SARASOTA COUNTY, Fla. – Dickey Betts, a driving force behind the Allman Brothers Band that launched Southern rock and influenced the jam band scene, died Thursday at his Florida home
Betts was best known for his legendary guitar skills, but he also wrote the Allman Brothers Band’s only Top 10 hit, “Ramblin’ Man.”
During Bob Dylan’s Sept. 30, 1995, concert at the USF Sun Dome in Tampa. Florida, Betts joined Dylan on stage for several numbers including “Ramblin’ Man.” Betts told the story of how it came to be while seated at his Sarasota County home in 2014.
Dylan says, “Let’s do ‘Ramblin’ Man.’”
“All right, let me write the words down,” Betts tells him.
“I know the words,” Dylan says. “I should have wrote that song.”
Betts unleashed one of his warm, charming laughs.
“I said, ‘Bob, just sing whatever you want to.’ I didn’t think he knew the words. I figured he’d just make up some stuff,” Betts recalled. “He knew the song word for word. Man, it was such an honor. He sang it and I told him later that those words have never had so much feeling. The way he sings, he makes every word punchy. It really was beautiful. It really was.”
RIP Dickey Betts