I don't understand Dicky Betts' Greatness

Guys, I simply saying that his playing in my mind doesn't warrant top guitar player honors, you have to read my posts

 

Can't really use the connotation "The Best Guitarist...." Would it be based on speed? McLaughlin, DiMeola, Malmsteen? No all-defining criteria, eh.

 

honestly, I don't think there are any guitar nuts out there that are going to put him in the top ten on their list. He's not an "oh my god how did he do that?" kind of player. and at the end of the day those guys are not the ones you listen too most often. Once you get over the gimmick of being a virtuoso it comes down to touch, tone, listening and taste. Neil Young is a great example. We can all learn a NY guitar solo in pretty short order but we will never be Neil Young.

 

I'm not a big fan of these guys, but I want to say that I bought the Newbury Comics Live At Fillmore on clear vinyl the other day. I thought it would be a nice companion to my original pink label Capricorn. Haven't played it yet but it sure looks cool. It's the only record I like by them, but I must admit, it's a doozy.

 

I read your first post, and it was the only post of yours for a few pages.
An opinion expressed in a very dismissive way is going to be met with dismissive replies.

 

Eat a Peach is pretty close.

 

Who is actually giving him top guitar honors?

 

For the longest time I listened to Blue Sky and said "Yeah, Dickie's good, but here comes Duane". The second solo is the one that gave me goosebumps.

Then I learned that Betts does the second solo!

 

that made me LOL. Out of nowhere, the voice of reason.

 

i am going to go listen to some ABB, I'll y'all sort this out

 

I've been listening to Dickey since 1972. I've seen him live more times than I can count ( without consulting my scrapbooks ), and while I've always enjoyed his playing, I can surely understand you're not being into him. We all have different tastes, and that's a good thing.
I posted Bougainvillea upthread, because it's my favorite Dickey Betts tune. Has been since 1977. To me, if that song doesn't get inside you, you're never going to see, or should I say hear, what we're hearing. But again, that's okay.

* written while listening to Hughie Thomasson , Billy Jones, and Henry Paul trade licks.
.

 

Oh ! I forgot. Duane's hand-picking him speaks volumes to me.

 

In any given band...the one who dies young is always given top honours. It's an unwritten rule of rock....

 

What is the point of this thread?

 

The point is for one person to inform us all that he thinks Dickey Betts is boring. Doesn't your life feel enriched now?

 

Yes, I'm actually levitating due to Dickey Betts's boring solos.

 

This one. A song is, by definition, a tune plus a lyric. This is all quite irrelevant to Betts's greatness, but I'm just delivering that fact. I'm sure not everyone will like it.

Nope, Miles didn't write any songs. A lifetime's worth of tunes, pieces, and compositions, though.

 

Often yes, but the solo in "Don't Go" is definitely in my top 5 Priest solos, performed by K.K.

 

How is being accurate short-sighted? Calling an instrumental piece of music a song is no different than calling a Chevy Corvette a motorcycle. It's simply not the correct word. It's not a value judgement on my part; instrumentals are not lesser entities than songs, they're just different things.

 

While I do listen to Live at Fillmore East primarily to hear Duane, the album would not be nearly as great as it is without Dickie.

 

You still have not let us know what you think is Music or a Musician that moves you emotionally or what Guitar player you think is tops, hard to tell your frame of mind when you don't tell us what you actually do like. All you have done is make a lot of contradictory statements.

 

This is an educational thread, as I learned (in one of the side issues here) that the phrase "instrumental song" is an oxymoron!

 

My favourite all time Album is Allman Brothers Band - Brothers & Sisters
Betts playing on that is mesmerisingly good.
Totally disagree with O.P

 

LOVE Dickey! At the risk of being immodest, I will post this. I'm playing lead guitar on this and a friend guitar player (who's way better than me) said my playing reminded him of Mr. Betts. That made my week!