Dickey Betts

The Allman Brothers Band, 1969–2014

With the band: 1969–1976; 1978–1982; 1989–2000
Instruments: Lead and slide guitar, vocals

A Florida Upbringing

Forrest Richard “Dickey” Betts was born in West Palm Beach, Florida, on December 12, 1943, and grew up around Bradenton. His family loved country, bluegrass and Western swing, and they put a ukulele in his hands when he was five. He moved on to banjo and mandolin before he settled on the guitar.

As a young man Dickey played in rock bands all over Florida and beyond. In Jacksonville he and bassist Berry Oakley formed the Second Coming, and when the jam sessions of early 1969 came together, that band’s two leaders became part of the Allman Brothers Band.

The Other Half of the Twin-Guitar Sound

Dickey and Duane Allman invented the harmonized twin-lead style that set the band apart from everyone else. Dickey drew on country melody and jazz phrasing as much as the blues, and he wrote the band’s great instrumentals, starting with “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed” and “Revival.” He also wrote and sang the gentle, country-flavored “Blue Sky.”

Stepping Forward

After Duane died in 1971, Dickey carried the lead guitar alone, and he and Gregg Allman became the band’s two creative leaders. On Brothers and Sisters (1973) he wrote and sang “Ramblin’ Man,” the band’s biggest hit single. He also wrote “Jessica,” which became one of the best-known rock instrumentals of its time, and a live version of “Jessica” later won the band a Grammy Award.

Great Southern and Beyond

Between chapters with the Allman Brothers, Dickey recorded his solo album Highway Call (1974) and led Dickey Betts & Great Southern. Two members of that band joined him in the 1979 reunion lineup. Later, his Dickey Betts Band introduced us to Warren Haynes and Johnny Neel, and both of them joined the Allman Brothers Band in 1989.

Dickey’s time with the band ended in 2000. He kept touring with Great Southern, often with his son Duane Betts on guitar, until he retired in 2014. He came back to the stage briefly in 2018.

Legacy

Dickey Betts died at his home in Osprey, Florida, on April 18, 2024. He was 80. He entered the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with the band in 1995, and the songs he left us remain at the heart of the Allman Brothers repertoire.