Dickey Betts

December 12, 1943

Forrest Richard Betts (born December 12, 1943), known as Dickey Betts, was an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, and composer best known as a founding member of The Allman Brothers Band. 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". Following Allman's death in 1971, Betts assumed sole lead guitar duties during the peak of the group's commercial success in the mid-1970s. Betts was the writer and singer on the Allmans' hit single, "Ramblin' Man". He also gained renown for his ability to compose instrumentals, with one appearing on most Allman Brothers albums; the two most known being "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed" and "Jessica". He was inducted with the band into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995 and also won a best rock performance Grammy Award with the band for "Jessica" in 1996. Betts was ranked No. 58 on Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time list in 2003, and #61 on the list published in 2011. Betts departed the Allman Brothers Band in 2000 under acrimonious circumstances and performed and recorded on his own.