@porkchopbob Enjoyed reading that!
To me when taken as a whole, unique melodic guitar style, singing voice and song writing, Dickey Betts was the most important guitarist ever in the band.
What a different band the band would have been if Dickey hadn't been part of it.
After I saw this on TV in 1985, I was so impressed with the hairstyle of the bass player that I started wearing my hair like his!
@robertdee check out this full band electric "Little Martha" Dickey arranged in the mid-2000s. I don't think it remained in the set list, but I wonder if Derek and Warren were inspired by it to perform their electric "Little Martha/Blue Sky" mashup in 2009.
Wonderful article about Dickey by Andy Aledort.
https://www.guitarworld.com/features/dickey-betts-andy-aledort-personal-tribute
@porkchopbob Wow that was fantastic. That is your visuals too I bet!
Since Dickey died I read an interview with Warren and he said he and Derek were big Dickey fans and both thought of the original band when they heard someone say Allman Brothers Band so they tried several times over the years to get Dickey to come back and at least play with the band occasionally even though Derek's uncle was opposed. But Dickey always didn't show. They thought he may show at the 2009 Beacon shows celebrating Duane. Clapton even showed but Dickey didn't. Derek called Dickey personally for The Brothers show but Dickey couldn't fly for medical reasons.
Little Martha was Duane's only composition the band did.
One of the music magazines had an interview with Duane I think just after he died and Duane said the song came to him in a dream in a motel room. Jimi Hendrix walked in the room and went over to the sink and turned on the water and put his fingers in the stream of tap water and began playing the melody and when Duane woke up he grabbed an acoustic guitar and there was Little Martha. I'm not sure if Duane may have been just joking with the guy conducting the interview or if that is how that song came about.
Duane played the Roland resonator guitar on that Dickey is holding on the cover of Highway Call. I understand Dickey plays it on Pony Boy.
Supposedly Gregg gave Dickey the guitar after Duane died.
Here is a short clip of Dickey at a 1990 rehearsal
Nobody played like Dickey. More and more people are pointing out Dickey had his own style.
https://youtube.com/shorts/XQ-0b-Q1hxY?si=QZ1aUijgEt_Qbu09
Another tribute video. About 30 of them on line now. This one is put together well with nice pictures.
https://youtube.com/shorts/PZOuQbFEQgI?si=MO6ZVkXS78Llm7bG
As many who have followed the Allman Brothers for decades know, Dickey wrote the melody for this. Gregg was playing the opening riff at a rehearsal and Dickey ran up and hummed a melody which popped into Dickey's mind in Gregg's ear and Gregg played that and the other four joined in and in about an hour the 6 of them had a new song !!
Alternate different night version of this. What a band they were!!!!
Great article on Dickey!! Bert Holman is interviewed. Bert was made an equity partner with Gregg, Dickey, Butch and Jaimoe. That was news to me.
https://venuesnow.com/dickey-betts-insurmountable-legacy/
Nobody played the guitar or sang or wrote songs like Dickey. Dickey was unique indeed!!
https://youtube.com/shorts/hNOnILvd0fE?si=LuL9r9xf_tA3DDLU
@porkchopbob Last Sunday morning on CBS News Sunday morning.
Robin McNeil was with NBC in 1963 and was in the motorcade when three shots were fired at President Kennedy.
Dickey Betts was more famous than I realized.
Haven't watched this yet but it's their tribute to Dickey. Hope it's good.
@porkchopbob If Dickey had just played that just like that at The Brothers show at Madison Square Garden, just that one song just like that, it would have brought the house down. Derek and Warren would have been smiling and hugging Dickey. Derek called Dickey at his home in Florida encouraging him to come but he declined. He said he couldn't fly now.
I remember just after I returned to Virginia is when Covid struck and I was lucky I didn't catch it. I think Kirk West did catch it and was rather sick.
As we look back over the history of the Allman Brothers Band it is clear how huge Dickey's contributions were.
No doubt the Allman Brothers Band would have been much different if Dickey wasn't in it.
@porkchopbob If Dickey had just played that just like that at The Brothers show at Madison Square Garden, just that one song just like that, it would have brought the house down. Derek and Warren would have been smiling and hugging Dickey.
X2
terrific backporch jam 🙏🎶🎶RIP Mr. Betts
Alan Paul tribute to Dickey. Dickey's sound, guitar playing, song writing was the backbone of the Allman Brothers Band. I agree!!
https://alanpaul.substack.com/p/rip-dickey-betts-a-musical-giant
Part of Dickey's solo on Liz Reed from Fillmore East!!
Great tone and so SMOOTH!!!
https://youtube.com/shorts/MLIrE6foE20?si=W1Jc6AvTTKGGELUg
Does anybody know where Dickey's final resting place is? If it's not Rose Hill then I guess they wanted it private. RIP Dickey.
@griff There is nothing on the web I can find. One man said the rumor is Dickey was laid to rest in Florida. Perhaps next to his brother and dad?
Dickey became one of the more famous guitarist/singers in America from 1972 to 1977. As famous as Clapton, Beck and others.
I think his singing was very good too. Listen to his voice on this live Ramblin' Man recorded in November 1973.
@robertdee Some comfort that Dickey's wishes were followed. I missed Duane and Berry so my first show was Nassau just after Brothers and Sisters came out. I really dug Lamar's style. He was a cool cat. Saw them at Roosevelt Stadium that summer then just like that it seemed it was over. I caught Gregg 2 nights on the Laid Back tour. Felt Forum then Capitol in Jersey so that was the fall of 1974 I think. Amazing shows they were with Cowboy! Saw the original Great Southern in 1978 third row Calderone Concert hall on Long Island with the Toler Bros. Man they were good. WLIR broadcast that show and my friend Chris (RIP Brother) won tickets Caught Betts Hall Leavell and Trucks at The Bottom Line NYC in Feb. 1983. 400 people in a club you can't beat that as I sat 15 feet in front of Dickey. My favorite late Allman Brothers lineup was Woody and Warren with Dickey. Some shows that were just pure fire at The Beacon. Time really does fly.
@griff Yes time moves on like Hurricanes and Subway trains.
Yes Lamar Williams was a very good bass player. Old friend of Jaimoe and Jaimoe and Butch pushed for Lamar to be the next bass player and Butch said Gregg and Dickey didn't say yes or no. After auditioning Larmar Butch said "That's enough auditioning people let's start rehearsing. This cat is good!" and Gregg and Dickey didn't say anything, the band just shifted to a rehearsal.
I saw that version of the band several times in 1973, 74 and 75. They were especially hot in Nashville in 1973. That show told those Nashville musicians who may have been in the audience that the six guys in the Allman Brothers can deliver the goods too.
Yes the Gregg Allman Laid Back your was spring and late fall 1974. I can't remember who the bass player was but it wasn't Lamar. Bill Stewart and Jaimoe were the drummers and I remember being surprised at how good Tommy Talton was on slide on Dreams and Standback. He died recently too. Also I can remember Tommy played a Strat and used a metal silver slide.
I liked the Warren / Woody line up too. Warren recently said they surprised themselves. Nobody was expecting the band to sound as good as it did in 1989 and the 1989 tour was a big financial success. They agreed to tour to support the Dreams boxset and that was it. But the band sounded so good and everyone made better money than in a long time it was decided to keep it going beyond 1989.
I remember an interview with Dan Toler in 1990 and he was irritated Gregg broke up the Gregg Allman Band. Said they played years without a record deal in little bars and dives then finally get an album and it went Gold and they were now playing theatres and better concert halls and suddenly Gregg goes back to the Allman Brothers.
Dickey broke up his band too and Warren said he told Matt Apts that he was going to eventually put a band together and he wanted Matt to o be the drummer.
I think Matt had joined Dickey before Warren. I think Matt replaced Butch Trucks when he decided to quit Betts, Hall, Leavell and Trucks after every label they tried turned them down for a record deal. That band continued on for another year as Betts. Hall and Leavell with Matt on drums then Chuck quit to join the Stones as a sideman and Dickey spent a few years living in Nashville trying to make it in country with something similar to Hank, Jr and Waylon Jennings and Billy Joe Shaver.
Porkchopbob has a copy of Dickey's unreleased country album. He may have had two. But nothing came out except "Nancy" on the Dreams box.
Lamar is especially good here.
Thought it was Dave Brown, but just looked it up and it was Ken Tibbets. He also played in Dickey's first Great Southern lineup. Obituary says he retired from music at the end of the 1970s and passed away about 10 years ago in Indiana.
https://www.bellmortuary.com/obituary/Kenneth-Tibbetts
Apparently he was in a band called The Melting Pot. I recall Dan Toler was playing in a band called Melting Pot when Dickey recruited him for Great Southern. They sound kind of like Chicago.
@porkchopbob They sound pretty good. The singer is nice. And that sounds a lot like Chicago. I had read the Melting Pot name before and got the impression they were known in Indiana and Illinois.
I think it happened in Chicago of all places. I could be wrong about where it happened. Dickey and Ken Tibbets had a big disagreement about song writing for Great Southern and they got into a big fight. One of the drummers sided with Ken and also joined in the fight
I'm not sure how that fight turned out but I saw Great Southern shortly afterwards and David Toler was now one of the drummers and Rook Goldflies was the new bass player and the keyboard player may have changed too. And Dickey had a BIG BLACK EYE!!! Someone popped Dickey pretty good.
Sorry to hear Ken has passed on.
Bruce (something) who was Gregg's bass player in the 1980's and is on Gregg's two late 80's albums also has passeded away too hasn't he?
Both Dan and David Toler are gone now.
I had a real crap day today, so I put on Blue Sky (again) and now everything is good again. Thank you Dickey Betts for always changing my mood for the better. RIP.
Nice two-page feature on Dickey in the latest print edition
of Rolling Stone by David Browne. This surprised me as RS
didn't mention Jeff Beck's passing at all.
Uh, everyone's favourite Cardi B on the cover.
