Dickey Betts was getting ready to have another go with The Allman Brothers Band when he rushed the release of his third solo album, Atlanta’s Burning Down, recorded with his solo band, Great Southern. Betts had started his solo career in 1974, while the Allmans were still at the top of their game, and while co-leader, Gregg Allman, had seen considerable solo success with his own LP, Laid Back.
While Betts had…entire summary
Dickey Betts - guitar, vocals,
Topper Price - harmonica
David Goldflies - bass
Donnie Sharbono - drums, vocals
Dan Toler - guitar, vocals
Michael Workman - keyboards, vocals
Dickey Betts was getting ready to have another go with The Allman Brothers Band when he rushed the release of his third solo album, Atlanta’s Burning Down, recorded with his solo band, Great Southern. Betts had started his solo career in 1974, while the Allmans were still at the top of their game, and while co-leader, Gregg Allman, had seen considerable solo success with his own LP, Laid Back.
While Betts had considerable success writing and singing radio hits for The Allman Brothers Band, fame eluded him with his own band. Still, he had put together a solid band (some of whom later became members of the Allman Brothers), and he was not afraid to include his best known Allman hits in his solo show.
Opening with a fiery version of "Run Gypsy Run," Betts soon launches into Roger Cook’s "You Can Have Her (I Don’t Want Her),” a track from Atlanta’s Burning Down. The set then moves into two more songs from that same LP, "Leavin' Me Again” and "Back On the Road Again.” Still, it is his work from the Allman Brothers years that get the audience on its feet and cheering. After particularly brilliant versions of "In Memory Of Elizabeth Reed” and "Jessica,” Betts and the band do a medley of the Allman’s classic, "Blue Sky” and "Atlanta’s Burning Down,” a compelling song about the final months of the Civil War from a Southern perspective. He closes the show with his own solo version of "Ramblin' Man,” the Top 10 hit he penned and sang for The Allman Brothers Band on their Brothers and Sisters album.
Betts would remain with the Allmans off and on through the end of the 1990s. He reformed Dickey Betts and Great Southern a few years ago, and still uses them as his touring band to this day.
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