by Rob Johnson

My name is Rob Johnson, and I am a soap opera junkie.

Now before you start wondering what that has to do with jambands.com, rest assured that my obsession has nothing to do with whether Martha is going to tell Jake that she is carrying Enrico's baby. However, it does involve many basic soap opera themes: family in-fighting & betrayal, drugs and alcohol, tragic and untimely deaths, squabbles over money, conspiracy theories, and so forth.

I am, of course, talking about Dickey Betts being fired from the Allman Brothers Band.

And now I've already gotten myself in trouble, because technically Dickey wasn't fired, he was "laid off." The bottom line is this: One of the founding members of the Allman Brothers, the man who wrote Ramblin' Man and Blue Sky, has been forcibly removed from the band against his will. Beyond that, it seems that no two people can agree on the details, and the whole situation is so complicated and emotionally charged that I should probably be committed for trying to write about it, but then again I should probably be committed anyway, for other and better reasons.

I will try to represent all opinions fairly in this article, but I do have my own thoughts on the matter and they will influence my writing, I'm sure. To those who disagree with what I say, I ask you to take this in the spirit in which it was written: Trying to cope with and understand a major crisis that threatens the existence of my favorite band. If I can, in the process, shed any light on this sad and confusing series of events for the benefit of fans and non-fans alike, that would make me happy, but I'm not holding my breath.

PART 1: BROTHERS AND SISTERS

Now is probably a good time for me to come clean about my biases. I am a huge, raving Allman Brothers fan and just saw my 21st ABB show in Raleigh (more on that later). I have been known to argue that the ABB are better than the Dead; better than Phish; even better than waking up on a clean, crisp spring morning with your best girl by your side and a winning lottery ticket in your hand, although I seem to recall losing that argument. Ever since I heard Live At Fillmore East, when I was 14, their music has touched my soul in the deepest way, and I am eternally grateful.

I am also, it is safe to say, one of the biggest Derek Trucks fans walking the Earth, and I was naturally thrilled when he joined the ABB last year. The 21-year-old nephew of ABB drummer Butch Trucks is one of the hottest talents around, and ever since the first time I saw Derek jam with the Allman Brothers at the ripe old age of 11 (!), I have thought it was his destiny to "join the family business."

Of course, it should come as no surprise that family themes repeatedly pop up in the history of a band when two of the founding members are brothers, but even after Duane Allman's tragic death in a motorcycle accident on October 29, 1971, an aura of kinship has surrounded the band. After the deaths of Duane and original bassist Berry Oakley, the Allmans put out an album called Brothers and Sisters in 1973, which featured Jessica, a song Dickey Betts wrote for his daughter. Many fans refer to the band as "The Brotherhood," which conjures up images of a combination of extended family and mystical order. Even the light show is done byyou guessed it, The Brotherhood of Light.

Like many ABB fans, I had always taken it as an article of faith that the Allman Brothers and their fans had a special bond, a feeling of family that could never be torn asunder. Which made it all the more surprising when I checked the band's website in May

PART 2: DON'T WANT YOU NO MORE

and found a message stating that Dickey Betts would not be touring with the Allman Brothers this summer, and Jimmy Herring (of the Aquarium Rescue Unit, Jazz Is Dead, and Phil & Friends) would fill his slot at guitar.

By the time I had finished reading it, I couldn't talk, I couldn't think, and my brain had basically shut down. My ex-wife, bless her heart, didn't understand why I was so catatonic with grief. "This kind of thing happens to bands all the time," she said, and I suppose she's right. She also pointed out that we had both recently seen a show at Jazz Fest in New Orleans where Dickey seemed visibly intoxicated and his playing was off. I countered by saying that Dickey had played great the week after that in Atlanta at Music Midtown, and besides, that wasn't the point. Even if Dickey deserved to be kicked out of the band, (and the legends of Dickey Betts' volatile behavior are so widespread, it is genuinely possible, in my mind) I wasn't sure if Gregg Allman, Butch Trucks, and Jaimoe had the right to do so, considering how integral Dickey was to the whole sound and personality of the Allman Brothers.

The only parallel I can think of is Roger Waters' acrimonious split with David Gilmour over the use of the name Pink Floyd. Much like the ABB, Pink Floyd was founded by a genius who is no longer with us, even if Syd Barrett is a mental casualty and Duane Allman a physical one. Much like the ABB, after the founding genius departed, someone had to pick up the slack. Roger Waters responded to the challenge with Dark Side of the Moon, and Dickey helped the Allman Brothers bounce back with Ramblin' Man, their biggest hit ever. Much like Roger Waters, Dickey is responsible for much of his band's success, and much like Roger, he is notorious for being difficult to work with.

And much like Roger Waters, who engaged in a bitter court battle with David Gilmour, Dickey didn't take his ouster lying down. He responded almost immediately by posting an emotional appeal on Hittin' The Web, an unofficial band site located at allmanbrothersband.com. In it he claimed to be mystified by the band's actions, said he was unaware of any tension or problems leading up to his sudden removal from the band, and lamented the fact that he was notified of the decision by fax. Fairly soon afterward, he announced a pending lawsuit of his own, although it seems to have been dropped. This announcement launched an ugly public relations war between Dickey and the band that would divide the fan base, lead to all sorts of ugly recriminations, and serve as a cautionary tale of the dark side of the Internet.

PART 3: DONE SOMEBODY WRONG

Like many bands, the Allman Brothers Band has embraced the Internet as an extremely efficient way to provide information and tickets to its fans. Even more than that, allmanbrothersband.com serves as a sort of fan clubhouse where fans from Maine to Montana, most of whom have never met, can debate issues such as their favorite ABB song, album, or lineup. As a result, the band probably never imagined that the Internet would be used against them, mainly by people who were incensed by Dickey's indefinite sabbatical.

Allmanbrothersband.com became, almost instantly, a forum for the wildest possible speculation about what prompted the band's actions, whether they were justified, and what would or should happen in the future. At first, there was still time before the Brothers' tour kicked off on June 16th, so many fans held out hope that this was all a horrible misunderstanding, confident that the man with the red guitar and the cowboy hat would be there to sing "Blue Sky" for them when the Allman Brothers came to town.

When the tour kicked off, and Jimmy Herring really WAS out there playing guitar instead of Dickey, it is an understatement to say that many people were upset. In his own world, Dickey Betts is as respected and worshipped as Jerry Garcia ever was, and his catalog of great songs and his unique guitar voice make it easy to see why. I myself am a big Jimmy Herring fan, but I will be the first to say that his style is significantly different from Dickey's, and Betts purists had fits over Jimmy's free-jazz outbursts. The biggest flap arose over the fact that the band was still playing some of Betts' songs, such as Elizabeth Reed and Jessica. Betts himself attacked the band for doing so, saying the band "should be ashamed of themselves," and many fans' opinion was summed up by one poster on the website who said succinctly "I don't know who Jimmy Herring is, but he should NOT play Elizabeth Reed."

Personally, I have never thought of songs as "belonging" to the people that wrote them. I tend to believe that music comes THROUGH people, not FROM them, so I was not as upset about this matter as some people were. When you are talking about a jamband like the ABB, even if Dickey wrote a song like Jessica originally, it has evolved over the years, with so many contributions from so many different musicians that it has taken on a life of its own. Obviously, some people disagree vehemently with this view, calling these songs Betts' "children" and wondering how the band could be so hard-hearted.

Many people bought tickets to the ABB before the announcement was made about Dickey's absence from the tour, and some visitors to Hittin' The Web's Guest Book demanded refunds from the band. At one point ABB drummer Jaimoe promised as much if fans were dissatisfied with the new lineup, but if any money has changed hands, I wouldn't know. While some guests maintained that the new lineup was the best ever, many old-school fans shouted them down and began to plead with the band to accept Dickey back into the fold, while still others implored the increasingly hostile residents of the Guest Book to calm down, it was only a band.

Of course, there's the rub. Any True Believer, whether they be a Deadhead or a Phish-head or whatever, can appreciate why this topic can be so touchy. Music stirs our deepest emotions; for many of us, that's the reason we are drawn to music in the first place, and if we seem weird or obsessive to "the others", that is just more proof of how special and unique our experience is, right? And when little things like human interpersonal dysfunctions get in the way of that special, unique experience, we act like a chain smoker that has gone cold turkey. We can't get our fix, and it pisses us off. Under these conditions, people can't be expected to act rationally, and in this case, they didn't.

Soon the anti-band sentiment had divided into several different camps, based on the different reasons that were perceived as motives for the split. I am sure I will leave out some opinions and nuances of arguments, but here is my crack at the main schools of thought, none of which represents the opinion of jambands.com or myself, or anything that could get anybody sued.

1. DICKEY GOT DONE WRONG AND NEEDS TO COME BACK ASAP-To many people, Dickey is their rock star-god-hero and they either don't think he is capable of the behavior the band has accused him of, or they don't care. They don't believe that Dickey did anything wrong, or at least not anything worth getting booted for, and sometimes dismiss the whole affair as originating from Gregg and Butch's envy over Dickey's superior talent. While many fans enjoyed Dickey's recent solo tour, almost all agree that they would rather "see Dickey Back Where It All Begins," as one fan put it. To many fans, Betts IS the Allman Brothers, and without him, they have no interest in the band, which they sometimes deride as the Almost Brothers Band.

2. DICKEY IS A VOLATILE DRUNK WHO GOT WHAT HE DESERVED-One visitor to the Guest Book commented that without Dickey, the ABB stands for Always Better Band, and said "Dickey should stick with what he does best, taking drugs and beating his wife."(Betts spent the night in jail and missed an entire tour following an arrest after a domestic dispute in 1993) Once again, this does not represent the views of the management, but there are people out there who feel that Dickey is a violent, troublemaking redneck, and that the band is better off without him.

3. GREGG IS A HYPOCRITICAL GOODY TWO-SHOES WITH A SHORT MEMORY-I myself believe Gregg Allman's recent claim to sobriety, if only because I have seen such improvement in his playing and singing lately that he must be living right, and I congratulate him for it. However, some fans maintain that even if Gregg is fresh as a daisy now, there were times when he was barely functional, and he wasn't kicked out of the band for them, so how can he hold Dickey to a higher standard? As one fan put it, "Just because Gregg came out of his 30-year coma" doesn't give him the right to ditch Dickey. For that matter, some fans scoffed at Gregg's earnest claim to have kicked his various habits, claiming "inside information" that Gregg was still using, and therefore totally unfounded in attacking Dickey.

4. BUTCH TRUCKS IS A MACHIAVELLIAN GENIUS WITH HIS OWN AGENDA-It was not lost on anyone that the guitarist picked to replace Dickey for the summer, Jimmy Herring, is also the guitarist in Frogwings, a side project featuring Butch and Derek Trucks. That alone was all some people needed in order to declare the entire episode nothing less than a coup d'etat by Butch, who, after failing to reach success with Frogwings, hijacked the Allman Brothers for his own nefarious purposes. These folks, of course, were fond of calling the new lineup The Allman Drummers Band, and many claim that Dickey's removal was undertaken in order to provide a bigger piece of the financial pie to the remaining members. (Note to readers: If anybody can explain how jeopardizing the very existence of one of the highest-grossing live bands in rock history is a get-rich-quick scheme, feel free to contact me.) I received an interesting perspective on this scenario one day when Butch answered a message I posted to the Guest Book. I was surprised, to say the least, seeing as I had never met him and was unsure why my opinion would matter to him, but friends of mine who had corresponded with Butch confirmed the e-mail address. Without violating confidentiality (I had not even thought of writing this article when we first began communicating, and I am sure he never expected his messages to see the light of day), it is safe to say that Butch feels that the band did what they had to do, and have kept the details mostly vague out of respect for Dickey. After exchanging several messages with Butch, I cannot think of him as being so diabolical as to engineer Dickey's removal for no other reason than personal gain, although I know he respects Jimmy Herring a lot and may have campaigned for him to fill Dickey's slot.

5. DEREK IS THE CHOSEN ONE AND IT DOESN'T MATTER-A minority view, perhaps, but still a part of the equation. For years, even before Derek joined the band, ABB fans would argue over whether Duane or Dickey represented the essence of the band. Many of Derek Trucks' biggest fans are those who see him as carrying on in Duane's footsteps. As fan Johnny Anderson puts it, "I have never seen a guitar player who could pull your heart right out of your chest like Brother Duane Allman. I have spent the last 29 years looking for someone to carry Duane's torch, and I found him on Saturday night (at the Raleigh show)." Another fan responded to the new lineup by enthusing "This is the Allman Brothers Band I have always wanted to see." Without Dickey Betts, the ABB surely loses many of their fans, but there is a hardcore of Derek Trucks fans who will come to see him play anywhere, anytime.

6. IT'S GREGG'S BAND, WHAT'S THE BIG DEAL?-Gregg Allman is, of course, the only remaining Allman in the Allman Brothers, and the people who came to ABB shows to see him sing haven't really had to change their lives at all. By all accounts, Gregg is sounding and playing better than ever, and if you are of the opinion that he is the driving force behind the band and not Dickey, this whole situation probably doesn't keep you up at night.

7. DICKEY NEEDS TO CLEAN UP HIS ACT, AND THEN THE BAND CAN GO FORWARD-Those who hold this viewpoint tend to believe that Dickey is hard to deal with and probably got what he deserved, but they still maintain hope that things can be patched up and the band can get back together. Of course, Betts' recent interviews, in which he refers to his dismissal as a "black hearted betrayal," would tend to indicate that even if the band was convinced that Dickey had remedied his shortcomings, Dickey might be hesitant to come back after such a terrible blow to his pride and dignity.

8. THIS IS THE END OF THE LINE-Many fans are so disillusioned by this ugliness that they claim that, even if Dickey were to get back together with the ABB, things would never be the same. The special, family-like aura that so many fans had attributed to the band has been irrevocably tarnished in the minds of many fans, and nothing is likely to ease their grief.

Of course, these views are all gross generalizations of opinions that are much more complicated, but most fans will fall into one or more of these categories. As the battle over blame raged over the Internet, Dickey Betts decided to make the strongest possible claim for his sobriety and chops: He would form a solo band and do his own tour.

PART 4: REQUIEM FOR A BROTHER

In all fairness to the Allman Brothers Band, the first few shows they played with Jimmy Herring probably weren't that great, seeing as you had a new member to get up to speed while occasionally hostile fans held his every solo up to an impossible standard. Indeed, the first few weeks of the ABB summer tour saw many disappointed reviews on the web, although many excited and positive ones as well. In my humble opinion, reviews of the ABB tour started improving soon after Dickey announced his solo tour. Both bands had to know that, besides their ordinary obligation to entertain their audience, every show was going to be scrutinized for any secret meaning it might lend to the ongoing family feud, and the competition would drive both groups to play their very best.

One of the high points of the second leg of the ABB summer tour was a pair of shows where the band jammed with former members Warren Haynes and Allen Woody. July 30th in Toronto and August 6th in Pennsylvania,, the guitarist and bassist who helped the Allman Brothers achieve their 90's renaissance joined the new ABB lineup onstage. This added fuel to the rumors that their departure from the band in 1997 was due to friction between Allen and Dickey, Warren and Dickey, or some combination thereof. (Is the soap opera theme making sense yet?) Both shows were outstanding, and fans, many of whom had followed Haynes and Woody's band Govt. Mule since they left the Allman Brothers, were thrilled to hear that they had returned to the family, so to speak.

However, the good news turned tragic in a matter of weeks when Allen Woody was found dead in a hotel room in New York. The initial shock of the news was unfortunately followed by various efforts to spin Woody's death in a way that would support one camp or another. Dickey openly speculated as to why Gregg and Butch missed the funeral, while some fans took the opportunity to point out that Allen allegedly disliked Dickey. After a summer in which the band members' sexuality, honesty, and many other touchy topics were fully explored, the discourse hit bottom soon after Allen Woody's death, and allmanbrothers.com would be forced to install a password system to discourage anonymous, hostile, and often profane messages.

I have purposely avoided printing most of the defamatory messages I read this summer, but it would probably be deficient of me to not include an example just to show how vicious things got. One angry poster started by criticizing Gregg's hair of all things, saying that it reminded him of 1974, and offered a vicious comment regarding his drug use and marriage to Cher. Anti-Dickey folks christened the most hardcore Dickey supporters the DSL, or Dickey Sycophant League, while Dickey's defenders derided those who supported the band as "groupies" and not true "fans." Brothers and Sisters, indeed.

PART 5: REVIVAL

Dickey's first solo show in Myrtle Beach was much-anticipated. To say Mr. Betts had a lot to prove would be putting it mildly. What songs would he play? How would his new band, composed mostly of little-known younger musicians, respond to the challenge of playing with someone who was not only a rock legend, but allegedly hard to deal with? Would Dickey appear sober? Speculation ran rampant in the days leading up to the show.

Any predictions of doom fell flat when Dickey played a solid show in Myrtle Beach, and continued to receive glowing reviews throughout his tour. Some fans noticed Dickey drinking at shows, and a few rare reviewers complained that his drinking adversely affected the music, but most reports from the solo tour were gushing with praise.

Similarly, the ABB was building up steam, receiving raves for shows in Chicago, Aspen, and LA, among other places, and getting ready for a final run of shows in Virginia, North Carolina, and Alabama. At this point, it was announced that a special benefit concert would take place at Roseland Ballroom in New York for the benefit of Allen Woody's wife and child on September 21st. Besides the Allman Brothers, the Black Crowes, Phil & Friends, and Warren Haynes & Friends played. Unfortunately, the flames of ugliness were fanned once again when Dickey made a point of saying that he was not invited to the event.

As he prepared for the last few shows of his tour, Dickey Betts related in an interview that he would not be there, seeing as he was not invited. However, there has been talk of him touring with Willie Nelson next year and possible recording with his new band, and Dickey is quite pointed about saying that he has no desire to "wait around until they decide that I can play."

This was a very anxious time for me, because the Raleigh show, which I had been looking forward to since May, was finally approaching. This would be the only time all summer that I would see the ABB in their Dickey-free state, and given the uncertainty about the band's future, it could quite possible be the last time I ever get to see the band I love. If nothing else, the band had resurrected the full-length version of Mountain Jam for their summer tour, and I wanted very much to see what the new lineup would do with it. I was also frankly curious as to whether the band could "pull it off" without Dickey, in that purest sense of rocking the crowd and getting people to that special place.

Well, they succeeded. I don't have time or space here to go into a detailed review, but the show was spectacular, with Derek taking the lead role. He alternated between quick, jazzy runs and otherworldly slide wizardry, and I was blown away from start to finish. Mountain Jam, which I have always considered the Holy Grail of Allman Brothers Songs, was done proper justice and made my heart sing. The band was tight, passionate, and explosive, and the often-maligned Jimmy Herring really stepped up his playing. Among other things, it was noteworthy to see how much fun the band appeared to be having. While I missed Dickey Betts, especially on his songs like Les Brers in A Minor, the Raleigh show transported me to another place as only the best live music can. Once again, I was reminded why all this soap opera nonsense has been so important to me for the past few months: This music is nourishing to my soul, and I appreciate the people who make it and care about their welfare.

PART 6: WILL THE CIRCLE BE UNBROKEN?

As for what the future holds, I can only hazard guesses and my own opinions. Dickey does seem genuinely insulted and hurt by this whole affair, and it may be true that he would never play with Gregg and Butch again, even if they asked him. Judging from the show I saw in Raleigh, and what I have heard of Dickey's solo tour, all parties are quite possible playing better and having more fun than they have in years. Butch and Gregg have made it clear in recent interviews that they feel the band is back to being a "democracy" with all members contributing equally, and it is hard to criticize them for enjoying that. By the same token, Dickey's band, which features a sax player and an excellent second guitarist named Mark May, seems to be going in some interesting directions, some of which might not be possible with the ABB. Perhaps it is truly in everyone's best interest for Dickey to do his thing, and the ABB to do theirs.

But part of me just doesn't want to believe that. Part of the mythology of the Allman Brothers Band is that there is nothing that can sever the bond of true brotherhood, and it is always tempting to look at past crises that the band has overcome and say that they will triumph over this as well. After everything that Butch Trucks, Jaimoe, Dickey Betts, and Gregg Allman have been through together, I would like to think that they could put their differences aside. However, even if Dickey and the Allman Brothers never reconcile their differences, myself and countless others will always be grateful for the grace and beauty that the Allman Brothers have brought into our lives.