1970 Sophomore Effort Remastered from the Original Analog Tapes by Kevin Reeves & Cut on Copper Plates Using Abbey Road Mastering’s Direct Metal Mastering (DMM) Lathe!

Nine essential Allman Brothers Band albums, spanning 1969 to 1979, have been remastered from the original analog tapes for reissue on audiophile quality 180g vinyl in July 2016 by Mercury/UMe. They include: an expanded 2LP edition of The Allman Brothers Band; Idlewild South; At Fillmore East; Eat a Peach; Brothers and Sisters; Win, Lose or Draw; Wipe the Windows, Check the Oil, Dollar Gas; Enlightened Rogues; and the 3LP debut of Live At Ludlow Garage 1970. The albums have been remastered by Kevin Reeves to 192kHz/24-bit audio and cut on copper plates using Abbey Road Mastering’s Direct Metal Mastering (DMM) lathe. All nine LP packages feature faithfully replicated original album artwork.

Idlewild South is the communal sound of one of the best band and producer combinations in music history. Recorded just one year before tragedy would strike and forever change the Allman Brothers, the 1970 set features the peerless lineup of slide guitar legend Duane Allman, rhythm guitar ace Dickey Betts, organist Gregg Allman, bassist Barry Oakley, percussionist Jai Johnny Johnson, drummer Butch Trucks, and multi-instrumentalist Thom Doucette playing under the guidance of iconic session master and kindred spirit Tom Dowd. A more essential hybrid of Southern rock, country, jazz, gospel, and blues you will not find.

Scaled down and lighter on its feet than its promising 1969 debut, the Allman Brothers Band’s sophomore masterpiece is also a product of its environment. A subtle rejoinder to the horrors of the Altamont Music Festival and increasing quagmire of the Vietnam War, the group’s lithe songs restore a peaceful, optimistic vibe without coming across as preachy or overreaching. “People can you feel it/Love is everywhere” the collective sings in heavenly unison on the lead-off “Revival,” which opens the floodgates to an album of scampering boogies, slippery leads, greasy grooves, and soul-soaked interplay.

Named after a ranch the Allmans often frequented in Georgia, Idlewild South is a prelude to the group’s jam-flavored concerts but is at once more digestible, focused, and tight. In a word, this is the Allman Brothers’ defining moment. Here are the tunes that transcend eras and generations: The rambling “Don’t Keep Me Wonderin’.” The sweet ache of “Midnight Rider.” A smoking cover of Willie Dixon’s “Hoochie Coochie Man” that puts all other versions to shame. And of course the instrumental standard “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed.”