Man so much to unpack here. I'll add a few things I can remember. First of all, I personally don't really look at the band as being a rock band until 1979's Enlightened Rogues album. And yeah Berry was a fantastic player for sure. Dickey absolutely hated that short tour they had to play after Duane died but they were committed to dates already booked so he sweated it out. He sure was glad when it was over. It was best that they got Chuck to fill in for Duane because it would be unfair to any guitar player to go through that comparison thing and even the band would be heartbroken to not hear Duane instead. From what I understand the difference in skills on a motorcycle between Duane and Berry is that Duane had good skills but would get himself into reckless situations by driving to wild and fast. On the other hand, Berry had bad skills on a cycle and the roadies used to worry about him not being able to control a bike. From what I read the doctors said that even if Berry was rushed right to the hospital they couldn't have saved him. I know that Dickey had been let go twice for alcoholism. The first time the agreement was look go to re-hab sober up and then we will get back together and resume and that worked out. The 2nd time was the same deal but this time they used a guitarist to fill in for him while he was gone so they could tour but the guitarist was considered just temporary until Dickey got himself together. Dickey didn't agree with that arrangement so he was let go. Now I'm not claiming this stuff I'm writing is absolutely true but it's just the sources I've read. One of them being Butch Trucks himself. There are many more sources out there so this is just the info I've got.
I didn't know that about Berry dying even if he had got to the hospital sooner...Shame he was a fantastic bass player in my opinion. There are always many sides to a story. I just started reading Gregg's book again. I haven't read it in 7 or 8 years. I'm sure it will have conflicting stories. But I am going to do a video on him someday soon. It's just another side on that band. Thanks for adding more interesting parts of the story....and Thanks for watching!!
About that short tour in 1972 .... I saw that show in Feb 72' in Salem OR, Barry was still alive and I gotta say Dickey was on fire. He stepped right up in the "show must go on" spirit and led the band through an incredible show and even though Duane was sorely missed Dickey seemed to have new life no longer being in Duane's shadow. You could see Barry was hurting but it was Dickey's infectious spirt that inspired the man and the band to carry on. I'll never forget that incredible night.
I had the good fortune to be at the Fillmore East on the night of June 26, 1971, the late show. It was the last show at the Fillmore that tickets were sold to the public. The original Allman Brothers were the headliners and came on stage around 2 am and finished up at 7am. To this day it was the greatest musical experience of my life and I have been to hundreds of concerts since. Dickey, Duane, Gregg, Berry, Jaimoe and Butch said it was the best they played. I will never forget that night! Long live the great Dickey Betts and Jaimoe! The Allman Brothers Band in my opinion Is the greatest American band ever!
Dickey‘s 1978 concert with Great Southern broadcast live on the German Rockpalast show was my personal wake up call in terms of playing the guitar. To this date I have never heard a more beautiful guitar tone anywhere. Dickey Betts and Rory Gallagher one year before on that same program have changed my life. Thanks to both of you. Rest and jam in peace, wherever you are. I love you!
I can still remember getting on the school bus going to 5th grade and hearing "Rambling Man" most every morning on the radio. I think it was 1972. What an amazing time to grow up listening to some of the best music ever made. God bless Dickey.
The 1972 date coincides with my driving with my father in car also 5th grade listening and mesmerized by that song rambling man 7 years later saw them at Nassau coliseum or the Calderon not sure which but it was special event in special times with an extraordinary performance
This one hurts. Man are we getting old. Many of my favorite musical artists disappearing. I was fortunate to see the Allmans a few times in the early 1990s, a classic revival period for them, and with Warren Haynes, a brutal lineup. I remember seeing them in Worcester MA in 1990, ABB was new to me and my friend invited me. My brave friend had us waiting out back after the show, we were high as a kite. Gregg and Dickey finally came out to get on the bus, and they were the most authentic, hardcore, southern rock characters. The leather jackets, the long hair and cowboy hats/boots, Native American jewelry, they indeed smelled of whiskey and cigarettes. For a teenager from burbs who grew up on Duran Duran and Hall & Oates, they were like larger than life outlaws from a movie. That was my first introduction to the Allman Brothers Band, and from then on, I was mesmerized. This is tragic, RIP Dickey Betts.
My favorite band I wasn't thought of till 77 saw them 15 times have ever original vinyl even some hour glass shit..I play because of d Betts ..I say this because when I saw candle box in 91 all ages ..I saw Boston...the dead.with jerry ..stp...Paul Rogers ..AIC..all ages...now am 46 and there's few very few were the music has past on...94 was a great for old and new ..even pink Floyd with d.bells...we had a lot in common..the 80s 90s rocked...I have nothing in common with my step gen...they are lost.,.they killed the vibe...are the song as Chris Robinson said.........I met Gregg Allman and Betts and they sign my sg I lost it at pawn shop keep a eye out...
Why can’t hardcore fans spell the band members names correctly? Duane & Berry! Do you know how many times I’ve seen Dickey spelt incorrectly as Dickie? Way too many!
Dickey Betts licks are so tuneful and catchy, he's like a sweet sounding bird when he plays! I can easily whistle along to any song he plays--I used to whistle all the way through "Jessica"---that's how sweet and melodious his music is!
Man i absolutely love dickey Betts. A blind , deaf man would know immediately, who is playing. What a talent. Betts, Kath, Collins...three of my favs man. Beautiful tribute to Collins btw. Thank you. Brought a tear to my eye.
Sad to hear him pass. R.I.P. He was is a great guitar influence. I am fortunate to have seen him play many times. Almost all of the Southern Rock band members are in the great gig in the sky.😢
Live at Fillmore East is as you said is the best live album ever! I was in the 8th grade when I first heard this album. And it was the first I’d heard of the Allman Brothers band. Thank you for sharing a piece of my childhood. What a great band indeed.
Another good one RD! Nobody deserves to be remembered more than Dickey! I was a little slow to discover the Allmans, but I caught up quick! Great music that stands the test of time!
Thought Brothers and Sisters was one of the best lp's of the 1970's and Blue Sky is one of my favorite songs ever. Dickey Betts was so much of their sound but yet hardly gets recognition. Thanks for a great video One guy in that picture with Betts and Brian Setzer is the great Johnny Winter. If you haven't already he'd make for a great story
Great choice of subject! Dickie was a beast! I loved Great Southern. Mr Betts rarely gets paid his dues - thanks for dropping a few bills in his guitar case! Peace
Saw the brothers 10 times starting in the late 90’s. Betts was the man. Love warren and Derek as well and have seen their respective bands several times. No matter when you saw them, there was top shelf musicians on stage. Would have loved to have been old enough to see Duane & Barry. ✌️
Just came in from watching "One Way Out" on UA-cam, thank goodness I was recommended to check this video out. Fantastic job, I loved the documentary, but I enjoyed the comments even more, such a lovely bunch of people sharing thoughts. My history with Dickey Bett starts in the mid 80's when I started doing gigs with my acoustic blues trio in former Yugoslavia. We weren't able to get many blues or rock records apart from when people travelled and brought back some, record store carried mostly the "mainstream" stuff. ABB was my harmonica player's favourite band, and he spent a fortune to get some records whenever possible. I got hooked right away and we filled the tour car with cassettes of ABB, Doobie Bros, Little Feat.. off we go. We played the early acoustic blues stuff (Brownie McGhee & Sonny Terry, Broonzy, Mississippi John Hurt) but right after the show we went back to "the tapes" haha. Kind of contrasty, people'd expect us to listen to the acoustic blues all the time. I love Dickie's phrasing and that amazing flow he had in all solos, but also when "just" playing the backup or "beneath" the other guitarist's solo. There's a whole chapter of guitar treasure in there as well. Thank you for the great video!
What an awesome band and what an awesome guitar player Dickey is. Betts and Duane were one of the greatest guitar duos ever. Man, I'd give everything to be alive back in the late 60s and early 70s to see them performing together. Even though Skynyrd is my favorite all-time band, (there is no comparison whatsoever, both bands are unbelievable), there is something to the early allman brothers that no band had ever attempted before. A mix of blues shuffle, jazz, rock, a little country etc. A great approach to music and Dickey was a big part of it! Thanks for keeping the memory of such great musicians alive!
Dickey was a song writer and a country musician who was taught blues riffs and soul music by Duane. He brought what he had to the Allman Brothers and adapted to their sound. Duane and Greg saw his talent and opened up to his songs as part of their overall sound and stage presence. It all fit great with that unique sound. Great blues and country rock from amazingly great musicians. Many copied, including Skinnard, but none ever came close to this level of greatness.
Dickey and Duane were like PPJ. Each great on its own but together magical❤. Dickey’s instrumental song Jessica is truly on of the most beautiful pieces of music ever written
Live at the fillmore, was a great work for sure, brothers and sisters as well, there,s a cut on the b side last track "pony boy" not well known but l always loved that tune,really great. Interestingly enough Duane carried a cassette of lynyrd skynyrd around with him on the road before MCA signed LS to their label, he was a big fan of Ronnie and all them guys n gals, always loved that, Ahh the good old days. Thank you guys. love the vids. ✌️❤️😁
The Allman Brothers had quite the tough ride yet, their love for creating music continued. I was fortunate in meeting them during 3 concerts between 1989-1995, in the SF Bay Area, CA . I had back stage passes & visited on their tour bus. Dickey’s wife was the sister of a good friend of mine. All of them were easy to talk with. Greg had a separate bus he travelled on. I did talk with him the last tour, when he was healthier than prior shows I attended. There’s so much to share.
I had the pleasure of meeting Dickey Betts on his tour bus. I am a professional musician of 25 years. My good Buddy Tommy told me he worked for Dickey Betts, and asked me if I would like to meet him and see him play in Richmond Va. So we hit the road and watched The Dickey Betts Band at the Botanical Gardens in Richmond, VA. After the show Tommy greeted the band and we took a toke of of some high grade, and we went onto the bus. I was so happy to be there, I had been a fan of Dickey since 1982 when I was 7 years old. Meeting him and his band was awesome. The first thing they did when I got on the bus is offer me a beer, not from the bottom rack though, those were Dickeys. I first ment Andy Aldort and then I met Duane, Dickeys Son, and finally I got to meet my guitar hero Dickey Betts. He was cool. a bit tired from the gig, but he was the real deal. We talked about music and guitar harmony and it was a dream come true 🍄 My first time hearing the ABB, I was 7yrs old. It was 1982, and the game was at Shea Stadium in Flushing Queens NYC my home town. We were seated in the Mezzanine right behind home plate but high up enough to be able to take in the entire field and crowd. These were the days of Rusty Staub, Dave Kingman, and Mookie Wilson. After the game My fun uncle Steve had taken me to visit a couple of his buddies. I heard the song rambling man come on the radio. The music was so relaxing, yet exciting, and was psychedelic, but also country, Jazz, and some blues, with those ABB dual guitar harmonies. Dickeys sweet soulful powerful voice was upfront, and the piano of Greg, the two drums of jazz and country funk, and the thumping bass was almost tangible throughout the living room with the hifi analog stereo setup. I thought its was just so cool to be hanging out with my Uncle and the guys, felt real grown up. By the time I was 18, I had my first nylon string guitar. I learned to play in College at the University of Delaware. 4 of my dorm mates on my floor played guitar, and they showed me how to properly tune and play the instrument. I got a job as a security guard for the University. I always would work the concerts, and for a lucky reason, I got to work back stage and welcome the bands and entertainers into the Bob Carpenter Center. Those gigs let me watch and meet artists like Live, Blind Melon, Lenny Kravitz, Phish, Harry Connick Jr, Adam Sandler, Keven Nelson, Steve Miller, and one of the coolest was Johnny Cash and June (although I did not know the magnitude of the man whom i heard “Howdy son” from as he rolled down the black limo window. Cuz I was a noob). Johnny Cash and Steve Miller even game me a pick, but i never asked for any photos or autographs because i did not want to impose anything on the artist and I wanted them to feel chill with me guarding their gear and band during load in, soundcheck, showtime, and load out. Now this gets around to sophomore year in College, I met a guitar playing buddy who lived the ABB, he gave me a copy of the ABB live official “Evening with the ABB”. I loved it! I then ordered the ABB box set “Dreams” from BMG music. It was sweet And had all of the ABB songs, live versions of Dreams, and Elizabeth Reed and others. It also had a cool book that had the ABB story in full. By my senior year I had spent all of my free time learning guitar, got a red electric epiphone sg, and a gorillla solid state amp. I wanted to do the music thing for real. I took an elective classical guitar class, and an intro to music theory class by Zinn who was a doctorate in music writer of the book we used to learn theory. To make a king story short, i knew I was going to be a professional musician and tour and record my own music and I wanted to be part of the legacy and lineage of soulful guitar player songwriter singers. I’m about 8 years of playing music, I was on the road, rehearsing, doing gigs all over America. I’ve had the pleasure of sharing the stage by being the support act for all kinds of bands like Devon Allman 2x Burning Spear, Parliment, and The original Wailers. My first band was called Laughing Gym, based on a mushroom 🍄 that makes grows in the woods and makes you trip and laugh. They already had the band, but needed another guitarist singer songwriter. I was at a house party and they set up but the guitarist did not, so I noticed that, and saw that an electric guitar was right there. I asked them what’s up, they told me their guitar player could not make it. So I offered to play, and bam, i was in my first real band. We played all the hollers of Greenbrier county WV, in clubs, bars, and big keggers out in people’s yards. I joined my second band Foundation Stone, and became the guitarist back up singer and song writer. We took it to the pro level. By 1 year we were playing in festivals and gigs with famous professional bands. This band was more structured and we played Reggae, Trip hop, and funk. We made a cd, sold thousands of copies at shows and through our website and via a grassroots distribution company. By the time I was 26, I was ready to be the real deal, I still had much to learn, but I studying videos, played along by ear, and looked up tabs in Macao and online. I’m still learning. I had a bad cervical spine injury in HS that would bother me, but it did not mater. I believed in a higher almighty power that had blessed me more than I could have imagined. This morning i sit here afte just having my 2nd cervical neuro surgery last week. I’m getting better slowly, but I’m far from out of the woods. This time I got 4 nerves fixed by a neurosurgeon, and he had to do something called foraminotomy. It’s very complicated and the one I had is 4x more than your typical procedure. The neurosurgeon had to cut the back of my neck and peel back the muscles to remove bone that had pinched the 4 nerves from C3-C5 bilaterally. As of now my nerves are still very angry traumatized and I am fighting off infection with antibiotics and lots of meds for pain and inflammation. Jah is my driver, I am blessed and I will fight this infection and get back to playing guitar by 2025. Thanks and maximum respect for putting all of these great documentaries out.
Two of my all-time faves, "Blue Sky" and the ultimate road song, imo, "Jessica." Something about BS, just sitting back, settle in, exhale, and let Dickey carry you away. And very fond memories of driving I-5 home from San Diego, a weekend of liberty from the Navy ahead of me, "Jessica" cranked up to max volume on my stereo.
I will also add that in addition to being fortunate enough to see The Allman Brothers Band live in the early 90’s several times that I capitalized by seeing the ABB’s splintered groups in very small venues. Also fortunate to see Gov’t Mule several times in small venues in the mid to late 90’s up until 2000 - (I mean probably saw Woody’s last gig which was in Croton, NY on the Hudson River the year Gov’t Mule headlined that festival). Then when Dickey reformed with Great Southern after his rude dismissal from the Bros. I would see him annually pretty much starting 2006 through 2014. Anywhere Dickey played that was within driving distance pretty much. Poughkeepsie, Middletown, The Poconos, Atlantic City. Very awesome & I considered this to be a privilege!
I’m a fan of Dickie Betts’ melodic song style. It is said that he uses mostly Pentatonic scales. His melodies are so sweet you can listen to them over and over at get a sugar high! Heck of a singer too!
Duane was interviewed a few months before his death and the interviewer said "who's the better slide player you or Dickie?" And Duane answered "He's a better guitar player than me PERIOD". You had to love that guy...I know his band did.
Duane KNEW how to lead a group of men. I figure there were VERY few guys Betts would, "take orders" from INCLUDING Duane, but DA knew how to get everyone, "on the same page"; and DB respected Duane enough as a man & a musician to, "get w/ the program" so to speak. Imho Dickie Betts deserves his own individual induction to the RRHOF but I doubt that will happen. Two icons of rock guitar w/o a doubt.
Just found you and watched Alvin Lee and I don't know how many times I've listened to "I'm going home", in my old Koss headphones. Watching Dickie Betts now. Damn, I love this shit. Thanks
Thanks Jimmy that's so good to hear. Appreciate the update. If you ever get to talk to him tell him thanks for all the great music he made. We'll always keep listening to it.
I first saw the Allman Brothers in 78 or maybe 79, that time period is a bit fuzzy for me, but I'm sure I'm not alone in that regard. They were fantastic, playing all the hits and Dickey just blew me away, displaying some of the best lead chops I've ever seen. Fast forward to the early 90s. They played a show at Pensacola. I was stationed nearby at the time and talked em up to the wife, telling her how great they were. The show in the late 70s was one of the best concerts I've ever seen, probably top-five, and I've seen some pretty big acts. That Pensacola show was a total bust, at least as far as I was concerned. They opened with Statesboro Blues but I didn't recognize another song for the next hour or so. They did a bluesy, kinda jacked version of Blue Sky and that was it. Those were the only two songs from their older catalog. Everything else was off their new album, which hadn't even been released at that point, and when they came out for their encore and said they were going to play a song they just recorded two days ago I told the wife; "Let's cut out and beat the traffic," something I've never done for any concert. I get it, bands get tired of playing the same stuff over and over again but people pay to hear the hits. It's okay to sprinkle in some new stuff but that was ridiculous, and I wasn't the only one who thought so that night. I heard other people grumbling as we were walking out and they got a very lukewarm reception for the songs they performed, which, well quite honestly, they weren't that good, especially when you compare them to their great early 70s stuff. So the Allman Brother hold the distinction of being the only band on my top-five and bottom-five concert list. Jethro Tull almost made it but I cut them some slack because of so many great past performances (I saw them five times prior to the show that sucked). I will say this though, Dickey, when he is on, is as good they get.
Wow, Jessica was from the Eat a Peach album with Duane. 😊 Long before the 90's. Dickey was also a bow hunter, archer, he made a video about it back in the 80's, or 90's
4:47 From one Doc to another what a gt Documentary Doc. Your absolutely right meany a time just setting with headphones on an picking various parts of songs on the live album. Barry's bass playing was beyond greatness. Fantastic job Doc Rivers absolutely lov this!! Doc from Louisville Kentucky
I'm reminded of what David (RIP) founder of the "Tone Quest Report" (TQR) said after seeing the Allman Brothers Band, and then Dickie Betts after they had "fired" him. David said the Allman Bros. at the time seemed dead on their feat - no enjoyment of what they were doing, which translates to the audience. Dickie Betts, however, was on fire, playing his heart out and loving it, which also translates to the audience. I understand substance abuse, probably better than most, and glad Dickie is apparently doing better these days. You either do that or die - no? I'm 67 now, and even a beer or two isn't good for me anymore, so I stick to herbs (not just cannabis) for the most part. Dickie Betts played with Duane Allman all those seminal years, and they inspired each other, so different in their styles, Duane even pulled a couple power tubes out to distort more, while Dickie liked his 100watt Marshall loud and proud, clean and clear the way I love it. RIP brothers!!!
Wow & Thanks . Didn't know all of that . I saw Peter Frampton , Dickey Betz , Peter Frampton ,, J Giles Band & Lenard Skynard at JFK Stadium in Philadelphia I think it was summer of 1976 . Place was packed . I would have been 20 years old . Awesome concert
We started and made Rock N Roll down here. Whatever we do is that. The suits played the name game and won out. Again! If you do not know Dickey or The Allman Brothers. You cannot call yourself a self respecting Southerner. Dickey is tops on any list. Many thanks RD!!
Thanks for the video and commentary. What a band. I didn’t catch on until after Duane and Berrys death but have loved them ever since. I don’t get the country/rock label either. But Ramblin man was a bit different. Interestingly enough I thought Blue Skies a different sound too. Thanks again.
Great installment! Fan since before i knew who they were,,,,KMPX 'You Don't Love Me" from LAFE but didn't know this until later in like '71.Just a chance 3 inch reel to reel recording. Part of why i bought an electric guitar in '72. I was 15. Gigged 'Ramblin' Man' in '05 (i went last) but jammed with Jessica just the other day from memory....y'all know the story. I've known this tune for years. One of my all time favorite bands.
I never considered ABB to be a country rock band or even southern rock band like the Skynyrd, Outlaws, Molly Hatchet, Marshall Tucker, Charlie Daniels, et al. They were in a class all their own. They were the Allman Brothers Band. Dickey loves to play the major pentatonic over the chord changes which can give songs like Blue Sky and Rambling Man that countryish sound. His clean sound was due to playing a Gibson through a 100 watt Marshall. Duane liked to play through 50 watt Marshalls which gave him a dirtier sound…
I think Dickie brought his country roots to a southern blues based rock band. If you listen to Wilson Picket cover Hey Jude you’ll hear what some say is the birth of southern rock when Duane Allman starts playing near the end. Until his death the band was Duane’s and their sound was his. Dickie and Duane were just unbelievable the way they harmonized their lead riffs. After the wreck Dickie’s influence was felt more and Rambling Man was to me a folk rock song with a strong southern twang. Bob Dylan told Dickie that Rambling Man was a song he (Dylan) should have written. High praise.
The labels of country and rock I believe is defined best as the key and scales one uses performing songs not just rocking a country song. Country music utilizes major key where the scale of the melody the root note is is found in a different scale pattern from the same root note of rock and blues. Blues is more often in a minor key and for guitar players the scale is the well known pentatonic scale. E minor pentatonic is probably the first one guitarists use when first learning. The relative minor to a key is found a step and half notes below the root note- for example a step and hate down from E is C#. Playing a 12 bar blues I IV V (one, four, five, E A and B) chord pattern the melody or riffs are in that pentatonic scale with E root note. Same chord pattern but making it a major key the C# pentatonic scale is used with E still being the root note. The difference in sound is quickly heard. "Blue Sky" is a fine example when Duane and Dickey each take on guitar melodies called "solos" and then to change soloist they both play in unison note pattern in the same scale but perhaps one third note different. I am sure Dickey brought this to the Allmans and learned it from listening to Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys. Bob Wills bands always had top notch musicians and had tunes such as "Twin Guitar Boogie" where the sound is obvious the source of Dickey's tunes. "Eat Peach" contains "Blue Sky" and I believe was THE sound which got labelled Southern Rock and stuck. It bugged Gregg who stated that Rock was southern to begin with and the "Southern" label stole Rock's roots. What the first rock songs and who wrote and performed them and where were they from. Chuck Berry, Ike Turner, Blues? E major scale E F# Ad (add A or not) B C# played over E chord and A chord 4 beats each with a tempo of 95 is basically "Blue Sky" but the skills of bending while trilling notes is just a start. Dickey Betts had it mastered. Duane picking up slide while nursing a broken arm progressed quickly before meeting Dickey. Duane was attempting to get Little Walter's harmonica sound from the guitar with a slide. Two drummers playing beats off each other while taking cues from the bassist Barry who also expanded from playing rhythm only to also following the guitar melodies. Gregg on organ (Reese Wynans was the first keyboardist since Gregg was still in LA under contract) and his vocals probably being the best White guy to sing blues kicked off a well rounded rock/blues band with unimaginable force. The time was perfect as Marshall amplifiers had been created to produce volume needed to overcome any other noise plus Les Paul's guitars including the Les Paul SG along with the Fender Stratocaster's 3 single coil pickups were perfect, JImi proved that. The Beatles had endured screaming fans but Marshall amps (The Beatles did not have and ceased performing anyway) forced audiences to listen. A side note here: "Little Martha" an acoustic Duane and Dickey song on Eat A Peach was re-released in the 1990s and this included Barry playing electric bass not heard on the Eat A Peach lp. He plays more melody than a bassist normally would and is a window into what The Allman Brothers Band employed overall. The band was skilled and unique making a perfect mix of styles that kicked ass. It was Dickey in my view that was the main sound and possibly what allowed the band to exist as it did. The Loss of Duane almost put them out of business. A tour was already scheduled and it was Dickey that encouraged the others to keep on. Dickey played both his and Duane's parts on that tour proving he was on top but always overshadowed by a memory of Duane. That is not unusual for a dead person to grow in stature in people's minds and I would imagine Dickey felt a bit of sting from that.. If I am wrong correct me but remember that musicians and the business of it is competitive and exhausting. Those in the music business are smart and see too much. No other industry has impossible gaps that money can slip through or the imaginations of writers that can tell tales and lies with so much ease they forget which is which. Duane did not hit a peach truck and die but Barry hit a bus and died later. Barry was driving behind Duane and another vehicle or so it has been said when Duane was killed but nobody saw it happen. The truth did not come out for years. Duane rode his Sportster 2 speeds Gregg said, fast and stop. The road he was on at one point sloped down and Duane was coming toward that slope and was not in view of anyone on lower part. A man driving a flatbed truck with a boom hoist on it made a left turn and slowed down to avoid the potholes the road he was going onto had. About that time Duane was in view and saw the truck and must have felt he could safely go around the back of the truck. He did not slow down and was speeding it was determined by measurements taken at the scene. There was no evidence at all that he made contact with the truck. The driver felt nothing and didn't hear the motorcycle until it had gone by and crashed. The bike engine was running still at high RPMs while the truck driver ran over to it as did someone else who shut the engine off. The driver saw oil all over and thought it was blood. He told his wife later about "this kid" who crashed. He had never heard of Allman Brothers Band even though he lived in Macon. He was also the same age as Duane. A car drove up and two woman jumped out seeing Duane on the ground unconscious, they had been following Duane going to Barry's house. Barry had gotten lost and it was known he was not a good driver nor good at finding his way around. One woman jumped to a conclusion and started yelling at the driver that he had killed her husband. Duane was not married but did have a daughter, he had no interest in getting married to anyone were his words on a recent radio show. The police arrived and after some time they took the driver home to rest and he would come to the station later. Duane was taken to the hospital and immediately to surgery. He had massive internal injures and a few scratches on his chest. He died on the operating table never regaining consciousness. The driver was told later at the station that Duane had steered his bike to go around the truck and there was a pronounced dip in the road at that spot that Duane rode down into and up out of but the bike was going fast enough it went airborne but slow enough Duane could not hang on or perhaps attempted to jump off (the bike did not have the momentum to stay upright is my guess) but either way he landed first and the bike landed right on top of him, both sliding into the curb. The local motorcycle shop had sold Duane at one time a helmet which for unknown reasons Duane grabbed a pair of scissors off the counter and cut the chin strap off rendering it useless. He did not say why but happily bid them a good day and waved as he left. A strapped on helmet would not have saved his life anyway. I am sure he did bump his head onto the pavement as it is impossible not to but it would not have been fatal.
Here in Central Florida we all loved The Allman Brothers. Concerning whether they were "Southern Rock" or "Country Rock"...I'm not sure that was part of the vocabulary then. We could tell Dickey had that "Twang" singing Blue Sky and Ramblin Man but just thought of the ABB as GREAT Rock and Roll 💯
Sounds about right Don. When I first heard them I was a big Grand Funk fan on the rock scene...ABB really turned me on with their sound. So different but so sweet to the ears! Thanks for watching and your comment!
Lucky enough to have seen Dickey play dozens of times with the ABB and also a few times in his own band. When he first went (forced to go) solo he played with a vengeance and those shows rocked! Seeing Dickey in five hundred seat rooms and auditoriums was electric. I’ve always believed half a concert is visual and in the Allman’s, Dickey had all the charisma and was the focal point. Their live shows were still great in a different way after he left, but Jack Pearson and Derek Trucks are like watching paint dry. The ABB lost much of their soul without Dicky in the band. I still went to all the shows but it was NEVER the same, the songs not as southern, and I blame Trucks for that.
I agree 100% about Dickey being the heart and soul of the band after Duane passed. The one Great Southern show I saw had more heart and soul than the half dozen post-Dickey ABB shows I saw combined. The band with Derek and Otiel was like a Swiss watch, but lacking in soul imo. Speaking of tight bands, the 90s lineup with Warren Haynes and Allan Woody were among the very best live acts I've seen in 30+ years and hundreds of concerts. Sorry kids, there is no Allman Brothers Band without Dickey Betts.
RD i don't know how this one slipped thru the cracks maybe u-tube is mad at me cause i didn't get notified! any way people came from far and near to hear Dicky play his red guitar! 😎✌
Was fortunate to see theABB at the 2nd annul Atlanta Pop festival in 1970 at Byron Georgia .55 bands played around the clock for 3 days on the 3rd,4th and 5th of July. Johnny Winter jammed with the Allmans !
I was fortunate enough to see Dickie with the Band at Memphis in May in 99 or 2000 as I think it might have been one of the last shows he played with them. Drinking or not he and Trucks put out some great guitar harmonies. I’ll never for get it.
Yes indeed, saw the ABB many times ......especially in Statesboro with my cousin Reggie. Also at the Whippin Post in downtown Augusta, Ga, of where 2 famous songs come from: "Tied to the Whippin Post" and "Statesboro Blues!"
If u take requests the outlaws are my very favorite, and to me seem like a blend of the eagles and Lynyrd Skynyrd “It was the Skynyrd boys and the outlaws…. In a BLAZING GUITAR GUNFIGHT”
Like any artistic movement country rock has many contributors. One absolutely cannot deny the thundering force of The Band and the great compositions written by Robbie Robertson. no one can deny that John Fogerty and Creedence Clearwater Revival also injected a ton of country sounds into rock and roll . The Grateful Dead adored country and did their part as did their friends of the New Riders of the Purple Sage. The Flying Burrito Brothers did it. Hot Tuna did it as well.
A more accurate thumbnail would be- ~Dickey brought his country music and western swing influence to the Allman Brothers Band, forging the sound now known as Southern Rock.~ Good content tho much appreciated
I understand he is a generous mentor to a lot of players as well. Go listen to a guy like Eddie Shaver (RIP) I think I read somewhere that Dickey gave him a couple lessons and a 335 that Duane once owned. I know Warren Haynes and Jack Pearson speak highly of Dickey.
@@realledbetter5015 Yep, I heard somewhere that Dickey gave him a strat too, but when I read Billy Joe's book, in it, he states that it was Duane's Gibson 335.
You should have mentioned that when the band went into the studio to record the Brothers and Sisters album they needed a second guitar player to do the double leads and hired Les Dudek. Because that's who did all those double lead cuts with Dickey Betts.
I’m with you dude! I don’t consider the ABB early work up to bros and sis’s to be southern/country rock. It’s just blues and jazz. I think after Duane died is when it started veering towards southern rock.
Man so much to unpack here. I'll add a few things I can remember. First of all, I personally don't really look at the band as being a rock band until 1979's Enlightened Rogues album. And yeah Berry was a fantastic player for sure. Dickey absolutely hated that short tour they had to play after Duane died but they were committed to dates already booked so he sweated it out. He sure was glad when it was over. It was best that they got Chuck to fill in for Duane because it would be unfair to any guitar player to go through that comparison thing and even the band would be heartbroken to not hear Duane instead.
From what I understand the difference in skills on a motorcycle between Duane and Berry is that Duane had good skills but would get himself into reckless situations by driving to wild and fast. On the other hand, Berry had bad skills on a cycle and the roadies used to worry about him not being able to control a bike. From what I read the doctors said that even if Berry was rushed right to the hospital they couldn't have saved him.
I know that Dickey had been let go twice for alcoholism. The first time the agreement was look go to re-hab sober up and then we will get back together and resume and that worked out. The 2nd time was the same deal but this time they used a guitarist to fill in for him while he was gone so they could tour but the guitarist was considered just temporary until Dickey got himself together. Dickey didn't agree with that arrangement so he was let go. Now I'm not claiming this stuff I'm writing is absolutely true but it's just the sources I've read. One of them being Butch Trucks himself. There are many more sources out there so this is just the info I've got.
I didn't know that about Berry dying even if he had got to the hospital sooner...Shame he was a fantastic bass player in my opinion. There are always many sides to a story. I just started reading Gregg's book again. I haven't read it in 7 or 8 years. I'm sure it will have conflicting stories. But I am going to do a video on him someday soon. It's just another side on that band. Thanks for adding more interesting parts of the story....and Thanks for watching!!
@@RiverDocs Your very welcome.
About that short tour in 1972 .... I saw that show in Feb 72' in Salem OR, Barry was still alive and I gotta say Dickey was on fire. He stepped right up in the "show must go on" spirit and led the band through an incredible show and even though Duane was sorely missed Dickey seemed to have new life no longer being in Duane's shadow. You could see Barry was hurting but it was Dickey's infectious spirt that inspired the man and the band to carry on. I'll never forget that incredible night.
@@billyboy1093 his name is Berry.
I had the good fortune to be at the Fillmore East on the night of June 26, 1971, the late show. It was the last show at the Fillmore that tickets were sold to the public. The original Allman Brothers were the headliners and came on stage around 2 am and finished up at 7am. To this day it was the greatest musical experience of my life and I have been to hundreds of concerts since. Dickey, Duane, Gregg, Berry, Jaimoe and Butch said it was the best they played. I will never forget that night! Long live the great Dickey Betts and Jaimoe! The Allman Brothers Band in my opinion Is the greatest American band ever!
Well stated my friend.
Amen Brother !!! ( From a fellow attendee , 6/26/ ' 71 ) Man , we're old as dirt ...
@@thomasskladany7760 maybe so, but we’re still rock ‘n rollin’!!! We both have a memory for life! Keep the spirit!
@@midrider335 Right back at ya, Brother !!! Be Well...
Legendary show man. Butch would always go on and on about how great that show was.
Dickey is so underrated. Show Dickey some Love!
Dickey‘s 1978 concert with Great Southern broadcast live on the German Rockpalast show was my personal wake up call in terms of playing the guitar. To this date I have never heard a more beautiful guitar tone anywhere. Dickey Betts and Rory Gallagher one year before on that same program have changed my life. Thanks to both of you. Rest and jam in peace, wherever you are. I love you!
I can still remember getting on the school bus going to 5th grade and hearing "Rambling Man" most every morning on the radio. I think it was 1972. What an amazing time to grow up listening to some of the best music ever made. God bless Dickey.
Damn I remember listening on the school bus radio too. That was the best ever. Great times in the 70s.
The 1972 date coincides with my driving with my father in car also 5th grade listening and mesmerized by that song rambling man 7 years later saw them at Nassau coliseum or the Calderon not sure which but it was special event in special times with an extraordinary performance
This one hurts. Man are we getting old. Many of my favorite musical artists disappearing. I was fortunate to see the Allmans a few times in the early 1990s, a classic revival period for them, and with Warren Haynes, a brutal lineup. I remember seeing them in Worcester MA in 1990, ABB was new to me and my friend invited me. My brave friend had us waiting out back after the show, we were high as a kite. Gregg and Dickey finally came out to get on the bus, and they were the most authentic, hardcore, southern rock characters. The leather jackets, the long hair and cowboy hats/boots, Native American jewelry, they indeed smelled of whiskey and cigarettes. For a teenager from burbs who grew up on Duran Duran and Hall & Oates, they were like larger than life outlaws from a movie. That was my first introduction to the Allman Brothers Band, and from then on, I was mesmerized. This is tragic, RIP Dickey Betts.
GOD BLESS DICKER BETTS - FOREVER - LOVE FROM JOE NANIA
Hurt big time!
My favorite band.. hands down…turned 18 in 1971..wore out so much vinyl from these guys…heartbreaking loss.. Dwayne and Barry..just not fair…
Right you are,,,,
Gregg passed the day before my '60th birthday.
Restaurant reservations,,,,i cancelled.
Regrets, nope.
My favorite band I wasn't thought of till 77 saw them 15 times have ever original vinyl even some hour glass shit..I play because of d Betts ..I say this because when I saw candle box in 91 all ages ..I saw Boston...the dead.with jerry ..stp...Paul Rogers ..AIC..all ages...now am 46 and there's few very few were the music has past on...94 was a great for old and new ..even pink Floyd with d.bells...we had a lot in common..the 80s 90s rocked...I have nothing in common with my step gen...they are lost.,.they killed the vibe...are the song as Chris Robinson said.........I met Gregg Allman and Betts and they sign my sg I lost it at pawn shop keep a eye out...
@@jimmybright7579 long post but dig it' Lucky enough to cover Far Behind, same set.
Why can’t hardcore fans spell the band members names correctly? Duane & Berry! Do you know how many times I’ve seen Dickey spelt incorrectly as Dickie? Way too many!
Dickey Betts licks are so tuneful and catchy, he's like a sweet sounding bird when he plays! I can easily whistle along to any song he plays--I used to whistle all the way through "Jessica"---that's how sweet and melodious his music is!
Very well said! Thanks for watching!
I love these guys and particularly Dickey sooooo much!!!! His playing is so clean and beautiful while rocky and epic too
Highway Call is so under appreciated, a great country album!!!!
Man i absolutely love dickey Betts. A blind , deaf man would know immediately, who is playing. What a talent. Betts, Kath, Collins...three of my favs man. Beautiful tribute to Collins btw. Thank you. Brought a tear to my eye.
A deaf man would know? Lol
Sad to hear him pass. R.I.P. He was is a great guitar influence. I am fortunate to have seen him play many times. Almost all of the Southern Rock band members are in the great gig in the sky.😢
Live at Fillmore East is as you said is the best live album ever! I was in the 8th grade when I first heard this album. And it was the first I’d heard of the Allman Brothers band. Thank you for sharing a piece of my childhood. What a great band indeed.
Another good one RD! Nobody deserves to be remembered more than Dickey! I was a little slow to discover the Allmans, but I caught up quick! Great music that stands the test of time!
You can say that again! Thanks Ferd!
Thought Brothers and Sisters was one of the best lp's of the 1970's and Blue Sky is one of my favorite songs ever. Dickey Betts was so much of their sound but yet hardly gets recognition. Thanks for a great video
One guy in that picture with Betts and Brian Setzer is the great Johnny Winter. If you haven't already he'd make for a great story
I have done videos on both Brian Setzer and Johnny Winter, Here is a link to Johnny's video. Enjoy: ua-cam.com/video/hWg9yy5Z2Lg/v-deo.html
Glad I grew up with this music in real time.
Great choice of subject! Dickie was a beast! I loved Great Southern. Mr Betts rarely gets paid his dues - thanks for dropping a few bills in his guitar case!
Peace
Hi cherry🌹
How are you doing?
I met Dickey back in 1984, and in 1986.I showed him one of my guitars backstage after a show in California.
Cool Deal. I never got to meet him. Wish I could. Thanks for watching Joe!
Saw the brothers 10 times starting in the late 90’s. Betts was the man. Love warren and Derek as well and have seen their respective bands several times. No matter when you saw them, there was top shelf musicians on stage. Would have loved to have been old enough to see Duane & Barry. ✌️
Just came in from watching "One Way Out" on UA-cam, thank goodness I was recommended to check this video out. Fantastic job, I loved the documentary, but I enjoyed the comments even more, such a lovely bunch of people sharing thoughts. My history with Dickey Bett starts in the mid 80's when I started doing gigs with my acoustic blues trio in former Yugoslavia. We weren't able to get many blues or rock records apart from when people travelled and brought back some, record store carried mostly the "mainstream" stuff. ABB was my harmonica player's favourite band, and he spent a fortune to get some records whenever possible. I got hooked right away and we filled the tour car with cassettes of ABB, Doobie Bros, Little Feat.. off we go. We played the early acoustic blues stuff (Brownie McGhee & Sonny Terry, Broonzy, Mississippi John Hurt) but right after the show we went back to "the tapes" haha. Kind of contrasty, people'd expect us to listen to the acoustic blues all the time. I love Dickie's phrasing and that amazing flow he had in all solos, but also when "just" playing the backup or "beneath" the other guitarist's solo. There's a whole chapter of guitar treasure in there as well. Thank you for the great video!
You're welcome. Thank you for watching!
Fantastic video post, my man. Dickey Betts was one of my main influences...his solo on Blue Sky is legendary. Thanks...
You're welcome! Glad you enjoyed it!
What an awesome band and what an awesome guitar player Dickey is. Betts and Duane were one of the greatest guitar duos ever. Man, I'd give everything to be alive back in the late 60s and early 70s to see them performing together. Even though Skynyrd is my favorite all-time band, (there is no comparison whatsoever, both bands are unbelievable), there is something to the early allman brothers that no band had ever attempted before. A mix of blues shuffle, jazz, rock, a little country etc. A great approach to music and Dickey was a big part of it! Thanks for keeping the memory of such great musicians alive!
Yeah to bad man!! It was a great time and great music!! And you didn't need to be a friggin millionaire to get tickets!! I'd love to go back!!
Dickey was a song writer and a country musician who was taught blues riffs and soul music by Duane. He brought what he had to the Allman Brothers and adapted to their sound. Duane and Greg saw his talent and opened up to his songs as part of their overall sound and stage presence. It all fit great with that unique sound. Great blues and country rock from amazingly great musicians. Many copied, including Skinnard, but none ever came close to this level of greatness.
Dickey and Duane were like PPJ. Each great on its own but together magical❤. Dickey’s instrumental song Jessica is truly on of the most beautiful pieces of music ever written
PBJ
Live at the fillmore, was a great work for sure, brothers and sisters as well, there,s a cut on the b side last track "pony boy" not well known but l always loved that tune,really great.
Interestingly enough Duane carried a cassette of lynyrd skynyrd around with him on the road before MCA signed LS to their label, he was a big fan of Ronnie and all them guys n gals, always loved that,
Ahh the good old days.
Thank you guys.
love the vids.
✌️❤️😁
Love that song.
The Allman Brothers had quite the tough ride yet, their love for creating music continued.
I was fortunate in meeting them during 3 concerts between 1989-1995, in the SF Bay Area, CA . I had back stage passes & visited on their tour bus. Dickey’s wife was the sister of a good friend of mine. All of them were easy to talk with. Greg had a separate bus he travelled on. I did talk with him the last tour, when he was healthier than prior shows I attended. There’s so much to share.
One of my all time heroes
I had the pleasure of meeting Dickey Betts on his tour bus. I am a professional musician of 25 years. My good Buddy Tommy told me he worked for Dickey Betts, and asked me if I would like to meet him and see him play in Richmond Va. So we hit the road and watched The Dickey Betts Band at the Botanical Gardens in Richmond, VA. After the show Tommy greeted the band and we took a toke of of some high grade, and we went onto the bus. I was so happy to be there, I had been a fan of Dickey since 1982 when I was 7 years old. Meeting him and his band was awesome. The first thing they did when I got on the bus is offer me a beer, not from the bottom rack though, those were Dickeys. I first ment Andy Aldort and then I met Duane, Dickeys Son, and finally I got to meet my guitar hero Dickey Betts. He was cool. a bit tired from the gig, but he was the real deal. We talked about music and guitar harmony and it was a dream come true 🍄
My first time hearing the ABB, I was 7yrs old. It was 1982, and the game was at Shea Stadium in Flushing Queens NYC my home town.
We were seated in the Mezzanine right behind home plate but high up enough to be able to take in the entire field and crowd. These were the days of Rusty Staub, Dave Kingman, and Mookie Wilson.
After the game My fun uncle Steve had taken me to visit a couple of his buddies. I heard the song rambling man come on the radio. The music was so relaxing, yet exciting, and was psychedelic, but also country, Jazz, and some blues, with those ABB dual guitar harmonies. Dickeys sweet soulful powerful voice was upfront, and the piano of Greg, the two drums of jazz and country funk, and the thumping bass was almost tangible throughout the living room with the hifi analog stereo setup.
I thought its was just so cool to be hanging out with my Uncle and the guys, felt real grown up.
By the time I was 18, I had my first nylon string guitar. I learned to play in College at the University of Delaware. 4 of my dorm mates on my floor played guitar, and they showed me how to properly tune and play the instrument. I got a job as a security guard for the University. I always would work the concerts, and for a lucky reason, I got to work back stage and welcome the bands and entertainers into the Bob Carpenter Center.
Those gigs let me watch and meet artists like Live, Blind Melon, Lenny Kravitz, Phish, Harry Connick Jr, Adam Sandler, Keven Nelson, Steve Miller, and one of the coolest was Johnny Cash and June (although I did not know the magnitude of the man whom i heard “Howdy son” from as he rolled down the black limo window. Cuz I was a noob). Johnny Cash and Steve Miller even game me a pick, but i never asked for any photos or autographs because i did not want to impose anything on the artist and I wanted them to feel chill with me guarding their gear and band during load in, soundcheck, showtime, and load out.
Now this gets around to sophomore year in College, I met a guitar playing buddy who lived the ABB, he gave me a copy of the ABB live official “Evening with the ABB”. I loved it! I then ordered the ABB box set “Dreams” from BMG music. It was sweet
And had all of the ABB songs, live versions of Dreams, and Elizabeth Reed and others. It also had a cool book that had the ABB story in full.
By my senior year I had spent all of my free time learning guitar, got a red electric epiphone sg, and a gorillla solid state amp.
I wanted to do the music thing for real. I took an elective classical guitar class, and an intro to music theory class by Zinn who was a doctorate in music writer of the book we used to learn theory.
To make a king story short, i knew I was going to be a professional musician and tour and record my own music and I wanted to be part of the legacy and lineage of soulful guitar player songwriter singers.
I’m about 8 years of playing music, I was on the road, rehearsing, doing gigs all over America. I’ve had the pleasure of sharing the stage by being the support act for all kinds of bands like Devon Allman 2x Burning Spear, Parliment, and The original Wailers.
My first band was called Laughing Gym, based on a mushroom 🍄 that makes grows in the woods and makes you trip and laugh. They already had the band, but needed another guitarist singer songwriter. I was at a house party and they set up but the guitarist did not, so I noticed that, and saw that an electric guitar was right there. I asked them what’s up, they told me their guitar player could not make it. So I offered to play, and bam, i was in my first real band. We played all the hollers of Greenbrier county WV, in clubs, bars, and big keggers out in people’s yards.
I joined my second band Foundation Stone, and became the guitarist back up singer and song writer. We took it to the pro level. By 1 year we were playing in festivals and gigs with famous professional bands. This band was more structured and we played Reggae, Trip hop, and funk. We made a cd, sold thousands of copies at shows and through our website and via a grassroots distribution company. By the time I was 26, I was ready to be the real deal, I still had much to learn, but I studying videos, played along by ear, and looked up tabs in Macao and online. I’m still learning.
I had a bad cervical spine injury in HS that would bother me, but it did not mater. I believed in a higher almighty power that had blessed me more than I could have imagined.
This morning i sit here afte just having my 2nd cervical neuro surgery last week. I’m getting better slowly, but I’m far from out of the woods. This time I got 4 nerves fixed by a neurosurgeon, and he had to do something called foraminotomy. It’s very complicated and the one I had is 4x more than your typical procedure. The neurosurgeon had to cut the back of my neck and peel back the muscles to remove bone that had pinched the 4 nerves from C3-C5 bilaterally. As of now my nerves are still very angry traumatized and I am fighting off infection with antibiotics and lots of meds for pain and inflammation. Jah is my driver, I am blessed and I will fight this infection and get back to playing guitar by 2025. Thanks and maximum respect for putting all of these great documentaries out.
God bless you! Thanks for the stories!
Two of my all-time faves, "Blue Sky" and the ultimate road song, imo, "Jessica." Something about BS, just sitting back, settle in, exhale, and let Dickey carry you away. And very fond memories of driving I-5 home from San Diego, a weekend of liberty from the Navy ahead of me, "Jessica" cranked up to max volume on my stereo.
Nice story , well presented. I happen to know Lee Roy Parnell. He doesn’t have to take a back seat to any guitar player.
I will also add that in addition to being fortunate enough to see The Allman Brothers Band live in the early 90’s several times that I capitalized by seeing the ABB’s splintered groups in very small venues. Also fortunate to see Gov’t Mule several times in small venues in the mid to late 90’s up until 2000 - (I mean probably saw Woody’s last gig which was in Croton, NY on the Hudson River the year Gov’t Mule headlined that festival). Then when Dickey reformed with Great Southern after his rude dismissal from the Bros. I would see him annually pretty much starting 2006 through 2014. Anywhere Dickey played that was within driving distance pretty much. Poughkeepsie, Middletown, The Poconos, Atlantic City. Very awesome & I considered this to be a privilege!
Betts has influenced many pickers. used a few of his chops for many years. great songs,the best of times. Thanks R/D
You're welcome Dennis..Thanks for your support!! I appreciate it!
One of a kind!! Allman Brothers had their own lane. No one sounds like them or can replace them.😢
I’m a fan of Dickie Betts’ melodic song style. It is said that he uses mostly Pentatonic scales.
His melodies are so sweet you can listen to them over and over at get a sugar high!
Heck of a singer too!
Well said Walt!
Duane was interviewed a few months before his death and the interviewer said "who's the better slide player you or Dickie?" And Duane answered "He's a better guitar player than me PERIOD". You had to love that guy...I know his band did.
Duane KNEW how to lead a group of men. I figure there were VERY few guys Betts would, "take orders" from INCLUDING Duane, but DA knew how to get everyone, "on the same page"; and DB respected Duane enough as a man & a musician to, "get w/ the program" so to speak. Imho Dickie Betts deserves his own individual induction to the RRHOF but I doubt that will happen. Two icons of rock guitar w/o a doubt.
Simply a legend.
Dickey Betts could make that guitar sing... Much respect 👍
Just found you and watched Alvin Lee and I don't know how many times I've listened to "I'm going home", in my old Koss headphones.
Watching Dickie Betts now. Damn, I love this shit.
Thanks
Glad you enjoyed the videos. Thanks for watching!
Great video! Thanks for the upload! RIP Dickey 😪
Glad you enjoyed it
Dickey is my neighbor here in Osprey FL. He’s doin ok, takin it easy by the water.
Thanks Jimmy that's so good to hear. Appreciate the update. If you ever get to talk to him tell him thanks for all the great music he made. We'll always keep listening to it.
Damn tell him Tom said hi and God bless.
Tell him I frequent his spot at mad Moe's
Brilliant !
Thanks for putting this video together. Great job on a great subject.
Glad you enjoyed it!
The best vinyl album I ever had was Beginnings which is a re-release of a couple of their first albums. My favorite band along with the Beatles.
I first saw the Allman Brothers in 78 or maybe 79, that time period is a bit fuzzy for me, but I'm sure I'm not alone in that regard. They were fantastic, playing all the hits and Dickey just blew me away, displaying some of the best lead chops I've ever seen.
Fast forward to the early 90s. They played a show at Pensacola. I was stationed nearby at the time and talked em up to the wife, telling her how great they were. The show in the late 70s was one of the best concerts I've ever seen, probably top-five, and I've seen some pretty big acts. That Pensacola show was a total bust, at least as far as I was concerned. They opened with Statesboro Blues but I didn't recognize another song for the next hour or so. They did a bluesy, kinda jacked version of Blue Sky and that was it. Those were the only two songs from their older catalog. Everything else was off their new album, which hadn't even been released at that point, and when they came out for their encore and said they were going to play a song they just recorded two days ago I told the wife; "Let's cut out and beat the traffic," something I've never done for any concert.
I get it, bands get tired of playing the same stuff over and over again but people pay to hear the hits. It's okay to sprinkle in some new stuff but that was ridiculous, and I wasn't the only one who thought so that night. I heard other people grumbling as we were walking out and they got a very lukewarm reception for the songs they performed, which, well quite honestly, they weren't that good, especially when you compare them to their great early 70s stuff.
So the Allman Brother hold the distinction of being the only band on my top-five and bottom-five concert list. Jethro Tull almost made it but I cut them some slack because of so many great past performances (I saw them five times prior to the show that sucked). I will say this though, Dickey, when he is on, is as good they get.
what a great band they were!
Wow, Jessica was from the Eat a Peach album with Duane. 😊 Long before the 90's. Dickey was also a bow hunter, archer, he made a video about it back in the 80's, or 90's
4:47 From one Doc to another what a gt Documentary Doc. Your absolutely right meany a time just setting with headphones on an picking various parts of songs on the live album. Barry's bass playing was beyond greatness. Fantastic job Doc Rivers absolutely lov this!!
Doc from Louisville Kentucky
Thanks Doc!!
I'm reminded of what David (RIP) founder of the "Tone Quest Report" (TQR) said after seeing the Allman Brothers Band, and then Dickie Betts after they had "fired" him. David said the Allman Bros. at the time seemed dead on their feat - no enjoyment of what they were doing, which translates to the audience. Dickie Betts, however, was on fire, playing his heart out and loving it, which also translates to the audience. I understand substance abuse, probably better than most, and glad Dickie is apparently doing better these days. You either do that or die - no? I'm 67 now, and even a beer or two isn't good for me anymore, so I stick to herbs (not just cannabis) for the most part. Dickie Betts played with Duane Allman all those seminal years, and they inspired each other, so different in their styles, Duane even pulled a couple power tubes out to distort more, while Dickie liked his 100watt Marshall loud and proud, clean and clear the way I love it. RIP brothers!!!
Wow & Thanks . Didn't know all of that .
I saw Peter Frampton , Dickey Betz , Peter Frampton ,, J Giles Band & Lenard Skynard at JFK Stadium in Philadelphia I think it was summer of 1976 .
Place was packed . I would have been 20 years old .
Awesome concert
Merci beaucoup for this.
Brilliant....
Great video and informative also seen the one on toy Caldwell very good work
Thank you..glad you enjoyed them!
We started and made Rock N Roll down here.
Whatever we do is that.
The suits played the name game and won out. Again!
If you do not know Dickey or The Allman Brothers.
You cannot call yourself a self respecting Southerner.
Dickey is tops on any list.
Many thanks RD!!
You're welcome Travis. As always thanks for your support!
Thanks for the video and commentary. What a band. I didn’t catch on until after Duane and Berrys death but have loved them ever since. I don’t get the country/rock label either. But Ramblin man was a bit different. Interestingly enough I thought Blue Skies a different sound too.
Thanks again.
Great installment! Fan since before i knew who they were,,,,KMPX 'You Don't Love Me" from LAFE but didn't know this until later in like '71.Just a chance 3 inch reel to reel recording.
Part of why i bought an electric guitar in '72. I was 15.
Gigged 'Ramblin' Man' in '05 (i went last) but jammed with Jessica just the other day from memory....y'all know the story. I've known this tune for years.
One of my all time favorite bands.
Glad you enjoyed Glen!
@@RiverDocs
Thanks.
Rock ON!!!
😎 and credible info video great narrations and pics I have never seen there's even one with Johnny Winter
Glad you enjoyed it
Most wicked player! Smokes the guitar.
I never considered ABB to be a country rock band or even southern rock band like the Skynyrd, Outlaws, Molly Hatchet, Marshall Tucker, Charlie Daniels, et al. They were in a class all their own. They were the Allman Brothers Band. Dickey loves to play the major pentatonic over the chord changes which can give songs like Blue Sky and Rambling Man that countryish sound. His clean sound was due to playing a Gibson through a 100 watt Marshall. Duane liked to play through 50 watt Marshalls which gave him a dirtier sound…
I think Dickie brought his country roots to a southern blues based rock band. If you listen to Wilson Picket cover Hey Jude you’ll hear what some say is the birth of southern rock when Duane Allman starts playing near the end. Until his death the band was Duane’s and their sound was his. Dickie and Duane were just unbelievable the way they harmonized their lead riffs. After the wreck Dickie’s influence was felt more and Rambling Man was to me a folk rock song with a strong southern twang. Bob Dylan told Dickie that Rambling Man was a song he (Dylan) should have written. High praise.
Awesome player with Duane,Dickie was a class act!!!
The labels of country and rock I believe is defined best as the key and scales one uses performing songs not just rocking a country song. Country music utilizes major key where the scale of the melody the root note is is found in a different scale pattern from the same root note of rock and blues. Blues is more often in a minor key and for guitar players the scale is the well known pentatonic scale. E minor pentatonic is probably the first one guitarists use when first learning. The relative minor to a key is found a step and half notes below the root note- for example a step and hate down from E is C#. Playing a 12 bar blues I IV V (one, four, five, E A and B) chord pattern the melody or riffs are in that pentatonic scale with E root note. Same chord pattern but making it a major key the C# pentatonic scale is used with E still being the root note. The difference in sound is quickly heard. "Blue Sky" is a fine example when Duane and Dickey each take on guitar melodies called "solos" and then to change soloist they both play in unison note pattern in the same scale but perhaps one third note different. I am sure Dickey brought this to the Allmans and learned it from listening to Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys. Bob Wills bands always had top notch musicians and had tunes such as "Twin Guitar Boogie" where the sound is obvious the source of Dickey's tunes. "Eat Peach" contains "Blue Sky" and I believe was THE sound which got labelled Southern Rock and stuck. It bugged Gregg who stated that Rock was southern to begin with and the "Southern" label stole Rock's roots. What the first rock songs and who wrote and performed them and where were they from. Chuck Berry, Ike Turner, Blues? E major scale E F# Ad (add A or not) B C# played over E chord and A chord 4 beats each with a tempo of 95 is basically "Blue Sky" but the skills of bending while trilling notes is just a start. Dickey Betts had it mastered. Duane picking up slide while nursing a broken arm progressed quickly before meeting Dickey. Duane was attempting to get Little Walter's harmonica sound from the guitar with a slide. Two drummers playing beats off each other while taking cues from the bassist Barry who also expanded from playing rhythm only to also following the guitar melodies. Gregg on organ (Reese Wynans was the first keyboardist since Gregg was still in LA under contract) and his vocals probably being the best White guy to sing blues kicked off a well rounded rock/blues band with unimaginable force. The time was perfect as Marshall amplifiers had been created to produce volume needed to overcome any other noise plus Les Paul's guitars including the Les Paul SG along with the Fender Stratocaster's 3 single coil pickups were perfect, JImi proved that. The Beatles had endured screaming fans but Marshall amps (The Beatles did not have and ceased performing anyway) forced audiences to listen.
A side note here: "Little Martha" an acoustic Duane and Dickey song on Eat A Peach was re-released in the 1990s and this included Barry playing electric bass not heard on the Eat A Peach lp. He plays more melody than a bassist normally would and is a window into what The Allman Brothers Band employed overall. The band was skilled and unique making a perfect mix of styles that kicked ass. It was Dickey in my view that was the main sound and possibly what allowed the band to exist as it did. The Loss of Duane almost put them out of business. A tour was already scheduled and it was Dickey that encouraged the others to keep on. Dickey played both his and Duane's parts on that tour proving he was on top but always overshadowed by a memory of Duane. That is not unusual for a dead person to grow in stature in people's minds and I would imagine Dickey felt a bit of sting from that..
If I am wrong correct me but remember that musicians and the business of it is competitive and exhausting. Those in the music business are smart and see too much. No other industry has impossible gaps that money can slip through or the imaginations of writers that can tell tales and lies with so much ease they forget which is which. Duane did not hit a peach truck and die but Barry hit a bus and died later. Barry was driving behind Duane and another vehicle or so it has been said when Duane was killed but nobody saw it happen. The truth did not come out for years. Duane rode his Sportster 2 speeds Gregg said, fast and stop. The road he was on at one point sloped down and Duane was coming toward that slope and was not in view of anyone on lower part. A man driving a flatbed truck with a boom hoist on it made a left turn and slowed down to avoid the potholes the road he was going onto had. About that time Duane was in view and saw the truck and must have felt he could safely go around the back of the truck. He did not slow down and was speeding it was determined by measurements taken at the scene. There was no evidence at all that he made contact with the truck. The driver felt nothing and didn't hear the motorcycle until it had gone by and crashed. The bike engine was running still at high RPMs while the truck driver ran over to it as did someone else who shut the engine off. The driver saw oil all over and thought it was blood. He told his wife later about "this kid" who crashed. He had never heard of Allman Brothers Band even though he lived in Macon. He was also the same age as Duane. A car drove up and two woman jumped out seeing Duane on the ground unconscious, they had been following Duane going to Barry's house. Barry had gotten lost and it was known he was not a good driver nor good at finding his way around. One woman jumped to a conclusion and started yelling at the driver that he had killed her husband. Duane was not married but did have a daughter, he had no interest in getting married to anyone were his words on a recent radio show.
The police arrived and after some time they took the driver home to rest and he would come to the station later. Duane was taken to the hospital and immediately to surgery. He had massive internal injures and a few scratches on his chest. He died on the operating table never regaining consciousness. The driver was told later at the station that Duane had steered his bike to go around the truck and there was a pronounced dip in the road at that spot that Duane rode down into and up out of but the bike was going fast enough it went airborne but slow enough Duane could not hang on or perhaps attempted to jump off (the bike did not have the momentum to stay upright is my guess) but either way he landed first and the bike landed right on top of him, both sliding into the curb. The local motorcycle shop had sold Duane at one time a helmet which for unknown reasons Duane grabbed a pair of scissors off the counter and cut the chin strap off rendering it useless. He did not say why but happily bid them a good day and waved as he left. A strapped on helmet would not have saved his life anyway. I am sure he did bump his head onto the pavement as it is impossible not to but it would not have been fatal.
Dickey betts is awesome.
Great videos!
Glad you like them! Thanks!
Great video, pard! 👍
Thanks! 👍
Walk along the river sweet lullaby it just keeps on flowing it don't worry about where it's going
Always loved Betts style.
Great video bro!
Glad you liked it!
yeah, a legend. mr melody and duane's jazz man harmony. cant go wrong
Nice one,thank you.
Thank you too!
How about doing one on my sadly now passed friend, Dangerous Dan Toler? Thanks🎸
Love your vids, hope some overlooked Black Oak Arkansas is coming up
Great video
Thanks!
Keeper Coming
Dickie may be the best guitar player of all time
Dickey is as good as it gets
You misspelled duane
Thank you !!!
You're welcome!
Here in Central Florida we all loved The Allman Brothers. Concerning whether they were "Southern Rock" or "Country Rock"...I'm not sure that was part of the vocabulary then. We could tell Dickey had that "Twang" singing Blue Sky and Ramblin Man but just thought of the ABB as GREAT Rock and Roll 💯
Sounds about right Don. When I first heard them I was a big Grand Funk fan on the rock scene...ABB really turned me on with their sound. So different but so sweet to the ears! Thanks for watching and your comment!
Great video. Have you done a video on Lowell George/Little Feat?
Dickey's tone heavily influenced my playing. He is one of the best blues cats around. Too bad his drinking screwed him with the ABB.
4:04--Love the classic Dead shirt Oakley is rockin.
Lucky enough to have seen Dickey play dozens of times with the ABB and also a few times in his own band. When he first went (forced to go) solo he played with a vengeance and those shows rocked! Seeing Dickey in five hundred seat rooms and auditoriums was electric.
I’ve always believed half a concert is visual and in the Allman’s, Dickey had all the charisma and was the focal point. Their live shows were still great in a different way after he left, but Jack Pearson and Derek Trucks are like watching paint dry. The ABB lost much of their soul without Dicky in the band. I still went to all the shows but it was NEVER the same, the songs not as southern, and I blame Trucks for that.
I agree 100% about Dickey being the heart and soul of the band after Duane passed. The one Great Southern show I saw had more heart and soul than the half dozen post-Dickey ABB shows I saw combined. The band with Derek and Otiel was like a Swiss watch, but lacking in soul imo. Speaking of tight bands, the 90s lineup with Warren Haynes and Allan Woody were among the very best live acts I've seen in 30+ years and hundreds of concerts.
Sorry kids, there is no Allman Brothers Band without Dickey Betts.
RD i don't know how this one slipped thru the cracks maybe u-tube is mad at me cause i didn't get notified! any way people came from far and near to hear Dicky play his red guitar! 😎✌
Yeah youtube hasn't been my friend this month. Why? I have no clue. Some months are better than others. Thanks for watching Ted!!
Best live band of all time. Jai Johnny Johanson, best name ever.
Was fortunate to see theABB at the 2nd annul Atlanta Pop festival in 1970 at Byron Georgia .55 bands played around the clock for 3 days on the 3rd,4th and 5th of July. Johnny Winter jammed with the Allmans !
I was fortunate enough to see Dickie with the Band at Memphis in May in 99 or 2000 as I think it might have been one of the last shows he played with them. Drinking or not he and Trucks put out some great guitar harmonies. I’ll never for get it.
Dickey Betts and Great Southern had some good albums too.
Rest in Peace Dickie.
Yes indeed, saw the ABB many times ......especially in Statesboro with my cousin Reggie. Also at the Whippin Post in downtown Augusta, Ga, of where 2 famous songs come from: "Tied to the Whippin Post" and "Statesboro Blues!"
I've always loved his goldtop Les Paul.
If u take requests the outlaws are my very favorite, and to me seem like a blend of the eagles and Lynyrd Skynyrd
“It was the Skynyrd boys and the outlaws…. In a BLAZING GUITAR GUNFIGHT”
Dicky was monster player.
Blue Sky, another Betts tune, also had a country feel to it. There's a live version of it too from a concert just before Duane's accident.
Thanks!
Oh wow thank you Robert. Much appreciated!!
Blue Sky off EAP was southern sounding back when Duane was alive.
Hi Andy🌹
How are you doing?
I love your videos I'm in Michigan now but being born in Tampa I like them Florida boys
Thank you. I live just a bit NW of Tampa. It's still hot and humid here in the summer lol
Like any artistic movement country rock has many contributors. One absolutely cannot deny the thundering force of The Band and the great compositions written by Robbie Robertson. no one can deny that John Fogerty and Creedence Clearwater Revival also injected a ton of country sounds into rock and roll . The Grateful Dead adored country and did their part as did their friends of the New Riders of the Purple Sage. The Flying Burrito Brothers did it. Hot Tuna did it as well.
A more accurate thumbnail would be-
~Dickey brought his country music and western swing influence to the Allman Brothers Band, forging the sound now known as Southern Rock.~
Good content tho much appreciated
I understand he is a generous mentor to a lot of players as well. Go listen to a guy like Eddie Shaver (RIP) I think I read somewhere that Dickey gave him a couple lessons and a 335 that Duane once owned. I know Warren Haynes and Jack Pearson speak highly of Dickey.
I thought I had read somewhere that Dickey gave Eddie Shaver a strat.
@@realledbetter5015 Yep, I heard somewhere that Dickey gave him a strat too, but when I read Billy Joe's book, in it, he states that it was Duane's Gibson 335.
You should have mentioned that when the band went into the studio to record the Brothers and Sisters album they needed a second guitar player to do the double leads and hired Les Dudek. Because that's who did all those double lead cuts with Dickey Betts.
I’m with you dude! I don’t consider the ABB early work up to bros and sis’s to be southern/country rock. It’s just blues and jazz. I think after Duane died is when it started veering towards southern rock.