The rock band’s founding guitarist Allman BrothersRichard Betts, known as “Dickey”, has died at the age of 80 at his home in Florida.
“Well, Miss Sally, why all your crying?” sang the Allman Brothers in “Ain’t Wastin’ Time No More” in 1971: “Go outside and look at the stars above. Meanwhile, I’m not wasting any time more. For time passes like pouring rain, and things go much faster.” In fact, the last year couldn’t have gone by faster for Betts. As his manager told Fox News, the musician was apparently suffering from cancer and also suffered from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
With the Allman Brothers, the guitarist created hits such as “Midnight Rider”, “Ramblin’ Man”, “Jessica” and “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed”. This also created a unique sound that married blues, gospel, country and R&B and set the style for an entire generation of music: Southern rock.
This undated photo shows Allman Brothers Band members Dickey Betts (l-r), Duane Allman, Berry Oakley, Butch Trucks, Gregg Allman and Jai Johanny “Jaimoe” Johanson eating at the restaurant.
(Photo: Uncredited/dpa)
Forrest Richard Betts was born in 1943 in West Palm Beach, Florida. He learned instruments as a child and played in several bands as a teenager. At the end of the 1960s he became a founding member of the Allman Brothers Band. The original band constellation did not last long: Duane Allman died in a motorcycle accident in 1971, and founding member Berry Oakley died in a motorcycle accident a year later. The remaining duo with Betts and Allman’s younger brother Gregg did not harmonize and the band broke up repeatedly. But the periods of controversy also led Betts to pursue creative solo projects, such as the single “Highway Call”.
As a member of the Allman Brothers, Betts was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995.
“Dickey had a larger-than-life personality and his loss will be felt around the world,” his family wrote on Instagram and the musician’s website.