2 Dudes, 2 Decades

23/04/2024

With its offhand mixture of decadence, roots music, and outright malevolence, Sticky Fingers set the tone for the rest of the decade for the Rolling Stones.

19/04/2024

Dickey Betts Biography by Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Calling Dickey Betts the second guitarist in the Allman Brothers Band -- right-hand man to Duane Allman and sparring partner with Warren Haynes in the group's latter-day revival -- does him a disservice. Following Duane's death, Betts became co-captain with Gregg Allman, leading the group through ups and downs over the decades, all the while establishing the Allman Brothers Band as the preeminent Southern rock outfit. Betts also led Great Southern and the Dickey Betts Band during hiatuses from the Allmans.

Born Richard Betts in West Palm Beach, Florida on December 12, 1945, Betts was raised in Bradenton, Florida. He began playing music at an early age, picking up ukulele when he was five and graduating to guitar by the time he was a teenager. By that point he'd expanded upon his country roots by playing rock & roll in a number of combos in Florida. In 1967, he and bassist Berry Oakley formed the Second Coming, a connection that would later lead him to the Allman Brothers Band.

Idlewild South
Following the Second Coming's split, Oakley began jamming with Duane Allman in the nascent Allman Brothers Band in 1969. Soon, Betts was asked to join the group, becoming its sixth member, and the band relocated to Macon, Georgia, the headquarters of Phil Walden's Capricorn Records. The Allmans cut their debut in August of 1969 and it hit the stores in November, kicking off a hectic three years that helped establish the band as a major force in American music. Idlewild South, released in September 1970, peaked at 39 on the Billboard charts and contained Betts' original "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed," but the real breakthrough was 1971's double live album At Fillmore East, which went to 13 after its July release. Tragically, Duane Allman died in a motorcycle crash on October 29, leaving the band without one of its namesake leaders.

Eat a Peach
The Allman Brothers Band didn't replace Duane Allman. They carried on with Dickey Betts as the lone guitarist -- Duane could be heard on 1972's Eat a Peach, which also contained a Betts classic in "Blue Sky" -- and he came to the forefront on 1973's Brothers and Sisters, which contained the band's biggest hit, the Betts original "Ramblin' Man." The Allmans turned out two more albums -- 1975's Win, Lose or Draw and the 1976 live set Wipe the Windows, Check the Oil, Dollar Gas -- before splitting under the pressure of much internal tension.

Highway Call
During the peak of the Allmans, Betts released the solo album Highway Call in 1974, but once the band split he went on to form Great Southern. The group released two albums -- 1977's Dickey Betts & Great Southern and 1978's Atlanta's Burning Down -- before breaking up. Betts turned his attention to a reunited Allman Brothers Band, who soldiered through three albums -- 1979's Top Ten hit Enlightened Rogues, 1980's Reach for the Sky, and 1981's Brothers of the Road -- before they once again split. Following the unreleased solo record Night in 1982, Betts formed the Dickey Betts Band, who released Pattern Disruptive in 1988.

Dreams
In 1989, the Allman Brothers Band celebrated their 20th anniversary by releasing the Dreams box set and reuniting for a tour. Things went well enough for the band to record a new album with producer Tom Dowd. Seven Turns came out in 1990, inaugurating a long, stable third act for the Allmans. Betts was there through a good portion of this phase, staying with the group until 2000, when Gregg Allman, Butch Trucks, and Jaimoe -- the three other surviving original members -- suspended Betts from the group. The guitarist filed a lawsuit and revived the Dickey Betts Band, who released Let's Get Together in 2001, and then Great Southern, who released The Collectors #1 the following year. Betts continued to play live with Great Southern during the 2000s, but he took an extended break in the 2010s. He returned with the Dickey Betts Band in 2018, playing a series of shows beginning with the Peach Music Festival in Scranton, Pennsylvania. The Dickey Betts Band's Live from the Lone Star Roadhouse was issued in 2018, followed the next year by another concert album, Ramblin' Man: Live at the St. George Theatre.

24/02/2024

"It's not hard to imagine how grey all our lives would be today if The Beatles had not paved the way for turning music into a kaleidoscope of colour explosions after the bland, sugar-sweet pop of the early sixties"

19/02/2024

How many of you remember the "King Biscuit Flower Hour"?

The very first broadcast of the show was on Feb. 18, 1973 and featured Blood, Sweat & Tears, the Mahavishnu Orchestra, and Bruce Springsteen. For those not familiar with it, it was a radio show that featured live concerts. The program was broadcast on Sunday nights from 1973 until 2007, although new programming ceased in 1993 and previous shows were repeated from that point.

During its prime, the program was carried by more than 300 radio stations throughout the United States. The show's name was derived from the influential blues radio show "King Biscuit Time", which was sponsored by the King Biscuit Flour Co., and the hippie phrase "flower power".

51 years ago tonight…

05/01/2024

Try to please everyone, and you please no one, including yourself. The Beatles Decca audition was the day that the lesson was learned.

29/12/2023

Raising a toast to those musicians, producers, songwriters and artists who passed away in 2023

27/12/2023

Pretenders frontwoman Chrissie Hynde criticized the Rock & Roll Hall of fame as 'total bo****ks' in March 2023.

21/12/2023

Throughout the 1970s, he hated the hippies, loved jazz as much as rock and played dumb with incredible technical prowess, making his music thrillingly unique

14/12/2023

A look back at 40 albums that turned 40 in 2023.

10/12/2023

Guitarist Warren Haynes tells UCR in a December 2023 interview about the moment when Slowhand took the stage with the Allman Brothers Band for the first time.

04/12/2023

Today in history, Duane sat in for the second consecutive night with Derek and the Dominos at Onondaga War Memorial in Syracuse, New York, December, 2, 1970, after sitting in the prior evening at Curtis Hixon Hall in Tampa, Florida. Local Syracuse Radio personality, Ron Wray Gersbacher is pictured with Duane and the Dominos in the photo, taken by one of the roadies. These were the only two shows that Duane sat in with Derek and the Dominos. Left to right: Carl Radle, Jim Gordon, Eric Clapton, Bobby Whitlock (mid-blink), Ron Wray Gersbacher, and Duane.

30/11/2023

Random Acts Of Rock Star Kindness

Groucho Marx suffered from severe insomnia. When he couldn’t sleep, he would call his neighbor, Alice Cooper, and ask him to come over and join him. Alice would bring over a six-pack of beer and Groucho and he would drink beer and watch old movies on TV until Groucho nodded off. (1974)

Thanks to Heavy And Classic Rock For this One!

29/11/2023

Four!

Our Classic Rock Bands That Released Four Perfect Albums In A Row list picks up where our last one in which we listed three in a row left off. One of the

25/11/2023

Many bands in classic rock history have released three great albums in a row. There are not as many that have released three perfect albums. Of course,

21/11/2023

"Quaky for Shakey III" airs tonight (11/21) on Shout Brother Shout...5:00-8:00 P.M. EST...WXCI Danbury 91.7 FM and streaming wxci.org

19/11/2023

A list of the Top 30 album-closing songs.

13/11/2023

Our 25 Great Rock Groups And Artists That Released Only Two Albums article looks at bands and artists that only released two studio albums. It does not

23/10/2023

Here's a look back at the worst song from every classic rock act.

10/10/2023

In 1963, Robbie Robertson and the Hawks played Jack Ruby's nightclub in Fort Worth, Texas.

28/09/2023

https://youtu.be/43VXpw4nstU?si=82McfN03Fa5bk8xa

Brian Jones co-wrote this jingle with the J. Walter Thompson ad agency. It was only shown in England in 1964. Nice one Brian!

24/09/2023

Every year, when the new inductees are announced, there is lots of grumbling from rock fans about omissions. Here's a start...

24/08/2023

We looked back at 100s of classic rock albums released in 1973 and somehow whittled the list down to the 50 we think stand the test of time.

10/08/2023

Remembering Robbie Robertson (July 5, 1943 – August 9, 2023)
The Band only lasted eight years after the release of their 1968 debut LP, Music From Big Pink, but during that time they forever changed the pop-culture landscape by releasing brilliant Americana music at the peak of the psychedelic movement. Their first album sent shockwaves through the industry, inspiring Eric Clapton to break up Cream, the Beatles to attempt their own stripped-back project with Let It Be, and a pair of young British songwriters named Elton John and Bernie Taupin to begin writing and recording their own material.
Robertson took on the role as the group’s leader, writing the majority of their songs and pushing them forward when substance abuse issues and infighting threatened their existence. It was also his decision to pull the plug on the group in 1976 when he couldn’t take it anymore, setting the stage for their legendary farewell concert The Last Waltz.
Before the Band began making their own music, Robertson was one of Bob Dylan’s key collaborators, playing guitar on Blonde on Blonde and convincing the songwriter to hire the other members of his group as his backing band. They toured the world in 1965 and 1966, facing a torrent of boos by enraged folk purists. “His friends, his advisors, and everyone told him to blow us off and start from scratch,” Robertson said in 1987. “And it took a tremendous amount of courage for him not to do that.”

By Andy Greene, Rolling Stone
Photo Credit: Getty Images

30/06/2023

Every road trip needs a good soundtrack. Here are 10 albums that have been road tested to help the miles fly by and enhance your journey

20/06/2023

BOBfest XVIII airs tonight (6/20) on Shout Brother Shout...5:00-8:00 P.M. EDT...WXCI Danbury 91.7 FM and streaming wxci.org

19/06/2023

The humble cassette had plenty of pluses and minuses but one thing we can all agree on: how cool was the leather-clad guy in their ads?

16/06/2023

The opening snare shot of ''Like a Rolling Stone’' was as if somebody had kicked open the door to your mind. It feels like a torrent that comes rushing towards you. Floods your soul, floods your mind. Alerts and wakes you up instantaneously to other worlds, other lives. Other ways of being...[Bruce Springsteen]

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On this day in 1965, Bob Dylan recorded ''Like a Rolling Stone''.

26/05/2023

The greatest album ever? The best Beatles album? Well that’s all subjective, and we’re all entitled to our own opinion, but in mine, it is neither. I would argue that Revolver is a better album, as is Abbey Road. But that’s just my view and one thing is for sure, Sgt. Pepper is undoubtedly one...

18/05/2023

From the Gallaghers to the Robinsons to the Davies and everyone in between

11/05/2023

How the insufferably perfectionist duo captured the hearts of a new generation of listeners