Hour Glass was an American

soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...

band based in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

in 1967 and 1968. Among their members were two future members of the

Allman Brothers Band Allman may refer to: Music *The Allman Brothers Band, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame southern rock band, formed by Duane and Gregg Allman *The Allman Joys, an early band formed by Duane and Gregg Allman *The Gregg Allman Band People *Allman (surnam ...

(

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

and his brother Gregg) and three future studio musicians at the

FAME Studios FAME (Florence Alabama Music Enterprises) Studios is a recording studio located at 603 East Avalon Avenue in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, United States, an area of northern Alabama known as the Shoals. Though small and distant from the main recording l ...

Muscle Shoals, Alabama Muscle Shoals is the largest city in Colbert County, Alabama, United States. It is located on the left bank of the Tennessee River in the northern part of the state and, as of the 2010 census, its population was 13,146. The estimated popula ...

(

Pete Carr Jesse Willard "Pete" Carr (April 22, 1950 – June 27, 2020) was an American guitarist. Carr contributed session work to recordings by Joan Baez, Luther Ingram, Bob Seger, Paul Simon, Willie Nelson, Joe Cocker, Boz Scaggs, Percy Sledge, The Sta ...

, Johnny Sandlin and

Paul Hornsby Paul Hornsby is an American musician and record producer who has produced gold and platinum records for artists including the Charlie Daniels Band, The Marshall Tucker Band, and Wet Willie. Overview Paul Hornsby started playing music at an early ...

History

Formed by members of two disbanded rival groups that had played the same southern circuit, The Allman Joys (based in Florida) and the Men-its (based in Alabama), the group was booked in early 1967 into a month-long engagement in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Miss ...

, where they met members of the

Nitty Gritty Dirt Band Nitty Gritty Dirt Band (sometimes abbreviated NGDB), also known as the Dirt Band, is an American band founded in Long Beach, California, in 1966. Since 2018, the band has consisted of Jeff Hanna and his son Jaime Hanna, both guitarists and voc ...

, whose manager, Bill McEuen, arranged for them a contract with

Liberty Records Liberty Records was a record label founded in the United States by chairman Simon Waronker in 1955 with Alvin Bennett as president and Theodore Keep as chief engineer. It was reactivated in 2001 in the United Kingdom and had two previous rev ...

. Moving to Los Angeles, they were soon opening for groups like

The Doors The Doors were an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1965, comprising vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, guitarist Robby Krieger and drummer John Densmore. They were among the most influential and controversial rock acts ...

and

Buffalo Springfield Buffalo Springfield was a Canadian-American Rock music, rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1966 by Canadians Neil Young, Bruce Palmer and Dewey Martin (musician), Dewey Martin and Americans Stephen Stills and Richie Furay. The group, widely know ...

and recording their eponymous debut album, full of lighthearted poppy soul that was unlike what the group was performing in clubs and theatres in California such as The Fillmore Ballrooom and

Troubadour A troubadour (, ; ) was a composer and performer of Old Occitan lyric poetry during the High Middle Ages (1100–1350). Since the word ''troubadour'' is etymologically masculine, a female equivalent is usually called a ''trobairitz''. The tr ...

. These songs were chosen from a pool of staff writers, including

Jackson Browne Clyde Jackson Browne (born October 9, 1948) is an American rock musician, singer, songwriter, and political activist who has sold over 30 million albums in the United States. Emerging as a teenage songwriter in mid-1960s Los Angeles, he had his ...

and

Jimmy Radcliffe James Radcliffe (November 18, 1936 – July 27, 1973) was an American soul singer, composer, arranger, conductor and record producer. Biography James Radcliffe was born in New York City. He released such singles as "My Ship is Coming In", a so ...

, whose song "Nothing But Tears" was the

A-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of vinyl records and cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a single usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or ...

of the Hour Glass' debut single. The ensuing album flopped, perhaps in part because the material did not really reflect the group's tastes or strengths. In fact, the Hour Glass generally refused to perform these songs in their live shows, focusing instead on their gritty, blues- and R&B-inflected southern sounds, along with a couple of originals by Gregg Allman. The group members were unhappy at not being able to perform as often as they had been accustomed due to the label's concern with overexposure. Losing bassist Mabron McKinney and his successor Bob Keller, they soldiered on, performing concerts and recording a second album, '' Power of Love'', which featured bassist

from Daytona Beach. However, ''Power of Love'', which also featured the songwriting skills of Gregg Allman and material that fit the group much better than the material on their debut, nonetheless flopped. In a last-ditch effort, the members left Los Angeles to work at the

, where they recorded a handful of tracks that showed their full potential in the studio. After these tracks were rejected by Liberty, the group returned to the Southeast, did a few more gigs, and called it quits. Duane and Gregg Allman went to Jacksonville, Florida, where they jammed with folk-rockers The 31st of February, featuring drummer

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 ...

. The others went back to Alabama and did some session work in Muscle Shoals. After the 31st of February demos were rejected by that group's label, Gregg Allman decided to return to Los Angeles to pick up the pieces of the Hour Glass' deal with Liberty. He recorded several tracks in Los Angeles with studio musicians. A single, a remake of Tammy Wynette's country hit "D.I.V.O.R.C.E.," was released on Liberty under the name "Gregg Allman and the Hour Glass." However, it too failed to chart, and the remaining tracks for a planned album were scuttled and only issued twenty-five years later as bonus tracks on reissues of the Hour Glass's Liberty recordings. Duane Allman re-joined his former Hour Glass bandmates in Muscle Shoals, where he met drummer J. Johanny "Jaimoe" Johanson. Interested in recruiting bassist

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 his long, melodic bass runs, he was ranked number 46 on ''Bass Player'' magazine's l ...

of Jacksonville psychedelic blues band the Second Coming, whom he had met the previous July at an Hour Glass performance at Jacksonville's Comic Book Club, Allman and Johanson left Muscle Shoals for Florida, where Allman began sitting in with Oakley's band. Impressed with Second Coming guitarist

Dickey Betts Forrest Richard Betts (December 12, 1943 – April 18, 2024) was an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He was best known as a longtime member of the Allman Brothers Band. A co-founder of the band when it formed in 1969, he was central ...

' playing, Allman decided to add him to his fledgling line-up as well. With the addition of a second drummer, former 31 February drummer Butch Trucks, and brother Gregg on vocals and organ, who would at this point abandon his solo career in Los Angeles, the new line-up became the Allman Brothers Band.

Personnel

- guitars, electric sitar, vocal *

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 B ...

- vocal, organ, piano, guitar *

- piano, organ, guitar, vocal * Johnny Sandlin - drums, guitar, gong * Mabron McKinney - bass (1967) * Bob Keller - bass (1967) *

- bass, guitar, vocal (1967–1968)

Discography

Albums

* ''

Hour Glass An hourglass (or sandglass, sand timer, or sand clock) is a device used to measure the passage of time. It comprises two glass bulbs connected vertically by a narrow neck that allows a regulated flow of a substance (historically sand) from the ...

'' (

Liberty Liberty is the state of being free within society from oppressive restrictions imposed by authority on one's way of life, behavior, or political views. The concept of liberty can vary depending on perspective and context. In the Constitutional ...

, 1967) * '' Power of Love'' (

, 1968) * ''The Hour Glass'' (compilation of the two studio albums) (

United Artists United Artists (UA) is an American film production and film distribution, distribution company owned by Amazon MGM Studios. In its original operating period, it was founded in February 1919 by Charlie Chaplin, D. W. Griffith, Mary Pickford an ...

, 1973) * ''Southbound (The Rare Liberty Recordings)'' (compilation) (

Acadia Acadia (; ) was a colony of New France in northeastern North America which included parts of what are now the The Maritimes, Maritime provinces, the Gaspé Peninsula and Maine to the Kennebec River. The population of Acadia included the various ...

, 2004)

Singles

October 1967: "Nothing But Tears" / "Heartbeat"
- from ''Hour Glass'' (1967)
March 1968: "Power of Love" / "I Still Want Your Love"
- from ''Power of Love'' (1968)
June 1968: "

D-I-V-O-R-C-E "D-I-V-O-R-C-E" is a song written by Bobby Braddock and Curly Putman, and recorded by American country music artist Tammy Wynette. It was released in May 1968 as the first single and title track from the album '' D-I-V-O-R-C-E''. Wynette's ...

" / "Changing of the Guard" (as Gregg Allman and the Hour Glass)
- Side "A" new recording by Gregg Allman and session musicians, Side "B" from ''Power of Love'' (1968)
September 1968: "She Is My Woman" / "Going Nowhere" (as Gregg Allman and the Hour Glass)
- Side "A" new recording by Gregg Allman and session musicians, Side "B" from ''Power of Love'' (1968)
October 1968: "Now Is the Time" / "She Is My Woman" (as Gregg Allman and the Hour Glass)
- Side "A" from ''Power of Love'' (1968), Side "B" previously released on 45 in September 1968
January 1969: "I've Been Trying" / "Silently" (as Gregg Allman and the Hour Glass)
- from ''Hour Glass'' (1967)

References

External links

*http://www.duaneallman.info/chronologypart1.htm Duane Allman chronology *http://www.duaneallman.info/duanediscography.htm Duane Allman discography {{DEFAULTSORT:Hour Glass American soul musical groups Musical groups established in 1967 Musical groups from Los Angeles Musical groups disestablished in 1968