Local Boy
Senior Member
My brother turned me on to ABB just before Duane & Berry passed. Been my favorites since. Had to break out the HD-28 for a little noodling on "Jessica" this morning.
Exactly. Preaching to the choir here, but anyone who has never done so I would recommend to put on headphones and listen to "Eat a Peach" especially the live tracks plus the "Fillmore East" recordings. That is not just one, but two guitars putting out some of the most memorable music in rock history. Not to mention two separate drummers, Berry on bass and Greg's unique blues vocals. I predict these recordings will live on for centuries.After Duane’s death the musical joke left in the band was bigger than most people even realize. Duane playing slide was such a big part of their sound. Dickey didn’t play slide and never had. He learned how almost over night. He saved Eat A Peach along with Greg. Greg said that very thing in his book and he didn’t necessarily have many nice things to say about Dickey.
Fillmore East is incredible - one of the best live recordings of all times when equipment was nothing compared to today.Exactly. Preaching to the choir here, but anyone who has never done so I would recommend to put on headphones and listen to "Eat a Peach" especially the live tracks plus the "Fillmore East" recordings. That is not just one, but two guitars putting out some of the most memorable music in rock history. Not to mention two separate drummers, Berry on bass and Greg's unique blues vocals. I predict these recordings will live on for centuries.
Somewhat like music from past centuries where there were NO audio recordings, with only sheet music as records.
There’s a great Duane Allman interview from 1970 where he tells the DJ…I’m the most well known guitar player in the group. Our other guitar player Dickie is the best guitar player in the group.RIP Mr. Betts. I know Duane got a lot of the credit for the worldwide success of the ABB in the early 70s and deserved it, but when you listen closely to a lot of those live recordings, they would NOT have been the same without Dickey's excellent guitar work playing duet. Then later, the band would probably not have survived except for someone's great idea of a new duet sound with Dickey Betts and keyboard player Chuck Level. Kept them on the charts for the 70s then a fan base remaining for decades later.
Go by Kirk Wests gallery while you’re in Macon. He’s a famous photographer, was the road manager for the ABB, and he and his wife were the owners of the Big House and instrumental in the founding of the museum. My wife and I have supported the museum for years. Here’s a couple great books that Kirk did.Hittin The Note, which was sadly their last album, I think they had at least one more in them, was going to be called Victory Dance. But all of their legal battles with Dickey had finally come to an end and Greg didn’t want him to misunderstand the meaning of the title. It’s actually a line from Old Before My Time but he didn’t take any chances.
Anybody who likes their music and has never been to the Big House Museum in Macon, it’s well worth the trip. My wife saw me get more excited than I do about a lot of stuff walking around there. She was kind of taken aback when I pointed at a sofa and said, “Dickey used to sleep right there!” She had never seen me be as nerdy about something as I was about that place.
Looks just like him, too, and sounds just like him singing. Dickey's son Duane and Gregg's son Devon have the Allman-Betts band going. It's a great band with some good music, and continues a good bit of the signature ABB sound into the next generation.My brother lives down there, had Dickey’s son play at his bar. Said he’s talented like his old man
So is Please Be With Me by Duane’s daughter.My Cross to Bear is a must read