Standing in front of a raucous sold-out audience at the Macon City Auditorium in Georgia on Friday night, guitarist Duane Betts paid tribute to his late father, Allman Brothers six-string ace Dickey Betts, with a soaring cover of “Ramblin’ Man.”
“And when it’s time for leavin’, I’ll hope you’ll understand,” Betts howled. “That I was born a ramblin’ man.”
“This means everything. It’s my father’s legacy,” Betts tells Rolling Stone backstage. “Everybody’s here for the right reasons — to celebrate a great man, a great visionary of music.”
Dubbed “In Memory of Dickey Betts,” the star-studded evening featured Warren Haynes, Chuck Leavell, Derek Trucks, Susan Tedeschi, Charlie Starr, Oteil Burbridge, Devon Allman, and more.
“[Dickey’s] sense of melody was unchallenged. He played these melodic lines and phrases that sounded so refreshing to the listener,” Haynes says. “He created a style of playing that’s so recognizable, and that’s the ultimate compliment for any musician.”
Betts, who died in April 2024 at age 80, is considered one of the finest guitar players in rock music. A co-founder of the Allman Brothers Band in 1969, it was Betts who seemingly took the reins in the aftermath of the tragic deaths of guitarist Duane Allman in 1971 and bassist Berry Oakley less than a year later.
What resulted from the endless unknowns the band had to navigate in the early 1970s would soon become the group’s most commercially successful era, the high point being Betts’ radio hit “Ramblin’ Man,” now considered a rock staple.
“With the Allman Brothers Band, [the music] is joyous, so influential and so unique,” Leavell says. “And inventive, combining the elements of country, rock and jazz. That was the formation of what we know as Southern rock.”
A renowned keyboardist, Leavell joined the Allman Brothers in September 1972 when it was decided to not replace Duane’s position in the band. Leavell saw firsthand just how intricate and determined the ensemble was, even though they’d been through hell and back — onstage, on the road, and in their hearts.
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“They went out [on tour] as a five-piece band [following Duane’s death], which is a gusty thing to do, and put a lot of pressure on Dickey,” Leavell says. “But he rose to the occasion.”
The tribute concert was a round-robin affair, with rock legends switching in and out between each melody. The interplay between former Allman Brothers members Haynes, Trucks, and Burbridge during “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed” was staggering, and the tear-jerking, soul sensation of Susan Tedeschi in “Blue Sky” brought the house down.
“I always get nervous singing that song because it means so much,” Tedeschi says. “I met Derek when [my band] was opening for [the Allman Brothers]. My husband and Dickey’s solos together every night would make me just cry like a baby.”
Holding down acoustic guitar duties next to Tedeschi was Starr of Blackberry Smoke, torchbearers of Southern rock in the 21st century. Betts remains a key influence on Starr, whether it be as a guitarist or band leader.
“He still loved that music so much,” Starr says of Betts’ performances later in life. “How to play it was very important to him. What tempo, how it was sung. He was the sheriff.”
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Also in the mix was guitarist Devon Allman, son of the late Gregg Allman, who sported his father’s Johnny Cash model Martin acoustic for a poignant rendition of “Melissa.”
“[Dickey] was the first one that chucked me into the fire,” Allman said of playing with his father’s band as a young musician. “That sit-in, that experience made my decision to want to play music. The number thing to me about him is his melodicism. He could write these haunting, captivating melodies.”
For Allman, who routinely teams up with Duane Betts in the Allman Betts Family Revival, the Macon tribute showcase underlined the bond of brotherhood and musicianship between the two.
“We’ve always had each other’s backs just like our dads did,” Allman says of Betts. “And he’s been there for celebrating my dad. It’s an honor to be here tonight and I wouldn’t have missed it for the world.”
Following the performance, Betts stood backstage in a euphoric daze beneath a photo of his father showing him holding his Gibson Les Paul.
“I’m not going to be able to process this for a little while,” Betts says. “Everything leading up to this night has been so special.”
Setlist:
“Hot ‘Lanta”
“Statesboro Blues”
“Nothing You Can Do”
“Long Time Gone”
“Southbound”
“Melissa”
“Nobody Knows”
“Jessica”
“Pony Boy”
“No One Left to Run With”
“Rain”
“Seven Turns”
“Back Where It All Begins”
“Soulshine”
“In Memory of Elizabeth Reed”
“Midnight in Harlem”
“Blue Sky”
“Revival”
“Ramblin’ Man”
