Guitar legend Dickey Betts, who co-founded the Allman Brothers Band and wrote their greatest hit, “Ramblin’ Man,” has died. He was 80.
The Rock & Roll Corridor of Famer died at his residence in Osprey, Florida, David Spero, Betts’ supervisor of 20 years, confirmed. Betts had been battling most cancers for greater than a yr and had continual obstructive pulmonary illness, Spero stated.
“He was surrounded by his entire household and he handed peacefully. They didn’t assume he was in any ache,” Spero stated by telephone.
Betts shared lead guitar duties with Duane Allman within the unique Allman Brothers Band to assist in giving the group its distinctive sound and create a brand new style — Southern rock. Acts starting from Lynyrd Skynyrd to Child Rock have been influenced by the Allmans’ music, which mixed the blues, nation, R&B and jazz with ‘60s rock.
Based in 1969, the Allmans have been a pioneering jam band, trampling the normal notion of three-minute pop songs by performing prolonged compositions in live performance and on file. The band was additionally notable as a biracial group from the Deep South.
Duane Allman died in a motorbike accident in 1971, and founding member Berry Oakley was killed in a motorbike crash a yr later. That left Betts and Allman’s youthful brother Gregg because the band’s leaders, however they regularly clashed, and substance abuse prompted additional dysfunction. The band broke up at the very least twice earlier than reforming, and has had greater than a dozen lineups.
The Allman Brothers Band was inducted into the Rock & Roll Corridor of Fame in 1995 and earned a Lifetime Achievement Grammy Award in 2012. Betts left the group for good in 2000, and likewise performed solo and together with his personal band Nice Southern, which included his son, guitarist Duane Betts.
Forrest Richard Betts was born Dec. 12, 1943, and was raised within the Bradenton, Florida, space, close to the freeway 41 he sang about in “Ramblin’ Man.” His household had lived in space for the reason that mid-Nineteenth century.
Betts grew up listening to nation, bluegrass and Western swing, and performed the ukulele and banjo earlier than specializing in the electrical guitar as a result of it impressed ladies. At 16 he left residence for his first highway journey, becoming a member of the circus to play in a band.
He returned residence, and with bassist Oakley joined a gaggle that grew to become the Jacksonville, Florida-based band Second Coming. One night time in 1969 Betts and Oakley jammed with Duane Allman, already a profitable session musician, and his youthful brother, and collectively they fashioned the Allman Brothers Band.
The group moved to Macon, Georgia, and launched a self-titled debut album in 1969. A yr later got here the album “Idlewild South,” highlighted by Betts’ instrumental composition “In Reminiscence of Elizabeth Reed,” which quickly grew to become a live performance staple.
The 1971 double album “At Fillmore East,” now thought-about among the many best stay albums of the basic rock period, was the Allmans’ business breakthrough and cemented their performing repute by showcasing the distinctive guitar interaction between Allman and Betts. Their kinds contrasted, with Allman enjoying bluesy slide guitar, whereas Betts’ solos and singing tugged the band towards nation. When layered in concord, their enjoying was particularly distinctive.
The group additionally had two drummers — “Jaimoe” Johanson, who’s Black, and Butch Vans.
Duane Allman died 4 days after “Fillmore” was licensed as a gold file, however the band carried on and crowds continued to develop. The 1973 album “Brothers and Sisters” rose to No. 1 on the charts and featured “Ramblin’ Man,” with Betts singing the lead and bringing twang to the Prime 40. The tune reached No. 2 on the singles charts and was stored out of the No. 1 spot by “Half Breed” by Cher, who later married Gregg Allman.
The hovering sound of Betts’ guitar on “Ramblin’ Man” reverberated in neighborhood bars across the nation for many years, and the tune underscored his knack for melodic hooks. “Ramblin’ Man” was the Allmans’ solely Prime Ten hit, however Betts’ catchy 7½-minute instrumental composition “Jessica,” recorded in 1972, grew to become an FM radio staple.
Betts additionally wrote or co-wrote among the band’s different best-loved songs, together with “Blue Sky” and “Southbound.” In later years the group remained a profitable touring act with Betts and Warren Haynes on guitar. Gregg Allman and Butch Vans died in 2017.
After leaving the Allmans for good, Betts continued to play together with his personal group and lived within the Bradenton space together with his spouse, Donna.
