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Dickey Betts, Allman Brothers Band Singer-Guitarist, Dead at 80

Dickey Betts, the singer, songwriter and guitarist who played a crucial role in the Allman Brothers Band, has died at age 80.

“When I finally got to about seventh grade,” he told RS, “I learned about girls and rock and roll and Chuck Berry.” As a teenager, he put together his own band while earning a living as a house painter and mail carrier. After Duane Allman’s death in a motorcycle accident in 1971, Betts became the band’s de facto lead guitarist and frontman, a role he wasn’t always comfortable with. That side of him resumed; in 1993, he was arrested in Saratoga Springs, New York, after getting into a shoving match with cops, and his drinking led to fights with band members and missed shows.

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