The Dickey Betts Song Bob Dylan Wish He Had Written

When
former

Allman
Brothers
Band
guitarist

Dickey
Betts

died in
April
2024,
he
left
a
legacy
of
technical
virtuosity
and
generation-defining
songwriting
that
inspired
plenty
of
his
peers
—
including

Bob
Dylan.

Betts
reflected
on
his
relationship
with
Dylan
in
an
interview
with
Ray
Padgett
for
his
book Pledging
My
Time:
Conversations
With
Bob
Dylan
Band
Members,
which
he
reshared
in
his Flagging
Down
the
Double
E’s
newsletter.
The
two
first
crossed
paths
in
the ’70s,
when
Betts
spent
a
couple
of
days
on
the
road
with
Dylan
and

Robbie
Robertson.
Both
musicians
hung
out
and
jammed
several
other
times
over
the
years,
including
a
memorable
performance
of “Ramblin’
Man” during
Dylan’s
1995
concert
in
Tampa,
Florida,
near
where
Betts
grew
up.

When
Betts
asked how
familiar
Dylan
was
with
the
song,
he
was
pleasantly
surprised
at
the
singer’s
response.

“Another
time,
Bob
wanted
do ‘Ramblin’
Man,'”
Betts
recalled. “I
said, ‘You
don’t
know
the
words
to
that,
do
you?’
He
said, ‘I
know
all
the
words
to “Ramblin’
Man.”
I
shoulda
wrote
that
song
myself.’
I
said, ‘OK,
let’s
check.
If
you
don’t
know,
just
make
shit
up,
and
you’ll
do
well.’
So
we
sang ‘Ramblin’
Man.’
He
sang
every
word
exactly
the
way
I
wrote
it.”

He
continued: “I
mean,
he
knew
it!
And
he
sang
it
better
than
it’s
ever
been
sung
before. [Betts
busts
into
a
Dylan
impression:] ‘I’m
on
my way down
to
New
Or-leans this morning.’
He
was
talking
and
singing
at
the
same
time.
It
was
great.”

READ
MORE:

Dickey
Betts
Dies:
Rockers
React

Bob
Dylan
Shouted
Out
Dickey
Betts
In
One
of
His
Own
Songs

Dylan
later
expressed
his
fondness
for
Betts
in
his
2020
song “Murder
Most
Foul.”
The
17-minute
epic
includes
the
lyrics “Play
Oscar
Peterson,
play
Stan
Getz
/
Play ‘Blue
Sky,’
play
Dickey
Betts.“

“Oh,
that
was
such
an
honor,”
Betts
told
Padgett. “All
my
friends
were
coming
to
me
saying, ‘Man,
did
you
hear
Bob
Dylan’s
mentioned
you
in
a
song?’
I
said, ‘No
shit.’

“I
heard
the
song.
I
was
so
embarrassed,
I
would
say, ‘Well,
he
just
used
me
because
it
rhymes
with
Getz.’
[laughs] People
would
tell
me, ‘Oh,
bullshit,’
but
anyway,
I
was
very
embarrassed
because
it
was
such
a
flattering
thing
for
Bob
Dylan
to
mention
you
in
a
song.”

Hear
Bob
Dylan
and
Dickey
Betts
Play ‘Ramblin’
Man’
in
Tampa
in
1995