Dickey Betts
| Dickey Betts | |
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Dickey Betts at the Pistoia Blues Festival, Italy, July 2008
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Forrest Richard Betts |
| Also known as | Dickey Betts |
| Born |
December 12, 1943 West Palm Beach, Florida, US |
| Genres | Southern rock, country rock, blues, blues-rock, country, jazz fusion |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, songwriter |
| Instruments | Guitar, vocals, dobro |
| Years active | 1960–present |
| Associated acts | The Allman Brothers Band, Dickey Betts & Great Southern, Dickey Betts Band |
| Website | dickeybetts |
| Notable instruments | |
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1961 Gibson SG Gibson Les Paul Goldtop ("Goldie") |
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Forrest Richard "Dickey" Betts (born December 12, 1943) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, and composer best known as a founding member of The Allman Brothers Band.
He was inducted with the band into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995 and also won with the band a best rock performance Grammy Award for his instrumental "Jessica" in 1996. Recognized as one of the greatest rock guitar players of all time, he had early on in his career one of rock’s finest guitar partnerships with Duane Allman, introducing melodic twin guitar harmony and counterpoint which "rewrote the rules for how two rock guitarists can work together, completely scrapping the traditional rhythm/lead roles to stand toe to toe". Dickey Betts was ranked #58 on Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time list in 2003, and #61 on the list published in 2011.
Born in West Palm Beach and raised in Bradenton, Florida, Betts grew up in a musical family listening to bluegrass, country and Western Swing music. He started playing ukulele at five and, as his hands got bigger, moved on to mandolin, banjo, and guitar. At sixteen and feeling the need for something "a little faster," he played in a series of rock bands on the Florida circuit, up the East Coast and into the Midwest before forming the Second Coming with Berry Oakley in 1967. According to Rick Derringer, the "group called the Jokers" referenced in "Rock and Roll, Hoochie Koo" was one of Betts' early groups.
As of 2015, he is living in Sarasota County, Florida.
In 1969, Duane Allman had parlayed success as a session player into a contract with former Otis Redding manager Phil Walden. Walden planned to back a power trio featuring Allman, who needed to put together the rest of the band. When Allman organized jam sessions as part of his effort to recruit Oakley for the group, Betts sat in. During those jam's twin guitar parts, influenced by the harmonized fiddle and guitar parts Betts had heard on bluegrass and Bob Wills records growing up, their playing began to emerge and give the sound a unique flavor. Those harmonies gave the putative power trio an additional guitarist (the band eventually grew to six members) and Dickey Betts the opening for stardom as a co-founder and key contributor to the Allman Brothers Band. In addition to the harmonies, his melodic, country-esque lead guitar style contrasted perfectly with Duane's fiery, blues/jazz-based style. He also wrote songs including "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed" and "Blue Sky" that became radio and concert staples.
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