The group toured the following year, attracting large crowds and earning substantial amounts of money, all while internal tension grew among the members.
The band was particularly critical of Allman's decision to move to Los Angeles, as well as his tabloid relationship with pop star Cher.
With miscommunication and anger at an all-time high, the band pieced together the album over a period of several months, in stark contrast to their usual recording methods.
The three selections on the album to receive the most praise have been Allman's title track, Betts' instrumental "High Falls", and a rendition of Muddy Waters' "Can't Lose What You Never Had".
By 1974, the band were regularly making $100,000 per show, and were renting the Starship, a customized Boeing 720B used by Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple and the Rolling Stones.
Having wanted to focus on his musical roots, he employed a Southern gospel group, the Rambos, on background vocals, as well as Vassar Clements on fiddle and John Hughey on steel guitar.
[11] By the new year, Allman was spending considerable time in Los Angeles and was dating pop star Cher, whom he married in June 1975.
Allman arrived a day late to a rehearsal early on in the recording process, leading the other members to "pummel" him with inquiries about his future with the group and decision to move to Los Angeles, as well as his relationship with Cher.
[13] Previous Allman Brothers albums were cut live to tape, but Win, Lose or Draw primarily found the members piecing it together.
"[13] Rehearsals typically consisted of just Jaimoe, Leavell and bassist Lamar Williams, who started joking that they should form a band named We Three.
[13] Even Jaimoe was not present a couple of times, leading Sandlin and Bill Stewart to perform the drums on two tracks, "Louisiana Lou and Three Card Monty John" and "Sweet Mama".
[3] "A poker table topped with half-empty whiskey bottles, cards, and chips sits front and center, surrounded by six empty chairs representing the then-current members.
"[3] Likewise, two empty chairs lean against a table in the background, representing past members Duane Allman and Berry Oakley.
[1] Robert Hilburn of the Los Angeles Times recommended it for students going back to college and said it would provide the same "many hours of pleasant listening" that Brothers and Sisters had.
"[17] The Tucson Daily Citizen gave it a favorable review that praised the band's "total technical supremacy" and said that the lengthy "High Falls" was "good swinging-but-always-in-control stuff".
[30] The Green Bay Press-Gazette gave it a mixed review, liking a couple of tracks but characterizing most of them as "plodding shadows" of the group's best work.
[6] The Minneapolis Star also liked a couple of selections but overall called the album "a disappointingly unimportant effort by an important group.
[3][4][5][6][7] The first was the opening run-through of Muddy Waters' "Can't Lose What You Never Had", with Allman taking on the vocal and a syncopated, driving arrangement from the band that featured Betts' guitar work.
[38] The Allman Brothers would dissolve in acrimony the following year and, a late 1970s reunion attempt notwithstanding, would not reclaim their spot in the American musical pantheon until their successful 1989 reformation.