Dickey Betts, a honky-tonk hellraiser who, as guitarist in the Allman Brothers Band, traded fiery licks with Duane Allman in the early 1970s, and who went on to write some of the band’s most indelible songs, including his biggest hit, “Ramblin’ Man,” died Thursday at his home in Osprey, Florida. He was 80 years old.
His death was announced on social networks 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.
Although not an actual brother of Allman, the band, founded in 1969, was led by Duane Allman, who achieved guitar god status before dying in a motorcycle accident in 24 years old, and Gregg Allmanthe lead singer, who gained additional shine in the spotlight in 1975 when he married Cher — Mr. Betts was a guiding force in the band for decades and at the heart of the sound that, along with Lynyrd’s music Skynyrd, came to define Southern Rock.
Although classified by some fans in the band’s early days as its “other” guitarist, Mr. Betts, whose solos sometimes seemed to burn the fretboard of his Gibson Les Paul, proved a worthy sparring partner for Duane Allman, serving more as a co-lead guitarist than as a sidekick.
With his chiseled features, Wild West mustache and gunfighter attitude, Mr. Betts certainly looked like the star. And he played like one. Nowhere was this more evident than on the band’s landmark 1971 live double album, “At Fillmore East,” which was filled with expansive jams and featured the complex interplay between Mr. Betts and Mr. Allman. It sold over a million copies.
“The second half of ‘At Fillmore East’ is as lively and exhilarating as recorded rock has ever been,” Pitchfork’s Grayson Haver Currin wrote in a 2022 review.
The album’s centerpiece was “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed,” a haunting, jazz-influenced instrumental written by Mr. Betts whose title was taken from a headstone in a cemetery in the band’s hometown, Macon, Georgia. “, continued Mr. Currin, “sounds like Miles Davis’ new electric bands, the organ and guitar oozing into each other like melting butter and chocolate.”
“Duane and I had an understanding, like an old understanding of the idea of playing together,” Mr. Betts said in a 2020 interview with the Sarasota Herald-Tribune in Florida. “Duane would say, ‘Man, I’m so jealous of you sometimes when you’re burning up and I have to follow him,’ and we’d joke about it. So that’s kind of the relationship between Duane and I. It was a real understanding. Duane like, “Come on, this is a hell of a band, let’s not do hot dogs.”
This brilliant guitar dialogue ended in Macon on October 29, 1971, when Mr. Allman lost control of his motorcycle after swerving to miss a truck and died from severe internal injuries suffered in the accident (Berry Oakleythe band’s bassist, was killed a year later in a motorcycle accident a few blocks from the site).
Mr. Betts took over as band leader and featured guitarist when the Allman Brothers Band regrouped to complete their next album, “Eat a Peach.” Released in 1972, it was critically acclaimed and ranked Number 4 in the Billboard charts. Among the album’s most memorable tracks was Mr. Betts’ sunny, country-tinged number. “Blue sky,” which has remained as a rock classic.
The group reached new commercial heights with its follow-up the following year, “Brothers & Sisters,” which contained two of Mr. Betts’ signature songs: “The Ramblin Man” which peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100, and the upbeat instrumental “Jessica.”
“Ramblin’ Man,” sung by Mr. Betts, is a carefree tale of an unfettered life on the road. “I guess the song is more or less autobiographical“, he said in a 1973 interview with future director Cameron Crowe, who was then a writer for Rolling Stone. “Not really, but overall it’s a pretty true song. There’s a lot things I wish I could say in my songs that I can’t.
He apparently made a strong impression on Mr. Crowe. His horseshoe mustache and bad-boy demeanor 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 a huge amount of soul, possible danger and playful recklessness behind his eyes. He had a huge presence. »
Forrest Richard Betts was born December 12, 1943, in West Palm Beach, Florida, one of three children of Harold and Sarah Betts. Growing up on the Gulf Coast in Bradenton, near Tampa, He learned to appreciate music early on from his father, a violinist, and began playing the ukulele at age 5.
He graduated with a guitar degree and formed his own band as a teenager. In 1967, he formed another group, The Second Coming, with Mr. Oakley. They then played with Duane Allman, who eventually 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 began to unravel. Gregg Allman began a solo career, as did Mr. Betts, who released an album “Highway Call” in 1974.
Over time, the group’s excessive drug and alcohol use became a growing problem, as did the internal pressures that accompanied success. The group broke up in 1976 after Gregg Allman testified against the group’s security man in a federal drug case; Mr. Betts vowed never to work with Mr. Allman again.
Yet he did it. Although Mr. Betts continued with two side projects, the Great Southern Band and the Dickey Betts Band, in 1979 the Allman Brothers Band released a comeback album, “Enlightened Rogues,” and continued to tour and record, despite long interruptions, until 2000. That year, the group fired Mr. Betts, citing “creative differences” – while also alluding to ongoing struggles with drug addiction, which he denied.
By this point, Mr. Betts had experienced numerous drug and alcohol problems, as well as multiple arrests, including a highly publicized incident in 1996 in which he was accused of pointing a Magnum handgun .44 on his wife, Donna, during an argument over his drug use and charged with aggravated domestic violence. The charges were dropped after he agreed to go to a rehabilitation center.
Besides his wife, Mr. Betts’ survivors include his daughters, country artist Kimberly Betts, Christy Betts and Jessica Betts, and 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 the Dickey Betts Band in 2018 and 2019.
He received notable recognition when Bob Dylan mentioned him in “The most heinous murder” Mr. Dylan’s 2020 opus about the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. It contains the phrase “Play Oscar Peterson, play Stan Getz/play ‘Blue Sky,’ play Dickey Betts.” »
When friends called him about the cry, Mr. Betts was deeply honored, he said in a statement. recent interview, but also embarrassed. “I’d say, ‘Well, he just used me because it rhymes with Getz.'”
