There is such a treasure trove of source material of vintage Allmans, Dickey Betts, and Gregg that I get lots of happiness still finding stuff like the DB 1974 live cut on the Capricorn compilation album I just found. They can do what they want personally these days, they have done enough. Not some wind up toy for my pleasure, so Dickey retirement is fine. Gregg soldiering on is in his blood so small venue blues review is fun also. If they self medicate I wouldn't know or personally worry about. Rock musicians doing things there are laws against.... what are things coming to?

Hey, it's all about the music, not their personal lives. If Dickey has a problem with his "addiction," then only he will have to deal with it.

Classic

The truth is most likely between he two extremes expressed here. None of the ABB, past or present have walked in the footsteps of Mother Theresa.

We should forgive their lifestyles, unless we want to forget their music, and unless we ourselves have behaved as well as we expect these guys to have behaved. That leaves me out. You know that line about casting the first stone...

Classic

That's awesome. I love the Toler brother footage - God rest their souls.

I tried to stay out of this, but I have to say I love Dickey Betts.....

I learned early that the Brady Bunch and Partridge families were fictional characters.

God Bless Dickey Betts.

EDIT: I removed some TMI material, but you know where I stand.

[Edited on 4/25/2016 by Fretsman]

Classic

That's awesome. I love the Toler brother footage - God rest their souls.

Classic

That's awesome. I love the Toler brother footage - God rest their souls.

That was great! Thanks

Classic

That's awesome. I love the Toler brother footage - God rest their souls.

That was great! Thanks

Awesome

Thanks for posting and sharing videos... I could definitly use a DBGS show for sure...

God bless Dickey Betts.

Jack Pearson just loves DB for exacerbating his tinnitus / behaving like a todder and refusing to put his stage amps down.

Real professional of DB. Help another musician lose their ability to play. Great guy. Yup.

I just don't recollect a Jack Pearson interview where he references Dickeys meanness or blames him for hearing damage.

I was at Dickey ABB shows and never experienced his turning his amps up in anger or playing bad.

It is just my opinion Jack does not need people he does not know speaking on his behalf, or speaking his thoughts that they believe they know.

I find anger at Dickey interesting to watch and try to understand. Don't get me wrong, everyone has validity in their OPINIONS.

Yup, sure looks pissed still in 2014 when they played together

I just don't recollect a Jack Pearson interview where he references Dickeys meanness or blames him for hearing damage.

From this:
http://nashvilleberkleejam.com/?p=267

He candidly shared how this landmark gig damaged his hearing, causing an already existing case of Tinnitus to worsen, ultimately forcing him to leave the gig, perhaps sooner than he otherwise would have.

“There’s really no way to describe how loud it was on stage…Dickey Betts wasn’t in the PA…he was 135 dB side stage…”

Jack is an adult and can make his own decisions. Nobody forced him to play loud concerts.

I saw Dickey at a club in Ferndale, MI (suburb outside of Detroit) in 2002. The next morning I got on a train to Chicago to see the ABB at the Chicago Theatre. My ears hurt so bad from the prior night it was difficult to enjoy the shows. Dickey played THAT loud.

Gov't Mule has had the same effect on me playing clubs. They used to play this place in downtown Detroit called "St. Andrews Hall", an old Catholic church. It was so loud they would let you go outside for a reprieve I guess. You didn't even need to buy a ticket; you could hear it fine from outside.

Don't know what Dickey is up to but his music was certainly well represented at Wanee this year...

Covered by Greg Allman, Warren Haynes, Jaimoe & Les Brers...

Don't know what Dickey is up to but his music was certainly well represented at Wanee this year...

Great 1st post, Nice vid's

I hope he is happy and healthy.

I can tell you what it looks like he is NOT up to - shaving, ha !

Which is exactly what I would do if I was retired, that is, not shave.

Dickey turning his amps up to "11" was a fairly common issue ... I heard it, and yea, he was loud.
I now prefer to focus on the cerebral Dickey. The comments and insight he shares in the Tom Dowd movie are so to the point. Same with the CMT special on "Southern Rock" and the other documentaries. He adds a lot to the mix with his memory and thoughtfulness of those early days. He had a hell of a lot to do, obviously, with the sound of the original ABB and if you believe, and I do, the Bros created a new genre, or better a subspecies of R&R, Dickey was front and center on the that, as well. The pic of he and Duane, his son, playing guitar is great,. He looks like Merle Haggard these days, and that ain't bad 'tal.

I guess Jack woulda' really hated playing with Duane!
He played through a Marshall Bass 50 head and two Marshall 4×12 cabinets if I'm not mistaken. Bet that was loud on stage...

The fact that Jack was filling in, had tinnitus, and had his hearing and career at risk from SOMEONE's choice to keep being an asshole about it speaks volumes to SOMEONE's adult decision to BE the ASSHOLE. Obviously, being an adult makes SOMEONE responsible for the choice to continue to be an ASSHOLE.

Jack might have stayed with the ABB longer, but why risk your career by playing onstage with THAT?

or maybe Dickey just couldn't hack the competition.

case closed.

case closed

Was this a trial? Or was that a statement implying that these issues are really old and clearly just an attempt to bash on someone for no reason?

"Here Comes The Judge - Here Comes the Judge" - Flip Wilson

There has to be issues more recent and deserving of your time than twenty year old Dickey tales.

Case Closed - They really were closed legally. A long time ago. You can move on as all the people who were actually involved did long ago.

or maybe Dickey just couldn't hack the competition.

case closed.

Jack and Dickey are two of my all time favorites.

Are you actually suggesting that Dickey Betts might be threatened playing guitar with Jack?

And,I thought guitar playing wasn't a competition? 😉

Maybe Dickey and Jack had one of them ole Guitar Duel Showdowns one night when nobody was around. They both played until they had blisters and Dickey finally cried uncle, not altogether proving who was better, but Dickey did concede so to go put band aids on.

One truth is the ABB were loud before Jack. I remember a Warren Dickey show where Warren was, along with Dickey very loud. I think Jack took a gig that was bad for his situation. I saw Dickey and Jack indoors, and it was noticeably not as loud as prior Warren shows I saw. Might have been venue related and not some indicator of norm.... whatever.

Turn down for what?

The fact that Jack was filling in, had tinnitus, and had his hearing and career at risk from SOMEONE's choice to keep being an asshole about it speaks volumes to SOMEONE's adult decision to BE the ASSHOLE. Obviously, being an adult makes SOMEONE responsible for the choice to continue to be an ASSHOLE.

Jack might have stayed with the ABB longer, but why risk your career by playing onstage with THAT?

or maybe Dickey just couldn't hack the competition.

case closed.

Seems to me that the band leader sets the "level" for the stage & I don't think anyone can question that Dickey was the bandleader at that time.

For what it is worth I have read that Jack absolutely Idolizes Dickey & that he loved the opportunity to play with him at the Gibson Southern Rock Les Paul event last year.

[Edited on 4/27/2016 by redhouse1969]

"In response to a question about some of his best and worst gigs, Jack said that some of the worst gigs are when people don’t listen, and the music that you play with somebody is more important than the venue, or how famous somebody is.

He explained how learning all of the Allman Brothers songs as a kid helped put him in the position to sub for Dickey Betts on an early 90s Allman Brothers tour, which led to some recording with Gregg Allman and eventually to a phone call from Gregg in which he was asked if he wanted to join the Allman Brothers band.

He candidly shared how this landmark gig damaged his hearing, causing an already existing case of Tinnitus to worsen, ultimately forcing him to leave the gig, perhaps sooner than he otherwise would have.

“There’s really no way to describe how loud it was on stage…Dickey Betts wasn’t in the PA…he was 135 dB side stage…”

As a fellow tinnitus sufferer I completely related to this portion of his talk and gained some new perspective as he explained that, despite wearing earplugs, extreme SPL’s (sound pressure levels) can still do damage, as the sound can affect your inner ear by entering your nose, mouth, and through your bones.

In response to a question about life lessons learned through music he answered, “Try not to take music for granted, it’s so special, and you can reach so many people…lyrics can encourage you, relate to your pain, but you can also do it with notes.” He demonstrated this by showing how the same group of notes can sound happy, or sad depending on where the emphasis is placed. He talked about the endless possibilities of how you can play even a single note, demonstrating this concept by playing a huge range of variances on a high “G” note."

Hey I guess if you want to applaud DB for fucking up another musician's liveihood go ahead. Whether or not they enjoy jamming these days or go fishing, I really do not care - that was not my point.

My point was asshole is as asshole does and asshole, he certainly did.