Gregg's band - ABB AD [after Duane] - disowned him for a good while [until their need for money forced them to reconsider] after he testified against his and the band's coke supplier who was a band roadie. I read somewhere that his hookup with Sonny Bono's lesser half was both an effort to clean up and move his career to a larger mainstream audience. If true, both were catastrophic failures. I've seen the clip once. Like Gregg, I tried to forget it ever happened.
Last night I made an earnest attempt to change my mind about Betts with no success. In fact, it reaffirmed my decades long opinion with even more conviction. The guitar solo of Rambling Man - which is basically a series of the same mind numbing one lick 4 bar repetition that makes my head want to explode - is pretty much all his solos with a different bend here and a reverse there. The reformed band actually fired him in 1990, and he sued them, of course. From wikipedia:
"Concerns arose over the increasing loudness of Allman Brothers shows, which were largely centered on Betts.
[120] "It had ceased to be a band—everything had to be based around what Dickey was playing", said Allman.
[122] Pearson, struggling with
tinnitus, left as a result.
[123] Butch Trucks phoned his nephew,
Derek Trucks, to join the band for their thirtieth anniversary tour.
[124] Anger boiled over within the group towards Betts, which led to all original members sending him a letter, informing him of their intentions to tour without him.
[125] Betts responded by hiring a lawyer and suing the group, which led to a permanent divorce.
[122]
About 20 years too late, but better than never. Here's one of Dickey's more inventive solos:
