Listen To Gregg Allman Rehearse ‘Midnight Rider’ In 1973

On August 30, Mercury/UMe will unveil a deluxe edition of Gregg Allman‘s 1973 debut studio album, Laid Back. The album itself started with a reworked take on “Midnight Rider” from the version The Allman Brothers Band put out on 1970’s Idlewild South. A preview of the posthumous Gregg Allman set was shared in the form of a “Midnight Rider” rehearsal.

The deluxe edition of Laid Back includes over 24 bonus tracks of rarities such as unreleased demos, outtakes, alternate versions and new mixes. In addition, Mercury/UMe will release The Gregg Allman Tour from Gregg’s tour in support of Laid Back on vinyl for the first time since 1987.

Allman had an idea in mind of how he wanted his own version of “Midnight Rider” to sound. “His original idea was to have a darker song,” Chuck Leavell explained of Gregg’s concept to Rolling Stone. “I wouldn’t call the Brothers’ version happy, but it was uptempo. It’s like the guy who was running away was happy doing that. But in the Laid Back version, he was hiding out and struggling not to be caught. Gregg had that guitar figure and it set the mood for the rest of us.”

While the version that opens Laid Back features a horn solo and slide guitar, the rehearsal is more bare bones and shows off the guitar figure Gregg wrote. Allman would play this version of “Midnight Rider” with his solo band through his final shows. Listen to the “Midnight Rider” rehearsal from the deluxe edition of Laid Back below: