Now this is a little more like it. The group really isn't sounding like they did at the Whiskey, but the playing by the band is pretty ballsy, and
Duane's
guitar is right up front and close, and he's showing some real invention within the restrictions of the pop sound that the producer was aiming for. He also plays an electric sitar on the strangest cut here, an instrumental cover of
Beatles'
"Norwegian Wood."
From the opening bars of the title tune, one gets the message that this is a group with something to say musically, even if this particular message isn't it -- the guitar flourishes, the bold organ and piano by
Paul Hornsby
, and
Gregg Allman's
charismatic vocals all pull the listener better than 98% of the psychedelic pop and soul-pop of the period. The outtakes that are included as bonus tracks are much more important, consisting of songs cut for a never-issued
Gregg Allman
solo album (intended to keep Liberty from suing over the group's breakup and departure), where he sounded a lot more like the lead singer of the
Allman Brothers Band
than he'd ever been given a chance to with the
Hour Glass
, on songs that included the future
Allman Brothers
classic "It's Not My Cross to Bear." ~ Bruce Eder