The song was primarily written by vocalist Gregg Allman, who first began composing it at a rented cabin outside Macon, Georgia.

Gregg Allman's solo version of the song, released in 1973, was its biggest chart success; it was a top 20 hit in the U.S. and Canada.

A cover by Jamaican singer Paul Davidson represented its biggest peak in the United Kingdom, where it hit number ten.

"Midnight Rider" originated during the group's time spent at Idlewild South, a $165-a-month farmhouse they rented on a lake outside Macon, Georgia.

[5] Payne was not originally listed as a songwriter on the song, so he later had Allman contact Phil Walden to produce a contract that allowed him five percent of its future royalties.

"[2] "Midnight Rider" uses traditional folk and blues themes of desperation, determination, and a man on the run: The verses arrangement features Duane Allman's acoustic guitar carrying the song's changes, underpinned by a congas-led rhythm section and soft, swirling organ.

[8] "Midnight Rider" has been a concert staple for the band in decades since; it is usually played fairly closely to the original template, and was not used as the basis for long jams until the Allman Brothers' annual New York City run in 2010.

[14] Since that time, the song has gone on to be The Allman Brothers Band's most covered song,[8] performed by artists ranging from country legend Waylon Jennings to punk rock legend Patti Smith; from bluegrass fiddler/singer Alison Krauss to ska revivalists Bad Manners to doo-wop vocalists The Drifters.

Stephen Stills included the song on his 1978 Thoroughfare Gap album, and later played "Midnight Rider" in 2009 on The Howard Stern Show, saying that he and Gregg Allman used to sing it together.

In summer 2010, he and his bandmates in Crosby, Stills and Nash performed the song on their European tour, during a covers section in their set.