The Allman Brothers song Dickey Betts said was “in my blood”
Although now-defunct, The Allman Brothers Band wrote many significant tracks in their time. A key force in the southern rock genre, they are established as one of the most influential groups of their era.
Undoubtedly, one of their definitive efforts is ‘Ramblin’ Man’ from 1973’s Brothers and Sisters, written and sung by guitarist Dickey Betts. It was the first single the band recorded without their late leader, Duane Allman, who was killed in a tragic motorcycle accident in 1971. His death meant that for the follow-up to the acclaimed 1972 effort Eat a Peach – the last to feature Duane – the group were forced to come together and fill the void he left. ‘Ramblin’ Man’ ironically became their biggest hit and opened them up to a bright future without their fallen friend.
Notably, the song’s ending features chiming guitars, which was directly inspired by the climax of Derek and the Dominos’ hit ‘Layla’, the classic Duane Allman played on. This was Betts’ idea. After attempting to overdub multiple guitar parts, he recruited his friend Les Dudek to play lead with him, as Allman would have done. After a while, they established a bed by repeating it before doing it in a lower register, which they overdubbed. In the process, they created one of the decade’s greatest dovetailing six-string parts, with Betts then recording a lead slide guitar on top as the cherry on the cake.
One of the song’s most memorable lines is, “Tryin’ to make a livin’ and doin’ the best I can”. This originated in 1969 when Betts was playing in different groups in Florida. He would often stay with his friend Kenny Harwick, who once asked how he was but answered it himself with: “I bet you’re just trying to make a living and doing the best you can.” Reportedly, this was a habit of Harwick’s. Regardless, the line greatly impacted Betts, staying with him for three years until 1972, when it found a home in his chef-d’oeuvre, ‘Ramblin’ Man’.
The song is also significant for Betts as it is a largely autobiographical effort. Telling the story of the titular rambling man, according to the guitarist, this idea of constant movement “was in my blood”.
“When I was a kid, my dad was in construction and used to move the family back and forth between central Florida’s east and west coasts,” he explained in the book Anatomy of a Song. “I’d go to one school for a year and then the other the next. I had two sets of friends and spent a lot of time in the back seat of a Greyhound bus. Ramblin’ was in my blood.”
Listen to ‘Ramblin’ Man’ below.
