Dickey Betts

Forrest Richard 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. 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.

Summary
Early in his career, Betts collaborated with Duane Allman, 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". 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 and also won a best rock performance Grammy Award with the band for "Jessica" in 1996. 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.

Life and career
Betts was born in West Palm Beach on December 12, 1943, and raised in Bradenton, Florida. He grew up in a musical family listening to traditional bluegrass, country music and Western swing. He started playing ukulele at the age of five and, as his hands got bigger, moved on to mandolin, banjo, and guitar. At sixteen, 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.

Early Allman Brothers Band years
In 1969, Duane Allman, a successful session player, gained 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. Duane, who had worked with Eric Clapton, once said, "I'm the famous guitar player, but Dickey is the good one."

After Allman's death in October 1971, Betts became the band's sole guitarist and took on a greater singing and leadership role. In the course of one night's traveling, he practiced slide guitar intensively in order to be able to cover the majority of Duane's parts. He wrote "Jessica" and the Allmans' biggest commercial hit, "Ramblin' Man". "Jessica" was inspired by his daughter of the same name.

Solo career and later work
Betts's first solo album, Highway Call, was released in 1974 and featured fiddle player Vassar Clements. 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. In 1978 he released an album, Atlanta's Burning Down.

The Allman Brothers reformed in 1979 for the album Enlightened Rogues, with two members of Great Southern replacing Allman Brothers members who were 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 and personnel changes followed, until declining record and concert ticket sales and management problems led the group to disband again in 1982.

Betts formed his own band, Betts, Hall, Leavell and Trucks, where he was co-frontman along with former Wet Willie singer, saxophone, and harmonica player Jimmy Hall. Despite earning good notices, the group was unable to secure a recording contract and disbanded in 1984. Betts returned to his solo career performing live at smaller venues, and released 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 success of the one-off tour resulted in a permanent reunion, which absorbed Betts's energies for the remainder of the 1990s. This band line-up released three studio albums between 1990 and 1994 and won the praise of the critics. 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, the Allman Brothers did not release another album of studio material after 1994's Where It All Begins for nine years, until Hittin' the Note in 2003. In 1994, Haynes and Allmans bassist Allen Woody formed Gov't Mule with former Dickey Betts Band drummer Matt Abts as a side project, 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.

A breaking point was reached in 2000 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. 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.

He 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 they were separated personally and as musical bandmates for over 15 years, Betts and Gregg Allman became reconciled before Allman's death in 2017. 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.

Betts' final album release was Dickey Betts & Great Southern Official Bootleg Vol. 1 (2021), a two-CD live album of performances from the 2000s.

Personal life
Betts married his fifth wife, Donna, in 1989. 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.

Betts resided briefly in Georgia during the formative years of the Allman Brothers Band. He lived in Florida's Sarasota metropolitan area for most of his life.

Health and death
In August 2018, Betts suffered a mild stroke and had to cancel tour dates with his Dickey Betts Band. He was taken to hospital and was in a critical but stable condition at a Florida hospital, following an accident at his home in Osprey, Florida. On September 20, 2018, 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."

Betts died from cancer and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease at his home in Osprey, Florida, on April 18, 2024, at the age of 80.

Discography

 * Highway Call (1974) (as Richard Betts)
 * Dickey Betts & Great Southern (1977) (as Dickey Betts & Great Southern)
 * Atlanta's Burning Down (1978) (as Dickey Betts & Great Southern)
 * Pattern Disruptive (1988) (as Dickey Betts Band)
 * Let's Get Together (2001) (as Dickey Betts Band)
 * The Collectors #1 (2002) (as Dickey Betts & Great Southern)
 * Instant Live: The Odeon – Cleveland, OH 3/09/04 (2004) (as Dickey Betts & Great Southern)
 * Bougainvillea's Call: The Very Best of Dickey Betts 1973–1988 (2006) (as Dickey Betts)
 * The Official Bootleg (2007) (as Dickey Betts & Great Southern)
 * Rockpalast: 30 Years of Southern Rock (1978–2008) (2010) (as Dickey Betts & Great Southern)
 * Live at the Coffee Pot 1983 (2016) (as Betts, Hall, Leavell and Trucks)
 * Live from the Lone Star Roadhouse (2018) (as Dickey Betts)
 * Ramblin' Man: Live at the St. George Theatre (2019) (as Dickey Betts Band)
 * Official Bootleg Vol.1 (2021) (as Dickey Betts & Great Southern)