Idlewild South by Allman Brothers Band

Idlewild South, the Allman Brothers Band's second album, came out on Atco and Capricorn on September 23, 1970, and it was built on the road. The band were touring so relentlessly that Tom Dowd, who produced all but one song, caught them over five months in New York, Miami and their adopted home of Macon, Georgia, cutting songs they'd already broken in at shows. The title comes from their nickname for a rustic cabin they rented for rehearsals and parties, a joke on busy Idlewild Airport.

Duane Allman's slide cries and Dickey Betts matches him lick for lick, Berry Oakley's bass rolls, Butch Trucks and Jai Johanny Johanson double up on drums, and Gregg Allman sings and plays organ. "Midnight Rider" is the brooding ballad, "Revival" the joyful shout, and "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed" is the instrumental that grew into one of their best-known concert numbers. Sales were slow, but the 300-plus shows they played that year set up the breakthrough of At Fillmore East.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.