I think he might've been saying that Duane didn't consider himself everybody's boss and they didn't treat him like he was. There's no question that his personality, vision, and experience in the music business made him the leader in some ways.
thats how i was taking it too. duane doesn't act like the boss, the band was equals but they all knew duane was in charge.
The truth is the recording contract was given to Duane to put a band together. He could have come with Larry Curly and Moe and that is who we would have all thought of as the ABB
If Duane acted like a band leader or not it was his band and his recording contract. None of the other guys were given the contract or the instruction to put a band together.
It all starts with Duane...the fact he was able to pull the other 5 into it was his genius and ability to lead
If there was no Duane we wouldn't be here talking about any of them
[Edited on 12/23/2019 by goldtop]
I think he might've been saying that Duane didn't consider himself everybody's boss and they didn't treat him like he was. There's no question that his personality, vision, and experience in the music business made him the leader in some ways.
thats how i was taking it too. duane doesn't act like the boss, the band was equals but they all knew duane was in charge.
BINGO
The truth is the recording contract was given to Duane to put a band together. He could have come with Larry Curly and Moe and that is who we would have all thought of as the ABB
If Duane acted like a band leader or not it was his band and his recording contract. None of the other guys were given the contract or the instruction to put a band together.
It all starts with Duane...the fact he was able to pull the other 5 into it was his genius and ability to lead
If there was no Duane we wouldn't be here talking about any of them
[Edited on 12/23/2019 by goldtop]
BINGO #2
Duane helped form the band, he was the key person there
It happened b/c of how the Music Blended Together & went places on its own w/out leadership during the famous Jacksonville jam& yes, at the end of it he said, Anyone who’s not gonna be in my band......” my, being the key word
Also, Linda’s comment recalling the aftermath of his death & many wondering if the band could go on, b/c after all, Linda said, “he Was the band”Still think Dickey’s comment is the pertinent one, he’d know better than anyone else - it’s all ‘semantics’ or apples&oranges I guess - people looked up to him - not as their leader tho -
Uhh Dickey's comment goes against every other comment ever uttered by the other original band members & people associated with the band.
This isn't a complicated issue. Just read the books.
There are books to read? Hadn’t known that
Why read the books, we have DeadMallard to enlighten us - he knows better than Dickey Betts about this stuff
Read my posts & tell me how ithey differed from the ones that followed that you slobbered over
DeadMallard, can you suggest any books to read so that I can too can become enlightened - thx
I think he might've been saying that Duane didn't consider himself everybody's boss and they didn't treat him like he was. There's no question that his personality, vision, and experience in the music business made him the leader in some ways.
thats how i was taking it too. duane doesn't act like the boss, the band was equals but they all knew duane was in charge.
BINGO
yeah but then you say again dickey goes against what everyone else has said and i disagree. i think you are reading literally too much into the statement. i think he is saying the band never sat around elected leaders but they all knew what was up with duane
DeadMallard, can you suggest any books to read so that I can too can become enlightened - thx
Try this one! Might not be too late to make it into your stocking tonight.
https://www.amazon.com/How-Not-Be-Asshole-century/dp/0692707298
OK, that is hysterical. But let's put the thread back on course.
How do y'all rate Dickey's solo LPs? I think there are these:
Highway Call
DB & GS
Atlanta's Burning Down
Pattern Disruptive
Let's Get Together
The Collectors # 1
I had Pattern Disruptive years ago on vinyl, but I gave my vinyl collection away. I know it has Warren and Matt Abts on it, and I recall it being in a hard rock vein.
I JUST got the twofer CD of "DB & GS / Atlanta's Burning" via an Amazon gift card but am up to my neck in Xmas music gifts, so I have not gotten to spin it yet.
After Highway Call, Collectors Vol. I I like the best - rock, Jazz, gut bucket blues, Western swing - it’s all on there - great versions of 7 Turns, JJ’s Alley, CMWOLiving
....The playing is as if they coulda come from their 11/3/74 Hempstead NY gig, straight to the studio to record Collectors
I like Collectors best after Highway Call too. The guitar Dickey is holding on the cover of Highway Call is the guitar Duane Allman owned and used on Little Martha. Gregg gave it to Dickey after Duane died.
I enjoy the Great Southern records from time to time but Great Southern was Dickey trying to recreate the original Allman Brothers. Keys, two lead guitars, bass and two drums. But it fell short of the original ABB. That original ABB lineup was just luck. There is no way Duane Allman could have known how musically the different styles of playing the original 6 had would blend together so perfectly. It would be next to impossible for Dickey to choose players that meshed like the original 6. Plus nobody could sing Blue Sky and Ramblin' Man as good as Dickey but to me, Dickey isn't a main lead singer like Gregg was. By the time Great Southern came around close to me the third time I saw them, there had been a big fight and the keyboard player, bass player and one of the drummers had been replaced and Dickey was on stage with a black eye. Check the lineup on the first album to Atlanta's Burning Down.
Pattern Disruptive is a fun album. It got its name because Dickey decided to shake up his usual style of how his band sounds.
Dickey's unique guitar style, melodies and song writing was outstanding. Dickey's contribution to the Allman Brothers Band is enormous.
Late to the party here, I kind of glanced at some of the responses in this thread and didn't notice whether or not anyone had touched on this.... One of my favorite performances of all time is the Sept '73 show at Winterland. Everything falls right where it should be, emotion, skill...everything but Dickey's tone. Gone is the aggressive 'bite" that usually made his LP "bark". I don't know if it was to balance the delicate sound of Chuck's piano....but I can recall making note of it at the time of the KSAN Live broadcast....
..."Pattern Disruptive" is a CD that doesn't get a lot of spin around here, but I appreciate it to this day because of the aggressive "attack" style Dickey employs all through out it. His Marshall is dialed up to nasty here and I love it. Maybe, it was because of the initial fire Warren lit under his you know what...
...The first Great Southern tour in '77 had this same feel (saw two shows including the KMET 'Live' broadcast from the Roxy) but that raw energy had all but disappeared with the release of the lackluster "Atlanta's Burning Down"....
...The "Great American Music tour" in '74 brought fire from a different source, kind of a 'home cooking' type of thing and I always wondered why Dickey never re-visited that genre....If I ever had the chance to meet him, that would have been a question I could not have ignored...
BIGV. Dickey bought a beautiful sunburst Les Paul with zebra pickups in 1972 and it was his number one in 1973 and 74. That guitar had a lighter jazz tone compared to the kinda metallic tone Dickey got from the Les Paul he played on Fillmore East and gave to Danny Toler in the late 1970's. By closing night at the Fillmore Dickey had a Goldtop and that is it on One Way Out on Eat A Peach. That guitar had incredible bite and tone. But Dickey went to the zebra pickups Les Paul when they began the 1973 shows for Brothers and Sisters that ran from May to December. Maybe Dickey was going for more of a jazz tone with that guitar because with Chuck and Lamar the band did sound jazzy on Liz Reed, Les Brer etc.
Also of note is unlike Duane Allman, Dickey almost always was up in neck pickup. Dickey rarely used the down position (bridge pickup) which had much more bite. Duane used it a lot. Dickey would drop down in the middle with the pickup switch and have a mix of both pickups sometimes but I never saw him only on the bridge pickup like Duane and several other Les Paul players would do. Even in late 69 and early 1970 when Dickey was using an old Stratocaster he was usually in the bridge pickup and his tone was a touch thin. I do like the tone Dickey gets with the Strat on Dimples on Duane's Anthology Vol one and the full CD that came out in 1990. So his tone was even lighter with the zebra pickup Les Paul because he was usually on the neck pickup only.
Then in 1975 on the Win, Loose or Daw tour he had the Goldtop called Goldie which was his number one for over 20 years. It has a lot of bite and incredible tone. I eased over to the sound man at the first 1975 show I saw and ask what happened to the beautiful sunburst with zebra pickups. He said Dickey found his latest Goldtop at a pawnshop in New York and said he had finally found the Les Paul tone he was looking for and the guitar stayed in tune even outside. Said Dickey had several Les Pauls that were hard to keep in tune including the zebra pickup one and especially show outside. Goldie is a 57 and it turned green while it sat for years in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Dickey used his old 1956 Stratocaster most of the time then and a 61 red 335 and even a Paul Reed Smith and a Mary Kay Stratocaster occassionally while Goldie was at the hall of fame.
When they sent it back to Dickey around 2000, Dickey was irritated with the puke green he called it and sanded it down and painted it red and added a pick guard it didn't have. Then in 2001 Gibson came out with a Dickey Betts signature Goldtop Dickey switched to and he was in his solo band then.
Dickey's son Duane Betts plays that 2001 Goldtop DB signature now as his number one and uses Dickey's 61 red 335 and Dickey's 56 Strat with heavy road wear on certain songs each night now. And Devon has all 42 of Gregg's guitars. Berry Oakley, Jr has his dad's Fender tractor bass, Dickey had it and gave it to BOjr., so when I saw Allman Betts Band in Blacksburg, Virginia several weeks ago, I was seeing the same guitars I was seeing with Gregg and Dickey. 
[Edited on 12/26/2019 by blackey]
There are some excellent Dickey performances on audience tapes of the ABB Jan - July 1972 - Dickey is absolutely on fire and the band is phenomenal. One that comes to mind is 3/5/72 Long Beach,CA.
1972-73 was an amazing time frame for Dickey. During this time frame I saw Dickey (and Berry & Jaimoe) 7/16/72 sitting in the Grateful Dead in Hartford, Ct, and the ABB 7/17/72 Gaelic Park, Bronx,NY and 5/1/73 Nassau Coliseum,NY Incredible shows - 
[Edited on 12/27/2019 by PeachNutt]
Just read a new Dickey interview in a magazine. Dickey said his new guitar is a combination SG Les Paul he got Gibson to build for him. It looks like an SG but it's controls are like a Les Paul . It's just a custom guitar Gibson agreed to build for Dickey.
I believe it was to be a limited run that fell through. I have a pic of his guitar (the 1st of the run) on my phone, but can't post it. Absolutely beautiful musical weapon.
How do y'all rate Dickey's solo LPs? I think there are these:
Highway Call
DB & GS
Atlanta's Burning Down
Pattern Disruptive
Let's Get Together
The Collectors # 1
Highway Call is one of those perfect, true country albums. Chuck and Vassar were so perfect on that album, and music from that tour is something that should be released (here's a full show from the 1974 tour - enjoy:
). Dickey's tone changed as often as his first name in the mid-1970s, but it was always recognizably Dickey - so much tone comes from a guitarist's fingers, rather than their knobs. Highway Call was always more of a concept album than a true Dickey Betts album, as great as it is I don't know if it perfectly represents Dickey - only just a small window into one of his many influences.
& Great Southern is a super solid album. Yes, it's the Allman Brothers set up minus another great singer, and maybe a few blues tunes. Mix this with Gregg's Playing Up a Storm and you have a great Allman Brothers album. This was kind of the period where Dickey's tone became super consistent - not a lot of change from 1977-1994. &GS has some great songs ("Bougainvillea", "California Blues", "Run Gypsy Run"), it might be the album that best represents him. Song power is missing from the follow up, Atlanta's Burning Down. Dickey is in great form during the Great Southern tours of the 1970s, even if everything is a little too coked out fast and a hint of a disco beat.
Patterns Disruptive is nice a return to form after years in limbo. There are a few ok songs, but I don't think it's aged well. Feels like a demo tape for an Allman Brothers reunion. "Loverman" is a nice demo for "Low Down Dirty Mean".
Let's Get Together is frustrating because a lot of the music is pretty solid, but it sounds like they spent a day in the studio. That was a solid band (many went on to play with Jaimoe), I really enjoyed Kris Jensen's horn on some Allman Bros tunes during that tour. Mark May actually provided a nice counter balance, but getting Mike Kach was a much better fit as a second singer.
The Collector's is a pretty wonderful album that I think we all wish there was more of. By far my favorite version of "Tangled Up In Blue" and finally just the right fit for "The Preacher" and "Georgia on a Fast Train" (it never worked with the Allman Bros). "Beyond the Pale" is another great example of Dickey's range. I don't think the slowed down "Change My Way of Living" works, I think that song was therapy more than anything.
Dickey released a number of live albums in the 2000s (The Odeon, RnR Hall of Fame, The Egg, Albany, Live Bootleg), with varying quality in production and performance (but pretty much the same group of songs). I thought the best Great Southern lineup was with Duane & Andy (and without Twinkle.
I haven't listened to his recent album from Staten Island, and I probably won't bother. Say what you will, but his tone is still there.
everything but Dickey's tone. Gone is the aggressive 'bite" that usually made his LP "bark". I don't know if it was to balance the delicate sound of Chuck's piano....but I can recall making note of it at the time of the KSAN Live broadcast....
You probably nailed it. You have to approach your tone differently in a band with an electric piano and an organ than you do in a band with another guitar and an organ. Well, you don't HAVE to, but anybody who knows what they're doing and takes their tone/sound seriously would do so. A few years ago, the band I was touring around that was a 2 guitar and keys band.....I picked up some trio gigs and learned this lesson at the very first gig. It just didn't work. You have to (should) approach your sound differently in every scenario.
I got the "twofer" CD that has "DB & GS" as well as "Atlanta's Burning" on one CD.
It is enjoyable solid rock, great grooves and solid Dicey playing and singing. A few songs sound like "that sounds like that ABB song," which is fair, and Dickey does use the "Crazy Love" slide lick more than once. Still very enjoyable.
Can say the same thing about Hell & High Water, a CD repackage of Reach for the Sky & Brothers of the Road - description fits just as well - scorned/scoffed at by most ABB fans, those albums/this comp has good moments to my ears
[Edited on 12/31/2019 by Stephen]
Stephen and Jim Sheridan. I agree about Reach For the Sky and Brothers of the Road. Both have some good moments.
Butch didn't care for those albums at all or Enlighten Rogues. Gregg and Dickey didnt either as they looked back from the early 90s but Dickey felt Enlighten Rogues was a good album but not on par with the early Capricorn albums. Not sure what Gregg thought of Enlighten Rogues. A few years before Gregg passed, he said Fillmore East is their best album and Eat A Peach is right there too but probably his favorite all studio was Idlewild South and he mentioned all the songs were strong pieces of writing. But his baby is Laid Back, his first solo album. And Gregg said as far as he knows Dickey never listened to it.
In the 2000s Butch also slammed Brothers and Sisters. Technically the tracks aren't recorded as well as they would had Tom Dowd had done it and Butch said he couldn't stand Ramblin' Man and he's not a fan of some of the other tracks. Butch said some of it doesnt sound like the Allman Brothers and it truth be told they had become the Dickey Betts Band by then. Butch thought Ramblin' Man was a demo for Merle Haggard to hear then suddenly Phil Walden wanted to put it on the album and release it as a single. Butch said they should have voted Dickey out and let him record the stuff he was coming up with on his own and the ABB hire two new guitar players. Butch said all these country rock bands have all these riffs he hears on the radio that they stole from the Allman Brothers and it's not even the way the original Allman Brothers sounded and that sound they borrow is something he is not proud of at all.
As to Dickey's slide playing. Ain't Waisting Time No More on Eat A Peach is my favorite Dickey slide.
And he is excellent on this live version from New Years Eve in New Orleans 1972. Actually 1973 as its after midnight. Gregg seems happy with it at the end or some chick flashed him from the audience.
[Edited on 12/31/2019 by blackey]
"Ain't Wastin' time no more"
Mar Y Sol
Can say the same thing about Hell & High Water, a CD repackage of Reach for the Sky & Brothers of the Road - description fits just as well - scorned/scoffed at by most ABB fans, those albums/this comp has good moments to my ears
"To my ears"...Stephen, I do respect your opinion on all things related to the Brothers on this site....but take exception to this.....Man, these were the two most disappointing works this band has ever set loose on the public. I purchased both on the day of their release and promptly used them as skeet.
Happy New Year!
Can say the same thing about Hell & High Water, a CD repackage of Reach for the Sky & Brothers of the Road - description fits just as well - scorned/scoffed at by most ABB fans, those albums/this comp has good moments to my ears
"To my ears"...Stephen, I do respect your opinion on all things related to the Brothers on this site....but take exception to this.....Man, these were the two most disappointing works this band has ever set loose on the public. I purchased both on the day of their release and promptly used them as skeet.
Happy New Year!
I can't listen to those two albums...ever. Not when i can throw on Eat A Peach for the 1 millionth time!!
By the way, I saw Blackey's comment about Dickey's slide -- I liked it because it was Dickey Betts but if I blocked the name out I would not be impressed. Of course in total fairness to Dickey it was not something he played often or cared to.
I like most of what they included on Hell & High Water - Madness of the West, The Judgement, others - they didn’t include So Long tho, a real overlooked song - Dickey’s slide playing on The Heat Is On etc
Happy New Year to you too, all the best
[Edited on 1/1/2020 by Stephen]
