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Dickey Betts
Forrest Richard Betts (December 12, 1943 – April 18, 2024) was an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He was best known as a longtime member of the Allman Brothers Band. A co-founder of the band when it formed in 1969, he was central to the group's greatest commercial success in the mid-1970s, and was the writer and vocalist on the Allmans' hit single "Ramblin' Man". The Allman Brothers Band broke up and re-formed twice, always with Betts in the lineup, until he left the band in 2000. Starting in 1974, Betts also fronted his own bands, performing concerts and recording records. He released albums as Dickey Betts and Great Southern, the Dickey Betts Band, and under his own name. Musical careerEarly daysBetts was born in West Palm Beach, Florida, on December 12, 1943, and raised in Bradenton.[1][2] He grew up in a musical family listening to traditional bluegrass, country music and Western swing. He started playing ukulele at the age of five and, as his hands got bigger, moved on to mandolin, banjo, and guitar. By the age of sixteen Betts was feeling the need for something "a little faster", and played in a series of rock bands on the Florida circuit, up the East Coast and into the Midwest. In 1967 he formed the Second Coming in Florida with Berry Oakley. According to its composer, Rick Derringer, the group called the Jokers referenced in "Rock and Roll, Hoochie Koo" was one of Betts's early groups of that name.[3] First Allman Brothers Band periodIn 1969, Duane Allman, a veteran of the South's "Chitlin' Circuit" of roadhouses and small local venues who'd gone on to form several bands with recording contracts, was casting for talent to build another around. A successful session player, he'd gained a deal with Southern soul impresario Phil Walden, who planned to back a power trio featuring Allman. However the Allman Brothers Band formed with six members – Duane, his brother, singer-songwriter and keyboardist Gregg, Betts, bassist Berry Oakley, and drummers Butch Trucks and Jaimoe. Duane, who later worked with famed British guitar virtuoso Eric Clapton, earning notoriety for his standout playing on "Layla", the collaboration's signature hit, once said with typical modesty, "I'm the famous guitar player, but Dickey is the good one."[4] In the initial lineup of the Allman Brothers Band, Betts was noted for collaboration with Duane Allman,[5] the twosome introducing melodic twin guitar harmony and counterpoint, which according to Guitar World "rewrote the rules for how two rock guitarists can work together, completely scrapping the traditional rhythm / lead roles to stand toe to toe".[6] The co-lead guitars of Allman and Betts feature prominently on the band's highly regarded live double album At Fillmore East. Betts gained additional renown for his instrumental, "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed", from the band's second album, Idlewild South, followed by his striking guitar duet-driven "Blue Sky" on Eat a Peach. The latter featured his first lead vocal, and signaled a new, more country-oriented sound and potential direction. After Duane Allman's death in October 1971, Betts became the band's sole lead guitarist. (The addition of pianist Chuck Leavell brought the group back up to six members. Lamar Williams joined the band on bass after the death of Berry Oakley in November 1972.) Betts took on a greater singing, composing, and leadership role. He practiced slide guitar intensively in order to be able to cover the majority of Duane's parts. He wrote the song "Jessica", inspired by his young daughter Jessica,[7] and the Allmans' highest-charting single, "Ramblin' Man",[8] for the band's 1973 breakout commercial success Brothers and Sisters. .jpg) Betts's first solo album, Highway Call, was released in 1974 and featured fiddle player Vassar Clements.[9] After the Allman Brothers disbanded for the first time in 1976, Betts released more albums, starting with Dickey Betts & Great Southern in 1977, which included the song "Bougainvillea", co-written with future Hollywood star and then Florida transplant Don Johnson.[10] In 1978 he released Atlanta's Burning Down.[11] Second Allman Brothers Band periodThe Allman Brothers Band reformed in 1979 and released the album Enlightened Rogues, with two members of Great Southern replacing Allman Brothers members who chose not to participate in the reunion: guitar player Dan Toler for pianist Chuck Leavell, and bassist David Goldflies for bassist Lamar Williams. Several albums and personnel changes followed, until declining record and concert ticket sales, personnel issues, and management problems led the group to disband again in 1982.[12] Betts formed another band, Betts, Hall, Leavell and Trucks, where he was co-frontman along with former Wet Willie singer, saxophone, and harmonica player Jimmy Hall. Despite earning good notices, the group was unable to secure a recording contract and disbanded in 1984.[13] Betts returned to his solo career performing live at smaller venues, and released the album Pattern Disruptive in 1989. Third Allman Brothers Band periodWhen a one-off reunion tour was proposed in support of the Allman Brothers' Dreams box set, released in 1989 to commemorate the band's 20th anniversary, Betts's solo band again supplied the Allman Brothers' other lead guitarist, Warren Haynes. The success of the one-off tour resulted in a permanent reunion, which absorbed Betts's energies for the remainder of the 1990s. This band line-up released three studio albums between 1990 and 1994 and won the praise of the critics.[14] In 1994, Haynes and Allmans bassist Allen Woody formed Gov't Mule with former Dickey Betts Band drummer Matt Abts as a side project, and they left the Allman Brothers for Gov't Mule full-time in 1997. They were replaced by Jack Pearson on guitar and Oteil Burbridge on bass. In 1999 Derek Trucks replaced Pearson as Betts's co-lead guitarist. Betts was replaced on numerous Allman Brothers tour dates throughout the mid-to-late 1990s, for what were reported in the media as "personal reasons". Betts's last show with the Allman Brothers was at the Music Midtown Festival in Atlanta, Georgia, on May 7, 2000.[15] A breaking point was reached after that show and before the launch of the band's Summer Campaign Tour when the remaining original Allman Brothers members – Gregg Allman, Butch Trucks, and Jaimoe – suspended Betts.[16] According to Betts, the band told him (reportedly via fax) to "get clean" (from alcohol and/or drugs). He was temporarily replaced for the 2000 tour by Jimmy Herring, formerly of the Aquarium Rescue Unit. When Betts filed suit against the other three original Allmans, the separation turned into a permanent divorce.[17] Later career Betts re-formed the Dickey Betts Band and toured that same summer. The band reassumed the name Dickey Betts & Great Southern and added Betts's son Duane Betts (named after Duane Allman) on lead guitar. In 2005, Betts released the DVD Live from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.[18] Betts's final album release was Official Bootleg Vol. 1 (2021), a two-CD live album of Dickey Betts and Great Southern performances from the 2000s.[19] Betts was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Allman Brothers Band in 1995,[20] and also won a best rock performance Grammy Award with the band for "Jessica" in 1996.[21] Betts was ranked No. 58 on Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time list in 2003, and No. 61 on the list published in 2011.[22][23] Personal lifeBetts was a Florida native, born in West Palm Beach; though he resided briefly in Georgia during the formative years of the Allman Brothers Band, he lived in the Sarasota metropolitan area for most of his life.[24] Betts was married five times, last to Donna, in 1989.[25] He had four children: Kimberly, Christy, Jessica, and Duane. Christy is married to Frank Hannon of the band Tesla. Jessica is the namesake of Betts's instrumental. Duane, named for Betts's former bandmate Duane Allman, is also a musician and performed and recorded with his father, and with Gregg Allman's son Devon in the Allman Betts Band.[26] Although they had been separated personally and as musical bandmates for over 15 years, Betts and Gregg Allman became reconciled before Allman's death in 2017.[27] In August 2018, the 74-year old Betts suffered a mild stroke and had to cancel tour dates with his Dickey Betts Band. He was taken to the hospital and was in a critical but stable condition at a Florida hospital, following an accident at his home in Osprey, Florida. On September 20, 2018,[28] he successfully underwent surgery to relieve swelling on his brain. In a statement posted on his website, Betts and his family said the "outpouring of support from all over the world has been overwhelming and amazing. We are so appreciative."[29] Betts died of cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease at his home in Osprey, Florida, on April 18, 2024, at the age of 80.[30][31] Discography
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