On Thursday, April 18th, 2024 we lost a giant. That giant was Dickey Betts of the Allman Brothers Band. Betts passed away at the age of 80 after battling a long fight with COPD. Betts was the yang to Duane Allman's yin. The Altman Brothers Band was a group that couldn't be matched. ABB was and forever will be Southern Rock royalty, but they also were able to seamlessly blend other genres including R&B and even Jazz.
I won't be the first to tell you how influential Live At The Fillmore East has been on music. It's often lauded as the greatest live album of all time and I'm inclined to agree. Duane Altman's Les Paul screams while Dicky Betts blazes behind him with incredible blues phrasing mixed with the mixalydan and major scales blended in. That interplay shines on their rendition of Stormy Monday, Statesboro Blues, and Done Somebody Wrong. Betts' "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed" also included, is an epic instrumental that blends jazz, R&B, and blues and concludes at a blistering 16 minutes.
Following the tragic death of Duane, The Brothers pushed on and released their 1972 masterpiece Eat A Peach. Betts contributed "Blue Sky" a beautiful rollicking outlaw lullaby. It was also the first time Betts sang lead vocal. Blue Sky became a concert favorite. Truly a beautiful song.
Betts would contribute more tunes for the band which is showcased in 1973's Brothers and Sisters. For Allman stans, this would be the last album founding member and bassist Berry Oakley would play on.
As for. Betts, he wrote "Ramblin Man" which became the band's only top 10 hit, and the trance-like instrumental epic "Jessica". While writing Jessica, Betts stated he was influenced by the late great Django Reinhardt as he wanted to capture the feeling of playing with two fingers. Betts left the band in 1975 but would come back with the Allman's in 1989 and played with the band throughout the 90s on numerous live albums and the studio albums Seven Turns and the underrated Back Where it All Begins.
Betts may have passed, but his music and his profound influences will live on in record grooves forever.
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