The 31st of February - Morning Dew (1968)

David Brown and Claude “Butch” Trucks had both traveled, separately, from their hometown of Jacksonville, Florida to Tallahassee, Florida after graduating from Englewood High School and enrolling at Florida State University for the 1965 fall semester. They came together when they found themselves living on the same floor of the same dormitory and sharing a mutual interest in the new folk rock sound being pioneered by The Byrds. Together, they teamed up with Scott Boyer, who had also gone to Englewood High School in Jacksonville and had been living in Tallahassee as a professional musician.

The three new bandmates decided to call themselves The Bitter Ind. (Independents) and attempted to find work in Daytona Beach, Florida after Brown and Trucks left school after their freshman year. They struggled, but landing a performance at Club Martinique introduced them to Gregg and Duane Allman, who, at that time, were in a band called the Allman Joys. Their meeting with the two future stars would be paramount to their careers.

After the Daytona show, The Bitter Ind. returned home to Jacksonville, Florida, deflated from a lack of work. Not long after, Butch Trucks received a call from Duane Allman that his band would be in town, playing at a club called the Beachcomber, and needing a drummer to fill in for the night. Trucks played with the band and then convinced the Beachcomber’s manager to allow his band, The Bitter Ind., to perform as well. The manager agreed, liked what he heard, and used the group as his house band through 1967.

After 1967 and the end of the Beachcomber gig, the band decided to change their name, briefly using The Tiffany System before settling on The 31st of February. They relocated to Miami, Florida, signed a record deal with Vanguard Records, and released their first album, The 31st of February, in 1968. Unfortunately, it didn’t sell very well.

The group soon crossed paths with Gregg and Duane Allman once again, who were now members in a band called The Hour Glass. The 31st of February and the Allman brothers joined forces under The 31st of February name and began working on a new album together. Interestingly, one of the tracks on the album was an early version of “Melissa” (which would later be re-recorded by Gregg and Duane Allman as members of The Allman Brothers Band, and released in 1972). But, unfortunately, here in 1968, the album was shelved, never finished when the group split up before finalizing any of the tracks.

It wasn’t until 1972, after Duane and Gregg Allman found success in The Allman Brothers Band, that there became an interest in the members’ previous group. For this reason, The 31st of February’s unfinished second album finally saw the light of day, being released under the title of Duane & Greg Allman (which had misspelled “Gregg”).

The song heard below was the opening track on The 31st of February’s unfinished second album. It was recorded by Scott Boyer, David Brown, Butch Trucks, Duane Allman, and Gregg Allman in 1968, but released in 1972, as mentioned above.

The song itself was written in 1961 by Bonnie Dobson, and first recorded by Dobson in 1962. The lyrics are supposed to represent a conversation between the last man and woman left alive after a nuclear holocaust. Dobson stated that the lyrics were inspired by the 1959 movie titled On the Beach.



The 31st of February - Morning Dew (1968)

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Lyrics:

Walk me out in the morning dew, my heart
Walk me out in the morning dew, my heart
Though I can't walk you out in the morning dew, my heart
Though I can't walk you out in the morning dew, my heart

Thought I heard a young girl cry, yeah
Thought I heard a young girl cry, yeah
No, you didn't hear no young girl cry at all
No, you didn't hear no young girl cry

Thought I heard a young girl cry, yeah
Thought I heard a young girl cry, yeah
No, you didn't hear no young girl cry
No, you didn't hear no young girl cry at all

Now there is no morning dew
Now there is no morning dew
What they've been sayin’ all these years has come true
What they've been sayin’ all these years has come true

Got no morning dew

The Allman Brothers Band - Melissa (1971)

When Duane Allman was killed in a motorcycle accident on October 29, 1971, The Allman Brothers Band had been in the middle of recording what would be their fourth album. As a result of his death, Duane’s guitar work was only heard on tracks four through nine of the nine-track album. Earlier in his career, Duane had once been asked by the media what he was doing to help the revolution occurring in the country at the time, to which he responded, “There ain’t no revolution; it’s evolution. But every time I’m in Georgia, I eat a peach for peace.” To honor Duane, the band named their album Eat a Peach. It was released February 12, 1972, reached number four on the charts, and has sold over one million copies.

Although this song is most famously known as the third track on The Allman Brothers’ 1972 Eat a Peach album, it was actually written in 1967 by Gregg Allman, and first recorded in 1968 by a band called The 31st of February. The 31st of February was a band made up of Gregg and Duane Allman, who had joined the remnants of a band called The Bitter Ind. (which stood for Independents). One of the members of The Bitter Ind. and The 31st of February was drummer Butch Trucks, who would go on to co-create The Allman Brothers Band with Duane and Gregg Allman in 1969.

The song heard below is the version recorded by The Allman Brothers in 1971 and released on their 1972 Eat a Peach album. It was one of the three tracks on the album that didn't involve Duane, due to his death, and was thus also one of the first songs the group recorded without him. Regarding the choice of the name in the song, Gregg Allman has said that when he initially wrote the song, he wasn’t sure which female name to use. The name “Melissa” sprang on him as he stood in line at a grocery store and heard a mother calling out to her daughter, Melissa, to come back to her after wandering off too far.



The Allman Brothers Band - Melissa (1971)

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Lyrics:

Crossroads
Seem to come and go, yeah
The gypsy flies from coast to coast
Knowing many, loving none
Bearing sorrow, having fun
But back home he'll always run
To sweet Melissa

Freight train
Each car looks the same, all the same
And no one knows the gypsy's name
No one hears his lonely sigh
There are no blankets where he lies
In all his deepest dreams, the gypsy flies
With sweet Melissa

Again the morning's come
Again he's on the run
Sunbeams shining through his hair
Appearing not to have a care
Well, pick up your gear and gypsy roll on
Roll on

Crossroads
Will you ever let him go? Lord, Lord
Will you hide the dead man's ghost?
Or will he lie beneath the clay?
Or will his spirit roll away?
But I know that he won't stay
Without Melissa

Yes, I know that he won't stay
Without Melissa

No, no

The Allman Brothers Band - Revival (1970)

Formed in 1969 by brothers Duane and Gregg, this band was essential in the development of southern rock. They gathered a large following with their first two albums, but their third album, At Fillmore East, was and still is their best seller. Three months after its release, in 1971, Duane Allman died in a motorcycle accident. He’s widely considered to be "top ten" material in the category of “greatest guitarist ever”. The band called it quits in 1976, but has revived twice since.

This song comes from their second album, Idlewind South. It isn’t as well known as their bigger hits, “Mightnight Rider” or “Ramblin’ Man,” but it still might be recognizable to you. The first minute and a half is instrumental; enjoy!



The Allman Brothers Band - Revival (1970)

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Lyrics:

People can you feel it?
Love is everywhere
People can you hear it?
A song is in the air

We're in a revolution
Oh, you know we're right
Everyone is singing
There'll be no one to fight

People can you feel it?
Love is everywhere
People can you feel it?
Love is everywhere
People can you feel it?
Love is everywhere
People can you feel it?
Love is everywhere
People can you feel it?
Love is everywhere
People can you feel it?
Love is everywhere
Love is everywhere
Love is everywhere
Love is everywhere

(Love is everywhere)
(Love is everywhere)
(Love is everywhere)
(Love is everywhere)

(People can you feel it?)
(Love is everywhere)
(People can you feel it?)
(Love is everywhere)

Oh, it's everywhere
(People can you feel it?)
(Love is everywhere)
Love is here, yes

(People can you feel it?)
(Love is everywhere)
(People can you feel it?)
(Love is everywhere)

Oh, it's everywhere
Oh it’s here

(People can you feel it?)
(Love is everywhere)
(People can you feel it?)
(Love is everywhere)
(People can you feel it?)
(Love is everywhere)

Oh, yeah!