Allman Brothers Band Co-Founder And Legendary Guitarist Dickey Betts Dies At 80

Allman brothers band co-founder who is also a legendary guitarist Dickey Betts dies at 80,

Dickey Betts, whose country-tinged songwriting and blazing, lyrical guitar work opposite Duane Allman in the Allman Brothers Band helped define the Southern rock genre of the 1960s and 1970s, died Thursday in Osprey, Florida. He was eighty.

His family issued a statement on Instagram, saying, “It is with profound sadness and heavy hearts that the Betts family announces the peaceful passing of Forrest Richard ‘Dickey’ Betts (December 12, 1943 — April 18, 2024) at the age of 80.” The legendary performer, songwriter, bandleader, and family patriarch died earlier today at his home in Osprey, Florida, surrounded by his family. Dickey was larger than life, and his loss will be felt around the world.”

In 1969, Betts and bassist Berry Oakley of the Florida band the Second Coming formed a new unit with members of two other Sunshine State bands — guitarist Duane Allman and his keyboard-playing brother Gregg of the Hour Glass and drummer Butch Trucks of the 31st of February — and Mississippi-born drummer Jai Johanny “Jaimoe” Johanson.

Riding a powerful twin-guitar sound that fused rock, blues, and country, the Allman Brothers Band inspired a slew of like-minded groups across the South, many of whom would find a home at Capricorn Records, the custom imprint founded by the Allmans’ manager Phil Walden.

The Allmans, a powerful live band known for their jamming abilities on songs like Betts’ instrumental “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed,” made their major commercial breakthrough in 1971 with the No. 13 two-LP concert set “At Fillmore East.”

Duane Allman’s tragic death at the age of 24 in an October 1971 motorcycle accident in Macon propelled Betts to a more prominent role in the band as songwriter, instrumentalist, and occasional lead vocalist.

He contributed the band’s long-running concert staple “Blue Sky” to 1972’s “Eat a Peach,” the group’s first album without Duane, which peaked at No. 4. The 1973 release “Brothers and Sisters” reached No. 1 nationally on the heels of the country-flavored Betts-penned single “Ramblin’ Man,” which peaked at No. 2.

The guitarist went on to write the Allman Brothers’ No. 29 single “Crazy Love” (1979) and co-wrote the band’s final top-40 single, “Straight From the Heart” (No. 39 in 1981).

Betts’ tenure with the Allman Brothers Band, which eventually expanded to include guitarists Dan Toler and Warren Haynes, both of whom had previously worked with him in solo projects, was lengthy, discontinuous, and frequently turbulent.

While the group was one of the most popular touring acts of the time, its members’ escalating drug use and volatile interpersonal relationships led to a split in 1976, following the release of their No. 5 album “Win, Lose or Draw.” Three years later, they regrouped and released their final top-10 album, “Enlightened Rogues.”

Though the Allmans remained a consistent live draw despite declining album sales in the 1980s and 1990s, ongoing conflict between Betts and Gregg Allman came to a head in 2000, when the guitarist abruptly left the group he had co-founded 31 years earlier, causing outrage among his bandmates. Haynes, his former sideman, remained with the band until its permanent disbandment in 2014.

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