"Melissa" is a song written in 1967 by Gregg Allman. 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, Florida, United States for 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. Allman sold partial songwriting credit to "Melissa" to Steve Alaimo in 1968 to get back to Los Angeles, California to complete contractual recording obligations. Subsequently, Gregg Allman bought back the rights completely from Alaimo.
