By Louie Ferrera

I can’t remember when I first heard the Allman Brothers, or who turned me on to them, all I know is their music has been part of my life for over half a century.

The Allman Brothers, it seems like they’ve always been there. It was sometime in high school when I first heard their seminal album Live At The Fillmore East, a record that has since become the benchmark for all live albums since. WNEW-FM was the progressive New York City rock and roll radio station that we all listened to. This was well before Spotify was even a glimmer in their creator’s creator’s eye. WNEW was where you turned when you wanted to hear new music so that’s probably where I first heard The Allmans. Their music was unlike anything I had ever heard before. It struck a chord deep within me that still resonates today. The sweet, twin harmony electric guitars of Duane Allman and Dicky Betts, Berry Oakley’s thundering bass, the rock solid drumming of Butch and Jaimoe and of course the soulful and gritty vocals of the incomparable Gregg Allman combined to create a brand new genre of music known as “southern rock.”

My older brother Ray and I were rabid fans of The Allmans. We wore the grooves out on Fillmore East and its follow-up Eat A Peach. We even indoctrinated our six year old brother Steve by requiring him to stand and salute during Duane’s blistering slide guitar solo on “Mountain Jam”. In the 70’s for us, it was all about the Allman Brothers. 

I was too late to the party to have seen the original lineup with Duane and Berry but fortunate enough to catch the band a couple of times as they reinvented themselves with keyboardist extraordinaire Chuck Leavell onboard for their blockbuster 1973 album Brothers And Sisters. This record vaulted the band into rock superstardom. During this period they consistently sold out stadiums and large outdoor festivals. Personnel issues and drug problems sidelined the band in the 1980s and by decade’s end, they were all but counted out as has-beens.

Down but not out, the Allmans came roaring back in the early 90s.  Warren Haynes was brought in and the original twin guitar sound was back. This new iteration of the ABB was what old fans like myself had been waiting for for years. The guitar interplay between Haynes and Betts was faithful to the original magic of Allman/Betts with a new twist. Haynes’ style was edgier than Duane’s but still a nice compliment to Dicky’s melodic, country flavored picking. Of course, no one could sing the blues like Gregg. This new configuration of the ABB forged a new path forward for the band. Their live and studio albums from this period are vibrant and filled with furious jams and original songs every bit as good as those from the band’s heyday With new energy and new life, the band’s live shows were once again a must see.

In 1993, The Allmans were headlining an outdoor festival with venerable jam band Phish. I attended this show with more than a bit of skepticism. My memories of the Allman Brothers of the 1970s were cherished. Could they ever match the magic of the band that I had loved back then? From the first notes of the show I realized that the band was indeed back. The Haynes/Betts combo was dynamic, adding a fresh element to the band’s sound and Gregg was in fine voice. I left that show as a reborn Allman Brothers fan.

All of these memories are swirling around my head as I read about the passing of Dicky Betts. The death of yet another musical icon of my generation serving as a stark reminder of my own mortality. After band founder Duane Allman’s untimely death in 1971, Betts gradually evolved into the Allman’s defacto leader. His songs “In Memory Of Elizabeth Reed”, “Southbound”, “Ramblin’ Man” and “Blue Sky” “were all staples of their live shows in the 70s. The shimmering, soaring instrumental “Jessica” has become one of the most beloved of classic rock songs. Lesser know Betts gems such as “Just Another Love Song”, “High Falls” and “Pegasus” are sprinkled throughout post Brothers and Sisters albums Win, Lose Or Draw and Enlightened Rogues. With Duane no longer up on stage beside him, Dicky had to handle all of the guitar parts himself, in the process honing his sound into one of the most distinctive styles in rock. His combination of sweet, melodic flat picking and stinging slide work is as recognizable as Clapton or Hendrix. Throughout the band’s 90s resurgence Dicky kept the quality songs coming with “Seven Turns” and “Nobody Knows”, the latter becoming a vehicle for some furious Betts/Haynes guitar fireworks.

Today was a picture perfect spring day; breezy, blue and beautiful. Poor Man’s Whiskey, a favorite local Americana band was giving a free outdoor show as part of the Sebastopol Apple Blossom Festival. Carol and I spent nearly two hours among a crowd of smiling, happy people dancing to this joyous band. The show was about to end, but they had time for one more song. The guitar player began to play an instantly recognizable pattern of chords as the band launched into a raucous version of “Jessica”. The crowd erupted and we moved as one in a celebratory swirl. For as long as there are moments like this, the music of Dicky Betts and the Allman Brothers Band will live forever.