THE ALLMAN BETTS BAND
On their excellent new album there are similarities between their music and that of their fathers' legendary band, but they're adamant that “we’re not the Allman Brothers Part Two”.
Devon Allman is extremely proud of the Allman Betts Band. Justifiably, given that the group’s introductory statement, Down To The River, ranks among the finest debut albums of 2019. What the 47-year-old guitarist doesn’t like too much is people comparing the Allman Betts Band to the Allman Brothers Band, the legendary southern blues-rock band formed 50 years ago by Devon’s late keyboard-playing, honey-voiced father Gregg. His frustration is understandable. Devon, who didn’t even meet his father until he was 17, has spent two decades carving out a career of his own, in a solo capacity and with the groups Royal Southern Brotherhood and Honeytribe.
Eighteen months ago he reached out to another descendent of the ABB dynasty, Duane Betts, son of their co-founding guitarist Dickey, to form the Devon Allman Project Featuring Duane Betts, which became the Allman Betts Band when the duo committed to what Devon described to Classic Rock as “the goal of making a classic record,” adding: “We know that’s a tall order but we’re up for it, man.” The Allman Betts Band name was retained even after the integration of yet more of the ABB’s ancestral roots: bass player Berry Oakley Jr, whose father was also in ABB.
The conversation with Devon begins good-naturedly enough. We share a laugh over the improbability of having called the group the Devon Allman Project Featuring Duane Betts And Berry Oakley Jr (“There’s only so much room on a marquee”), and he talks with fondness of the Allman Betts Band’s triumphant appearance at Ramblin’ Man Fan Fair this summer, and voices his disappointment that the band had to cut short a further run of dates after he was hospitalised to have his appendix removed.
Allman talks animatedly of the instant chemistry he discovered with Betts, and how the songs that appear on Down To The River began to flow out of them almost immediately. “I think the first thing we wrote for the record was Long Gone, and All Night and Melodies Are Memories weren’t too far behind, so we ended up riding the wave,” he explains. “Right from the start it felt natural and authentic. Both of us know that there’s a million people in the world that would like to hear an Allman and a Betts doing a project and being on stage together, but if there’s no real spark then what would have been the point? But luckily it felt organic and the material came real quick, otherwise Duane would have been off making his second solo record and I’d have begun my fourth. And that would also have been okay; our friendship would have carried on.”
Allman expresses happiness that with Oakley in the band Allman-Betts signed a worldwide deal with BMG Records. Oakley joined too late to make any meaningful contribution to the writing, but, as Allman points out: “He’s such an incredible player. He holds down the bottom end and, unlike so many bass players, he knows when to play and when lay back. He’s a consummate musician. The Oakley thing [the name] is great, but if he wasn’t such a wonderful musician then we wouldn’t have invited him on board.
“It all goes back to 1989, when I met Duane for the first time on the Allman Brothers reunion tour,” Allman continues. “That’s also where I met Berry too. So it feels like going back in time to come forwards again. We’re the three amigos.”
Nevertheless, a discernible coolness enters Allman’s voice when mention is made of the presences of Peter Levin (his father Gregg’s Hammond organ player) and Chuck Leavell (current keyboard player with the Stones and a member of the Allman Brothers Band throughout the 70s) on the album, and how they could
“This is a brand-new band, but we know we have a lot to prove. The cool thing is that there are
so many places we can go”
Devon Allman
positively impact upon the way the group is marketed.
“It might be meaningful to a lot of people, but beyond that aspect they’re both world-class players and that’s exactly what we wanted,” he responds cautiously. “Chuck is such a sweetheart, and he’s been so supportive of the careers of Duane and I.”
After a couple more questions about the album and the band’s live performance, it becomes apparent that Devon is unhappy about something. When I praise the Down To The River track Shining, suggesting that its brilliant, bubbly riff is straight out of an Allman Brothers song – a comparison intended as praise – he pauses for a second and replies: “You know… it definitely harkens back to the past. When Duane and I do that song [live] it’s electric, and you see the faces in the room light up. It’s special, for sure.”
However, there’s a change of tone when Classic Rock highlights the many commonalities between the two bands, and how some might view them as cynical. “I’m not real comfortable talking about that. We’re our own band, and not some spin-off of the Brothers,” Allman responds with a deep sigh, before becomingly mildly angry. “I have ten records of my own; I’ve toured the world for seventeen years.”
Some people don’t know that, though. To those people you are a ‘new’ name.
“Yeah, and that’s fine. But I’m not out here to prove anything, except that I want to be the best musician I can be.”
Later on, when asked whether Duane’s father Dickey has attended any shows by the Allman Betts Band, he emits a further wearied sigh.
“Look, you’re asking me a lot of questions about the Allman Brothers, and I’m not real comfortable with that – not when the focus is more on that band than my own.”
Slightly nonplussed, I explain that with so many commonalities existing between the two groups – notably that the Allman Betts Band features three descendants of the Brothers’ co-founding members – we’re only trying understand what makes them tick.
“Of course there are certain commonalities, but we didn’t start this band to take the place of the fucking Allman Brothers, man,” he thunders. “This band was formed because we’d been friends for thirty years. It just so happens three of the guys are related to the Allman Brothers. We play two songs out of nineteen as a nod to our fathers, and we do that because the Brothers are not a band any more. If we went on stage for two and a half hours without playing anything by the Allmans, that would be disrespectful – just as it would be incredibly disrespectful to go up there and play a set of all Allman Brothers material.
“We have a history of our own, and we have a work ethic that exists outside of who we’re related to,” he continues. “It’s a fine line, but we’re not the Allman Brothers Part Two. Some of the fans may think that, and they can think whatever they want. For me, when I look out at the crowd and a sixty-year-old guy is crying because we’re playing [Allman Brothers songs] Blue Sky or Midnight Rider, I think of that as a beautiful thing. But what I hope people will take away is that, hey, this is a whole new chapter, not just for the Allmans but in rock’n’roll. We’re proud of the fact that in 2019 somebody is still making organic rock’n’roll in not just the same way that the Allmans did things, but also the Stones, The Band and Santana did it – that’s where we’re coming from.”
Having got that off his chest, Allman relates that Dickey Betts has attended an Allman-Betts show, and that when he did so Allman received “chills” from having him at the side of the stage and smiling, “because thirty years earlier we had been at the side of the stage and smiling at him”. Later on, he say Betts Senior even sat in during another Allman Betts Band concert, “which warmed my heart and was an incredible moment. Once again, it was that feeling of the wheel having turned full circle.”
Acouple of days afterwards, Classic Rock speaks individually to Duane Betts and Berry Junior. Although equally sincere, neither is as outspoken as Allman, nor as prickly. “Devon is very, very good at making things happen, and we are lucky that we agree on just about everything, but first and foremost this is a band of equals,” states Betts, who it transpires has known Oakley since the age of 11 when the elder boy sometimes effectively babysat for Betts and Devon’s half-brother Elijah Blue when Cher left the house to run errands.
“Berry and I have since played together in many bands, and when the chance of having him in the Allman Betts Band came along it was an easy decision,” Betts explains. “We’ve developed such a great way of collaborating via our various strengths. Devon has the whole frontman thing going on; he’s more of a singer than I am. I just do the same thing over and over, and hopefully I fool people into thinking that I know what I’m doing.”
Just like Allman, Betts believes it’s healthy to “tip the hat” to his father’s continuing legacy, although he says with a smile: “Just so long as they don’t assume we’re some kind of tribute band. That would be very stupid.”
Besides expressing excitement at being a part of the Allman Betts Band, Oakley offers some useful character insight. “Duane is definitely country, and Devon is rock’n’roll,” he says with a laugh, “but they’ve found a nice way of meeting each other halfway.”
Oakley has been known to use his father’s famous original Tractor bass, a Fender Jazz equipped with a Guild pickup, with the new group. It’s another of those little parallels with the Brothers that mean a lot.
“Sure, I understand why some people reach the wrong conclusions about this band,” Oakley remarks casually. “What I hope people will recognise in us is the same feeling of camaraderie and purpose that brought the original band together.”
The final words go to Devon Allman, who reveals: “The band is already two sessions deep into writing the second record, with over twenty ideas to be considered. We just want to go deeper into everything – deeper lyrics, deeper grooves, and an even bigger helping of soul,” he concludes. “This is a brand-new band but we know that we have a lot to prove. The cool thing is that there are so many places that we can go.”
Down To The River is out now via BMG.
“We didn’t start this
band to take the place of the f**king Allman Brothers.”
Devon Allman