Legendary guitarist co-founded Allman Brothers Band
Dickie Betts, who died Thursday at age 80, really was born a ramblin’ man.
He left home at 16 to join the circus and became a renowned guitarist touring the world with the Allman Brothers Band. He wrote the group’s biggest hit, “Ramblin’ Man,” and remained on the road until he reached the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
Betts died at his home in Osprey, Fla., his manager of 20 years, David Spero, said by phone. He had been battling cancer for more than a year and had chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, Spero said.
“He was surrounded by his whole family and he passed peacefully. They didn’t think he was in any pain,” he said.
Betts shared lead guitar duties with Duane Allman in the original Allman Brothers Band to help give the group its unique sound and create a new genre, Southern rock. The band blended blues, country, R&B and jazz with ’60s rock to produce a distinct sound that influenced a host of major acts, including Lynyrd Skynyrd, ZZ Top, Phish, Jason Isbell and Chris Stapleton, among many others.
“My first concert was Dickey Betts at Coleman’s in Rome, New York in 1983,” blues-rock guitarist Joe Bonamassa said in an Instagram post Thursday, crediting Betts with inspiring his favorite electric guitar model. “Blew my mind and made me want a Les Paul.”
Other tributes came from members of the Allman Brothers Band’s extended family.
Guitarist Derek Trucks and his wife and bandmate, Susan Tedeschi, posted on their Instagram account that Betts was “one of best to ever do it.”
Trucks joined the Allman Brothers Band in 1999. His uncle Butch Trucks was one of the band’s two founding drummers.
Bassist Berry Duane Oakley, son of Allman Brothers founding bassist Berry Oakley, honored his “Uncle Dickey” on Facebook, saying: “If not for him, I don’t think I would be a touring musician. The cat in the hat will never be forgotten, and will always be honored not only for the wonderful life he lived, but the wonderful music he has left behind for all of us to share and remember.”
Founded in 1969, the Allmans were a pioneering jam band, trampling the traditional formula of three-minute pop songs by performing lengthy compositions in concert and on record. The band was also notable as a biracial group from the Deep South.
Duane Allman died in a motorcycle accident in 1971, and Berry Oakley was killed in a motorcycle crash the following year. That left Betts and Allman’s younger brother, Gregg, as the band’s leaders, but they frequently clashed, and substance abuse caused further dysfunction. The band broke up at least twice before reforming, and has had more than a dozen lineups.
The Allman Brothers Band was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1995 and earned a Lifetime Achievement Grammy Award in 2012. Betts left the group for good in 2000. He also played solo and with his own band Great Southern, which included his son, guitarist Duane Betts.
Forrest Richard Betts was born Dec. 12, 1943, and raised in the Bradenton, Fla., area, near the Highway 41 he sang about in “Ramblin’ Man.” His family had lived in the area since the mid19th century.
A descendant of Canadian fiddlers, Betts was listening to string bands before he even started school. He developed a fondness for country, bluegrass and Western swing, and played the ukulele and banjo before focusing on the electric guitar because it impressed girls. But he usually did his songwriting on an acoustic guitar.
Betts “excelled at anything that caught his attention,” according to a statement posted Thursday on the Allman Brothers Band’s official website. “He was passionate in life, be it music, songwriting, fishing, hunting, boating, golf, karate or boxing.”