Dickey Betts | |
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 Betts in 2008 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Forrest Richard Betts |
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| Born | December 12, 1943 West Palm Beach, Florida, U.S. |
| Died | April 18, 2024 (aged 80) Osprey, Florida, U.S. |
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| Years active | 1960–2021 |
| Member of | Dickey Betts Band |
| Formerly of |
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| Website | dickeybetts |
Forrest Richard "Dickey" Betts (December 12, 1943 – April 18, 2024) was an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, composer and founding member of the Allman Brothers Band. He assumed sole lead guitar duties during the peak of the group's commercial success in the mid-1970s and was the writer and singer on the Allmans' hit single "Ramblin' Man". Betts was inducted with the band into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995.[1] He was ranked No. 58 on Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time list in 2003, and No. 61 on the list published in 2011.[2][3]
Early in his career, Betts collaborated with Duane Allman,[4] introducing melodic twin guitar harmony and counterpoint which "rewrote the rules for how two rock guitarists can work together, completely scrapping the traditional rhythm/lead roles to stand toe to toe".[5] Following Allman's death in 1971, Betts assumed sole lead guitar duties during the peak of the group's commercial success in the mid-1970s. Betts was the writer and singer on the Allmans' hit single "Ramblin' Man". He also gained renown for composing instrumentals, with one appearing on most of the group's albums, including "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed" and "Jessica" (which was later used as the theme to Top Gear).
The band went through a hiatus in the late 1970s, during which time Betts, like many of the other band members, pursued a solo career and side projects under such names as Great Southern and The Dickey Betts Band. The Allman Brothers reformed in 1979, with Dan Toler taking the second guitar role alongside Betts. In 1982, they broke up a second time, during which time Betts formed the group Betts, Hall, Leavell and Trucks, which lasted until 1984. A third reformation occurred in 1989, with Warren Haynes now joining Betts on guitar.
Betts was ousted from the band in 2000 over a conflict regarding his continued drug and alcohol use; he never played with them again, nor would he appear with other former band members for reunions or side projects. With the death of Betts on April 18, 2024, Jai Johanny "Jaimoe" Johanson is the last living founding member of the Allman Brothers Band.
He was inducted with the band into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995[1] and also won a best rock performance Grammy Award with the band for "Jessica" in 1996.[6] Betts was ranked No. 58 on Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time list in 2003, and No. 61 on the list published in 2011.[2][3]
Born in West Palm Beach on December 12, 1943, and raised in Bradenton, Florida,[7][8] Betts grew up in a musical family listening to traditional bluegrass, country music and Western swing. He started playing ukulele at five and, as his hands got bigger, moved on to mandolin, banjo, and guitar. At sixteen and feeling the need for something "a little faster", he played in a series of rock bands on the Florida circuit, up the East Coast and into the Midwest before forming Second Coming with Berry Oakley in 1967. According to Rick Derringer, the "group called the Jokers" referenced in "Rock and Roll, Hoochie Koo" was one of Betts' early groups.[9]
In 1969, Duane Allman had parlayed success as a session player into a contract with Southern soul impresario Phil Walden, who planned to back a power trio featuring Allman. The ensuing Allman Brothers Band eventually grew to six members, including Duane's brother Gregg, Betts, and Oakley.[citation needed]
Duane, who also collaborated with Eric Clapton, once said, "I'm the famous guitar player, but Dickey is the good one."[10] After Allman's death in October 1971, Betts became the band's sole guitarist and also took on a greater singing and leadership role. Betts, over the course of one night's traveling, practiced slide guitar intensively in order to cover the majority of Duane's parts. He went on to write "Jessica" and the Allmans' biggest commercial hit, "Ramblin' Man".[11] "Jessica" was inspired by his daughter of the same name.[12]
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Betts's first solo album, Highway Call, was released in 1974, and featured fiddle player Vassar Clements.[13] After the Allman Brothers fell apart in 1976, Betts released more albums, starting with Dickey Betts & Great Southern in 1977, which included the song "Bougainvillea", co-written with future Hollywood star Don Johnson.[14] In 1978 he released an album, Atlanta's Burning Down.[15]
The Allman Brothers reformed in 1979 for the album Enlightened Rogues with two members of Great Southern replacing Allman Brothers members unwilling to participate in the reunion: guitar player Dan Toler (for pianist Chuck Leavell) and bassist David "Rook" Goldflies (for bassist Lamar Williams). Several albums would follow, with various personnel changes, until steadily declining record and concert ticket sales and tensions around management issues led the group to again disband in 1982.[16]
Betts then formed Betts, Hall, Leavell and Trucks, where he was co-frontman along with former Wet Willie singer, saxophone, and harmonica player Jimmy Hall. Despite getting good notices, the group was unable to secure a recording contract and disbanded in 1984.[17] Betts then returned to his solo career, performing live at smaller venues and releasing the album Pattern Disruptive in 1989. When a one-off reunion tour was proposed in support of the Allman Brothers' Dreams box set released in 1989 to commemorate the band's 20th anniversary, Betts's solo band again supplied the Allman Brothers' other guitarist, slide guitarist Warren Haynes. The one-off tour's success resulted in a permanent reunion which absorbed Betts's energies for the remainder of the 1990s. This band lineup went on to release three studio albums between 1990 and 1994 and winning the praise of the critics.[18]
Betts was replaced on numerous Allman Brothers tour dates throughout the mid-to-late 1990s, for what were reported in the media as "personal reasons". While remaining active as a touring band, they failed to release an album of new studio material after 1994's Where It All Begins until 2003's Hittin' the Note. Haynes and Allman Brothers bassist Allen Woody formed Gov't Mule with former Dickey Betts Band drummer Matt Abts as a side project in 1994, and left the Allman Brothers for Gov't Mule full-time in 1997. Betts' last show with the Allman Brothers was at the Music Midtown Festival in Atlanta, Georgia, on May 7, 2000.[19]
Things reached a breaking point when the remaining original Allman Brothers members – Gregg Allman, Butch Trucks, and Jaimoe – suspended Betts (reportedly via fax) before the launch of the band's Summer Campaign Tour 2000.[20] According to Betts, the band told him in the fax to get clean (presumably from alcohol and/or drugs). Betts was subsequently ordered out of the band after the dispute went to arbitration.[21]
Betts was temporarily replaced for the 2000 tour by Jimmy Herring, formerly of the Aquarium Rescue Unit. When Betts filed suit against the other three original Allmans, the separation turned into a permanent divorce. Although separated personally and as musical bandmates for over 15 years, Betts and Gregg Allman did reconcile before Allman's death in 2017.[22] Betts re-formed the Dickey Betts Band in 2000 and toured that summer. The band reassumed the name Dickey Betts & Great Southern and added Betts' son Duane (named after Duane Allman) on lead guitar. In 2005, Betts released the DVD Live from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.[23]
Betts' final album release was Dickey Betts & Great Southern Official Bootleg Vol. 1 (2021), a two-CD live album of performances from the 2000s.[24]
Betts married his fifth wife, Donna, in 1989.[25] He had four children: Kimberly, Christy, Jessica, and Duane. Christy is married to Frank Hannon of the band Tesla. Jessica is the namesake of Betts' instrumental. Duane, named for Betts' former bandmate Duane Allman, is also a musician and performed and recorded with his father.[26]
Although he briefly resided in Georgia during the formative years of the Allman Brothers Band, he lived in Florida's Sarasota metropolitan area for most of his life.[27]
In August 2018, Betts suffered a mild stroke and had to cancel upcoming tour dates with his Dickey Betts Band. He was in critical yet stable condition at a Florida hospital following an accident at his home in Osprey, Florida. An operation was planned for September 20, 2018.[28] He successfully underwent surgery to relieve swelling on his brain. In a statement posted on his website, Betts and his family said the "outpouring of support from all over the world has been overwhelming and amazing. We are so appreciative."[29]
Betts died from cancer and COPD at his home in Osprey, Florida, on April 18, 2024. He was 80.[30][31] Following his death, drummer Jaimoe (Jai Johanny Johanson), became the last surviving original member of the Allman Brothers Band.[32]
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See also: The Allman Brothers Band discography |
