portrait of this blog's author - by Stephen Blackman 2008

Sunday, April 21, 2024

DICKEY BETTS : Allman Brothers Band Live at University Of Florida Bandshell, Gainesville, USA 1982

 Well I upset a lot of folk on Flikkenbok with my views on ABB who I don’t really care for unless Dickey steps up for a lick and I said it was him who redeemed the band from that “Southern schtick” which basically had calls for my hanging(!) but I stand by it. Greg and Duane, the brothers, and their writing interested me less than the virtuoso compositions of Betts but hey each to their own! I was looking this morning at a clip of The ABB doing that Midnight Rider 'Silver Dollar’ yankee B/Ssong and find it dreadful and so parochial, a universal it ain’t (that "Southern schtick"!) but hey ho, what do I know? It is just about an OPINION people. It's just a view!  Sheesh!

 One man’s Meat is another man's Poisson! 🐟



Live at University Of Florida Bandshell, Gainesville, FL, US 1.16.1982!
---- 
01.Jessica
written for Dickey’s then one year old daughter   . . . . . . 
RIP Dickey Betts - guitar, vocals
Gregg Allman - keyboard, vocals
Mike Lawler - keyboard 
Butch Trucks - drums
David “Frankie” Toler - drums
Dan Toler - guitar
David Goldflies - bass
Keith England - backing vocals
Bonnie Gallie - backing vocals


THESIS!?


 The Allman Brothers Band - Midnight Rider - 9/10/1973 - Grand Opera House


Gawd I mean this is TRULY AWFUL! Whiny droning Merkin crap of the first water!
That voice! Guy can’t even . . . . . Badly recorded I grant you (maybe?) but dear oh dear this is poor! 
It’s the Southern Yankee schitck! Swear down!

Oh, just me then . . . . . 

4 comments:

Jobe said...

Am I missing something? This sounds and looks GREAT. Thanks for posting

Andy Swapp said...

Aww heck I was AFRAID of this . . . . I KNOW its my own lil blog but thought this would rattle the America crew!
I JUST DON'T HEAR IT!
Sorry all!
Sorry Bro

I am aware that I am alone in this but the vocal on this seems out of tune to me and a throw away effort from Greg here at that but just dreadful whiny!? Someone on Facebook likened it to jazz and improvisational magic and dealing with universals but that’s from an American I guess, this song was to illustrate that the songs are very parochial - Midnight Rider? Not for me! Silver Dollar? What even IS that?! The fabulous heartfelt Jessica for Dickey’s little daughter is enchanting always but it ain’t improvised that is as tight a composition as it’s possible to get and I could listen to Dickey all day . . . . . . just not with the Allmans! There, I said it! You know it!

I loved the guitar playing of Duane especially on slide (see today notes from Johnny Winter) but the organ is not my favourite instrument for rock and here to me Dickey seems really PISSED OFF! He’s phoning it in!? It’s lacklustre and poor! Just my opinion! Don’t send round the heavy mob! Them Southern boys can be AWFUL brutal! They carry baseball bats!

Forgiveness is a virtue too tha knows!
;)

Jobe said...

Andy
I should have prefaced my above comment by stating that like you, I was never a fan of the ABB their improvisations bored me to tears. Who in their right mind would list Mountain Jam from Eat A Peach as the song they listen to while grabbing for that album. Incomprehensible noodling reminiscent of the Grateful Dead (whom I still don't like) What album is it, Live Dead, where the song Dark Star goes on for like three days? Two improvisational numbers that come to my mind (when I wanna hear that stuff) are Spoonful from Wheels Of Fire and Dreams Of Milk And Honey from Flowers Of Evil, Corky Laing has never has gotten the accolades he deserves. Anyway I digress, for some reason (and I don't know why) one day it hit me and all of the sudden the ABB made sense. I'm still not crazy about the long songs from The Fillmore East but they do have there moments. I guess it's a thing where if I wanna hear something I don't have to think too much about the ABB do the job for me. I'll just put on something by them and I dunno, clean the house. Now I don't hold them in the esteem I do The Replacements (see comment at Achin' To Be) but they really are not that bad of a band.

Andy Swapp said...

Oh Wow Jobe you are so kind . . . the guys on FB sounded like they were gonna hire a hit man!
But I couldn’t agree more with you just that I didn’t really appreciated them in the end either, I love Dickey Betts style and but with the tragic death of Duane they were pretty much done for me afterwards. Dickey leaving broke it for me . . .I went that way!

The Dead I have struggled with too and yet only in recent years have I given them a real try . . . . I like some songs/numbers and the schtick about releasing all the boots makes me smile but sheesh once you heard one go on for several DAYS I am about done! (I went to hear String Cheese Incident locally who appear to model themselves thereupon but it was more music to snooze by! Couldn’t believe they had released so many albums, expecting about two tops! Never in the history of ever did I go to a gig where I was offered so many drugs and in recovery this was so uncool! I guess you needed Mandrax (Qualudes?) to really appreciate them!?!?
I think like you I DO appreciate them but puhleeze who has the TIME????!