Transcript: Transcript From Gregg to Devon: The Allman Family’s Musical Journey

Welcome to a Breath of Fresh Air with Sandy Kaye. Hello and thank you so much for joining me this week. If I asked you to name a band that epitomised Southern rock royalty, what would your answer be? I think you’d have to say the Allman Brothers, wouldn’t you? And if you did, you’d be right.

 

Siblings Greg and Dwayne Allman formed their band in 1969, while Dwayne was already working as a celebrated session musician at the Muscle Shoals Recording Studio, working with artists like Aretha Franklin and Wilson Pickett. The Allman Brothers were a group defined by eras, personalities and tragedies, and they built a legendary career that lasted all the way from 1969 through to 2014. Unfortunately, both Dwayne and Greg have now passed.

 

Dwayne in a motorbike accident in 1971 and Greg from liver cancer in 2017. So to tell us all about his dad and uncle, we turn to Greg’s son, Devin, who also happens to make some pretty fabulous music these days himself. Devin Allman, how fabulous to meet you.

 

Thank you for having me. Your star is still rising, isn’t it? Oh, thank you. I think with any art form, you kind of hope that the trajectory is slow and steady and always growing.

 

I certainly am really grateful I never had like some big hit record or something in my early 20s and then had it all go down. I’ve been at it for quite some time now. Tell me how it all started for you, man.

 

I used to drive my mom nuts. She had a console vinyl record player in the living room. And I would drive her nuts and ask her to play records over and over and over like just over and over again.

 

I finally I think I was five when I figured out Wait a second. If I asked for my own vinyl record player, I could just stay in my room and do this all the time. So the first love was vinyl records.

 

It was 1977. It was the Beatles. It was Wings, Jim Croce, Led Zeppelin, Kiss, everything singer songwriter to heavy metal.

 

I really did even as a young kid liked it all. It started with that big black thing going in a circle and making magical sounds. Till eternity passes away just to spend them with you.

 

If I could make days last forever. If words could make wishes come true. I’d save every day like a treasure and then again, I would spend them with you.

 

But there never seems to be enough time to do the things you want to do once you’re fine. I’ve looked around enough to know that you’re the one I want to go through time with. Devon, you grew up without dad, you didn’t meet him, I believe until you were about 16.

 

But you were obviously aware of who he was, weren’t you? Yeah, yeah, it was it was kind of hard to escape, especially when he got married to Cher. That was kind of one of the first American power couples in the entertainment industry, really, you know, with the rock and roll guy and the extraordinarily famous actor singer that Cher is. So it was, you know, it wasn’t like it was some secret that was kept from me.

 

I knew who he was. And once his profile was raised, just overnight by being with Cher, it was real obvious. He could preach a little gospel, sell a couple bottles of Dr. Dream, dream, dream, dream, dream I was sixteen, he was twenty-one Rode with us to Memphis And Papa woulda shot him if he knew what he’d done Cheers, please, tramps and thieves We hear it from the people of the town They’d call us Cheers, please, tramps and thieves But every night all they did was lay their money down It was eighty-one, I went to my first concert It was Cheap Trick That was the first time I was ever like I don’t know how, but I want to do that And had nothing to do with my dad I hadn’t even met my dad I was nine years old at that concert So I am grateful Even though that was hard It’s hard for any young boy to grow up without a dad Famous or not famous But I am really glad I got an organic path to music That was very much my own That I laid all the groundwork for I wasn’t raised in a house where I heard dad singing or playing Even though that would have been cool On the other hand I am grateful that it was an organic path to discovering bands Discovering music Discovering genres All on my own Growing up without him and knowing that you were the son of Greg Orman Were you watching him from afar? Were you listening to that band? Watching? It’s funny you say that Because it’s hard to watch from afar in the 70s and early 80s There’s no internet There’s no nothing You can’t keep tabs You don’t even really know the tour dates There’s no website You know what I mean? It’s almost impossible So what I got was bits and pieces I might see dad on a magazine cover with Cher I might hear that he was coming to the next city over on a tour Because there’s an advertisement on the radio Or something like that But you know The funny thing is The thing that made me sit down and write him a letter And say, hey man I’m your son Here’s my phone number The thing that made me do that was MTV Because I was so enamored with vinyl records and radio That when MTV came out It was like, wait a second How cool is this? This is a face to all these singers And this new dimension of It was so cool It was like album coverage coming to life And I don’t know I think I was 15 And I saw a music video of my dad I’m no angel I’m no stranger So I won’t crumble At your feet I know, baby So I’ve got scars upon my cheek I’m half crazy Come on, love me, baby So you find me hard to handle In the eye of the beholder Peter The Allman Brothers had kind of happened in the late 60s, early 70s Peaked in the 70s And then they had kind of quieted down They weren’t the biggest band in the country anymore So it was the 80s Were them kind of crawling into a combat situation And I just wrote them a letter and said, hey man I’m your son And here’s my number How did he respond? I guess it was about a week and a half later I came home and my mom screamed from downstairs And it was the weirdest scream Almost like, holy shit, what happened to mom? It was like a very shocked scream David! And I ran down and she’s just holding the phone It’s your dad That was a trip That was the first time I had any contact with him at all We were on that phone call for about three hours It was pretty wild Had he been aware of you up until then? Yeah, my mom and dad were married When my uncle Dwayne Allman was killed on a motorcycle That pretty much sent dad into a tailspin Going from recreational drug use to really just He was really self-medicating his sorrows at that point Because Dwayne Allman was like his dad So without getting too deep into it My mom was like, I can’t raise a kid around this And she left But they were married for a year So of course he was aware of me And six months after the letter We met at one of the shows Good times Drinking in some cross town bar Sometimes I feel Sometimes I feel Like I’ve been caught Through the window Caught Through the window Caught Through the window Good Lord, I feel like I’m dying What was that like for you to meet him the first time? It was good It was really cool He was really nervous I wasn’t really that nervous I was more kind of intrigued I think it was really good In that we had a lot of same mannerisms And we’ll walk the same And kind of same build And it was weird, man It was like You could tell we were related, you know It was really a trip He came back and he visited again And then we just We got closer and closer With every time we’d hang out And ultimately I would get to sit in with the band And they’d kind of take me under their wing And I’d jam with them I ended up playing with dad a whole lot Through his life Which was always an honor And a special thing to do To testify My endless fortune I’ll live on I’ll be strong Cause it just ain’t my cross to bear He was pretty chuffed that you were into music also And that you were enamored with his career Yeah, I mean I wasn’t enamored with his career I was enamored with getting to know who my father was That was a long time to grow up without a dad And to meet him at like 16 Was just that last little bit of childhood That I really kind of needed that connection to happen Then That was important to me So He was very excited that I was into music He was happy to kind of take me under his wing And we had a lot in common And we had a very similar sense of humor It was a relationship that blossomed from that day Until the day he left us So you said that you would sit in with the band And he would take you on tour a little bit too That’s when you first met Dwayne, didn’t you? The first time I went on tour with them Was the Allman Brothers reunion And that was in 89 And I was 17 I think Dwayne was like 12 Dwayne Betts is the son of the late guitarist Dickie Betts Who took the place of Dwayne Allman after his death 12 seemed a lot younger, you know Now that we’re like longer in the tooth In 40s and 50s Five, six years is nothing But you know, at 17 We were trying to find out where they were hiding the beer And chase the girl fans And we were up to no good Devon, you’re 17 Dwayne is 12 You’re hanging out with your dads on tour And this amazing band at the top of their game You guys are thinking music, girls and beer What happens next? Well, I think being on the road really Inspired me to put a band together And I was still 17 when I came off tour I had quit high school to go on that tour My senior year of high school Was really Allman Brothers Class of rock and roll lifestyle So what was next really Was just forming a bunch of bands And trying to find my way I mean, all through 17 For the next 10 years or better Was garage bands, cover bands Bands that would play in small bar rooms So it was really just trying to find What felt natural And right about the time that I put together Like my first really serious band I was probably mid-20s And my son was born I was like, hmm I put the band on hold I’ll get back into it when he goes off to kindergarten And I literally took five years Two questions come to mind from what you’ve just said today Firstly, I’d imagine your mother must have discouraged you Quite heavily from leaving school And chasing that rock and roll life No, she said you She said go She knew that the American high school curriculum Was bullshit She knew what fire burned in my heart Was for music But no, my mom and my dad Were the opposite of most parents They were like, yeah, quit high school Come out here See what the life is like See how it’s done That really surprises me about your mom though Given the experience she’d had with dad And having to raise you on her own Because of that rock and roll lifestyle But then also in terms of You having your own son And deciding to stay home Was that in stark contradiction To what dad had actually done And left the family? My mom decided to leave Because he was just going way too far down That drug use went from A little fun backstage To like, he had become very addicted to heroin But he also chose to kind of stay away Based in fear He didn’t know where to start with me He didn’t have any clue how to call my mom When I was three years old And go, you know, I’d like to pick him up And hang out with him and take care of him And now, later in life of course And having been a father They’re like, I totally get it Like the guy wouldn’t have known what to do So I did do the opposite of my dad But family comes first always So five years later Devin Allman was back And his own rock and roll journey Kicked off again with great success

 

 

This is a Breath of Fresh Air with Sandy Kaye. It’s a beautiful day. It was 1989 and Devin Allman was on the road with Greg and the brothers during the Dreams Tour.

 

He says it was an education like no other. After meeting Dad and being on the road, were you colored by all that music? Yes and no, there was a lot of osmosis. Like I kind of knew every song backwards and forwards by hearing it every night.

 

I could have sat there and learned every lick and tried to be in that band or whatever, but that was never the goal. The goal was to let the experience help me make a decision between theater and music and just inspire me like, hey man, this is possible. I wanted to find my own musical voice.

 

Now, once Dad passed away, it’s a whole different look. It’s like a full circle look. It’s like, well, I think it’s my duty to assemble people and celebrate the music for special events like the Revival Tour.

 

During the early 70s, the Allman brothers had arguably been the most influential rock group in America. Dwayne Allman and Dickie Betts pioneered the twin lead guitar sound that continued well into the 21st century. The group placed a huge emphasis on musicianship and they turned epic length jam tracks into FM radio staples.

 

He wound up on the wrong end of a gun And I was born in the backseat of a red-hound bus Rollin’ down Highway 41 Lord, I was born a ramblin’ man Tryin’ to make a livin’ and doin’ the best that I can When it’s time for leavin’, I hope you’ll understand That I was born a ramblin’ man Tell me where the idea of doing the legacy stuff and tribute stuff to the original Allman brothers came from. Well, that was that party that we threw for my dad that would have been his 70th birthday. We needed a name for it and we didn’t want to call it the Greg Allman Birthday Party.

 

We wanted to give it a life of its own. So we came down to Allman Family Revival and that’s because the whole music community around the Allman brothers and around my dad really feels like a family. So all these musicians that I invited to take part, they were either friends of my dad’s or they had been in bands with my dad or they had been in bands that were the opening act for my dad or they were heavily influenced by my dad.

 

So that’s that family aspect. And the fans, too, even. It’s like a family.

 

And then Revival, kind of a fun tip of the hat to the song Revival and getting everybody together, you know, a big party. So Allman Family Revival was the name of the event. And, you know, the craziest part about that Revival, that party, was that it was just a one-shot deal.

 

My dad passed away at 69. A few months later, seven months later, he was to turn 70. And I just wanted to throw him a bash.

 

That was it. It was successful. It was fun.

 

Everybody had a blast. It was all the right reasons, all the right intentions. And we got a call the next week from the venue.

 

Fillmore in San Francisco saying, man, can we do that again next year? And we thought, why not? Maybe that’s fun on his birthday. We’ll just throw a birthday party every freaking year. Like, why not? And they said, well, can we do two nights? Because, you know, it sold out so quick.

 

And we were like, well, yeah, why not? Leave all the equipment up and just come back and play the next day. And then it grew to more cities and then it grew to more cities and then it grew to more cities. And now it takes place every year between Thanksgiving and Christmas for three weeks.

 

We do 20 cities coast to coast. We have a different lineup every year. We have a different set list.

 

We have a different visual campaign. It’s really become its own little thing. The fans are there.

 

The fans are transported back in time. And it’s just a beautiful love-in for this songbook. That’s the thing.

 

It’s not about me and Dwayne. Even though we’re Greg Allman and Dickie Bett’s son. It’s not about us.

 

It might even be our band as the core band of the night. But it’s not about us. And it’s not about these big names that we’ve had involved.

 

It’s about this songbook. This songbook is what brings these people, you know. And I’m honored that the fans trust Dwayne and I to present this songbook in a capacity that is nothing but heart and respect.

 

Devon, what do you think is so special about the Allman Brothers music? What is it that is so important to keep that music alive? Man. It’s a bit like the music of Lynyrd Skynyrd, isn’t it? Well, I don’t know. Alright, we’re not going to compare to Lynyrd Skynyrd.

 

Alright. Back of the truck right there. But I understand what you’re saying.

 

There’s a depth and a specialness to their music as well that should be kept alive for sure. And I love Lynyrd Skynyrd. And when Dad passed away, Lynyrd Skynyrd had me on their stage to do Midnight Rider with them in Atlanta.

 

And it was such an honor and such a joy to do that for him and to be asked to do that by them. What’s so special about the Allman Brothers catalogue? Yes. You know, the songs are timeless.

 

The songs have a simplicity to some of them and a complexity to some of them. They can go from three or four chords like Melissa to a very complex rhythmic structure to something like Elizabeth Reed and take you on this real trippy, psychotropic kind of rollercoaster ride. And they can hit you with some blues and some country and some rock and some folk and some R&B.

 

I think they were that true amalgam of all genres in one band with that heightened sense of musicianship that was really just firing on all cylinders. And the one thing that I found about the Allman Brothers in my 50 years of living is that for serious musicians of any genre, and I mean heavy metal and I mean jazz and I mean blues and country across the board, I have yet to find a more respected, respected rock and roll band from America than the Allman Brothers. You might get some people in those groups that don’t really respect the Rolling Stones and they’ll shit talk them, but they won’t shit talk the Allman Brothers.

 

They might talk down about this band or like, oh, you know, this band didn’t have this or that. But like everyone that is a serious musician that I’ve ever really talked to from all walks of life, no one shit talks the Allman Brothers. It’s quite an honor to the whole canon of the family and what amazing work they did.

 

That’s just one really cool thing that I have noticed over my years. Well, I’m tired of all your slippery ways I can’t take no evil eye Oh, no Black-hearted woman See, trouble and pain is all you crave Much better, I just can’t stay I was doing a bit of reading about Dad and the Allman Brothers and stumbled across all the references to the Big House in Georgia and what a phenomenal tourist resort that still is today. Yeah.

 

It draws thousands and thousands of people to see where those guys all hung out in the day. Yeah. Yeah, it’s incredible.

 

They do a great job. We stop in there every chance we get when we play in Macon, Georgia. It’s just fantastic.

 

The Allman Brothers Band Museum, also known as the Big House, was the home to the Allman Brothers’ original members, their families and various friends from 1970 to 1973. It was opened in 2009 as an interactive museum dedicated to identifying and preserving the history of the Allman Brothers Band and today it contains the world’s largest collection of Allman Brothers memorabilia. People, can you feel it? Now it’s everywhere You can hear it The song is in the air We’re in a revolution Oh, you know that Everyone is singing People, can you feel it? Now it’s everywhere People, can you feel it? Now it’s everywhere People, can you feel it? Now it’s everywhere People, can you feel it? No one ever doubted that music flowed just as freely through Devin Allman’s veins as it had through his dad’s.

 

As a skilled guitarist, keyboardist and songwriter, Devin founded the band Honey Tribe, was co-leader of the Royal Southern Brotherhood and has been widely acclaimed as a solo artist. But it’s his work with Dwayne Betts that perhaps has brought him the most notoriety. Individually, the two guys are modern day guitar heroes who’ve spent years creating their own version of American roots music.

 

Together though, they’re the leaders of the Allman-Betts band, a supergroup anchored by sharp songwriting, fiery fretwork and of course, that historic legacy. I was afraid if I sat there and studied every note of their music that it would be too much of an influence on what I would do musically. So I almost was the opposite, like I heard it every night and that was almost good enough.

 

I get what you’re saying. Yeah, I wanted to know that when I grabbed a guitar and started writing music and keyboard and forming bands and all that, that these songs weren’t formed and these bands weren’t formed around their work. You wanted to express your creativity.

 

I really get that. In saying that though, did you have a favourite Allman Brothers song? Always loved the song Dreams. It was always very epic to me, very jazzy.

 

I loved the time signature. I love the exploratory guitars on it. It’s a track that, you know, I think the recorded version is 7 or 8 minutes, but live it can go to 30 minutes and you don’t even realise it.

 

Went up on the mountain To see what I could see The whole world was falling Right in front of me Your own bands, Deb and Allman, tell us a little bit about the direction that your music was going in. So I’ve had, over the course of my recording career, I’ve had basically 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 groups. And all of them are really an amalgam of what I love, what my record collection is.

 

You know, blues, rock, some Zeppelin in there, there’s some Derek and the Dominos, some BB King, a little jazz sprinkled on top, there’s some Rolling Stones in that music. I think that’s what each artist’s fingerprint really is, an amalgam of what their textbooks were. Since my son went off to school, who is now a college student, I think I’ve put out 11 records since then.

 

You’re writing? Yeah, I’ve got 12 records out. There’s albums where I wrote 70% of it, there’s albums where I wrote 100% of it, there’s albums where I co-wrote a song with an outside writer or a producer or whatever, but yeah, of course. Would you say that the direction of your own solo stuff has changed over the years? I think, if anything, I’ve gotten a little more courageous in showing some influences that maybe people didn’t know that I had, so kind of a little freer to do that now that I’m a little older.

 

I’m not second-guessing and worrying about, oh, will this affect my fans in a negative way? I really do what I feel is a good place to go musically and with a lyric, a story to tell, and let the chips fall where they may. I think when we start in the business, we get really microscopic of ourselves and we really are worried about how we’re perceived and then you get older and you really just go, you know? He’s sounding good, isn’t he? Don’t go anywhere. Much more to come.

 

 

This is a Breath of Fresh Air with Sandy Kaye. It’s a beautiful day. Devon Allman grew up on classic blues-inspired rock music, acts like Santana, The Stones, The Doors and of course the Allman Brothers.

 

When asked if there was one record he could cite as the definitive recording that had influenced and inspired him most, Devon responded with Layla by Derek and the Dominoes. He said that not only could he really feel what Eric Clapton was going through as a man in love on that track, but that his uncle Dwayne sounded just like a bird on that guitar. What are you doing? Nobody’s waiting by your side You’ve been running, running much too long You know it’s just your foolish pride Where do you take your inspiration from, from writing, from all the stuff that goes on around you? I think it’s life.

 

I think it’s what you observe, what you feel. Everybody’s on this ride together and you see different things and things affect you in different ways and writing is a great way to kind of exercise the demons in your life. It’s therapeutic, isn’t it? It’s very cathartic and definitively gives you that one outlet to say maybe what might be hard to just say.

 

Can you name one of the songs on your albums that’s the closest to your heart? Oh man, I don’t know. In terms of cathartic, I think on that last Allman Betts record I had a cut on there called Southern Rain and that one was about losing my parents. I lost them both within four months and that was a really tough time, losing them both pretty young.

 

I was 44 when I lost them both. I think that song was an important step for me of kind of moving beyond that initial gut punch and really kind of processing that grief because I was on tour in Savannah. I knew Dad wasn’t doing well.

 

I knew it was the end. He knew it was the end. I knew that when I kissed him on the forehead and walked down his long driveway that as I was walking down his long driveway I knew that that was it.

 

I knew that that was the last time I’d see him. I knew it was the last time I’d walk down his driveway and it was the end of an era and that was the Southern Rain. It was the tears hitting my cheek as I left his home and it was an important song to write.

 

I think it was really important that I wrote that because then when I get to perform it on stage, and we don’t do it all the time, but when we do it’s kind of like getting to work through that all over again. Southern rain is gonna fall Southern rain is coming in Pop those pills, chase some stress In the Southern rain Had some pain and lost my mind Went insane from all my sin Almost fell, straight to hell Then I lost my heart But from somewhere in a cold dark night When I feel there’s no one on my side I can hear a voice and the echo sing I believe in you I will be with you I believe in you How and when did you and Dwayne come to an agreement to start Orman Bitts Band? I don’t know, 2006 to 2016, that ten year spread, we would run into each other. We’d be on the same rock and roll cruise or I’d be opening for his dad’s band, he was in his dad’s band, so we’d see each other backstage.

 

I ran into him backstage in England during a festival. We would just kind of pop up and sometimes we’d grab guitars and shoot the shit and catch up. I remember one time we were jamming guitars in Sarasota and it just occurred to me like, we ought to do something together sometime and he was like, yeah, that’d be fun.

 

And then it just never really coalesced into anything real. It was always just kind of us talking. And then when my dad passed away, I called Dwayne and I said, hey, I want to throw a party for dad.

 

His 70th birthday was around the corner and I just want to invite a bunch of our kick-ass friends and throw a big bash and play his music. And Dwayne was like, oh man, we gotta do that, sounds great. So that night we celebrated dad and we really had a lot of fun doing it.

 

I think I mentioned to Dwayne something like, that was fun, what if we took my band and your band on tour? And he was like, yeah, that sounds good because his dad wasn’t really touring anymore and he was kind of sitting around and he had been playing with a band called Dawes and he got freed up. All of a sudden, he kind of had nothing on his radar and he said, man, this sounds good, let’s do it. So we went out on tour for a year and we did like 25 countries or something crazy like that.

 

And we loved it so much, we said, well, why don’t we just combine these two bands and make the All Home and Bets band? It was just the next logical step. I can tell you’re not feeling down Just go down to the river and wait and spend Up to the river and pray Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh I can tell you’re lost Your dad and Dwayne and Dickie Betts had that chemistry between them that was so special, that made their music so fabulous to begin with. Was it a natural fit for you and Dwayne Betts? You had the same chemistry? Well, I mean, same is a very subjective word.

 

Did we have our own chemistry that was as special in our way? Yeah. Or I wouldn’t have done it. You can’t force chemistry.

 

That’s really what that year of touring before we were Allman Betts band, we did that year of touring with our two bands. And we would pair off and go try and write songs and do some singing together and stuff. And it was always effortless.

 

It was like, if he brought an idea, I knew right where to take it. I could finish his line. He could finish my song.

 

And then our voices singing together actually just worked. They really worked. They complemented each other really well.

 

I’ve got more of a deep baritone kind of thing. And he’s got a real cut through kind of country, almost nasally, cool. And the two of them together just kind of complement each other.

 

It was like, shit, man, let’s write some more songs. So all of a sudden we had enough for a debut album and it was kind of off to the races. Since that debut album, several others have ensued, each receiving critical acclaim.

 

In addition, the annual performances of the all-star Ormond Betts family revival have served to sharpen the group’s chemistry. I got something to say I got places to be I got a bone to pick With people that know stones and me Cos I tried I tried my best I got some mountains to climb I got some rivers to find Up in the trees so high Branches break under me Cos I tried I tried my best Gonna try To find myself We always considered each other family and kind of knew someday maybe something would happen, but it was never a have to, it was always a want to. What did Dickie think about it? Was he supportive of the pair? Yeah, yeah, he was really geeked.

 

He was very into it, very proud. Yeah, you make some beautiful noise together, the Ormond Betts band, for sure. Hey, Devon, recently you did a song with Maggie Rose, the singer, and you’ve released your version of Jackson Browne’s classic, These Days, as another tribute to your dad.

 

Why that one? Well, I’ve always stayed away from remaking dad’s songs, but when another artist approaches you and it’s a song that means a lot to them, then it becomes kind of a different vehicle. And especially now with dad gone, I think it’s cool to, every once in a while, pick up the ball. And that, These Days especially, because it wasn’t really dad’s song, it was Jackson Browne’s song, but the tribute to dad was in the manner that we recorded it.

 

We leaned on dad’s version for inspiration. Maggie was on the revival tour a couple years ago and she called me six months out and said, I’ve always loved the song, These Days, why don’t we cut that together? And I was like, that’d be a great vehicle to promote the tour. And I love you and I love your voice.

 

And we went down and knocked it out and we sent it to Jackson. And he loved it, which was just fantastic. And we even sent it over to Cher and she said she cried.

 

And it was just a really cool moment to recreate that with Maggie. She really knocked it out of the park. Well, I’ve been out walking I don’t do that much talking These days These days These days I seem to think a lot About the things that I forgot to do For you And all the times I had a chance to lie Well, I’ve had another I don’t think I’ll risk another These days These days These days I seem to be afraid To live the life that I made in song It wasn’t too long after this song was released that Dickie Betts also passed away at the age of 80.

 

Although he’d often been overshadowed by Greg and Duane, the brothers who gave the Allmans their name, Dickie was equally vital to the band. His guitar style introduced elements of western swing and jazz into the band’s music, especially when he was dueting with Duane. As a singer and writer, he’d been responsible for the band’s biggest hit, 1973’s Ramblin’ Man, as well as some of their most recognisable songs, the moody instrumental In Memory of Elizabeth Reed, the upbeat Jessica, and their late period comeback hit Crazy Love.

 

Somewhere down on that street Way down breast and heart Well, I’ll go see my I just can’t forget ya Can’t stop playin’ Rockin’ crazy love Crazy love Love in my mind Don’t you value change From his trademark moustache to his badass demeanour, Dickie Betts was so iconic that he even inspired the character of Russell in Cameron Crowe’s movie Almost Famous. Meanwhile, Devin Allman’s career keeps moving forward. He’s recently released a new solo album called Miami Moon, which was recorded at the legendary Criteria studio in Miami, where his uncle Duane laid down Layla years earlier.

 

Thanks so much for your time today. I’m so glad you kept me company and I hope you’ve enjoyed this episode. Thanks to you, Devin Allman, for sharing all your stories with us.

 

I’m sure your dad would be really proud to know all you’re doing in his memory. Well done, you. Thank you.

 

But, you know, it’s their songbook and it’s these fans that love that songbook. I mean, that’s the fuel to the engine and we’re really grateful to do that for them. So thank you.

 

Cause it’s a beautiful day You’ve been listening to A Breath of Fresh Air with Sandy Kay. It’s a beautiful day Oh, baby, any day that you’re gone away It’s a beautiful day