Customer Reviews

Idlewild South (Coll) (Omr) (Mlps)

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Idlewild South is one of those records that upon first listen, reveals itself to be a classic. Just good honest playing and singing...great songs, clean production..."southern rock" originates with the Allmans and this is one of their best. An album you will come back to often. However, the MoFi version does not sound that much better than the remastered cd.

While not quite as good as Eat a Peach, At Fillmore East, and the Atlanta International Pop Festival album, "Idlewild South" is certainly one of the best albums the Allman Brothers Band ever made. It also contains my personal favorite Allman Brothers song, and my favorite rock instrumental, "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed". It set a formula for the group - there had to be a long, sprawling, epic instrumental written by Dickey Betts, and while all of said instrumentals are good, this one is by far the best. But it's not like "Les Brers in A Minor", "Jessica" and "High Falls" don't rule, because they absolutely DO. But what makes "Liz Reed" even better? This shouldn't come as a surprise to you if you've read my other Allman Brothers reviews, but if you haven't it's because of Duane Allman. If that was the only guitar solo he had ever played in his life, his status as a legendary guitarist would still be indisputable. He really succeeds in channeling John Coltrane and Otis Redding there, only with a guitar rather than a saxophone or voice. And since I love John Coltrane (and like Otis Redding a lot), I am more than okay with that. The haunting melody is cool, too, and Gregg's brief, careening organ solo is brilliant. So is Dickey's playing, and the rhythm section COOKS. Whoa. I'm blown away whenever I hear that one. It's... just amazing.
But this obviously isn't a one-song album. With the exception of the forgettable "Leave My Blues at Home" (which even then is redeemed by Duane's closing solo), every song reaches some pretty high heights. Okay, I'm not in love with "Hoochie Coochie Man" either, but the stampeding introduction followed by the huge shift in dynamics is pretty sweet. But I definitely like every song on this album to some degree, and I love the four I haven't brought up yet. "Revival" is a great opener. The lyrics are a little on the naive song, but it's the Allman Brothers Band! Who listens to them for their lyrics? I'll tell you who: nobody. Now, the guitars, on the other hand... awesome minor-key intro that transcends into a fun hippie-gospel-folk song. "Don't Keep Me Wonderin'" defines blues swagger, and the harmonica part really wins me over. So do the guitars, of course, but that's just a given? And "Midnight Rider" is SWEET. It's a folk song with a little hint of country and an outlaw theme. The melody is one of the group's very best; the lyrics are actually pretty good; and the guitar solo is up to the usual standard.
The resident sleeper is "Please Call Home". Now, when I first heard it I thought it was a stupid, cheesy parody of a blues song with a really good slide part. And the lyrics are negligible at best - its chorus goes "Please call home if you change your mind... I don't mind" - but Gregg sings it with feeling, and that really is a good slide part. So yeah, the song has really grown on me, to the point where it's one of my favorite on the record, lyrics and all.
This is a highly enjoyable album, and it definitely shows the group at their best. If you don't have it, you're missing out.

It's the best album the allman brothers ever made and what makes it really special is that it's a gold original master recording.