Duane Betts Says Playing Late Dad Dickey Betts’ Music Has New Meaning Now: ‘Really Treasure It ‘Cause It’s Precious’
Written by djfrosty on May 30, 2024
Duane Betts says that he’s been “holding up” since the death of his father, Allman Brothers Band guitarist Dickey Betts, on April 18 at the age of 80. And while he and Allman Betts Band partner Devon Allman — son of the late Allman Brothers leader Gregg Allman — don’t necessarily need more reason to pay tribute to their fathers’ musical legacy, Betts tells Billboard that there’s a different kind of charge in playing their songs now.
“Now that he’s gone it changes it a little more,” acknowledges Betts, who was named after the late Duane Allman and played at times in his father’s post-Allman Brothers band, Great Southern. “I think the spirit is always with me, whether I’m playing those particular songs or I’m playing my own songs. He had kinda been in poor health for awhile, so I was already playing for him and getting a lot of inspiration (from) thinking about him and what his legacy means to me, personally. I love playing that music and really treasure it ’cause it’s precious. so it’s nice to play a few of their tunes and mix ’em with our originals I do with the Allman Betts Band or a Duane Betts show.
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“And now that he’s moved on to the next level it’s kind of put the exclamation mark on that idea of showing love and appreciation for the music.”
Allman Betts has been mixing a variety of Allman Brothers Band tunes into its current spring tour, including selections such as “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed,” “Blue Sky,” “Jessica,” “Melissa,” “Midnight Rider,” “Dreams,” “Seven Turns” and “Sailin ‘Cross the Devil’s Sea,” as well as Allmans-popularized covers like Sonny Boy Williamson’s “One Way Out” and Blind Willie McTell’s “Statesboro Blues.”
“That’s been rotating; it depends on what night it is, what you’ll hear,” Betts explains. “Y’know, I play the way I play; when I’d ask my dad, ‘Do I sound too much like you?’ he would say, ‘Well, you like the same food as me. You walk like me. You cough like me. You look like me. So why are you trying to not be you? Just be you and don’t worry about it.’”
Allman Betts’ tour runs through June 9 and is the band’s first since the 2023 death of drummer R. Scott Bryan, which brought Roy Orbison’s youngest son Alex “Orbi” Orbison — who played in two previous bands with Betts — into the lineup. (The group also includes another Allman Brothers progeny, bassist Berry Duane Oakley.) Betts says the septet has made a conscious effort to dig deep into its two album catalog for this trek.
“We’re really enjoying switching up the set list quite a bit and throwing different things in there we haven’t played in awhile, so it’s been really fun,” he notes. “We’ve done songs off our records we haven’t played in years, ’cause we haven’t really been on tour.”
Another Allman Betts Band album — a follow-up to 2020’s Bless Your Heart — is another matter, however.
“We haven’t really gotten that far,” says Betts, who released a solo album, Wild & Precious Life, last July. “I think right now we’re just keeping it as this, a live thing. We’re really grateful to be out there on the road, and being all together again is really fun. We have a few more shows later in the summer, and we’re just having a great time on tour and not thinking about anything else yet.”
The band’s next date is a show Thursday night (May 30) at The Fillmore in Detroit; click here to see their summer tour schedule.