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Well DANG! --- RIP Forrest Richard (Dickey) Betts


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Too many great ones are being reassigned to that great concert hall in the sky where surely Dickey Betts is  jamming again with Duane and Gregg. He leaves behind a wonderful gift and musical legacy that will be loved for generations. R.I.P. Dickey Betts... you were one of the great ones of our time.

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55 minutes ago, kidblast said:

Allman Brothers Band's Dickey Betts Dead at 80 (rollingstone.com)

I learned so much from listening to this guy.

RIP Dickey

So sad, I agree. A major influence in my playing style. I love how he used country-style major scale phrasing in southern rock songs. Blue Sky, Revival, In Memory of Elizabeth Reed and of course Ramblin' Man. And he was the perfect compliment to Duane and later as the headliner he kept the band together while Greg was a mess, before he became a mess himself and got booted. A favorite memory is the acoustic set they did at Great Woods in 1992 with Dickey and Warren Haynes along with Gregg doing electric songs acoustically.

RIP Dickey!

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Yeah he definitely held things together for the band in the 70's. I was too young to see Duane live but caught most of the shows in the late 70's when they came around. Saw some cool iterations of the band including when they had Chuck Leavell on second keyboard and Bonnie Bramlett on vocals. Bonnie and Dickey had great chemistry on Crazy Love. 

Forgot to mention Jessica and Southbound earlier, two more of Dickey's great songs.

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His tone on One Way Out is still one of my favorite guitar tones of all time. He was a huge influence on me, and many, many players of my generation. While I know he played a lot of different guitars over the years, when someone says "name a Goldtop player," his name is still the first one that pops to mind. 

RIP Mr. Betts, and thank you for all of the great music you left us. 

 

 

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He was 80 and in very poor health; had retired from music in 2017 but he did have an incredible life.

Part of the soundtrack to my youth; I still have the albums. He wrote some of the Allmans best tunes.

R.I.P.  

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7 hours ago, C-RAM said:

Ron Thompson will be inconsolable.  😪

Something like that, Thank You.  He hasn't been well for quite some time, I am glad he made it this long.

We know each other, but I don't know who you are!

rct

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5 hours ago, Phil OKeefe said:

His tone on One Way Out is still one of my favorite guitar tones of all time.

One of the few Duane years questions I ever asked him was "what were you thinking for that One Way Out solo, and how'd you get them harmonics on that one and Stormy Monday?"

"I wasn't thinkin anything.  It was hot, them speakers were raging*, and I was just standing in the right spot for both of them.  You could bite them notes off they were so good".

*2 100 watt heads into 4 cabs with 15" Altecs and JBLs.  They had to cover the backs of the cabs with plywood and drywall so they didn't kill Butch.

When I was a wee lad of 17 and played his white Les Paul on that Great Southern tour he did, Gloucester County College, I learned from him then "strings up pickups down".  That's how you do it.

rct

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I heard about this from one band mate tonight while I was at practice with my other band. 

He was one of my favorites, and I definitely cop a lot of his style in my own playing. Of course nowhere near his level.

RIP 

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When my buddy Steve and I play acoustic duo show ( and also when we add more people and play as a full band) one of the songs we always do in the last set is You Can't Always Get What You Want. To take up time, I always do an improv jam over the C and F chords. A few years ago I somehow spontaneously came up with a way to fit the Jessica riff in there. Of course it's not in the same key and it's a slowed down version but it works.  It's become a "thing" in our set now, where I will do an extended jam in the style of Dickey and eventually come back to You Can't Always Get What You Want  I'm sure we will extend that jam even further at tomorrow nights gig. 

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This one hit especially hard. When I got home from work yesterday my wife was out and my first thought was to have a chance to play in the empty house. I thought about grabbing my 336 and plugging in but it was locked away upstairs. So I grabbed my acoustic and sang and played Blue Sky, Melissa and Stormy Monday, all of which I do solo acoustic versions of as well as the electric versions with the band. Years ago while playing Melissa, I tossed some of the Blue Sky leads in and they worked, same key and all. Ever since, those two songs belong together. And at least for me, Stormy Monday is the gem of the Fillmore East album. I love the haunting minor cliche and Memphis swing rhythm turn in the middle. And I do the Dickey solo with the band. .

I felt a lot better after playing and felt blessed for the gift of wonderful music that Dickey and the rest of the Allman's gave us. 

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12 hours ago, rct said:

One of the few Duane years questions I ever asked him was "what were you thinking for that One Way Out solo, and how'd you get them harmonics on that one and Stormy Monday?"

"I wasn't thinkin anything.  It was hot, them speakers were raging*, and I was just standing in the right spot for both of them.  You could bite them notes off they were so good".

*2 100 watt heads into 4 cabs with 15" Altecs and JBLs.  They had to cover the backs of the cabs with plywood and drywall so they didn't kill Butch.

When I was a wee lad of 17 and played his white Les Paul on that Great Southern tour he did, Gloucester County College, I learned from him then "strings up pickups down".  That's how you do it.

rct

Thank you for that! I've often wondered about the rig he was using for the Fillmore gigs (and specifically on that song), as well as what was going through his mind as he was playing that solo. Such a great solo, and such awesome tone! 

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12 hours ago, rct said:

When I was a wee lad of 17 and played his white Les Paul on that Great Southern tour he did...

 

IMO, Dickey Betts & Great Southern is nearly criminally underrated. I love that album. Dan Toler and Dickey are both really good on that record. 

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No disrespect to Dickey's memory but since the conversation has shifted to Duane and Fillmore East, I decided to share this:

Ecb2oOX.jpg

This pic was taken by my late friend and guitar tech extraordinaire Bob Winters. He took the pic at the Lowell (MA) Memorial Auditorium two days before the legendary Fillmore East show. About 25 years ago he gave me an 8x10" print which I framed and hung on the wall in my music room. At the time he told me he also sent a print to the Allman Bros. Museum in Macon, GA. and supposedly it is on display there. I've never been so I don't know for sure. 

Anyhow, lots of emotion over Dickey's passing. Jaimo is the only original member left. Might pull Les Brers in A Minor out of my skull this weekend. I first learned it about 50 years ago and still use it sometimes as an intro to my acoustic Whippin' Post.

Rock on ABB fans!

 

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