As the title indicates, the recording took place at the New York City music venue Fillmore East, which was run by concert promoter Bill Graham.

In 2004, the album was selected for preservation in the Library of Congress, deemed to be "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the National Recording Registry.

Shortly after completing recording of their second album, Idlewild South (1970), band leader Duane Allman was contacted by guitarist Eric Clapton to contribute to his new project, Derek and the Dominos.

In the interim, Idlewild South had yet to achieve strong commercial success, but the band's popularity and reputation began to increase due to their live performances.

[6] The band played continuously in 1970, performing over 300 dates on the road traveling in a Ford Econoline van and later, a Winnebago, nicknamed the Wind Bag.

[9] Everyone in the group, with the exception of the brothers, was also struggling to make a living (vocalist Gregg Allman received more money from royalty payments and Duane more from session work).

[9] In one incident, tour manager Twiggs Lyndon stabbed and killed a promoter for not paying the band; he later claimed temporary insanity.

He gave the staff suggestions and noted the band had two lead guitarists and two drummers, "which was unusual, and it took some foresight to properly capture the dynamics.

"[21] On June 27, the Fillmore East closed, and the band were invited to play a final, invitation-only concert,[22] along with Edgar Winter, the Beach Boys and Country Joe McDonald.

[27] "Statesboro Blues" bears close resemblance to Taj Mahal's 1968 rendition, which had inspired Duane to pick up slide guitar playing.

This is an old true story ..."[26] Thom Doucette takes a solo on blues harp, and by the end of the song, the band breaks out of the shuffle and "builds up to a dual-lead guitar, triplet-based crescendo.

[28] "You Don't Love Me" kicks off the first of the jazz-inspired jams and features a solo from Duane Allman in which the entire group stops, leaving it just him and his guitar.

[30] "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed", with its harmonized melody, Latin feel, and burning drive invited comparisons with jazz saxophonist John Coltrane (especially Duane's solo-ending pull-offs, a direct nod to the musician).

[30] The performance begins with a "long, laconic intro" by Betts employing volume swells, reminiscent of the "dreamy trumpet" used to open songs on Miles Davis' Kind of Blue (1959).

[32] During the fadeout, Trucks begins playing the tympani intro to "Mountain Jam" which would not be released in its entirety until its inclusion on Eat a Peach.

[34] The group were not very happy about being woken up early to shoot ("we figured it didn't make a damn bit of difference what the cover was or what time we took it," said guitarist Dickey Betts).

However, during the session, Duane spotted a dealer friend, raced over and grabbed a bag of contraband, then returned to his seat, discreetly clutching the stash in his lap.

[21] The back cover shows their road crew gathered in the same spot with 16 oz cans of Pabst Blue Ribbon beer provided by the photographer as a reward to the roadies for lugging out and stacking the band's heavy equipment for the shoot.

[15] Atlantic and Atco initially rejected the idea of issuing a double album, with Jerry Wexler feeling it "ridiculous to preserve all these jams.

[39] At Fillmore East peaked at number thirteen on Billboard's Top Pop Albums chart, and was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America that October.

[40] In a contemporary review, George Kimball of Rolling Stone magazine said that "The Allman Brothers had many fine moments at the Fillmores, and this live double album (recorded March 12th and 13th of this year) must surely epitomize all of them.

"[41] In a less enthusiastic review for The Village Voice, Robert Christgau gave At Fillmore East a "B−" grade and said the songs "sure do boogie", but ultimately found it musically aimless: "even if Duane Allman plus Dickey Betts does equal Jerry Garcia, the Dead know roads are for getting somewhere.

"[42] In a retrospective review, AllMusic editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine gave the album five out of five stars and stated, "[it] remains the pinnacle of the Allmans and Southern rock at its most elastic, bluesy, and jazzy".

[43] Mark Kemp of Rolling Stone gave it five stars in a 2002 review and commented that "these shows [...] remain the finest live rock performance ever committed to vinyl", and the album "captures America's best blues-rock band at its peak".