The Allman Brothers Band - Idlewild South

Southern rock's founding fathers learned to write songs as strong as their jams on The Allman Brothers Band's Idlewild South, pressed here on 180-gram vinyl.

Released in 1970, the band's second album was named after the farmhouse they rented outside Macon, Georgia, a hangout where the group spent its downtime. Working with producer Tom Dowd, Duane Allman and Dickey Betts traded guitar lines with telepathic ease, Gregg Allman's organ and voice gave everything a smoky soul, and Berry Oakley, Butch Trucks and Jaimoe locked into a rhythm section with real swing.

Revival opens with a joyous, gospel-tinged burst of acoustic and electric guitars, while Midnight Rider remains one of Gregg's finest songs, lean and haunted and perfect for a late-night drive. In Memory of Elizabeth Reed, Betts's jazz-inflected instrumental, sprawls and climbs with breathtaking interplay, and the band's take on Hoochie Coochie Man gives Oakley a rare turn on lead vocals.

Seven tracks, no filler and a sound that blends blues, country, jazz and rock until the seams disappear. Elizabeth Reed would go on to become a live showpiece, but the studio version has its own focused fire.

This is the Allmans at their most concise, a record that proves they could say plenty without stretching every song past ten minutes.