Please Call Home: Movie Review

Okay, what's the 'movie' about? Well, it's supposed to be about the Allman Brothers band, circa 1970-1972 when they used to hang out at 'The Big House' in Macon, Georgia...

And it is, mostly.

The movie's basically a series of interviews with some of the surviving band members, roadies, family and friends. At times the interviews are conducted to camera. At other times you're treated to a slideshow of band photos (and occasionally snippets of film) taken at around that time.

This one's definitely for the fan-boys. There are no explosions, no sex scenes... nothing garish to grab the attention. Much like the various books written about the history of the band, there are some stories that are told, some that are missed out. I can't say that I learned much more, but it was a pleasant trip down memory lane.

For obvious reasons, the bulk of the show concentrated on Duane Allman and Berry Oakley. I was surprised how little time was spent on Dickey Betts, who split from the band in 2000, but who was arguably as intrinsic to the Allman Brothers signature dual lead guitar sound as Duane was. About all that was said was that he was 'mean'! Hey ho...

I'm glad I watched it, but it's not going to be on weekly rotation in my DVD collection. Maybe once a year...