Gregg Allman and Dickey Betts are two of the most underrated musicians in the history of rock and roll. Both were members of the Allman Brothers Band from the beginning, but did not start the band. Duane Allman, one of the greatest guitarist of all time, overshadowed both of them despite his early death and absence from the height of the band. But the Allman Brothers Band was filled with incredible musicians, Gregg Allman & Dickey Betts standing out as Southern Rock royalty.
When Duane Allman started the band that would become the Allman Brothers, it was a trio that didn’t even include Gregg Allman or Dickey (Richard) Betts. Gregg Allman was the last of the original six to join the band as they needed a singer, and ultimately that gave the band a name. Betts was a guitarist playing alongside one of the greats on the same instrument.
Duane Allman was a blues guitarist. The Allman Brothers first two albums (The Allman Brothers Band and Idlewid South) are essentially blues albums….and great ones. Their iconic At Filmore East is a blues album. When Duane Allman died in a motorcycle accident, the band evolved. The blues never totally left, but Dickey Betts stepped forward to introduce a more country sound….and sing too.
By the time Eat a Peach came out in 1972, the Allman Brothers were inventing Southern Rock. The album was a tribute to Duane Allman, and featured some of his recordings live and in the studio, but also included “Melissa” by Gregg Allman and “Blue Sky” by Dickey Betts, which represented a different approach. They were happier, slower, softer songs with country elements that are now essential to any Southern Rock playlist.
By 1973, the Allman Brothers released Brothers and Sisters which had blues and country that blended to make the Southern Rock sound. Lynyrd Skynyrd’s first album was released the same month (August) as Brothers and Sisters, and Southern Rock was off and running. The Allman Brothers had their biggest radio hit with Dickey Betts’ “Ramblin’ Man”.
Dickey Betts used his new found singling prowess and country sound to put out a solo album under ‘Richard Betts’ in 1974: Highway Call. That album would definitely be called country today, but it is filled with laid back guitar licks, instrumentals and feel good songs.
Gregg Allman was also embarking on a solo career, albeit in a different direction. He released Laid Back in late 1973, which is a really good laid back record like the title indicates. It’s got more soul, singer-songwriter vibes.
In both cases, Betts and Allman chose a softer sound for their solo album than what they had done with the Allman Brothers. Betts chose fiddle and steel guitars while Allman chose horns and background singers, but both are great listens.
They reconvened in 1975 to produce Win, Lose or Draw for the Allman Brothers, which kind of epitomized where the two leaders were at the moment. The first song was a blues cover, followed by some Dickey Betts songs that sound like they were leftover from Highway Call, and some Gregg Allman songs that were leftovers from Laid Back.
The highlight of Win, Lose or Draw was the 14-minute instrumental epic, “High Falls”. If Gregg Allman’s lasting legacy is that he is one of the greatest white blues singers, then Dickey Betts is that he can produce masterful jazzy instrumentals.
Betts started crafting instrumentals on Idlewild South with “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed”. He followed that up with one on almost every Allman Brothers album:
- “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed” on Idlewild South
- “Les Bres in A Minor” on Eat a Peach
- “Jessica” on Brothers and Sisters
- “High Falls” on Win, Lose or Draw
- “Pegasus” on Enlightened Rogues
- “From the Madness of the West” on Reach for the Sky
- “True Gravity” on Seven Turns
- “Kind of Bird” on Shades of Two Worlds
Betts also had several great instrumentals on his solo projects:
- “Hand Picked” on Highway Call
- “Kissimmee Kid” on Highway Call
- “Duane’s Blues” on Pattern Disruptive
- “One Stop Be-Bop” on Let’s Get Together
- “Beyond the Pale” on The Collector’s #1
- “The Preacher” on The Collector’s #1
- “Willie & Po’ Bob” on The Collector’s #1
That kind of creative musicianship was evident with Gregg Allman as well. The Allman Brothers broke up after Win, Lose or Draw, leaving both Allman and Betts to focus solely on their solo careers. Allman went more in the direction of what is now known as Yacht Rock in his 1977 album, Playin’ Up a Storm.
Betts started the band Great Southern and put out a self-titled album in 1977 that is a very good mix of country and blues which keeps the Southern Rock tradition alive. His 1978 album, Atlanta’s Burning Down, starts strong but isn’t nearly as good as the previous record.
Despite how big the Allman Brothers were in the mid-1970s, Playin’ Up a Storm and Dickey Betts & Great Southern did not perform very well commercially even though they are very good. When Allman’s album with then-wife Cher bombed, and Great Southern’s second album wasn’t very good, they both turned back to the Allman Brothers in 1979.
An interesting relationship arose during this time with soon-to-be famous actor Don Johnson. One of Betts’ most famous songs from his solo career was “Bougainvillea” which he co-wrote with Johnson. When the Allman Brothers got back together on Enlightened Rogues, Johnson co-wrote “Can’t Take it With You” and “Blind Love” with Betts (Allman sang both). In 1986, Johnson parlayed his Miami Vice fame into releasing an album which Betts played on. Then in 1987, Johnson sang background vocals on “Evidence of Love” by Gregg Allman.
Enlightened Rogues was a term Duane Allman used to describe the band. Now they were back together and achieved their second highest charting single with “Crazy Love”. By second highest charting single, that’s not saying much as it peaked at 29. The fame the Allman Brothers achieved is pretty remarkable considering the only real hit song they ever had was “Ramblin’ Man”, which went to No. 2. (Gregg Allman did take a re-worked version of “Midnight Rider” to No. 19 in 1973 off Laid Back.)
The success of Enlightened Rogues proved Betts and Allman were better together than apart, at least commercially. But the local record label the Allman Brothers essentially made, Capricorn, filed bankruptcy soon after. So the Allman Brothers had to move to Arista Records and things went downhill when that happened.
With six solid albums (several of them iconic) under their belt, it’s hard to believe the Allman Brothers Band could be influenced by any record company to produce a certain type of music. But the Allman Brothers were kind of an enigma at that time in that they could fill stadiums of people but did not much reach in popular music. 1980’s Reach for the Sky was the first for Arista Records, and the music is more like they are chasing the Southern Rock sound that .38 Special or Marshall Tucker succeeded with on the charts and less like the sound they invented.
Brothers of the Road in 1981 looked like the end of the road. It did feature the band’s third and final top 40 hit with “Straight From the Heart” – a song that sucks so bad it sounds like an 80s sitcom theme song. I’m not totally sure what happened here, other than Arista Records were pushing for something the Allman Brothers were not and they felt they had to oblige (it’s the first album not to feature an instrumental); or if the band was just too drugged out and tired to fight it. Either way, it wasn’t good and it looked like Gregg Allman and Dickey Betts were already washed up in their 30s.
Betts turned to country music in the early 80s. He recorded a demo album called Night (which can be found on You Tube). For whatever reason, the album did not get released. Then he toured with fellow former Allman Brothers Butch Trucks and Chuck Leavell to create Betts, Hall, Leavell and Trucks. You can find a live album from that group (which features a version of “Whole Lotta Memories” from the Night album). That group was a kind of a boogie-woogie good time bar band that never found a record deal, and eventually dissolved in 1984.
Betts then tried country music again. He played on a couple of Hank Williams, Jr. albums and co-wrote the top 10 song ,”Your Memory Ain’t What it Used to Be” by Mickey Gilley. During this time he was working on his own country album, but it was eventually scrapped. The only song to receive a finished recording was “Nancy”, released on the Dreams boxset in 1989.
Still, if you complied a country music playlist by Dickey Betts, you’d get a solid baker’s dozen worth:
- “Long Time Gone” from Highway Call
- “Rain” from Highway Call
- “Highway Call” from Highway Call
- “Let Nature Sing” from Highway Call
- “Hand Picked” from Highway Call
- “Kissimmee Kid” from Highway Call
- “Louisiana Lou and Three Card Monty John” from Win, Lose or Draw
- “Good Time Feeling” from Atlanta’s Burning Down
- “Atlanta’s Burning Down” from Atlanta’s Burning Down
- “I Got a Right to be Wrong” from Reach for the Sky
- “Nancy” from Dreams
- “Seven Turns” from Seven Turns
- “The Preacher” from The Collectors #1
Gregg Allman spent the early to mid 1980s in relative obscurity. He did very little touring and did not have a record deal. Eventually he needed to get back in the game, so in 1987 he emerged with I’m No Angel.
The title track, “I’m No Angel”, reached No. 1 on the Mainstream Rock charts. The song has a true 80s sound, but the album is pure Yacht Rock. Even more so than Playing’ Up a Storm which was released as the yachty sound was gaining momentum. While 1987 is a little past the ‘official’ Yacht Rock timeframe, it’s one of the best albums of the genre in my opinion (even though I have not seen anyone recognize it as such). Gregg Allman puts himself in Michael McDonald territory on this one.
After that success, Allman quickly followed up with Before the Bullets Fly in 1988. This was another really good album, although not quite the commercial success of I’m No Angel. It had a little more blues, 80s grooves and some yachty numbers as well.
The bridge of Gregg Allman from the Allman Brothers Band to Yacht Rock may seem weird, but consider that Chuck Leavell, the piano / keyboard player who joined the band after Duane Allman died, was the leader of Sea Level from 1976-1981. He was an Allman Bros. member for Brothers and Sisters and Win, Lose or Draw then started full on Yacht Rock with four Sea Level albums during the height of the genre.
Here’s my baker’s dozen Gregg Allman Yacht Rock playlist:
- “Queen of Hearts” from Laid Back
- “Bring it on Back” from Playin’ Up a Storm
- “Cryin’ Shame” from Playin’ Up a Storm
- “It Ain’t No Use” from Playin’ Up a Storm
- “Matthew’s Arrival” from Playin’ Up a Storm
- “Anything Goes” from I’m No Angel
- “Can’t Keep Running” from I’m No Angel
- “Things that Might Have Been” from I’m No Angel
- “Yours for the Asking” from I’m No Angel
- “Faces Without Names” from I’m No Angel
- “Lead Me On” from I’m No Angel
- “Island” from Just Before the Bullets Fly
- “Fear of Falling” from Just Before the Bullets Fly
If Gregg Allman was back, why not Dickey Betts? In late 1988 he had assembled a new group – the Dickey Betts Band – and they put out a masterpiece blues and hard rock album, Pattern Disruptive. Of course, it did not get hardly any attention on the same radio that was playing hair metal, but it’s a gem. Dickey Betts had gone from the easy going country roots of Highway Call to a blistering rock record on Pattern Disruptive.
The comeback was on. It was clear that Allman and Betts were not finished. After an extended break, they came back with force and were ready to put the Allman Brothers Band back together again. In 1989, the box set Dreams was released, and sold very well. A new generation of fans were ready for the Allman Brothers sound, and they delivered with Seven Turns in 1990.
The Dickey Betts Band merged into the Allman Brothers, and they were now a seven piece band for the first time: two guitars, two keyboards, two drummers and one bass player. In one of the most interesting configurations you’ll see, they put together their first ever No. 1 song (albeit on the Modern Rock chart that didn’t exist before 1981) with “Good Clean Fun”.
The Allman Bros. didn’t waste any time in their third incarnation – they released another album, Shades of Two Worlds in 1991. They dropped keyboardist Johnny Neel for this one, and delivered a great rock album that had everything. Allman and Betts were finally back to their best with a handful of albums to prove it.
After a couple years of heavy touring and a live album to back it up, they released Where It All Begins 1994. This album was really popular, and had kind of a Grateful Dead feel…..from the big mushroom on the cover to the content of the songs….drugs, laid back jams, blues and perhaps the most famous song, “Soulshine” by newcomer Warren Haynes.
In 1995, the Allman Brothers Band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. That was kind of the beginning of the end of popularity for Gregg Allman and Dickey Betts. Allman was so intoxicated at the acceptance speech he could barely talk, and after re-watching it he decided to get sober. Betts was ultimately fired from the Allman Brothers in 2000 due to his drinking.
Allen Woody and Warren Haynes, who had just joined the band in 1989, stepped into their new band Gov’t Mule at this time. It took until 2003 for the Allman Brothers to record another album (Hittin’ the Note), the only one without both Allman and Betts.
Gregg Allman released the solo album, Searching for Simplicity in 1997. It was a full return to the blues with no connection to the kind of material he has released in his first four solo albums.
Betts released two hodge-podge albums back with Great Southern: Let’s Get Together and The Collector’s #1 in 2001 and 2002 respectively.
Here is my short list for post-1995 songs to listen to:
- “Rendezvous with the Blues” from Search for Simplicity
- “One Step Be-Bop” from Let’s Get Together
- “Desdemona” from Hittin’ the Note
- “Just Another Rider” from Low Country Blues
- “My Only True Friend” from Southern Blood
Gregg Allman’s last album, Southern Blood, was released a few months after his death in 2017.
The continued legacy of Gregg Allman and Dickey Betts is The Allman Betts Band. In 2018, the sons of both men united to start a band in their fathers’ image. They even included Berry Oakley’s son on bass just as his father did on the Allman Brothers first three albums before his death in 1972.
The Allman Betts Band has two albums. They have a lot of the classic Allman Bros. sound instrumentally. Neither of the sons are as good of singers as their father but they are adequate enough to carry the mantle and produce some good original music.
There is so much great music that came from these two men who had a long run despite their vices. Gregg Allman and Dickey Betts: Southern Rock legends.
Maroon and White Blog 