade Of Hits

Allman Brothers Band: Gregg Allman (vocals, piano, organ); Duane Allman, Dickey Betts (vocals, acoustic & slide guitars); Berry Oakley (bass); Butch Trucks, Jaimoe (drums, percussion).

Additional personnel: Les Dudek (acoustic & electric guitars); Dan Toler (guitar); Chuck Leavell (piano); Lamar Williams, David Goldflies (bass); Bonnie Bramlett (background vocals).

Producers: Adrian Barber, Tom Dowd, Johnny Sandlin, Allman Brothers Band.

Compilation producer: Bill Levenson.

The Allman Brothers Band: Dickey Betts (vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar); Gregg Allman (vocals, piano, organ); Duane Allman (acoustic guitar, electric guitar, slide guitar); Berry Oakley (bass guitar); Jaimoe , Butch Trucks (drums, percussion).

Additional personnel: Chuck Leavell, Les Dudek, Bonnie Bramlett.

Recorded during the venerable American institution's creative peak, this is an all-but-ideal single disc compilation. With all the hits (including Greg Allman's solo "Midnight Rider"), it also contains studio versions of most of the concert favorites, including the epic "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed."

Interestingly, for a group that first made its mark as a contemporary blues band, not much of the material here is blues per se, with "Whipping Post" being the obvious exception. This well-chosen collection demonstrates that the Allman Brothers have always been stylistically eclectic, with elements of jazz, country, soul and gospel grafted onto their basic blues-rock template.