 The album cover was painted by Abdul Mati Klarwein , best known for creating the artwork to Miles Davis 's Bitches Brew ( 1971 ) . Allman was introduced to him through a friend . Allman did not have the time to come sit for the painting , so Klarwein worked with a photograph . In Allman 's book , My Cross to Bear he said " I loved that cover ; I thought it turned out perfect . It cost me $ 1 @,@ 500 back then , but today it would like $ 50 @,@ 000 , maybe even $ 150 @,@ 000 . " Allman 's girlfriend at the time ( and later wife ) Janice Blair appears on the album 's sleeve , riding a horse . The album 's title was an inside reference to a studio term Allman coined for when a song had too much energy and needed to be more relaxed , or " laid back . " He spoke more on the term in his later autobiography , My Cross to Bear : 
