Dickey Betts & Chuck Leavell 1984 Jessica

Brooks Montgomery · Post by **Brooks Montgomery** » 3 Dec 2023 12:50 pm

Youtube is so great for discovering old favorites. When I was in high-school, Allman Brothers Fillmore East and Eat a Peach seemed to never come off my turntable. Haven’t listened to much Dickey Betts in many years.
I just discovered this live version of Jessica with Betts and Chuck Leavell from 1984. Amazing. Betts is so good, and Chuck Leavell seems to really be having fun. What a keyboard player.
Anybody know who the animated bass player is?
(Sorry, no steel content).
https://youtu.be/llBsswEfUsA?feature=shared

Jack Hanson · Post by **Jack Hanson** » 3 Dec 2023 1:02 pm

Could that be the great Kenny Aaronson on bass?

Brooks Montgomery · Post by **Brooks Montgomery** » 3 Dec 2023 1:07 pm

I think you’re spot on Jack.

And now this thread has steel content. Kenny Aaronson also plays steel guitar!

Tucker Jackson · Post by **Tucker Jackson** » 4 Dec 2023 10:31 am

Brooks Montgomery wrote: When I was in high-school, Allman Brothers Fillmore East and Eat a Peach seemed to never come off my turntable.

Same! Thanks for the link.

Jeff Garden · Post by **Jeff Garden** » 4 Dec 2023 11:29 am

I wore out a few copies of Eat A Peach and Live at Fillmore East playing them at 16rpm to try to steal Duane and Dicky's licks. I spent hours practicing alone for a cover band I was playing in and then at band practice the other guitar player and I worked out double leads. Think I still have the notebooks someplace where I wrote everything down. I still think Live at Fillmore East may be the finest live album ever recorded.

Jack Hanson · Post by **Jack Hanson** » 4 Dec 2023 5:32 pm

Jeff Garden wrote:I still think Live at Fillmore East may be the finest live album ever recorded.

No argument here (but Panther Hall comes close).

Richard Sinkler · Post by **Richard Sinkler** » 4 Dec 2023 8:28 pm

Does anyone know where I can get a backing track or Band in a Box file for this song?

Douglas Schuch · Post by **Douglas Schuch** » 5 Dec 2023 4:25 am

Richard - there are at least 4 on Youtube.

Fred Treece · Post by **Fred Treece** » 16 Dec 2023 9:33 am

Jack Hanson wrote:
Jeff Garden wrote:I still think Live at Fillmore East may be the finest live album ever recorded.
No argument here (but Panther Hall comes close).

Not only was the band at peak performance level, but the mix is perfect. Especially for the era in which it was recorded, the balance and clarity is remarkable. My vote for first runner-up would be the first Poco Live album, for basically the same reasons. There was also a pretty good Grateful Dead live album that came out about the same time. Live albums were a thing back in the early 70’s, and recording engineers were getting it down. That Frampton guy did pretty well with his.

I am not crazy about Dickey’s tone on this cut. It’s such a great tune, but I miss that acoustic guitar bangin’ out the rhythm. Enjoyed the solos. Chuck Leavell has the perfect style for it. Thanks for posting.

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 16 Dec 2023 9:53 am

I saw the Allman Brothers play live in 1972 at the Paramount Theater in Springfield, Mass. Duane was gone by that time, unfortunately, but the band sounded awesome. I had never seen a band with two drummers, so that blew my mind. The band was not well known in the area at that time, so the theater was almost empty! Probably only 75 people in the entire theater. I remember the band begging us to make more noise!

Mike Neer · Post by **Mike Neer** » 16 Dec 2023 11:20 am

I wonder if there is a version of this somewhere with Dickie Betts and John Hughey. Hughey used to play in the Dickie Betts Band.

Jack Hanson · Post by **Jack Hanson** » 16 Dec 2023 11:22 am

I've seen the Allman Bros probably a half-dozen times through the years, but the most memorable was the very first time at the old Mpls Labor Temple on Central Ave NE (long gone), where they were billed as "The Allman Brothers Blues Band," and they were backing up John Hammond Jr. (or vice-versa!). First, Hammond came out and played his acoustic set on his ratty old metal National. After intermission, Hammond returned with his harps and his backup band -- the Allman Bros. They played a short set of classic Chicago Blues with Hammond. After a short break, the Allman's returned and proceeded to play the tunes from their first LP, which had yet to be released. The house was spellbound. Few -- if any -- had ever witnesses an outfit with two great drummers and two unbelievable lead guitarists. And when Duane pulled out that Coricidin bottle, whoa Nellie!

All the subsequent shows were great too, but none had the impact of that first one. One of the best live acts ever.

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 16 Dec 2023 12:44 pm

Mike, I only know of the studio recording of Hughey with Betts: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Md7qo7Lb72Q&t=173s John's solo starts at 2:53

Joachim Kettner · Post by **Joachim Kettner** » 16 Dec 2023 1:27 pm

viewtopic.php?t=383025&highlight=jessica
The above one is very good
I had made a poor attempt on this one also, a couple of years ago:
viewtopic.php?t=205325&highlight=jessica

Mike Neer · Post by **Mike Neer** » 16 Dec 2023 4:55 pm

Doug Beaumier wrote:Mike, I only know of the studio recording of Hughey with Betts: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Md7qo7Lb72Q&t=173s John's solo starts at 2:53

There are some live recordings I remember seeing once, I think on the website Wolfgang's Vault.

Mike Neer · Post by **Mike Neer** » 18 Dec 2023 5:22 pm

I found the live version of Jessica with John Hughey. Hughey takes the first solo.

https://www.wolfgangs.com/music/dickey- ... ?tid=22578

Joachim Kettner · Post by **Joachim Kettner** » 21 Dec 2023 3:53 pm

Thanks Mike! This version and the line up is fantastic!

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Dickey Betts & Chuck Leavell 1984 Jessica

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