| "Mountain Jam" | |
|---|---|
| Song by The Allman Brothers Band from the album Live at Ludlow Garage: 1970, Live at the Atlanta International Pop Festival: July 3 & 5, 1970, The Fillmore Concerts, Eat A Peach | |
| Released | 1991 (Ludlow), 2003 (AIPF), July 1971 (Fillmore), 1972 (Eat A Peach) |
| Recorded | April 1970 (Ludlow), July 1970 (AIPF), March 1971 (Fillmore/Eat A Peach) |
| Genre | Jam rock, instrumental rock |
| Length | 43:59 (Ludlow Garage), 17:27/28:20 (Atlanta International Pop Festival), 33:41 (Fillmore/Eat A Peach) |
| Label | Polydor, Epic / Legacy, Capricorn Records |
| Writer | The Allman Brothers Band, Donovan |
"Mountain Jam" is an improvised instrumental jam by The Allman Brothers Band. The song's first known recording is on 5-4-1969 at Macon Central Park, but was officially released later on the albums; Live at Ludlow Garage: 1970, Live at the Atlanta International Pop Festival: July 3 & 5, 1970, The Fillmore Concerts, deluxe edition of At Fillmore East (1971), and Eat A Peach (1972).
The song is based on Donovan's 1967 hit-single "There Is a Mountain" (Jimi Hendrix's "Third Stone from the Sun" is also quoted musically in the piece, roughly 22 minutes in). On albums, the song first appeared on Donovan in Concert (1968) and then later on Donovan's Greatest Hits.
The Grateful Dead performed a 22:57 minute version of Mountain Jam on July 28, 1973 at Grand Prix Racecourse in Watkins Glen, NY.[1] They also played a 55 second version of Mountain Jam to transition between "Going Down The Road Feeling Bad" and "Not Fade Away" on November 6, 1970 at Capitol Theater in Port Chester, NY.[2]
At 33:41, the song is instrumental and features solos from all of the band members. Duane Allman starts with a guitar solo, after which Gregg Allman solos on Hammond organ, followed by a guitar solo by Dickey Betts. Midway through the song there is a drum duet by Butch Trucks and Jaimoe, later joined by a bass guitar solo by Berry Oakley. Then Duane comes back in for the slide guitar climax, and produces some of his best known slide guitar; 23 minutes in. Mountain Jam was originally released on the Eat a Peach album, as well as a different version on Live at Atlanta Pop Festival, where there are two recordings of it (the second of which features guest musicians Johnny Winter on slide guitar, and Thom Doucette on harmonica), and various live recordings of the band.