Marcus King hits the sweet spot with his skonking cover of the Allman Brothers’ country rock classic, Ramblin’ Man. Recorded after the 1971 motorbike accident that killed guitar great and Allman Brothers leader Duane Allman, Ramblin’ Man is the Allmans’ biggest hit. The 1973 song (written by Dickey Betts) is way more country than the rest of the Allmans’ repertoire, which made the group reluctant to record it. As the guitar parts developed, the band relented.
After a stint as guitarist at Fame Studios, Muscle Shoals, AL (where he played on hit soul records by Wilson Pickett, Aretha Franklin, and King Curtis), Duane Allman formed a two-guitar, two-drummer band to pursue his vision of hard-driving exploratory progressive rock influenced by freeform jazz and musics of the South (blues, soul, country). Ramblin’ Man veers towards Creedence Clearwater Revival – except for the essence-of-Allman-Brothers harmonic guitar interplay. Let’s hear it for Marcus King.
The video has over 3000 views in just one month. Russell Carter comments, “Now that’s a real band, no tricks, no backtracks. And a great song!” Seth Millhoan says, “I cannot get over how good this is. I listened probably 20 times today. It’s incredible.” Progorama states, “Greatest cover I heard in a long time.” Motor City Bart says, “Marcus King is so talented. He’s killing the vocals and his playing is out of this world.” Puddles Magoo: “Reminds us just how good the Allman Brothers were. WOW!”
Greenville, South Carolina-born Marcus King’s career was kickstarted when he played a few licks on a showroom vintage Gibson guitar while on a pilgrimage to Norman’s Rare Guitars, LA, as an 18-year-old in 2014. Jordan, a manager, heard young Marcus, which resulted in the recording of a Norman’s-Rare-Guitars endorsed video of Marcus King playing a song in the famous guitar shop. The video went viral. Let’s watch Marcus King playing a deep blues cover of Gary B.B. Coleman’s The Sky Is Crying.
Marcus King’s 2020 album, El Dorado, was nominated for the Best Americana Grammy. Having tamed his drink and drug demons (and married in 2023), King recorded his most recent album, Mood Swings (2024), with superstar/guru producer Rick Rubin. King describes the album as “soul-influenced psychedelic Southern rock.” Reviewers note that the album is more exploratory and vocal-driven than King’s usual ’70s Southern guitar rock. The album scores a very impressive 80/100 on Metacritic.
Judging from his recent cover of Ramblin’ Man on the Howard Stern Show, Marcus King is in excellent form after the release of Mood Swings. He’s enjoying his playing, and his singing is rich and soulful. Good one, Marcus King!
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