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When the Allman Brothers Band Returned With ‘Enlightened Rogues’

Turns out, the Allman Brothers Band couldn't stay gone. The iconic southern rockers mounted a surprise comeback from an extended “breakup” in February 1979 via their Enlightened Rogues  LP.

The group had conclusively ground to a halt three years earlier, after a string of personal tragedies (brother Duane Allman and Berry Oakley’s crushing deaths), escalating substance abuse, diminished inspiration, competing solo careers and celebrity wives culminated in Gregg Allman ratting out his road manager to beat a federal drugs charge .

But musical marriages seem to heal all wounds, in time. By December 1978, Gregg, Dickey, plus drummers Jaimoe and Butch Trucks were already working together again as the Allman Brothers Band — this time complemented by guitarist Dan Toler (latterly of Betts’ solo outfit, Great Southern) and bassist David Goldflies — at Miami’s Criteria Sound Studios.

Even longtime producer Tom Dowd was back on the team, but Enlightened Rogues  tellingly saw Betts running the show, creatively speaking, thanks to multiple contributions like the country-inflected "Crazy Love," the instrumental "Pegasus," the Latin-flavored "Try it One More Time," dreamy "Sail Away" and pure southern rocker "Can’t Take It With You."

Allman, for his part, simply weighed in with the mellow, weary and mournful "Just Ain’t Easy," which seemed to carry the weight of the world on its shoulders but, thankfully, not the rest of the album (rounded out by a pair of covers), nor the inherent pressures and tall expectations associated with an Allman Brothers reunion.

This, in the event, clearly met with success. The reshuffled band was warmly embraced by most critics and certainly their fans. While it proved no blockbuster at the cash register, Enlightened Rogues performed well enough to get the Allman Brothers Band back on track for a few years.

Still, true stability wouldn’t come until the '90s, thanks in large part to the integration of Warren Haynes and then Derek Trucks . By the time the band finally called it quits , they'd become central figures.    

See the Allman Brothers Among the Top 100 Albums of the '70s

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45 Years Later: The Allman Brothers End Capricorn Records Run With Overlooked ‘Enlightened Rogues’

• By Doug Collette
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The Allman Brothers Band’s  Enlightened Rogues (released February 1979) is the result of the seminal Southern band’s reunion following their tawdry, fractious break-up of 1976. Produced by Tom Dowd, who had also provided studio supervision for  Idlewild South, At Fillmore East,  and  Eat A Peach , the modified 1979 lineup of Brothers hews close to the blues-rock roots upon which they had built their reputation at the outset of the decade.

Keyboardist Chuck Leavell and bassist Lamar Williams were invited to join founding members Gregg Allman, Dickey Betts, Butch Trucks, and Jai Johanny Johanson (aka Jaimoe) in the new enterprise. Both were integral to the ABB’s across-the-board success of 1973 with the LP  Brothers and Sisters , plus the single “Ramblin’ Man,” but, in the interim since the fractious dissolution, those two had found some measure of satisfaction with their group, Sea Level, and so demurred from enlisting. 

As a result, guitarist/composer Betts brought into the fold two members of his solo group Great Southern. Guitarist Dan Toler and bassist David ‘Rook’ Goldflies helped foster a return to the original instrumental lineup of the sextet that had included the now-deceased guitarist Duane Allman and bassist Berry Oakley. Accordingly, this sixth ABB album–titled after a saying from the voluble ‘Skydog’ himself–shows some flashes of brilliance, if not many sustained intervals the likes of which had highlighted their earlier work.

Not surprisingly, the high points are contributions from Gregg and Dickey. The former encountered issues with music publishing that severely limited his contributions of original material, but in terms of quality rather than quantity, “Just Ain’t Easy” more than suffices. The younger Allman sibling’s world-weary vocal delivery vividly communicates the doldrums he endured on the West Coast throughout his on-again, off-again relationship with Cher during the latter months of the Allman Brothers’ prior existence.

As such, Allman didn’t need anything more than straightforward lyrics to depict his state of mind at the time. And Betts needed no verbiage at all for “Pegasus:” on yet another of those patented instrumentals like “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed” and “Jessica,” the musicianship conjures a dramatic euphoria that bespeaks the title reference to the winged equine. That said, the tandem harmony guitar parts sound contrived rather than a natural outgrowth of the composition (much like the Elvin Bishop Group’s during his tenure on Capricorn circa “Fooled Around And Fell In Love”). 

In addition, the arrangement is also somewhat over-familiar: the Hammond organ solo is as predictable as a brisk dual drum break. Nevertheless, this seven-and-a-half minute puts this sextet’s chemistry, such as it is, on full display (further evidence of which appears in the form of a live snippet included on the Dreams box set of a decade later. 

The remainder of  Enlightened   Rogues  is a mixed bag. Inclusions of material co-authored by B.B. King (“Blind Love”) resides next to Betts’ co-write with actor Don Johnson “Can’t Take It With You.”  None of Betts’ originals such as “Crazy Love” are on par with his previous writing like “Revival” or “Blue Sky,” but they are nevertheless redeemed to some extent by enlivening accompaniment, despite the fact Toler never truly challenges his guitar partner (no doubt a designated hierarchy was in place). 

Validating his rightful position as the namesake of the band–if not its creative linchpin at the time–Gregg Allman does complete justice to “Need Your Love So Bad” in place of another number of his own. An R&B ballad recorded by Little Willie John on which the ensemble playing bespeaks common sense savvy in its support of the singer, it is one more of a precious few moments here that genuinely recalls the work of the Allman Brothers Band at its best.

It is more than a little ironic, especially in over a half-century hindsight, that  Enlightened Rogues  turned out to be the last release by the ABB for the Capricorn Records label they helped establish. Sizable commercial success for this did not ameliorate the label’s financial woes, however, and a bankruptcy filing in October of the year the record was released effectively put manager/mentor Phil Walden’s business organization out of commission (though the imprimatur was revived for the CD reissue of the band’s catalog in 2005).

The Allmans subsequently soldiered on by signing a contract with Arista Records. But the overly-polished likes of  Reach For The Sky  preceded the ignominious creative compromise that was  Brothers of the Road,  by which time personnel conflict had arisen again: Jaimoe was not on the second album of these two. As a result, another split occurred between the Brothers who would not reconvene on any permanent basis for nearly a decade.

The surprise success of the aforementioned archival box prompted regrouping in 1989, however, and touring in support of that four-CD set led to more new recordings including  Seven Turns  and  Shades of Two Worlds  (both supervised by Dowd as he added to a reputation based on work with Ray Charles, Cream, Derek and the Dominos, plus many others). 

The personnel of the latter-day ABB continued to shift in the wake of bassist Allen Woody’s death in 2000, the same year Dickey Betts was ousted from the group by the other founding members. Jimmy Herring participated in the summer tour that year, but demurred from accepting a permanent spot, the result of which was Warren Haynes’ return to the group (he and Woody had departed in 1997 to concentrate on Gov’t Mule). 

Personnel had begun to stabilize with the recruitment of guitarist Derek Trucks in 1999, two years after bassist Oteil Burbridge joined; with percussionist Marc Quinones also in tow, this configuration of the Allman Brothers Band persevered till its final dissolution in 2014. This protracted sequence of events included plenty of satisfying output, especially on stage, but also took the form of a fine final ABB studio effort,  Hittin’ The Note , issued in 2003.

From the perspective of four and a half decades, it becomes clear that, throughout that period, the persistence of all the various bandmembers (notably including brilliant guitarist Jack Pearson) had its roots in the very loyalty to the Allmans’ legacy so in evidence on  Enlightened Rogues.

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‘Enlightened Rogues’ included original material such as Dickey Betts’ ‘Crazy Love’ and a cover of B.B. King’s ‘Blind Love.’

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The split in the ranks of the Allman Brothers Band in 1976 sent the various members of the mighty southern rockers splintering off in many directions. Sea Level, the Gregg Allman Band, and Great Southern were among the acts to come into being when the original group fractured acrimoniously.

But a couple of years later, guitarist Dickey Betts reached out to the men with whom he had made the Allmans into such an institution, with a view to a reunion that would sweeten the sour taste left by the split. He was partially successful: Chuck Leavell and Lamar Williams said no thank you, wishing to continue with Sea Level, but Gregg Allman, “Jaimoe” Johanson, and Butch Trucks all took up the offer.

That left two places to fill, which came from the ranks of Great Southern, with Dan Toler and David Goldflies joining the Allmans line-up. The resulting album was Enlightened Rogues , which included original material such as Betts’ “Crazy Love” (a Top 40 single, with Bonnie Bramlett on backing vocals), “Sail Away,” and Allman’s “Just Ain’t Easy.” There was also a cover of B.B. King ’s “Blind Love,” which underlined the band’s longtime blues heritage, on a song written by King and Jules Taub and first heard on B.B.’s 1956 album Singin’ The Blues.

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A top 10 return.

Three and a half years on from their previous release, Win, Lose or Draw , there was still plenty of appetite for the band’s uniquely authentic rock approach. Enlightened Rogues debuted on the Billboard album chart on March 17, 1979 and climbed to No.9 in a 24-week run, far outstripping the 14 weeks of its predecessor. It later turned gold.

Listen to uDiscover Music’s Allman Brothers Band Best Of playlist.

But as one door reopened, another would close. After the album’s release, their longtime label home of Capricorn Records filed for bankruptcy, and the next chapter of the Allman Brothers’ story would take place at Arista Records.

Buy or stream Enlightened Rogues .

Paul Beaudoin

March 18, 2015 at 12:09 am

Hi, what you leave out is why the split/rift happened in the 1st place. Gregg flipped for the feds in a drug sting & named names or get locked down. Betts went apoplectic! I’d guess Dicky looked at his own demons after 3 years & decided to reach out & reconcile. But it was Dicky who lost to his personal addictions & was gone long before ABB retired. What a shame but, that’s life. 😉

Craig McCauley

March 17, 2017 at 10:17 pm

Love music!

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Average setlist for tour: Enlightened Rogues

Note: only considered 36 of 74 setlists (ignored empty and strikingly short setlists)

• Don't Want You No More ( The Spencer Davis Group  cover) Play Video
• It's Not My Cross to Bear Play Video
• Can't Take It With You Play Video
• Blue Sky Play Video
• Need Your Love So Bad ( Little Willie John  cover) Play Video
• Blind Love Play Video
• Crazy Love Play Video
• Just Ain't Easy Play Video
• In Memory of Elizabeth Reed Play Video
• Statesboro Blues ( Blind Willie McTell  cover) Play Video
• Try It One More Time Play Video
• One Way Out ( Sonny Boy Williamson  cover) Play Video
• Southbound Play Video
• Jessica Play Video
• Whipping Post Play Video
• Pegasus Play Video
• Ramblin' Man Play Video
• Midnight Rider Play Video

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Main set closers, show closers, encores played.

This feature is not that experimental anymore. Nevertheless, please give feedback if the results don't make any sense to you.

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The band’s best studio album in years, this 1979 release is a loud, brash, hard-rocking collection highlighted by the hits Crazy Love and Just Ain’t Easy . Also here are Can’t Take It with You; Pegasus; Sail Away ; Little Willie John’s Need Your Love So Bad , and more.

1. Crazy Love 3:43 2. Can’t Take It With You 3:33 3. Pegasus 7:32 4. Need Your Love So Bad 4:01 5. Blind Love 4:41 6. Try It One More Time 5:03 7. Just Ain’t Easy 6:05 8. Sail Away 3:34

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Legendary Rocker Dickey Betts Had a Great Touring History in Maine

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Legendary musician Dickey Betts has sadly passed away . He was 80 years old.

Born Forrest Richard Betts, his incredible career started in the 1960's, and spanned for decades. It included a tremendous solo career, as well as success with his own Dickey Betts Band.

But nothing compares to the work he did with the iconic Allman Brothers Band . Along with Duane and Gregg Allman, Betts was one of the six founding members of the group that immediately found success with their unique and smooth sound.

Betts ended up writing some of the most legendary songs for the group including "Ramblin' Man," "Blue Sky," "Jessica," "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed," and "Southbound." And even the songs he didn't write were usually featuring him on guitar, giving listeners some of the most iconic solos of the time.

Betts' talent was witnessed in Maine quite a few times over the years. Numerous trips with the Allman Brothers were made, as well as a final trip to the Pine Tree State with his own Dickey Betts Band. It's wonderful knowing so many Mainers were able to witness one of the most iconic guitarists to ever light up the stage.

Here's a quick look at Betts' touring history in Maine, with a strong hat tip to  setlist.fm  for the info. I will officially call the list unofficial, just to be safe.

August 25, 1979: Cumberland County Civic Center, Portland Band: Allmand Brothers Tour: Enlightened Rogues

It was the band's first show in Maine. This was also the band's first tour back following after its breakup a few years before.

December 26, 1979: Augusta Civic Center, Augusta  Band: Allman Brothers Tour: Enlightened Rogues

What a Boxing Day treat for the good folks of Central Maine. You don't see a lot of day after Christmas shows these days.

July 1, 1989: Old Orchard Beach Ballpark, Old Orchard Beach Band: Allman Brothers 

The Allman's hit the beach in OOB for their only trip to Maine in the 1980s.

October 28, 1990: Cumberland County Civic Center, Portland Band: Allman Brothers Tour: Seven Turns

The band was back in Portland in 1990 to support its "Seven Turns" album that had been released earlier that year.

August 19, 1994: Old Orchard Beach, Old Orchard Band: Allman Brothers

It was back to the beach for the Allman Brothers, as they made their last trip with Betts in the band in 1994.

May 23, 2006: Bangor Auditorium, Bangor Band: Dickey Betts Band

His final show in Maine would come a few years after his Allman Brothers career was over. He would be supported by his own band this time.

The rock world will miss you, Dickey. Thankfully, your legacy will live on forever.

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Dickey Betts: 15 Essential Allman Brothers Band Songs

By Corbin Reiff

Corbin Reiff

After the death of slide-guitar savant Duane Allman in 1971, many expected the Allman Brothers Band to fold up shop and call it quits.  But the five remaining members decided to soldier on in the face of incomprehensible tragedy. In Duane’s absence, it fell to the group’s other guitar player, Dickey Betts — a country-loving hothead from West Palm Beach, Florida — to pick up the titanic amounts of slack left by their indelible departed leader. Betts, who died Thursday at 80, responded to the challenge better than anyone could have imagined.

“When my brother died, Dickey really stepped up,” Gregg Allman wrote in his autobiography My Cross to Bear . “He wood-shedded like crazy … every day, he wrote. At three o’clock every afternoon, he’d sit down and write.” Just four months after Duane’s death, the band released Eat a Peach , which remains to this day, their most commercially successful studio album to date. A year later, they would score the highest-selling single of their career, “Ramblin’ Man,” which hit Number Two. The singer and writer behind that particular success? Dickey Betts.

Perhaps because his last name isn’t featured in the literal name of the group he helped make iconic, some of Betts’ contributions to their genre-defining canon have become obscured over the years. But make no mistake, the Allman Brothers Band would never have reached the lofty heights they did — millions of albums sold, private jets, legendary concerts, and eventual Rock and Roll Hall of Fame status — without his pen and his guitar. Here are some of Betts’ best songs.

“Revival” (1970)

“Revival” is the first song that Betts received a writing credit for as a member of the Allman Brothers Band. Appearing on their second album Idewild South , it’s a funky, uplifting track that the guitarist wrote specifically to counter the generally dour material presented by the group’s lead singer. “I think with my dad being a fiddle player I kind of naturally liked the uplifting aspects of music, but, I was in a band with Gregg Allman, who is basically a melancholy kind of writer,” he told the Sarasota Herald-Tribune in 2014. “I would really make an effort to write more up songs, to balance the band out. That kind of influenced the way I wrote.”

“In Memory of Elizabeth Reed” (1970)

“In Memory of Elizabeth Reed” is Betts’ other stunning standout on Idewild South , and marks an interesting step forward for the band sonically speaking. A totally instrumental number, it’s far jazzier in feeling than the group’s generally blues-informed sound, and the way that Betts locks in with Duane Allman, specifically through the song’s signature melody, is absolutely thrilling. As for the title, Betts came up with the name after spying it on a headstone in Rose Hill Cemetery in Macon, Georgia. “The spot had provided me with so much peace and inspiration that I decided to name the song after her,” Betts remembered in Alan Paul’s oral history of the Allman Brothers Band, One Way Out .

“Whipping Post” (1971)

The true power of the Allman Brothers Band, especially in those formative early years, was the guitar interplay between Duane Allman and Dickey Betts. It’s what set them apart from so many other blues-rock contemporaries in the late Sixties and early Seventies and helped solidify their reputation as a can’t-miss live band. Exhibit A of their otherworld chemistry is the song “Whipping Post,” as captured on the seminal live album At Fillmore East . The way their guitars mingle and cry together just at the apex of the song, right before Gregg screams the final chorus, is utterly breathtaking.

“Hot ‘Lanta” (1971)

“Hot ‘Lanta” was a song that the Allman Brothers Band never got around to capturing in the studio, but it became an incendiary highlight of their live shows. The instrumental piece made its debut on At Fillmore East , and captures Duane, Gregg, Betts, and drummer Butch Trucks all showing what they could do with the spotlight firmly on them. It was Betts however, who came up with the song’s jazzy almost prog-like, signature melody.

“Les Brers in A Minor” (1972)

“When I wrote ‘Les Brers’ everyone kept saying they had heard it before, but no one could figure out where,” Betts recalled in One Way Out . As it turned out, the melody was a reprise from a solo he took on “Whipping Post” during a concert one night. The title is a “bad French” pseudo-translation of “less brothers,” and is Betts’ instrumental tribute to Duane. As Gregg recalled in his memoir, it took 29 takes before the guitarist was satisfied with it in the studio. “We used the second [take],” he said, seemingly still annoyed decades after the fact.

“Melissa” (1972)

Originally written by Gregg Allman all the way back in 1967, the singer kept working at “Melissa,” refining it for years, before finally offering it up to the group to record for Eat a Peach . He played the song at Duane’s funeral, and he would later recall introducing it there as “my brother’s favorite song that I ever wrote.” A tender love ballad, it certainly tugs at the listener’s heartstrings, but it’s the touching slide solo played by Betts on his Les Paul that really drives home the mournful emotions hovering just under the surface.

“Blue Sky” (1972)

Dickey Betts was inspired to write the song “Blue Sky” by a woman very close to his heart. “I was married to an Indian girl whose last name was Wabegijig, which means clear blue sky,” he explained to the Sarasota Herald-Tribune . It was also one of the first songs that Betts took over vocal duties. “I asked Gregg to sing ‘Blue Sky’ and actually the producer, Tom Dowd, he said, ‘No, why don’t you sing it.’” So he did, to tender, beautiful effect.

“Mountain Jam” (1972)

“Mountain Jam” is another towering guitar monolith, stretching out past the 30-minute mark during the band’s iconic stand at the Fillmore East in 1971, and included on Eat a Peach . The song itself is an elongated, electrified riff on Scottish folk singer Donovan’s “There Is a Mountain.” Everyone in the Allmans gets to shine on this recording — wait for Butch Trucks’ epic drum solo in the middle — but again, it’s the interplay between Duane and Dickey that steals the show.

“Ramblin’ Man” (1973)

The highest charting hit of the Allman Brothers Band’s career wasn’t an old blues song. It wasn’t a Duane or Gregg composition either. Hell, Gregg didn’t even sing on it. “Ramblin’ Man” came straight from Dickey, who by 1973 had started to assert more artistic control over the group. Inspired by a 1951 Hank Williams song of the same name, Betts wrote “Ramblin’ Man” in about 20 minutes in bassist Barry Oakley’s kitchen sometime around four in the morning. According to newly hired guitarist Ray Dudek in One Way Out , it was the band’s iconic roadie “Red Dog” who summed up the power of the song probably better than anyone, when after hearing it for the first time he remarked that it was “the best I heard since Duane.”

“Jessica” (1973)

Named after Betts’ daughter who was only an infant at the time he wrote it, “Jessica” has an upbeat, sunny vibe that’s almost guaranteed to put a smile on your face. It’s not too difficult to understand why. The proud new papa composed the piece while trying to capture the way his bubbly daughter looked while bouncing along to the track’s jaunty rhythm. For the instrumental piece, Betts also drew inspiration from the legendary two-fingered gypsy-jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt, trying his best to only use two fingers himself while playing along.

“Southbound” (1973)

All three songs that make up the second side of 1973’s  Brothers and Sisters were written by Dickey Betts. Tucked in between the aforementioned “Jessica” and the record closer “Pony Boy” is this classic Seventies blues-rock rave-up titled “Southbound.” It’s got all the tropes you’ve come to love and expect from an Allman Brothers Band song: love, loneliness, travel, a wistful admiration of the American South and one hell of a guitar solo in the middle.

“Crazy Love” (1979)

Enlightened Rogues was the first album the Allman Brothers produced after a fractious break-up around 1976. Though Betts wasn’t happy about the configuration of the band during this era — “We did not have a slide guitarist, so I had to do it. Not only did I not enjoy this, but it altered the sound of the band, which needs to have my sound and the slide working together,” he complained in One Way Out — it did produce the second-highest-charting single of the Allmans’ career, another Betts-penned track titled “Crazy Love.” As much as he may not have personally loved playing slide, the man had the necessary chops, as you can hear from that low, whining lick at the very top of the track.

“Seven Turns” (1990)

The Eighties were a rough time for the Allman Brothers Band, but they finally put it all back together again at the tail end of the decade to record a widely acclaimed return-to-form record titled Seven Turns . Betts wrote the album’s title track, which was released as a single that topped out at Number 12 on the rock charts. “Seven Turns” has a distinct California country-rock feel that almost makes it sound like an Eagles song. Betts’ vocals, a little rougher around the edges than they were during the band’s Seventies heyday, are what really give the tune its emotional heft. 

“No One to Run With” (1994)

The last album Betts recorded with the Allmans was 1994’s Where It All Began . He was shown the door by Gregg and the rest of the band just six years later. “Human nature is you work shoulder to shoulder in a real emotional kind of setting and there are jealousies that come up,” Betts later explained of his departure to the Herald-Tribune . “There’s resentment and resentment turns to just outright bad things.” As far as swan songs go, you could do a lot worse than “No One to Run With.” The song harks back to the jazzy, bluesy lead-guitar lines that made the Allmans stars all those years ago, but it’s tinged with a sweet nostalgia to “do those crazy things we used to do before.”

“Midnight Rider” (1970)

“Midnight Rider” has gone down as Gregg Allman’s signature tune, and for good reason. It’s a dramatic tale of a man clad in stolen clothes with just one silver dollar clanging around in his pocket, trying to stay one step ahead of some nameless, unrelenting foe. Duane provides the song’s repetitive, acoustic riff while Betts flavors it with some countrified licks just underneath, before exploding to the fore with a sweetly understated solo. 

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3 Allman Brothers Band Classics Written by Dickey Betts

by Clayton Edwards April 18, 2024, 3:07 pm

Dickey Betts was with the Allman Brothers Band from day one. Many fans will remember him for his impressive guitar work and occasionally taking on the role of lead singer on some of the band’s songs. However, some fans of the band may not realize that Betts wrote some of the band’s biggest and most memorable songs.

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That being said, Betts didn’t just contribute to the Allman Brothers Band. He left his stamp on Southern rock and helped to shape the future of American music as a whole. Let’s take a moment to go back in time to appreciate some of the late guitarist/singer/songwriter’s finest and most successful work.

Dickey Betts Wrote the Allman Brothers Band’s Biggest Hit

The Allman Brothers remain one of the most influential bands in Southern rock. Surprisingly, though, they didn’t have many hits. In fact, the band somehow never saw a No. 1. The closest they ever got to topping a chart was when “Ramblin’ Man” went to No. 2 on the Billboard all-genre Hot 100. Betts wrote and sang lead on the song.

[RELATED: 50 Years After its Release, The Meaning Behind “Ramblin’ Man” by The Allman Brothers Band]

The band released “Ramblin’ Man” as the lead single from their 1973 album Brothers and Sisters . It was the first album they recorded without the late Duane Allman. As a result, Betts stepped up to help fill the void his bandmate left behind.

“Crazy Love” The Band’s Second-Biggest Hit

Dickey Betts gave the Allman Brothers Band their biggest hit with “Ramblin’ Man.” A few years later, he gave the band their second-biggest hit with “Crazy Love.” The band released it as the lead single from their 1979 studio album Enlightened Rogues. It peaked at No. 29 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

The band made Enlightened Rogues after breaking up and having a partial reunion. Betts wasn’t a huge fan of the lineup on Rogues because it forced him to play slide guitar. However, the re-tooled sound complete with Betts’ slide chops brought them their second hit.

“Jessica”: Dickey Betts’ Timeless Instrumental Jam

The band released “Jessica” as the second single from Brothers and Sisters. It peaked at No. 65 on the Hot 100 and landed at No. 29 on the Easy Listening chart. Despite its lack of chart success, it remains a staple of classic rock radio and is a favorite among fans. Betts wrote this song while trying to honor the late Gypsy Jazz legend Django Reinhardt.

Reinhardt had an accident that severely burned his left hand. As a result, he only had two functioning fingers on his left hand with which to play guitar. Already an accomplished musician, he re-learned the instrument using only two fingers. Betts was attempting to compose a song played in Reinhardt’s style.

According to Songfacts , he was working on the song when his daughter, Jessica, crawled into the room. Inspired by his one-year-old child, he gave the song her name.

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R.I.P. Dickey Betts: Guitarist, Singer-Songwriter and Founding Member of the Allman Brothers Band, Dead at 80

Dickey Betts , the American rock guitarist and singer-songwriter who helped found the Allman Brothers Band and powered such classic singles as “Melissa,” “Ramblin’ Man,” “Jessica,” and “Crazy Love,” has died at the age of 80.

Betts, whose death was announced by his family via his official Instagram account, passed away after a battle with both cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, per Rolling Stone .

“It is with profound sadness and heavy hearts that the Betts family announce the peaceful passing of Forrest Richard ‘Dickey’ Betts (December 12, 1943 – April 18, 2024) at the age of 80 years old,” wrote Betts’ family on Instagram. “The legendary performer, songwriter, bandleader, and family patriarch passed away earlier today at his home in Osprey, FL, surrounded by his family. Dickey was larger than life, and his loss will be felt world-wide. At this difficult time, the family asks for prayers and respect for their privacy in the coming days. More information will be forthcoming at the appropriate time.”

Betts, who had the advantage of being born into a family that loved music, was raised on country music, traditional bluegrass, and western swing, but his first instrument was actually a ukulele. From there, however, he shifted to a series of different stringed instruments, learning to play banjo, guitar, and mandolin. As he grew older, his musical tastes shifted somewhat as well, taking him in more of a rock direction, playing in a variety of bands before forming Second Coming in 1967 with a bassist by the name of Berry Oakley. Within two years, both musicians would find themselves in the founding lineup of the Allman Brothers, with Betts sharing guitar duties with Duane Allman.

In the wake of Duane’s death in 1971, Betts’ role within the Allman Brothers Band expanded considerably, a situation which ultimately led to him writing two of the band’s best known hits: "Ramblin' Man," which became the band's biggest hit, climbing to No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100, and an instrumental which he named after his daughter, “Jessica."

Betts kicked off his solo career in 1974 with Highway Call , an LP which was actually credited to Richard Betts, and it helped cement his reputation outside the Allman Brothers Band, taking him to No. 19 on the Billboard 200. As a result, when the band split in 1976, it put Betts in a position to keep on recording material on his own, issuing two LPs in rapid succession: 1977’s Dickey Betts & Great Southern , and 1978’s Atlanta’s Burning Down .

Betts would continue his solo career sporadically for the remainder of his life, but in 1978 he was responsible for reaching out to his former bandmates and suggesting the idea of a reunion. This led to a new album – 1979’s Enlightened Rogues , released on Arista – and a tour, after which they recorded a second new album, 1981’s Brothers of the Road , but they broke up again after realizing that Arista wasn’t interested in the same sound for the band as its members were.

Thankfully, the Allman Brothers Band got back together again in 1989 to celebrate their 20th anniversary, which led to further touring as well as recording. Betts, however, left in 1993 to seek counseling for problems with alcohol after being arrested in Saratoga Springs after a concert . He returned the following year, and he managed to remain in the lineup despite a further arrest in 1996 , but in 2000, he was fired from the band, which issued a press release at the time citing "creative differences." In the wake of the release being issued, Betts promptly contacted Entertainment Weekly to offer his side of the story, which involved befuddlement over a fax he'd received from the band.

”It says, ‘We hope that you will seek treatment and return to us happy and healthy in the fall,”’ said Betts. ”I did have a problem [with substances]. I did bow out for a while and I fully admit that I needed help. I was out of line. But not this time. That’s why this [fax] is so confusing. I really don’t understand what’s gone wrong. I called Gregg, and he was very short with me. He said, ‘If you don’t know I ain’t going to tell you. Just listen to f—ing tapes [from our last show]. Now, I’m not the kind of guy who likes to look in the mirror and say, ‘Oh, you’re the best,' but I listened to those tapes and I thought they sounded pretty good!”

However they might've sounded, it soon became clear that Betts was very much not over whatever demons he'd been battling: in 2001, he was arrested again, once more charged with domestic battery , and while he did eventually get his act together again, he would never again play with the Allman Brothers. He did, however, send his blessing when his health prevented him from participating in a concert event to commemorate 50 years of the Allman Brothers Band, and he was able to mend fences with Gregg Allman before Allman's death in 2017.

“It’s too soon to properly process this,” Betts said in a post on his official Facebook page . “I’m so glad I was able to have a couple good talks with him before he passed. In fact, I was about to call him to check and see how he was when I got the call. It’s a very sad thing. I, along with the entire Great Southern family, pass along my deepest sympathies to Gregg’s family, friends, and fans.”

Betts continued to tour up through 2018, when he suffered a stroke that took him off the road permanently.

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Dickey Betts, Allman Brothers Band Guitarist, Dies at 80

By Chris Morris

Chris Morris

Music Reporter

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Dickey Betts, whose country-inflected songwriting and blazing, lyrical guitar work opposite Duane Allman in the Allman Brothers Band helped define the Southern rock genre of the ‘60s and ‘70s, died Thursday in Osprey, Fla. He was 80.

In 1969, Betts and bassist Berry Oakley of the Florida band the Second Coming joined members of two other Sunshine State groups — guitarist Duane Allman and his keyboard-playing brother Gregg of the Hour Glass and drummer Butch Trucks of the 31st of February – and Mississippi-born drummer Jai Johanny “Jaimoe” Johanson in a new unit that ultimately based itself in Macon, Ga.

Riding a powerful twin-guitar sound that fused rock, blues and country, the Allman Brothers Band inspired a host of like-minded groups throughout the South, many of which would find a home at Capricorn Records, the custom imprint established by the Allmans’ manager Phil Walden.

A potent live act noted for their jamming abilities (on such numbers as Betts’ instrumental “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed”), the Allmans made their major commercial breakthrough in 1971 with the No. 13 two-LP concert set “At Fillmore East.”

Duane Allman’s tragic death at 24 in an October 1971 motorcycle accident in Macon thrust Betts into a more prominent role in the group as songwriter, instrumentalist and sometime lead vocalist.

He contributed the band’s long-running concert staple “Blue Sky” to 1972’s “Eat a Peach,” the group’s first album without Duane, which soared to No. 4. The 1973 release “Brothers and Sisters” rose to No. 1 nationally on the back of the countrified Betts-penned single “Ramblin’ Man,” which peaked at No. 2.

Betts’ service with the Allman Brothers Band – which over time would come to include guitarists Dan Toler and Warren Haynes, both members of his solo outfits – proved to be long, discontinuous and frequently tumultuous.

While the group was one of the biggest touring attractions of the day, the escalating drug use and tempestuous interpersonal relationships of its personnel led to a split in 1976, in the wake of their No. 5 album “Win, Lose or Draw.” They regrouped three years later and issued their last top-10 album, “Enlightened Rogues.”

Though the Allmans remained a consistent live draw through the ‘80s and ‘90s despite waning album sales, ongoing conflict between Betts and Gregg Allman came to a head in 2000, when the guitarist made a precipitous exit, under fire from his band mates, from the group he had co-founded 31 years earlier. His onetime sideman Haynes remained with the group until it disbanded for good in 2014.

Both during and after his tenure with the Allmans, Betts sustained a solo career, often under the group handle Great Southern. His most popular solo work was his first LP “Highway Call,” which reached No. 19 in 1974, at the height of the Allmans’ popularity.

Rock journalist-turned-filmmaker Cameron Crowe said he based the character played by Billy Crudup in his rock-themed 2000 film “Almost Famous” on Betts.

“Crudup’s look, and much more, is a tribute to Dickey,” Crowe told Rolling Stone in 2017. “Dickey seemed like a quiet guy with a huge amount of soul, possible danger and playful recklessness behind his eyes. He was a huge presence.”

Betts was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Allman Brothers Band in 1995.

He was born Forrest Richard Betts in West Palm Beach, FL, on Dec. 12, 1943. (He was variously billed professionally as “Dick,” “Dicky” or “Richard” before settling on “Dickey” in the mid-‘70s.) His father and uncles all played music, and he picked up the ukulele at the age of five before graduating to his brother’s guitar. Reared on the Grand Ole Opry’s weekly radio performances, he began gravitating to the blues after hearing local guitarist Jimmy Paramore and became active in a number of regional Florida bands.

Betts’ act the Soul Children became known as the Blues Messengers, and finally the Second Coming, with the addition of bassist Oakley, a Chicago native who had become a fixture on the Sarasota music scene. A fateful meeting with the Allman siblings at a Jacksonville club where the Hour Glass was playing ultimately led the finalization of the six-man Allman Brothers Band lineup in March 1969.

Its original incarnation had its apotheosis on “At Fillmore East,” recorded live at Bill Graham’s New York venue in March 1971. Featuring a searing 13-minute rendition of Betts’ “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed” (which took its name from a tombstone the guitarist spotted in a Macon cemetery), the set was ultimately certified for sales of 1 million units.

Duane Allman’s sudden death just six months after the live album’s release left the band’s future briefly in doubt, but the surviving members unanimously decided to carry on as a five-piece, with Betts initially taking on de facto leadership.

Just three months after the release of its massive hit “Brothers and Sisters” – which included “Ramblin’ Man” and the memorable Betts instrumental “Jessica,” named after the guitarist’s daughter — bassist Oakley was killed in a motorcycle crash in Macon, just blocks from the site of the accident that took Duane Allman’s life.

While the Allman Brothers Band soldiered on with the surviving original members and a shifting cast of additional personnel, Betts began to split his time with his side projects Great Southern and the Dickey Betts Band, which released three studio albums between 1977-88.

Gregg Allman’s testimony against the Allman Brothers Band’s security man Scooter Herring in a federal drug case led to the rupture of the group in 1976, with Betts declaring in Rolling Stone, “There is no way we can work with Gregg again. Ever.”

However, the band reunited for recording and touring in 1979 (following an initial reconciliation at a Great Southern show in New York’s Central Park) and – after another hiatus and a 1986 joint tour by Allman and Betts — again in 1989, with Betts appearing on six studio albums and three official live recordings through 2000. During the ‘90s the group developed a younger following thanks to headline appearances on the jam band-oriented H.O.R.D.E. Festival.

However, the guitarist’s increasing unreliability – which included a brief ejection from the act following a 1993 scuffle with police at a tour stop — and mounting friction between him and a now clean and sober Allman resolved itself when the band informed Betts via fax that he would be replaced by another guitarist on the next tour. A suit filed by Betts was settled in arbitration, ending his tenure with the Allman Brothers Band. Betts declined an offer to rejoin the Allman Brothers Band for their 40th anniversary tour in 2009.

Betts reconciled with Allman before the singer-keyboardist’s death from liver cancer complications from in 2017, and attended his funeral.

The majority of Betts’ latter-day solo recordings were live affairs, and he continued to tour. He quietly retired in 2014, but returned to the road in 2017, saying he got “bored as hell.” In August 2018, he cancelled several concert dates after what was described publicly as a “mild stroke.”

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Dickey Betts, Fiery Guitarist With Allman Brothers Band, Dies at 80

He traded licks with Duane Allman and proved to be a worthy sparring partner. He also wrote, and sang, the band’s biggest hit, “Ramblin’ Man.”

By Alex Williams

Dickey Betts, a honky-tonk hell raiser who, as a guitarist for the Allman Brothers Band, traded fiery licks with Duane Allman in the band’s early-1970s heyday, and who went on to write some of the band’s most indelible songs, including its biggest hit, “Ramblin’ Man,” died on Thursday at his home in Osprey, Fla. He was 80.

His death was announced on social media by his family. His manager David Spero said in a statement to Rolling Stone magazine that the cause was cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Despite not being an actual Allman brother — the band, founded in 1969, was led by Duane Allman, who achieved guitar-god status before he died in a motorcycle accident at 24, and Gregg Allman , the lead vocalist, who got an added flash of the limelight in 1975 when he married Cher — Mr. Betts was a guiding force in the group for decades and central to the sound that came to define Southern rock.

Although pigeonholed by some fans in the band’s early days as its “other” guitarist, Mr. Betts, whose solos seemed at times to scorch the fretboard of his Gibson Les Paul, proved a worthy sparring partner to Duane Allman, serving as a co-lead guitarist, rather than as a sidekick.

With his chiseled features, Wild West mustache and gunfighter demeanor, Mr. Betts certainly looked the part of the star. And he played like one. Nowhere was that more apparent than on the band’s landmark 1971 live double album, “At Fillmore East,” which was filled with expansive jams and showcased the intricate interplay between Mr. Betts and Mr. Allman. It sold more than a million copies.

“The second half of ‘At Fillmore East’ is as vivid and exhilarating as recorded rock has ever been,” Grayson Haver Currin of Pitchfork wrote in a 2022 appraisal.

A centerpiece of the album was “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed,” a haunting, jazz-influenced instrumental written by Mr. Betts whose title was taken from a headstone at a graveyard in the band’s hometown, Macon, Ga. That track’s “textural interplay,” Mr. Currin continued, “resembles Miles Davis’s then-new electric bands, organ and guitar oozing into one another like melting butter and chocolate.”

“Duane and I had an understanding , like an old soul kind of understanding of let’s play together,” Mr. Betts said in a 2020 interview with The Sarasota Herald-Tribune in Florida. “Duane would say, ‘Man, I get so jealous of you sometimes when you burn off and I have to follow it,’ and we would joke about it. So that’s kind of Duane and mine’s relationship. It was a real understanding. Like, ‘Come on, this is a hell of a band, let’s not hot dog it up.’”

Mr. Allman made his feelings about his bandmate clear. “I’m the famous guitar player,” he once said, “but Dickey is the good one.”

That brilliant guitar dialogue ended in Macon on Oct. 29, 1971, when Mr. Allman lost control of his motorcycle after swerving to miss a truck and died of extensive internal injuries sustained in the crash ( Berry Oakley , the band’s bassist, was killed a year later in a motorcycle accident just a few blocks from the site).

Mr. Betts took over as the band’s effective leader and featured guitarist when the Allman Brothers Band regrouped to complete its next album, “Eat a Peach.” Released in 1972, it was critically acclaimed and vaulted to No. 4 on the Billboard charts. Among the album’s most memorable tracks was Mr. Betts’s sunny country-inflected number “Blue Sky,” which came to be regarded as a rock classic.

The band reached new commercial heights with its follow-up the next year, “Brothers & Sisters,” which contained two of Mr. Betts’s signature songs: “Ramblin’ Man,” which rose to No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100, and the upbeat instrumental “Jessica.”

“Ramblin’ Man,” which, like all his signature songs, Mr. Betts sang, is a carefree tale of an unfettered life on the open road. “I guess the song is more or less autobiographical ,” he said in a 1973 interview with the future movie director Cameron Crowe, who was then a writer for Rolling Stone. “Not right down to the point, but overall it’s a pretty true song. There’s a lot of things I wish I could say in my songs that I can’t.”

He apparently made an impression on Mr. Crowe. With his horseshoe mustache and bad-boy swagger, he became the inspiration for Billy Crudup’s rock-star character in Mr. Crowe’s quasi-autobiographical 2000 film, “Almost Famous.” As Mr. Crowe told Rolling Stone in 2017: “Dickey seemed like a quiet guy with a huge amount of soul , possible danger and playful recklessness behind his eyes. He was a huge presence.”

Forrest Richard Betts was born on Dec. 12, 1943, in West Palm Beach, Fla., one of three children of Harold and Sarah Betts. Growing up on the Gulf Coast in Bradenton, near Tampa, he learned an early appreciation of music from his father, a fiddler, and started playing ukulele at 5.

He graduated to guitar and formed his own band in his teens. In 1967, he formed another band, the Second Coming, with Mr. Oakley. They eventually found themselves jamming with Duane Allman, who invited them to join his new band.

After the triumph of “Brothers & Sisters,” which topped the Billboard 200 for five weeks in 1973, the Allman Brothers Band started to fray. Gregg Allman started a side solo career, as did Mr. Betts, who released an album, “Highway Call,” under the name Richard Betts in 1974.

Along the way, the band’s outsize drug and alcohol use was becoming an increasing problem, as was the internal pressures that came with success. The band splintered in 1976 after Gregg Allman testified against his personal road manager in a federal drug case ; Mr. Betts vowed never to work with Mr. Allman again.

Still, he did. Although Mr. Betts continued with a side venture, Dickey Betts & Great Southern, in 1979 the Allman Brothers Band released a comeback album, “Enlightened Rogues,” reviving the twin-guitar approach by adding a new guitarist, Dan Toler; the band would continue to tour and record, despite lengthy hiatuses, until 2000. That year, the group fired Mr. Betts, citing “creative differences ” — while also alluding to continuing struggles with substance abuse, which he denied.

By that point Mr. Betts had been through plenty of struggles with drugs and alcohol, as well as multiple arrests, including a much-publicized incident in 1996, in which he was accused of aiming a .44 Magnum handgun at his wife, Donna, during a quarrel over his drug use and charged with aggravated domestic assault. The charges were dropped after he agreed to check into a rehab facility.

In addition to his wife, Mr. Betts’s survivors include his daughters, Kimberly, Christy and Jessica Betts, as well as his son, Duane Betts, who made appearances with the Allman Brothers Band in the 1990s and later joined Great Southern.

Despite undergoing brain surgery in 2018 after a fall at home, Mr. Betts released live albums with his outfit the Dickey Betts Band in both 2018 and 2019.

He received notable recognition when Bob Dylan referenced him in “Murder Most Foul,” Mr. Dylan’s 2020 opus about the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. It contains the line “Play Oscar Peterson, play Stan Getz/Play ‘Blue Sky,’ play Dickey Betts.”

When friends called him about the shout-out, Mr. Betts was deeply honored, he said in a recent interview , but also embarrassed. “I would say, ‘Well, he just used me because it rhymes with Getz.’”

Alex Williams is a reporter in the Obituaries department. More about Alex Williams

Dickey Betts, Allman Brothers guitarist, dies at 80

Dickey Betts , whose country-inflected songwriting and blazing, lyrical guitar work opposite Duane Allman in the Allman Brothers Band helped define the Southern rock genre of the ’60s and ’70s, died Thursday in Osprey, Florida. He was 80.

His family posted a  statement on Instagram , writing: “It is with profound sadness and heavy hearts that the Betts family announce the peaceful passing of Forrest Richard ‘Dickey’ Betts (December 12, 1943 — April 18, 2024) at the age of 80 years old. The legendary performer, songwriter, bandleader and family patriarch passed away earlier today at his home in Osprey, FL., surrounded by his family. Dickey was larger than life, and his loss will be felt world-wide.”

In 1969, Betts and bassist Berry Oakley of the Florida band the Second Coming joined members of two other Sunshine State groups — guitarist Duane Allman and his keyboard-playing brother Gregg of the Hour Glass and drummer Butch Trucks of the 31st of February — and Mississippi-born drummer Jai Johanny “Jaimoe” Johanson in a new unit that ultimately based itself in Macon, Georgia.

Riding a powerful twin-guitar sound that fused rock, blues and country, the Allman Brothers Band inspired a host of like-minded groups throughout the South, many of which would find a home at Capricorn Records, the custom imprint established by the Allmans’ manager Phil Walden.

A potent live act noted for their jamming abilities on such numbers as Betts’ instrumental “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed,” the Allmans made their major commercial breakthrough in 1971 with the No. 13 two-LP concert set “At Fillmore East.”

Duane Allman’s tragic death at 24 in an October 1971 motorcycle accident in Macon thrust Betts into a more prominent role in the group as songwriter, instrumentalist and sometime lead vocalist.

He contributed the band’s long-running concert staple “Blue Sky” to 1972’s “Eat a Peach,” the group’s first album without Duane, which soared to No. 4. The 1973 release “Brothers and Sisters” rose to No. 1 nationally on the back of the countrified Betts-penned single “Ramblin’ Man,” which peaked at No. 2.

The guitarist went on to write the Allman’s No. 29 single “Crazy Love” (1979) and co-authored the act’s last top-40 single, “Straight From the Heart” (No. 39, 1981).

Betts’ service with the Allman Brothers Band — which over time would come to include guitarists Dan Toler and Warren Haynes, both members of his solo outfits — proved to be long, discontinuous and frequently tumultuous.

While the group was one of the biggest touring attractions of the day, the escalating drug use and tempestuous interpersonal relationships of its personnel led to a split in 1976, in the wake of their No. 5 album “Win, Lose or Draw.” They regrouped three years later and issued their last top-10 album, “Enlightened Rogues.”

Though the Allmans remained a consistent live draw through the ‘80s and ‘90s despite waning album sales, ongoing conflict between Betts and Gregg Allman came to a head in 2000, when the guitarist made a precipitous exit, under fire from his band mates, from the group he had co-founded 31 years earlier. His onetime sideman Haynes remained with the group until it disbanded for good in 2014.

Both during and after his tenure with the Allmans, Betts sustained a solo career, often under the group handle Great Southern. His most popular solo work was his first LP “Highway Call,” which reached No. 19 in 1974, at the height of the Allmans’ popularity.

Rock journalist-turned-filmmaker Cameron Crowe said he based the character played by Billy Crudup in his rock-themed 2000 film “Almost Famous” on Betts.

“Crudup’s look, and much more, is a tribute to Dickey,” Crowe told Rolling Stone in 2017. “Dickey seemed like a quiet guy with a huge amount of soul, possible danger and playful recklessness behind his eyes. He was a huge presence.”

Betts was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Allman Brothers Band in 1995.

He was born Forrest Richard Betts in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Dec. 12, 1943. He was variously billed professionally as “Dick,” “Dicky” or “Richard” before settling on “Dickey” in the mid-‘70s. His father and uncles all played music, and he picked up the ukulele at the age of five before graduating to his brother’s guitar. Reared on the Grand Ole Opry’s weekly radio performances, he began gravitating to the blues after hearing local guitarist Jimmy Paramore and became active in a number of regional Florida bands.

Betts’ act the Soul Children became known as the Blues Messengers, and finally the Second Coming, with the addition of bassist Oakley, a Chicago native who had become a fixture on the Sarasota music scene. A fateful meeting with the Allman siblings at a Jacksonville club where the Hour Glass was playing ultimately led the finalization of the six-man Allman Brothers Band lineup in March 1969.

The group’s first two albums, its self-titled 1969 debut and 1970’s “Idlewild South,” were not enormous successes, but ex-session star Duane Allman’s growing rep as a musician’s musician and his fiery interplay with Betts turned the act into a formidable attraction at rock ballrooms and festivals.

Its original incarnation had its apotheosis on “At Fillmore East,” recorded live at Bill Graham’s New York venue in March 1971. Featuring a searing 13-minute rendition of Betts’ “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed” — which took its name from a tombstone the guitarist spotted in a Macon cemetery — the set was ultimately certified for sales of 1 million units.

Duane Allman’s sudden death just six months after the live album’s release left the band’s future briefly in doubt, but the surviving members unanimously decided to carry on as a five-piece, with Betts initially taking on de facto leadership.

Just three months after the release of its massive hit “Brothers and Sisters” — which included “Ramblin’ Man” and the memorable Betts instrumental “Jessica,” named after the guitarist’s daughter — bassist Oakley was killed in a motorcycle crash in Macon, just blocks from the site of the accident that took Duane Allman’s life.

While the Allman Brothers Band soldiered on with the surviving original members and a shifting cast of additional personnel, Betts began to split his time with his side projects Great Southern and the Dickey Betts Band, which released three studio albums between 1977-88.

Gregg Allman’s testimony against the Allman Brothers Band’s security man Scooter Herring in a federal drug case led to the rupture of the group in 1976, with Betts declaring in Rolling Stone, “There is no way we can work with Gregg again. Ever.”

However, the band reunited for recording and touring in 1979 following an initial reconciliation at a Great Southern show in New York’s Central Park and — after another hiatus and a 1986 joint tour by Allman and Betts — again in 1989, with Betts appearing on six studio albums and three official live recordings through 2000. During the ’90s the group developed a younger following thanks to headline appearances on the jam band-oriented H.O.R.D.E. Festival.

However, the guitarist’s increasing unreliability — which included a brief ejection from the act following a 1993 scuffle with police at a tour stop — and mounting friction between him and a now clean and sober Allman resolved itself when the band informed Betts via fax that he would be replaced by another guitarist on the next tour. A suit filed by Betts was settled in arbitration, ending his tenure with the Allman Brothers Band. Betts declined an offer to rejoin the Allman Brothers Band for their 40th anniversary tour in 2009.

Betts reconciled with Allman before the singer-keyboardist’s death from liver cancer complications from in 2017 and attended his funeral.

The majority of Betts’ latter-day solo recordings were live affairs, and he continued to tour. He quietly retired in 2014, but returned to the road in 2017, saying he got “bored as hell.” In August 2018, he cancelled several concert dates after what was described publicly as a “mild stroke.”

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Dickey Betts, Allman Brothers Band Guitarist, Co-Founder, Dies at 80

The singer and guitarist died on April 18 after battling cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

By Gil Kaufman

Gil Kaufman

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Allman Brothers Band co-founder singer-guitarist Dickey Betts died on Thursday morning (April 18) at 80 following a battle with cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, according to The Hollywood Reporter . His family also announced the death of the musician on his Instagram account .

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The band itself also shared a tribute to Betts on its Instagram account after the news broke. “He was passionate in life, be it music, songwriting, fishing, hunting, boating, golf, karate or boxing,” the band shared, noting that Betts had written some of their “quintessential” songs, including “Jessica” and “Rambling Man.” “Dickey was all in on and excelled at anything that caught his attention. … Play on Brother Dickey, you will be forever remembered and deeply missed.”

An integral part of the Allman’s swampy, rambling Southern rock sound, Betts joined brothers Gregg and Duane Allman in 1969 in the group the siblings formed after splitting up their earlier band, the Allman Joys. Taking his place alongside drummers Butch Trucks, and Jaimoe and bassist Berry Oakley — Betts had played with Oakley in the band the Second Coming — Betts provided lead guitar as well as initially sharing vocals with Duane and Oakley before Gregg Allman stepped up to be the lead singer and primary songwriter.

In fact, on the band’s next album, the iconic 1971 live album At Fillmore East , fans who had not yet caught the group’s exploratory, expansive live show yet were treated to a nearly 13-minute version of “Reed” that showcased the jazz and Western swing influences Betts brought to the table. And, in keeping with their growing reputation as one of the most experimental, unpredictable American rock bands, that long walk was accompanied on side four by a furious, 22-minute “Whipping Post.”

As would be the case throughout the group’s half century run, drug use and tragedy struck just as things were heating up for the Allmans, sending Duane and Oakley to rehab in 1971, just months before Duane, 24, was killed in a motorcycle accident; a despondent Oakley crashed his motorcycle into the side of a bus a year later and died just blocks from the site of Duane’s accident.

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While 1972’s hybrid studio-live album Eat a Peach would become one of their signature releases thanks to such iconic blues covers as “One Way Out” and “Trouble No More,” Betts penned and sang what would be the Allman’s only top 10 Billboard Hot 100 single, the AM radio staple “Ramblin’ Man,” which rose to No. 2 on the chart. Betts would also contribute lead and slide guitar as well as the a handful of lead vocals on the 1975 album Win, Lose or Draw .

Betts, born Forrest Richard Betts in West Palm Beach, Fla., on Dec. 12, 1943, grew up listening to bluegrass and country music as a child and played in a number of rock band in his home state before being tapped to join the Allmans.

The Allmans came back in 1979 for the album Enlightened Rogues , but things went south again quickly and they called it quits once more in 1982. Betts continued to play shows and tour until 1989, when the group once again reformed with a new slide guitarist from Betts’ band, Warren Haynes. Three more Allman albums were released in the early 1990s, though Betts was not always on stage with the group when they toured later in the decade and he played his final show with the band in May 2000 at the Music Midtown Festival in Atlanta, after which he was fired for what the band dubbed “ creative differences .”

The group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995 and received a lifetime achievement award from the Recording Academy in 2012. In 1996, they won their only Grammy in competition –best rock instrumental performance for a new recording of “Jessica” from  An Evening With the Allman Brothers Band: 2nd Set.

In 2017, the guitarist once told Rolling Stone that despite the bitter ending, he had fond memories of his time in the group. “I would’ve done something,” he said. “I would have worked for somebody landscaping. I was very pragmatic and industrious. But it wouldn’t have been as nice as what happened when I met up with that bunch of guys… I’ve had a great life and I don’t have any complaints. If I could do it again, I don’t know what I could do to make it different. There are lawsuits I probably could have dealt with better. But so what? You have to get in there and fight and do the best with your amount of time.”

According to RS , in December 2023 Betts attended an 80th birthday concert in his honor by the Allman Betts Family Revival Band.

See the Betts family’s and Allman Brothers Band’s statements, and listen to some of Betts’ signature work below.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Dickey Betts (@dickeybettsofficial)

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Official Allman Brothers Band (@officialallmanbrothers)

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2024-25 awards season calendar – dates for oscars, tonys, guilds, baftas, spirits & more, dickey betts dies: allman brothers guitarist, singer & songwriter was 80.

By Erik Pedersen

Erik Pedersen

Managing Editor

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Dickey Betts , the Allman Brothers Band ‘s Grammy-winning co-founding guitarist, singer and songwriter behind such classics as “Ramblin’ Man,” “Blue Sky” and “Jessica,” died today of cancer at his home in Osprey, FL. He was 80.

His family posted the news on social media.

“Dickey was larger than life, and his loss will be felt world-wide,” the family wrote on Instagram . “At this difficult time, the family asks for prayers and respect for their privacy in the coming days. More information will be forthcoming at the appropriate time.”

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Dickey Betts (@dickeybettsofficial)

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Gregg allman dies: pillar of namesake southern rock band was 69.

Mixing a stew of influences with virtuoso musicianship including two-guitar harmony and long, drawn-out jams, their legendary live shows inspired generations of musicians from other Southern bands including Lynyrd Skynyrd, Molly Hatchet and Blackfoot to jam groups like Phish. The group scored eight career Grammy nominations spanning 1980-2004 and won Best Rock Instrumental Performance in 1996 for a live recording of Betts’ “Jessica” from the album  An Evening with the Allman Brothers Band: 2nd Set .

The Allman Brothers released their eponymous debut LP in 1970, but it barely dented the Billboard 200 album chart despite featuring such eventual classics as “Dreams,” “Whipping Post” and “Trouble No More.” Idlewild South arrived nine months later and cemented the group as a commercial force while their concerts begat legend. The disc spawned the Allmans’ first charting single, the Betts-penned “Revival,” and included such future staples of classic rock radio as “Midnight Rider,” “Statesboro Blues” and Betts’ instrumental “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed.”

The album reached the Top 40, but the group’s next disc would be a stone classic.

Future reissues of At Fillmore East would include all tracks and clock in at more than two hours, with the six-CD 2014 box set The 1971 Fillmore East Recordings running more than six hours.

The hard-rocking, hard-living group was firmly established as rock royalty when tragedy struck. Group leader Duane Allman, who also had gained fame as the guitarist opposite Eric Clapton on “Layla,” died in a motorcycle accident in October 1971 at 24. The group would dedicate its next album to their fallen bandmate, and it changed everything.

Eat a Peach, a two-disc mix of studio and live tracks, streeted in February 1972, cracked the Top 5 and went platinum with such gems as “One Way Out,” “Ain’t Wastin’ Time No More,” “Melissa” and the Betts-penned “Blue Sky.” It also featured the side-long “Mountain Jam,” a leftover from the Fillmore East shows.

But fate intervened again that October when Oakley was killed in a motorcycle crash in Macon, GA, just blocks from where Duane Allman died a year earlier.

The band decided to carry on, and its next album would become a monster.

Betts became the leader of The Allman Brothers Band, and Brothers and Sisters arrived in August, with contributions from the late Oakley. Betts wrote and sang lead on its first single, “Ramblin’ Man,” which was an out-of-the-box radio smash. Featuring Betts’ instantly recognizable, country-flecked riff, it soared to No. 2 on Billboard’s Hot 100 — kept from the top spot by the Rolling Stones’ “Angie” — and drove Brothers and Sisters to a five-week run atop the album chart.

“I guess the song is more or less autobiographical,” Betts told  Rolling Stone  of “Ramblin’ Man” in 1975. “Not right down to the point, but overall it’s a pretty true song.”

Facing numerous trials from addiction, health woes and heartbreak over the years, the group wouldn’t come close to replicating the pop success of “Ramblin’ Man” or Brothers and Sisters but continued to record hit albums — 1975’s Win, Lose or Draw reached No. 5 — and tour hard. The Allmans took a hiatus in the mid-’70s, during which a plane crash decimated Lynyrd Skynyrd and Betts released the album Dickey Betts & Great Southern, but returned in 1979 with its sixth studio set Enlightened Rogues . It featured Betts’ “Crazy Love,” which would become the band’s second-biggest pop hit, cracking Billboard’s Top 30.

As Southern rock reached its commercial peak, the Allmans signed with Clive Davis’ Arista Records, and their first album for the label was Reach for the Sky in 1980, featuring Betts’ minor pop hit “Angeline” and making the Top 30. Brothers of the Road arrived the following year, led by the Betts tune “Straight from the Year,” a Top 40 pop single that fueled the LP into the Top 50.

The band then moved to Epic Records, which had seen commercial success with Gainesville’s Molly Hatchet. The Allman Brothers would make their half-dozen albums for the label, led by 1990’s Seven Turns, which featured new guitarist Warren Haynes. All but the last of the group’s Sony discs made the Top 100. 1994’s Where It All Begins went gold.

During that time, Betts was replaced on multiple concert dates, and he would play his last show with the band in 2000. He was replaced by guitar prodigy Derek Trucks, nephew of founding drummer Butch Trucks.

Betts went on to work on solo and side projects including the Dickey Betts Band before having a mild stroke and surgery in 2018. His work with the Allman Brothers continues to be popular to this day, with songs blanketing classic rock radio. Betts also was name-checked in the Charlie Daniels Band’s 1975 Southern rock celebration track “The South’s Gonna Do It”: “Now people down in Georgia come from near and far/To hear Richard Betts pickin’ on that red guitar.”

He is survived by his fifth wife, Donna, who he married in 1989, and their children Kimberly, Christy, Jessica and Duane.

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