Another favorite song of mine and the group's is the well known song of The Allman Brothers called Melissa.

I didn't know the story behind the song until recently and am passing the Wikipedia entry along for any readers who were wondering, as well:

"Melissa" is a song written in 1967 by Gregg Allman and Steve Alaimo. It was first recorded by The 31st of February – an early band comprising the Allman brothers, Gregg and Duane – in September 1968 at TK Studios, Hialeah, United States for the their second album produced by Alaimo, which was never completed. The result of those sessions were subsequently released in May 1972 on an album entitled Duane & Gregg Allman. In the meantime it had been re-recorded by Gregg and Duane's new band, The Allman Brothers Band and released on the Eat a Peach album in February 1972. The song was again recorded at TK Studios, this time produced by Tom Dowd and engineered by Richard Finch, TK's budding teenage recording studio prodigy and future co-founder of KC and the Sunshine Band.

Inspiration

The song was not written for a woman named Melissa. The song was written before Gregg came up with the name. He said he was standing in line at a grocery store when he overheard a woman yelling to her young daughter who had scampered off, "Oh, Melissa! Melissa, come back, Melissa." He liked the name and decided it was a perfect fit for the song.

Our version is much more piano-centric than the original (and instrumental only) which is one way to add our own personal touch to not only this song but many others we have presented here in the last year:

Here's a live version with Gregg, Dave Matthews, and The Dave Matthews Band:

Going a little farther back in time, The Allman Brothers performing a live version of Melissa: