I just stopped by to say hey. I've been checking from time to time, but haven't posted too much. I just wanted to say: A. I hope Dickey is feeling good and plays at Red Dog's memorial. (I am concerned by the hotel interview.) B. I was glad to see Warren did "Blue Sky " with Further. C. I've been watching the ABB on Moogis and the best moment for me was when they sandwiched a "Blue Sky" instrumental in between "Any Day." Susan sang it, and she seemed to be ecstatic. I'm sure she or Warren would have sang if the others agreed. Short of Dickey singing them, that is cool with me. I feel, for some of them, it would be tribute to Dickey. Even though he may not like them playing it at all. Cheers!

Hey Dichey, how have you been? I have been a huge fan of yours sibce the 60's, and was at Atanta Pop and second row at the Fillmore shows. I can't begin to tell you how much your songs have meant to me over the years. I see that you guys are playing at the Count Basie Theater in Red Bank NJ on July 8th. It so happenes that my daughter is being married that same night and we are holding the reception party at The Oysterpoint Hotel in Red Bank the same evening. The reception is right around the block from the Count Basie and we would like to invite you and the boys over after your show to party with us for awhile. Dinner and drinks are on us. It would be an honor if you guys could stop by the party will be in full swing about when you guys finish your show. Needless to0 say I can't make the show that night, but I hope you guys will consider our invitation. Thanks so much and we will catch you soon. Blackfish

Hey Capn,what is going on in NJ in July?

Hope like heck to be in Macon for the doggie memorial... would be so cool if the Betts Boyz were there....

went to bed, couldn't sleep now i know why... reading Blackey and BBR was worth logging on for... I agree totally, especially the MTB w/oToy I like the replacements but it aint even close to TOY. I went to one show in late may 2000 and left early tried One More Time in May of 2009, stayed until the end but sure didn't leave the gig with any kind of feeling liked I had in 99 ( also saw many gigs that summer) I would only add 2 things... I liked the -=DDT=- and Rook Goldflies era. Now I get my fix from Great Southern and the local gigs here with DUANE BETTS, KACH, PEDRO, FRANKIE.... love these guys, they rock my block Looking forward to NJ in JULY C U There !! Count on it !! Proud to be a Dickhead !! :yep:

Nice post Blackey! I pretty much feel the same way.I have seen the ABB about 8 or 9 times since the ouster and all though the musicianship is top shelf it is lacking in energy and groove. Last month on a last minute decision I drove to Atlantic City NJ to see Dickey at Bally's and it was great. Spent 200 dollars on gas but it was the usual high-energy rocking show that we have all come to expect with Dickey. He is the only artist I would travel that far to see!

Yes I was going to mention Frogwings too. That band was a band, as I understand it, that Butch wanted to keep going but many of the players had other projects that they never found time to do more than one or two little tours and it finally fell by the wayside. I agree that the Allman Brothers without Dickey is similar to the Stones without Keith Richards or Marshall Tucker without Toy Caldwell. No matter how good the replacement players happen to be, it is still not the same for old time fans like me. It was difficult enough to continue with the ABB without Duane and Oakely for me but with Gregg and Dickey still on the front line and with Dickey's unique kind of playing and writing and his singing beginning to be heard even more, it still had enough of that Allman Brothers sound even when it was just Dickey on guitar and it was the five man band or the Chuck/Lamar version of the band. Also I thought the Warren/Woody version was probably the closest to the original band but I liked the Jack Pearson/Otiel years too as Jack, at times, had a different way of reminding one of Duane. Derek on slide did that even more for me and I thought the 1999 tour (I saw several shows) may have been even a bit closer to the original than the Warren/Woody years when they played the old stuff like Statesboro Blues, Blue Sky, etc. But Derek playing regular guitar was a completely different bag than what Duane was doing. Butch Trucks likes the current version better than any and at times rates it better than the original technically and other times says "the current lineup is the best since Duane died". And the musicanship is there, no doubt about it. But without Dickey, it just doesn't make me excited. I don't know what it is. Too many originals now gone. I'm too old. I was so used to Dickey's guitar style, tone, singing and songs that it was as if Duane's partner was still in the band and now that is missing too creating too much of a hole in what really got hold of me from the original years. I just don't know exactly what it is but when I see footage on YouTube of the current band (haven't seen them live in years) it just leaves me flat and missing Duane, Dickey and Berry too much for me to really get into it so I don't attend ABB shows anymore. After some thought, and with all due respect to the contributions Gregg, Jaimoe and Butch made to the ABB, Duane, Dickey and Berry Oakely were the three that really jumped off the stage at me, so I watched them more that the rest of the members. They were always in a row with Duane next to Gregg, Dickey in the middle and Berry Oakely to Dickey's left. Mabye it is because when I see the band now NONE of those men are on stage and I get the feeling that it is not the real deal. It's now too many replacement players in the KEY positions for me. I can understand why this lineup if great for someone who didn't really get into Dickey or someone who only became a fan AFTER Dickey was faxed out of the band, but for me, I just can't DO the Allman Brothers live anymore. I have to wait on Dickey and GS for my fix. Also even if I could get into the current lineup, I wouldn't go see them anymore because of the way Butch Trucks continues to treat Dickey in the press. That really pisses me off because I've never been a so-called Butch Trucks fan but Dickey has been one of my guitar heros for 42 years and Blue Sky, Liz Reed, Jessica etc have been a HUGE part of what made the ABB such a great band to listen to. As as a guitar player, Dickey is one of my favorites. Right up there with Duane, Clapton, Beck, Stevie Ray, BB, Freddie King, Albert King, Johnny Winter and Gary Moore (Moore's latest and I guess last album has a version of MOJO BOOGIE that may be better than Johnny Winter). Dickey and Duane were my favorite players in the band. I liked both of them equally and Oakely was second for me and Jaimoe was third (something about his stlye of drumming really got me at times). Gregg was 5th and Butch was the one I cared for less than the others. But don't get me wrong, I was crazy about all six of them AS the Allman Brothers Band. I could hear all six of them making that sound together, but to me, it was Duane/ Dickey that added the biggest part of it with Oakely giving them a big assist on many of the unique things they did. I could hear Butch and Jaimoe laying that hot foundation on drums and percussion and actually the accents and that unique jazz stuff Jaimoe did back then seemed to be what made the drums different from the crowd of bands around. And I could hear Gregg adding the nice "icing on the cake" as he likes to call it, on organ and electric piano. But Gregg didn't seem to be Duane and Dickey's equal when it came to doing a mind blowing solo. So maybe it's because all of my FAVORITE playes in the ABB are now gone. When Dickey was faxed out, that just seem to put the ABB into the past, made it over to me. If you can get into the ABB now, then great and go for it. I'm sure it is hot to you. I just can't do it. Too old and too use to the way Duane and Dickey and then for so many years, the way Dickey alone or with new guitar partners, made that band sound. Even if it wasn't their best night, when I heard Dickey playing in that band, it still had that connection to the original that has just been CUT for me. That is just the way it is for me. Sorry if this seems silly. I've had people on the blue site (before I got kicked off of it) to tell me that I was missing some great music and a new day for the Allman Brothers Band. I tried but without Dickey, it just doesn't seem like the band I loved so much and followed around as best I could so many years ago.

Butch does, or did at one time, have a solo project. A band called Trucks. I saw em at a club in mobile called 'Thirsty's'. had a harp player and guitar. A good band. That was a long time ago, dont think he does that anymore..