When Dickey Betts died on April 18, 2024, he left behind a long career that touched the lives of countless musicians. As his friends prepare to honor him with a memorial concert on February 28 in Macon, Georgia, one of those players has spoken about Betts’ influence on him: Warren Haynes.
Although he was introduced to the music world largely through his work as Betts’ Allman Brothers Band playing partner, Haynes was hired first to perform in the Dickey Betts Band, around 1987.
"Dickey gave me the biggest opportunity of my career,” Haynes tells the UCR Podcast. "He hired me in his band and I had no idea at that time that would lead to me joining the Allman Brothers. But it did, and in 1989, they asked me to join them when they reformed. That opened every door imaginable for me.”
Moreover, it allowed Haynes to make his mark as both an electric guitar player and a songwriter. His song “Soulshine,” from 1994’s Where It All Begins, is among the tunes he wrote or contributed to, and it remains one of the best-loved tracks from the group’s later catalog.
As Haynes has revealed, he was a longtime Allman Brothers Band fan when Betts enlisted him in the group. "When I first started — chronologically speaking — Hendrix and Clapton and Johnny Winter were the first three people I got turned on to,” he told Gibson.com's Backstage Pass in 2006. “That was the Cream era of Clapton. Then eventually, I heard the Allman Brothers and everybody else from that era that I stole something from,” he added with a laugh.
Betts was among those whose musical influence rubbed off on Haynes. The guitarist was particularly inspired by Betts’ vocal-like approach to lead playing, a quality that was especially apparent on instrumental works like "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed," "Jessica" and the Betts Band cut "Duane's Tune," from 1988's Pattern Disruptive.
"He had that flowing melody thing, one note after another that all feels like you're singing along with the music," Haynes tells UCR. "His solos have that singing quality and that melodic ease that pulled the listener along.
“In turn, it turned into something that people looked at it as being part of the song. You know, the parts he played were so singable and hummable that even people who didn't play an instrument were singing along with his guitar solos."
Haynes would certainly appreciate that quality. As he told Rick Beato in December 2024, he views singing as a vital skill for guitarists. “I started singing first. And so all the guitar players that I became enamored with were either singers, or players like Santana that sounded like they were singing through their instrument.
“I loved B.B. King's voice before I cared about guitar. Freddie King I always say would be one of my favorite singers even if he didn't play guitar.”
Haynes’ fans were reminded of his deep connection to Betts and the Allman Brothers Band when he asked fellow ABB alumnus Derek Trucks to help him finish and record “Real Real Love,” a previously unreleased song by Gregg Allman, for his latest album, Million Voices Whisper. Released this past November, the album is dedicated to Betts, whose playing style informed Haynes’ own on the album,
"A lot of the reason that I dedicated this album to him, aside from the obvious, is that I felt like this music needed for me to play with a little more of his influence than I normally would," Haynes said. "So there are several songs where I'm definitely channeling Dickey intentionally."
Haynes will lead the pack of artists honoring the guitarist for the In Memory of Dickey Betts concert on February 28. The show will feature performances by Derek Trucks, Susan Tedeschi, Oteil Burbridge Jaimoe, Chuck Leavell, Devon Allman, Duane Betts, Charlie Starr, Jimmy Hall & Lamar Williams Jr. and many others.
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