On the turntable this Sunday: Eat A Peach

Eat a Peach is a 1972 double album by the American Southern rock group The Allman Brothers Band; it was the last to include founding member and lead slide-guitar player Duane Allman, who was killed in a motorcycle accident on October 29, 1971 while the album was being recorded.

This album came close on the heels of their breakthrough At Fillmore East (1971) set and featured live tracks that did not make it onto that album, including boogie classic "One Way Out" and two entire album sides devoted to "Mountain Jam", a 33-minute improvisation based around Donovan's song "There Is a Mountain."

The remainder of the album was recorded in-studio and served to cement the band's reputation as innovative Southern rockers. Several tracks featured a new emphasis on more-lyrical acoustic work, notably on "Melissa" and the guitar classic "Little Martha." The lilting "Blue Sky" became an album-oriented rock radio staple, while "Ain't Wastin' Time No More" served as both a quiet generational anthem and a personal statement of purpose by the band in the face of Duane's death.

The widespread story regarding the origin of the album's title, that the truck involved in Duane's fatal motorcycle accident was a peach truck, is not correct; the truck involved was a flatbed lumber truck. Rather the album name came from something Duane said in an interview shortly before he was killed. When asked what he was doing to help the revolution, Duane replied, "There ain't no revolution, it's evolution, but every time I'm in Georgia I eat a peach for peace." The album's name was originally slated to be The Kind We Grow in Dixie and the artwork for the album showed a peach. Band members were dissatisfied with the name and the image suggested Duane's quote instead.

The album art was selected by Rolling Stone magazine in 1991 as one of the 100 greatest album covers of all time.  The album cover, including an elaborate gatefold mural featuring a fantasy landscape of mushroom and fairies, was by J. F. Holmes and D. Powell of Wonder Graphics.

Track listing:

"Ain't Wastin' Time No More" (Gregg Allman) – 3:40 (c)

"Les Brers in A Minor" (Dickey Betts) – 9:03 (c)

"Melissa" (Gregg Allman/Steve Alaimo) – 3:54 (c)

"Mountain Jam" (Donovan Leitch/Duane Allman/Gregg Allman/Dickey Betts/Jai Johanny Johansen/Berry Oakley/Butch Trucks) – 33:38 (a)

"One Way Out" (Marshall Sehorn/Elmore James) – 4:58 (b)

"Trouble No More" (Muddy Waters) – 3:43 (a)

"Stand Back" (Gregg Allman/Berry Oakley) – 3:24 (c)

"Blue Sky" (Dickey Betts) – 5:09 (c)

"Little Martha" (Duane Allman) – 2:07 (c)

(a)Recorded live at the Fillmore East, New York City, New York, March 12 & 13, 1971.

(b)Recorded live at the Fillmore East, New York City, New York, June 27, 1971.

(c)Recorded at Criteria Studios, Miami, Florida, September through December 1971.

On the original LP, side one consisted of the first three tracks — studio numbers recorded after Duane's death. Side two starts the live material with Duane and consisted of the first 19:37 of "Mountain Jam". Side three consisted of two live tracks and three more studio numbers recorded with Duane. Side four consisted of the final 15:06 of "Mountain Jam" including some initial overlap with the end of side two.