Much more soulful than the blues-y riffing of The Allman Brothers oeuvre, Gregg Allman's solo album Laid Back (1973) is one of my absolute, all-time favorites. A record that sadly, I saw pass through many a cut-out bin during my 6-year stint at the local record store, without ever giving so much as a second thought (it wasn't until a couple of years ago that I finally grabbed this album during one of my annual music binge-and-purge sessions).

The album starts off with an alternate take on a familiar song "Midnight Rider," (released a couple years earlier by The Allman Brothers) and ends with an alternate take on the traditional "Will The Circle Be Unbroken"--a song I was first introduced to by The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. It's in-between those two tracks though, that the real core of the album lay. From the slow-burn, jazz-club blues of "Queen Of Hearts" to the folk-y and lamentful "All My Friends" (which may or may not be about the time surrounding Duane Allman's funeral a couple years prior--either way, it sure feels that way), and including a brilliant take on Jackson Browne's "These Days", this is a side of Gregg Allman you won't be as familiar with if you've only heard the "Brothers" material.

Highly recommended for sitting out on the back porch, under the stars, with several beers.

DOWNLOAD: Gregg Allman "Queen Of Hearts"