Ok:  amandad runs, and In the /tmp/amanda/ debug file, I  get:
host failure:

...
Amanda 2.4 ACK HANDLE 000-0003EE70 SEQ 1058213638
----

amandad: time 0.002: bsd security: remote host tape.control.att.com user amanda 
local user amanda
amandad: time 0.016: check failed: [access as amanda not allowed from amanda AT 
tape.control.att DOT com] amandahostsauth failed
amandad: time 0.016: sending REP packet:
----
Amanda 2.4 REP HANDLE 000-0003EE70 SEQ 1058213638
ERROR [access as amanda not allowed from amanda AT tape.control.att DOT com] 
amandahostsauth failed

BUT my $HOME/.amandahosts file shows:
tape amanda
cluster-adm amanda


And I even tried copying my .amandahosts file to the same directory where 
amanda.conf lives.
Still ng.
(here is home directory)
drwxr-xr-x   2 amanda   operator     512 Jul 14 12:56 .
drwxr-xr-x  16 root     root         512 Jul 10 15:00 ..
-rw-r--r--   1 amanda   operator      30 Jul 14 17:22 .amandahosts
-rw-r--r--   1 amanda   operator     173 Jul 14 09:44 .profile
-rw-------   1 amanda   operator    5190 Jul 14 17:22 .sh_history
-rw-r--r--   1 amanda   operator      30 Jul 14 17:07 amanda.hosts

i even thought i might have fat fingered file name, so I double checked 
spelling.