10 Southern Rock Albums Every Music Fan Should Own

One year after their formation, the Allman Brothers released their second album, Idlewild South, combining traditional southern gospel and blues, with jazz, country and rock. Despite being placed under the banner of southern rock, lead vocalist Gregg Allman felt the term both redundant and misleading, believing the Allman Brothers to be a progressive band that incorporated a variety of musical styles within their work.

The innovative album opens with the gospel influenced, hymn-like “Revival”, before introducing the wonderfully swampy blues of “Don’t Keep Me Wonderin’”, featuring virtuoso Duane Allman on slide guitar, who sets the tone for the band’s defining track, “Midnight Rider”. With Duane’s acoustic opening riff and Gregg’s stunning lyrical imagery, “Midnight Rider” evokes an immediate feeling of yesteryear, where the “road goes on forever” and outlaws evade capture on the American frontier.

While the Dickey Betts penned instrumental “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed” brings Latin flare to the album, the cover of blues classic “Hoochie Coochie Man” pays tribute to band’s early southern influences. Final track “Leave My Blues At Home” ends Idlewild South not with a decisive note, but the gentle fading out of a no-holds-barred jam session, that surely continued long after the recording session ended.