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  • The Allman Brothers Band

    For the first time in I don't know when, I turned the stereo on today. A few weeks ago, Sue Unit and I were shooting pool and she said, "This pool hall would be even better with some music."

    I've got about 200 vinyl record albums and nearly that many CD's. I just never turn it on. A few weeks later than Unit's request (I'm every bit that slow), I turned the stereo on today while we shot pool. It brought back memories and opinions at the same time, just the music.

    All I could think to let play was the Allman Brothers Band at Fillmore East album, a 4-sided collection recorded in 1971. Side 1 is in my opinion one of the best album sides in music history. Well, to clarify, record albums used to have "sides."

    For you kids who don't know what "records" were...well that's the way we used have to listen to music. Not a CD, not iPod, but a steel needle reacting to the grooves in a plastic platter that spun around at 33 1/3 RPM and..... well, never mind the history lesson.

    The real point is the music. Allman Brothers. Duane Allman was the front man, although Gregg Allman, his brother, did all of the singing. Duane introduces the songs, and Gregg sings. It was all Duane's band. He made it happen. Google it and read up on the history, it's fascinating. At one time Gregg was even married to Cher.

    But from all I've read and gathered, I still cannot for the life of me, even still, understand how Dicky Betts ended up being the second guitarist in the Allman Brothers Band with all that talent on board.

    Berry Oakley was probably the best bassist in history for that style of music and died totally unrecognized. Even Gregg Allman in later interviews said he really didn't pay attention to what Berry was doing, didn't realize until later how good he was.

    They had two drummers. Well, a drummer and a "percussionist." Jai Johanny Johanson and Butch Trucks.

    Derek Trucks is the nephew of Butch Trucks (correct me, I think that's the connection) and Derek Trucks is one of the most amazing guitarists going. He's incredible. And it doesn't hurt that he's married to Susan Tedeschi, another great guitarist/vocalist. Check out the "Crossroads Guitar Festival 2007" DVD.

    Wait, I'm going down a dirt road, getting into all the stuff I think I know and could talk about all day and night.

    Duane was one of the greats, I'd put him up there with whoever as far as ability, and he made me start playing slide as soon as I heard Statesboro Blues off of Side 1 of the Fillmore East album back when I was a kid.

    Dicky Betts was a one-fingered lead player who should have found a home playing at For What It's Worth in Rock Hill SC. But he got rich and famous doing it with the Allman Brothers Band. Go Figure. For Duane and Dicky to be the two front guitar men for the Allman Brothers, I'll sure never in my life understand it. Just listen to it. Listen to Side 1 on the Fillmore East album. A tremendous, 500x exponential difference in ability. They swap lead breaks, and it's absurd. I wouldn't want to be Dicky swapping leads with Duane. You can't, you might as well not. But he DID.

    And then when Duane died, Dicky took over. And he turned it into a country band. You could hear it coming in Dicky's "lead breaks" on Fillmore East. Tinkle tinkle, twang twang.

    Dang. Or maybe I'm over-analyzing. All I had to do was to hear that album side again, and it all came back to me.

    But I guess Dicky was all they had left when Duane and Berry died. Gotta keep going somehow.
    Last edited by pdub; July 9, 2011, 12:38 PM.
    Charter member of the Turd Nuggets

  • #2
    I got to hear Steely Dan play last night at the Greek Theater.
    BS'er formally known as Rebeldryver

    Resident Instigator

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    • #3
      Reelin' In the Years
      Charter member of the Turd Nuggets

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      • #4
        seen the alman brothers with dickie betts around 1986

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        • #5
          The Allman Bros is one of the "shoulda" bands. I shoulda gone out of my way to see them but didn't. Along with Ray Charles, Eubie Blake, and a couple of others. DID see Stevie Ray (7 times), Bob Seger (often and over many years - I'm on Live Bullet somewhere), and a lot of other "Greats". I guess you can't catch 'em all.

          Dan

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          • #6
            Oldest daughters name Elizabeth Reed Sabo. ;-)
            Neal

            Drag Week 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013

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            • #7
              Geez Peewee, don't think I've ever heard anyone criticize Betts before. Can't offer an opinion one way or the other, never listened to too much from the band except of course Free Bird and Simple Man (which I luv)


              DanStokes: DID see Stevie Ray (7 times)

              One of my big regerets, had a chance to and passed it up, he died shortly after :-(
              "Life's tough. It's even tougher if you're stupid." - John Wayne

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              • #8
                Originally posted by nesabo View Post
                Oldest daughters name Elizabeth Reed Sabo. ;-)
                WOW, Neal, that was a mighty good choice. That is sweet, and I'll bet she's a great girl, too. That is really neat.
                Charter member of the Turd Nuggets

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                • #9
                  Originally posted by peewee View Post
                  WOW, Neal, that was a mighty good choice. That is sweet, and I'll bet she's a great girl, too. That is really neat.
                  Yep she looks like her mom, and it is the only song i can sing
                  Neal

                  Drag Week 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013

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                  • #10


                    I gotcha. I can't sing any of them either, but sometimes I still try, it's so much fun. It makes people look at their wristwatches and wander off somewhere else.
                    Charter member of the Turd Nuggets

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                    • #11
                      Vega- you've got the bands mixed up. The songs you mentioned are by Lynyrd Skynyrd. The Brothers and Skynyrd are both great southern rock bands that have endured over the years. PeeWee, I gotta disagree with you about Dickie Betts. He is a different style and caliber player than Duane was. Still a hell of a good player. Been an Allman Brothers fan since I 1st heard them in 1969/70. Everybody is allowed an opinion it's just that yours was wrong for once. LOL

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                      • #12
                        Maybe this is a new thread but I just came to me, so.......

                        Peewee - I was watching a special last night on the music used in the civil rights struggle and there was a clip of Ritchie Havens playing. You might be interested in looking it up. He plays bar chords with his THUMB! Yep, he bars most of the way across the neck with his thumb then picks out the last couple of remaining strings (looked like the B and high E, depending on how he was tuning) with his remaining fingers. I'm thinking it's safe to assume he's self-taught - or maybe he sent his guitar teacher screaming out of the room. I never noticed that on the Woodstock album but I'll have to go back and look. Oh, and he was singing WITH his teeth in.

                        Interesting
                        Dan

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                        • #13
                          I also must disagree about Dickie Betts... A very fine player who was a key part of the Allman Bros. He wrote many of thei songs including my favorite "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed", "Blue Sky", "Jessica", and of course "Ramblin Man". His country style was a great counterpoint to the blues/rock style of Duane.....

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                          • #14
                            Originally posted by mrocketscience View Post
                            I also must disagree about Dickie Betts... A very fine player who was a key part of the Allman Bros. He wrote many of thei songs including my favorite "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed", "Blue Sky", "Jessica", and of course "Ramblin Man". His country style was a great counterpoint to the blues/rock style of Duane.....
                            I'll give you that Rocket. That's what it was to me - an incredible contradiction in style within the same band. "Rambling Man," later on especially.....is that the Allman Brothers Band? No way, but it sure was. That's where I got off of the bus. Dicky IS a great guitarist/song writer , has obviously made a great living doing it. Sort of like when my daddy all those years ago used to blare Johnny Cash records at the house when I was a kid. Even then, I mused, "Daddy, that man can't sing." Daddy would just chuckle and say, "He's singing all the way to the bank."

                            I've seen some videos in more recent years where Gregg Allman used Derek Trucks at some gigs to play some of Duane's lines, trying to get back to the roots. Derek's good, damn good. World-class good. It nearly works, but that's not Duane standing there doing that.
                            Last edited by pdub; July 11, 2011, 04:49 PM.
                            Charter member of the Turd Nuggets

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