September 23rd marked 45 years since the release of the Allman Brothers Band’s second studio album, Idlewild South, on Atco and Capricorn Records, which followed their 1969, self-titled debut. While that first album had little commercial success, the band’s relentless touring behind it led to a buzz that led Eric Clapton to enlist Duane Allman to take part on his 1970 Derek and the Dominos album which produced “Layla.” Produced by Tom Dowd, marking his first album with the band, Idlewild South was recorded in a variety of cities, including New York, Miami and Macon, GA, the band’s adopted home, because of their hectic performance schedule. Most of the songs, including two of their most iconic – Gregg Allman and Kim Payne’s “Midnight Rider” and Dickey Betts’ “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed” – were road-tested before they were ever recorded. The album’s title comes from the group’s name for the run-down, isolated hunting cabin the band used for rehearsals and partying. The farmhouse, which they rented for the princely sum of $165 a month, was located on a manmade lake outside Macon, and people came and went with such frequency, the band compared it to New York’s airport of the same name (later changed to John F. Kennedy International). Much of the material on the album was first created in that cabin, where the band’s “brotherhood came to pass,” according to Allmans roadie (and “Midnight Rider” co-writer) Kim Payne. The album didn’t sell well at first, but eventually peaked at #38 on Billboard, setting the stage for their 1971 breakthrough, At Fillmore East.

The additional tracks include session outtakes of “Statesboro Blues” and “One More Ride,” an alternate take of “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed,” an alternative mix of “Midnight Rider” and a mono single version of “Revival (Love Is Everywhere).” There are also nine tracks from the 1970 Live at Ludlow Garage album, remastered for the first time since 1990, including the previously unreleased song “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed” now making this concert recording complete for the first time.

Idlewild South has since gone on to become one of the Allman Brothers Band’s most iconic releases. Rolling Stone named it one of the “40 Most Groundbreaking Albums of All Time” in 2014: “The Allman Brothers transmogrified from mere blues-rockers to an assemblage creating an entirely new kind of Southern music.” Allmusic’s Bruce Eder called it “the best studio album in the group’s history, electric blues with an acoustic texture, virtuoso lead, slide and organ playing, and a killer selection of songs.”

Disc One:
1. Revival
2. Don’t Keep Me Wonderin’
3. Midnight Rider
4. In Memory of Elizabeth Reed
5. Hoochie Coochie Man
6. Please Call Home
7. Leave My Blues at Home
Additional Material:
8. Statesboro Blues (Session Outtake) – Previously Unreleased New Mix
9. In Memory Of Elizabeth Reed (Alternate Take) – Previously Unreleased
10. One More Ride (Session Outtake) – Previously Unreleased New Mix
11. Midnight Rider (Alternate Mix) – Previously Unreleased
12. Revival (Love Is Everywhere) (Mono Single Version)

Disc Two:
1. Dreams (Live at Ludlow Garage 1970)
2. Statesboro Blues (Live at Ludlow Garage 1970)
3. Trouble No More (Live at Ludlow Garage 1970)
4. Dimples (Live at Ludlow Garage 1970)
5. Every Hungry Woman (Live at Ludlow Garage 1970)
6. I’m Gonna Move To The Outskirts Of Town (Live at Ludlow Garage 1970)
7. Hoochie Coochie Man (Live at Ludlow Garage 1970)