The Allman Brothers Band’s 1972 track, “Melissa”, is proof that sometimes the only thing separating a song from a hit or a dud is a chance occurrence. Imagining all of the tiny moments that had to lead to Gregg Allman being in the right place at the right time is a fascinating exercise. Maybe the band might not have run out of coffee so quickly. Maybe an unassuming grandmother decided to run a different errand with her granddaughter before going to the grocery store.
If either were true, “Melissa” might not exist at all.
Greg Allman on Writing Allman Brothers Band’s “Melissa”
It’s a scenario every songwriter dreads: you get within an inch of finishing what looks to be an incredibly promising song when, suddenly, your mind goes blank. You can’t find the one word or phrase that ties the song up with a bow. The ideas you do come up with seem lackluster at best, almost making the song sound worse just by their very addition. Gregg Allman of The Allman Brothers Band fame found himself in that very predicament while staying in a bungalow motel in Pensacola in 1967.
In his memoir, My Cross to Bear, Allman describes writing one of his first substantive songs about the loneliness he was experiencing while in Florida. “There was a woman that I had really wished was there to bring me some happiness and companionship and all that goes with it,” he wrote. “I had the song. But I didn’t have the title. I’d go, ‘But back home you’ll always run with sweet…Bar-bar-a.’ It had to have three syllables in it, it just had to. I had tried every damn name. I had almost settled on ‘Delilah,’ but I knew inside me that wasn’t what I wanted.”
Allman decided to set the song aside and go on a coffee and juice run at a nearby 24-hour market. He was the sole customer, besides an older woman who appeared to be with her granddaughter, “who was at the age when kids discover they have legs that will run,” Allman recalled. As the little girl’s feet pattered down the full length of the next aisle over from where Allman was shopping, he heard the grandmother shout, “No, wait! Melissa, come back! Don’t run away, Melissa!”
“I went, ‘Sweet Melissa,’” Allman said. “I could’ve gone over there and kissed that woman.”
The Songwriter’s Brother Was More Sure of a Hit Than He Was
Gregg Allman was sure that Melissa was the right three-syllable name for his song. But he wasn’t convinced that the sentimental song would be a worthy contender for an Allman Brothers Band tune. Consequently, he didn’t think twice about selling the publishing rights to “Melissa” when he was in need of fast cash for a plane ticket. It wasn’t until 1972 that The Allman Brothers Band’s manager, Phil Walden, bought back the publishing rights for the band’s fourth album, Eat a Peach.
Even then, the decision to record “Melissa” wasn’t because Gregg suddenly had a revelation about how good his song was. The Allman Brothers Band recorded an album version of “Melissa” in honor of Gregg’s brother, Duane Allman, who died in a motorcycle accident in 1971. “Melissa” had always been one of Duane’s favorite songs that Gregg ever wrote, and the band used the track to pay tribute to their late founding member. Gregg also sang “Melissa” at his brother’s funeral.
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