Dickey Betts On His Close Friendship With Gregg Allman

I relish the years that I worked with that Almond Brothers Band outfit found while founding member of we didn't even know what we had when we were putting the thing together except we knew that each player was had tremendous talents you know well one of the things that resulted with your break with the band in 2000 is that you and Greg Alman didn't speak for a very long time but in the background of this I interviewed Greg not too long before he died and I was interested to read that at least near the end that the two of you made it right between yourselves again yeah the Greg Alman BET's R was blown out much out of proportion through the interviews and and other people speaking about us which things was just their view of things Greg and I got along probably as well better than any other two people in the band I mean it was some of the drummers had a a real rub with us as time went on and but I'd get mad at Greg and he'll get mad at me both of us are kind of you know ego crashing people you I mean we're not egomaniacs but you you're achers one of ACH you know that's what broke the band up that sort of thing and some of the guys in the band wanted to use our name to to launch their business ideas right and we didn't like that and I'm the one that got was escaped goat I guess you could call it and took the blame for for a lot of this stuff but the important thing to me it seems is that you and Greg all and whatever the problems were before he passed you got it you got it back together uh we were talking on and on even before he was obviously really sick I mean we knew he was getting sick years before because he had a liver transplant you know that obviously you know that's very precarious you know but then when we talk once a year twice he did an interiew or something I you know call him and say thanks for saying nice things about me stuff like that and uh but when he got Sicky I call him about every other day you know cuz you knew he was he was really really sh I'm looking for early influences on you were people like lightning Hopkins and John Lee Hooker were those guys any influence on you yeah the individually some more than others Robert Johnson Blind Willie mctell Jimmy Rogers the old father of country music back in the 20s you know and 30 Waiting for a Train Waiting for a Train yeah and franking Johnny and you know those songs I have thousands of questions to ask you but let's take a few songs and sort of tell me the history of them or in brief what the process was what about in memory of Elizabeth Reed that seems to I had a a a lady that I was seeing and U she wasn't married but she had a boyfriend well it's been so many years now I guess I can talk her name was Carmela and she was a beautiful Italian girl and she was going with a artist friend of ours and she liked me and how the plot thickens Cloak and Dagger kind of situation so uh we had our our secret love there and we would go down to the I didn't have money and I we'd go down to the graveyard there old 1800s graveyard on the river and and you went to the cemetery yeah yes and it was beautiful old tombstones and oak trees in the River Oak mugy River going by there and we would we would have a Rend Deo there so I couldn't very well call it Carmela so on the tombstone there it said in memory of Elizabeth Reed you know mother of so and I thought well how pretty so I call the song that in memory of Carmela well I love the story well it is kind of a neat story to tell you J well it's become one of the tunes again most associated with the Alman Brothers yeah yeah it it it it was and Dwayne blurred it out of what it was all about and rolling stone and oh it's so embarrassing cuz it was a friend of ours and you know like I said it wasn't his wife but it was a girl oh lady somebody in you yeah let's talk about Jessica another instrumental yeah um I wrot that for my daughter and I was stuck I couldn't write the thing I was I was thinking a lot about D Jango Reinhardt when I wrote that um who played with two fingers you know his style if you're familiar with it has kind of a jumpy little you know like that with the two fingers right these were burned in a fire so I I had this idea but it wouldn't develop it just wouldn't get go anywhere and uh I I had a think back then I would have my music my writing room I would tell my wife not to clean it up don't empty an astray don't take any beer cans out just leave it alone I roll up paper and throw it around the room leave them all there I just want the place left so I'm there trying to figure out this thing and little Jessica was like two years old little curtain climber you know she come crawling in the room eating cigarette butts and you know picking I started playing to her MH and it was just beautiful how it came right together of course i' been working on it for two weeks and but I couldn't get it but when I saw her and just saw how innocent that little happy that she just having balls eating cigarette butts and stuff well I'm not going to get only for letting the baby eat cigarettes much wouldn't dangerous but you know it's funny how those kind of things can spur your your creativity you know I have so much I want to talk to you about but you talking about you know reaching a high level I want you to tell me the story first of all tell me if it's true is I got the story you were with Bob Dylan and some guy in a suit said to you words along the line you better take yourself to the Woodshed oh if you're if you're going to play with the big boys and you co you want to bring those uh War stor I was at the presidential inauguration for Bill Clinton and Bob my wife was sitting and her and she and Bob Dylan were having some cookie dough ice cream and and she was turning him on to this cook he thought that was the greatest thing in the world and uh I when and the the the band couldn't play a 12 Bar Blues and they kept losing the cords and everything so I cut the song a little short and put my guitar down come and this guy said he was a Senator you know and in three piece suit and he was a real smart smart mouth guy and I kind of just kept you know not paying any attention to him but he started making fun me in the green room I had a big screen there he started making fun of the way I messed the song up I said you know I I've listen to you all night he said well I just take you outside and you know I said please you're sitting down I'm standing up you'll never make it to the door things they not going to be any outside still I'm sorry but these things do happen and he got come up off the couch with his hands and Al I I hit him a couple of good shots and that was it you know you it and he yeah and he fell over in Bob Dylan's lap and Bob Bob was you know taking a little nap so then I cut my hand and he I thought I'd knocked the senator out and so here my friends took me one thing rushed me out of there and the next thing to take me to the hospital how was split open here somewhere anyway the fellow that he was with um called me and said he no state senator that was my you know I can't take the guy anywhere it seems he's always well he was a drug dealer wasn't he yeah yeah he was he wasn't a senator he was a drug deer no he he was a gopher to get druged

Channel: AXS TV

Views: 212,413

Keywords: Music, AXS TV, Classic Rock, Rock Music, Concert

Id: Mog7SwHF4Z8

Length: 9min 38sec (578 seconds)

Published: Fri Apr 19 2024