“Mountain Jam” by Allman Brothers Band

"Mountain Jam" sprawls across two full sides of Eat a Peach, the Allman Brothers Band's 1972 album, cut live at the Fillmore East in March 1971 during the same run of shows that yielded At Fillmore East. Tom Dowd produced. It's an improvised instrumental grown out of Donovan's 1967 hit "There Is a Mountain", and the credit goes to Donovan along with all six Allmans: Duane and Gregg Allman, Dickey Betts, Berry Oakley, Butch Trucks and Jai Johanny Johanson.

Opinions split along predictable lines. Rolling Stone's Tony Glover and biographer Scott Freeman picked apart its structure and sang its praises, while AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine found its 33 minutes hard going for anyone but diehards. The band played it right through to their final concert in 2014, and a festival in Upstate New York borrowed its name.

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