RIP Dickey Betts

[Michael_ Gee]

Rolling Stone reports Allman Brothers guitarist dead at age 80. Not merely a great player, but an outstanding songwriter.

 

[Inky_Wretch]

Dang it. That just leaves Jaimoe as the last original Allman Brothers Band founder.

While "Ramblin' Man" will get all the mentions in obits of him, I think the best song he wrote was "Blue Sky."

 

[Driftwood]

Yeah, RIP.
He wrote Ramblin Man, Blue Sky, Jessica, and others.
I was fortunate enough to see the Allmans when the classic lineup was still together (not Duane or Berry).

 

[Huggy]

Pretty much helped invent southern rock. The definition of too tough to die, massive talent but man does he come across really bad in One Way Out, a terrific oral bio of the ABB.

And yeah, Blue Sky is an awesome song.

 

[2muchcoffeeman]

https://www.news-journalonline.com/...rs-band-dies-sarasota-county-home/5809247002/

 

[swingline]

Dude got kicked out of the band because he drank too much. That takes some doing with that group.

 

[Driftwood]

I forget the name of the book I read about the band, but one story had Betts riding along one night, decide he was hungry, pull over, shoot a cow, an just cut a slab out of it.

 

[Neutral Corner]

Aw, man. They're dropping like dominoes.

I screwed around and got old.


RIP to one helluva musician. Another one done gone, lawd, lawd.

 

[Inky_Wretch]

Pretty much helped invent southern rock.

And with the Grateful Dead helped invent jambands as well. A 42-minute "Mountain Jam!?!" Yes, please.

 

[Huggy]

And with the Grateful Dead helped invent jambands as well. A 42-minute "Mountain Jam!?!" Yes, please.

There isn’t a wasted note on Fillmore East, especially on that epic Mountain Jam.

 

[John]

There may not be a better road trip song than Jessica. Unless it's Revival.

 

[dixiehack]

If you’ve never lived or worked in South Georgia, it’s hard to express just how damn big and unpopulated so much of it feels, hundreds of miles and decades removed from the sprawl of Atlanta.

And nothing captures that feeling like Melissa, words and melody alike. I will forever associate it with those dying little whistle stops inside the Macon-Valdosta-Savannah triangle of emptiness.

 

[maumann]

If you’ve never lived or worked in South Georgia, it’s hard to express just how damn big and unpopulated so much of it feels, hundreds of miles and decades removed from the sprawl of Atlanta.

And nothing captures that feeling like Melissa, words and melody alike. I will forever associate it with those dying little whistle stops inside the Macon-Valdosta-Savannah triangle of emptiness.

I never lived there but I've been through there. Cornelia, Commerce, Athens, Madison, Eatonton, Milledgeville, Dublin, McRae, Douglas, Pearson, Homerville and Fargo north to south on 441. And you'd better have SiriusXM or Spotify, because even the radio stations are few and far between.

Little towns with little brick houses, little rundown downtowns and maybe a McDonald's or Hardee's. Like you've gone back to 1960.

Although there's a certain charm about Douglas. If it wasn't for the oppressive summer heat, maybe a nice place to disappear from the world.

 

[dixiehack]

I think it was Lumber City (in Telfair County on US 23) where I heard Melissa and had the song and place connection seared into my head. Not my first time hearing the song, but it just fit the late Sunday afternoon mood so perfectly in that melancholy little slice of America.

 

[micropolitan guy]

I have one of his solo albums somewhere. "Highway Song" is a nice tune.

"Blue Sky" and "Jessica" are epic songs. Saw the ABB in Richmond in 1973. Good show.

 

[Jesus_Muscatel]

'In Memory of Elizabeth Reed" is a tour de force.

 

[Driftwood]

I've been to Commerce a dozen times for NHRA events. I never had any problems there.
I did get off the interstate in Macon once for the express purpose of visiting Duane's grave. I got right back on the interstate and kept heading north.

 

[Driftwood]

Although more associated with Macon, Ga., the Allman Brothers Band really originated out of Florida as did Skynyrd, Outlaws, and Molly Hatchet. Combine them with people like Tom Petty, John Anderson, Jimmy Buffett, and the music scene in Florida in the 70s was off that chart.

 

[Driftwood]

I've seen the Mount Rushmore of Southern Rock in some very odd places.
Allman Brothers - World's Fair Park, Knoxville
Skynyrd - high school football stadium, Kingsport
Molly Hatchet - Kingsport VFW
Outlaws - Harley dealership, Maryville
Marshall Tucker - bbq/beer festival, Kingsport

Throw in Charlie Daniels - fairgrounds, Knoxville

 

[Neutral Corner]

I never lived there but I've been through there. Cornelia, Commerce, Athens, Madison, Eatonton, Milledgeville, Dublin, McRae, Douglas, Pearson, Homerville and Fargo north to south on 441. And you'd better have SiriusXM or Spotify, because even the radio stations are few and far between.

Little towns with little brick houses, little rundown downtowns and maybe a McDonald's or Hardee's. Like you've gone back to 1960.

Although there's a certain charm about Douglas. If it wasn't for the oppressive summer heat, maybe a nice place to disappear from the world.

All of my daddy's people were from down there. Macon, Lyons, Vidalia, Hamilton/Pine Mountain, that neck of the woods.