"Melissa" is a song written in 1967 by Gregg Allman

Gregg Allman

Gregory Lenoir Allman , known as Gregg Allman, is a rock and blues singer, keyboardist, guitarist and songwriter, and a founding member of The Allman Brothers Band. He was inducted with the band into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995 and received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Georgia...

 and Steve Alaimo

Steve Alaimo

Steve Alaimo was an American teen idol pop singer in the early 1960s who later became record producer and label owner, but he is perhaps best known for hosting and co-producing Dick Clark's Where the Action Is in the late 1960s...

. It was first recorded by The 31st of February

The 31st of February

The 31st of February was a rock and roll band formed by Jacksonville, Florida natives Scott Boyer, David Brown and Butch Trucks.All three were alumni of Englewood High School in Jacksonville, though they did not come together musically until Brown and Trucks found themselves living on the same...

 – an early band comprising the Allman brothers, Gregg and Duane

Duane Allman

Howard Duane Allman was an American guitarist, session musician and the primary co-founder of the southern rock group The Allman Brothers Band...

 – in September 1968 at TK Studios, Hialeah, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 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

The Allman Brothers Band

The Allman Brothers Band is an American rock/blues band once based in Macon, Georgia. The band was formed in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1969 by brothers Duane Allman and Gregg Allman , who were supported by Dickey Betts , Berry Oakley , Butch Trucks , and Jai Johanny "Jaimoe"...

 and released on the Eat a Peach

Eat a Peach

Eat a Peach is a 1972 double album by the American Southern rock group The Allman Brothers Band; it was the last to include founding member and lead slide-guitar player Duane Allman, who was killed in a motorcycle accident on October 29, 1971 while the album was being recorded.-History:This album...

album in February 1972. The song was again recorded at TK Studios, this time produced by Tom Dowd

Tom Dowd

Tom Dowd was an American recording engineer and producer for Atlantic Records. He was credited with innovating the multi-track recording method. Dowd worked on a virtual "who's who" of recordings that encompassed blues, jazz, pop, rock and soul records.- Early years :Born in Manhattan, Dowd grew...

 and engineered by Richard Finch, TK's budding teenage recording studio prodigy and future co-founder of KC and the Sunshine Band

KC and the Sunshine Band

KC and the Sunshine Band is an American musical group. Founded in 1973 in Miami, Florida, their style has included funk, R&B, and disco. Their most well known songs include the disco hits "That's the Way ", " Shake Your Booty", "I'm Your Boogie Man", "Keep It Comin' Love", "Get Down Tonight", "Give...

.

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.

Uses and References

"Melissa" has enjoyed renewed popularity in the 2000s due to its feature in a commercial for Cingular/AT&T Wireless

AT&T Wireless

AT&T Wireless Services, Inc., founded in 1987 as McCaw Cellular Communications, Inc., and now legally known as New Cingular Wireless Services, Inc., formerly part of AT&T Corp., is a wireless telephone carrier in the United States, based in Redmond, Washington, and later traded on the New York...

 cell phone company and the use of it in a scene in Brokeback Mountain

Brokeback Mountain

Brokeback Mountain is a 2005 romantic drama film directed by Ang Lee. It is a film adaptation of the 1997 short story of the same name by Annie Proulx with the screenplay written by Diana Ossana and Larry McMurtry...

. It was prominently featured in the 2005 film House of D

House of D

House of D is 2005 drama film directed by David Duchovny as his directorial debut in film, having previously directed an episode of The X-Files for television. The film stars Erykah Badu, Frank Langella, Téa Leoni, Zelda Williams, Anton Yelchin, and Robin Williams...

, performed by both the Allman Brothers and Erykah Badu

Erykah Badu

Erica Abi Wright , better known by her stage name Erykah Badu , is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress. Her work includes elements from R&B, hip hop and jazz. She is best known for her role in the rise of the neo soul sub-genre, and for her eccentric, cerebral musical...

.