Allman Brothers – Ramblin’ Man

I’ve written a ton of Allman Brother posts but for some odd reason, I never wrote bout this one…their biggest hit. I never thought it was their best song but I do love Dickey Betts’s guitar work in this one. It was on their album “Brothers and Sisters” and it hit a chord with pop culture. Two popular shows at the time The Waltons and Little House on the Prairie fit in with the family theme.

After finishing Eat A Peach after Duane died…they started to work on Brothers and Sisters. They refused to replace Duane Allman with another guitar player. They didn’t want someone at that time just mimicking Duane. While they were recording the album, Gregg Allman recorded his first solo album, Laid Back. He was working with a fantastic piano player named Chuck Leavell. Gregg later invited Chuck to join the Allman Brothers and the Brothers agreed he would fit perfectly and give them a different sound.

Barry Oakley was in disarray at this time after Duane died. For a year he was spiraling down with drugs and drink. In September of 1972, Chuck joined the band and Barry Oakley was excited. It was the first time that he seemed like his old self again since Duane passed. He took Leavell under his wing and showed him the ropes of being in that band.

Leavell said he was fantastic and some of the band thought that Oakley may have been coming out of it and back to himself. That was not to be. On November 11, 1972, Berry Oakley died in a motorcycle crash within a few blocks of where Duane crashed a year and 13 days earlier. He played on two songs on this album…Wasted Words and Ramblin’ Man. Lamar Williams replaced him and finished the album on bass.

Dicky Betts knew a country guy he was friends with and the guy always told him…” are you still playing your guitar and doing the best that you can?” The phrase stuck with Betts. He had the germ of the idea before The Allman Brothers started. Before Duane was killed the band played around with the song in some rehearsals in Gatlinburg.

He was hesitant to record the song. He thought it could be too country for the band. They needed a song and recorded it anyway and it sounded great. He added the solos at the end to make it more of an Allman Brothers song.

The Allman Brothers and The Grateful Dead were not known for their top ten hits. This is their highest-charting single. It also helped propel the album Brothers and Sisters to the top of the Billboard Album Chart chart, solidifying the band’s status as one of the leading acts of the Southern rock genre…although they were more of a  blues, jazz, rock, and jam band.

The album peaked at #1 on the Billboard Album Charts #1 in Canada, and #42 in the UK. What helped the album was Ramblin’ Man and Jessica, two of their most classic songs. They toured with this album and played sold-out stadiums and arenas.

Ramblin’ Man peaked at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 Charts and #7 in Canada in 1973.

Just found out that Dickey Betts passed away today at age 80.

Dickey Betts: “When I was a kid, my dad was in construction and used to move the family band and forth between central Florida’s east and west coasts, 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.”

The Allman’s November 2nd, 1972 performance went down at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York. Portions of the show were broadcast on ABC’s In Concert program. In this clip below we get to see rare footage of the post-Duane, pre-Berry death lineup of the band which featured Gregg Allman, Dickey Betts, Jaimoe, Chuck Leavell, Butch Trucks, and Oakley. Barry Oakley would die 9 days after this concert…it was his last concert with the band and Chuck Leavell’s first concert with them. This was before the single was released.

Ramblin’ Man

Lord, I was born a ramblin’ manTryin’ to make a livin’ and doin’ the best I canAnd when it’s time for leavin’I hope you’ll understandThat I was born a ramblin’ man

Well, my father was a gambler down in GeorgiaAnd he wound up on the wrong end of a gunAnd I was born in the back seat of a Greyhound busRollin’ down highway 41

Lord, I was born a ramblin’ manTryin’ to make a livin’ and doin’ the best I canAnd when it’s time for leavin’I hope you’ll understandThat I was born a ramblin’ man

Alright

I’m on my way to New Orleans this mornin’Leaving out of Nashville, TennesseeThey’re always having a good time down on the bayouLord, and Delta women think the world of me

Lord, I was born a ramblin’ manTryin’ to make a livin’ and doin’ the best I canAnd when it’s time for leavin’I hope you’ll understandThat I was born a ramblin’ man

Lord, I was born a ramblin’ manLord, I was born a ramblin’ manLord, I was born a ramblin’ manLord, I was born a ramblin’ man

Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player.

51 thoughts on “Allman Brothers – Ramblin’ Man”

  1. One southern rock song I’ve absolutely loved since I was a kid. Not often that it happens but to me, at least, it’s one example of a band’s best song becoming their best-known. How did the existing serious Allman fans feel about it? One would think they’d be happy the band was finally getting widespread radio play and selling more, but many might resent the bandwagon-jumpers I’d guess.

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    1. I’ll put it this way…when Betts was pushed out of the band in 2000…the band stopped playing it but they continued to do his other songs like Blue Sky (which I think is his best), Jessica, and others…and the fans didn’t say a thing. I think they liked it at the time it was released but it’s so different from their other stuff that they didn’t mind either way. I like it…not in my top 5 of them but I like it.

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      1. you made a good comparison to someone else that I had thought of too, when the Grateful Dead suddenly hit the top 40 (top 10 actually) and were popular on MTV with “Touch of Grey”

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      2. Yes…that did the same thing to them…it overran them and the fans did not like the new fans…but they had more reasons for that…the Allman fans were cool with the hit but it just wasn’t a across the board favorite.

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  3. (I’ve probably said it here before, but) Dickey Betts, like Gary Duncan, is under-rated as a guitarist due to being in the shadow of a legend. I love Dickey’s tone and phrasing. His singing voice has some of the easy-going quality of J.J. Cale but with more range.

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    1. Thanks for reading… that is the same for me also. I do like the song a lot but not like some of the others. That is a compliment on what a deep catalog they have.

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    1. I do like the song…..but I do like Blue Sky and others more from him…and of course Gregg’s songs are completely different. So that is two major different styles they blended into one.

      I think fans of many bands do have resentment over the newer fans coming in and only knowing one hit song…that happened with The Dead with Touch of Grey. To me…hey they are there so it’s cool. Springsteen had it happen with Born in the USA.

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      1. Those are all great and similar examples for sure. I’m like anyone, I may not like or like as much a particular song from my favorite artists. The part I don’t get is resenting other fans, be they bandwagon jumpers or not, I guess for me the more the merrier!

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      2. Sad note Randy…Dickey Betts died today.
        Yea I get exactly what you are saying. I actually know a Springsteen fan that refuses to listen to anything after Nebraska…which is crazy.
        This song sure propelled them and probably made a lot of fans along the way.

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      6. The one that sticks out is from a long time ago. Ricky Nelson. I was JUST getting into him and starting to scan the newspaper to see where he was playing on Dec 31st…he died that night.
        Just so sad…there is only one Allman left…and that is Jaimoe out of the original band.

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      10. I just found out that Betts passed away. I was just looking up an interview he did in the eighties and someone just told me.
        Yea Bruce was non political at that time…after that happened Mondale claimed to be endorsed by Springsteen and then his manager denied it.

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      2. I was listening to Little Feat some this past weekend. The album Sailin’ Shoes. Lowell George was a monster talent. I’m reading another Allman book and they mentioned them….they had a southern sound going on.

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      2. Yea…I just looked up an interview by him this morning…and the one he did with Dan Rather….just two hours ago.

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  12. What a sad and crazy coincidence your post coincided with the death of the man who wrote the song! For the longest time, sadly, “Ramblin’ Man” was the only song I knew by The Allman Brothers. Full disclosure: For the longest time, I also didn’t like it that much. Luckily, all of that changed and in time to see them live once 10 years ago during their final tour.

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    1. I was going to post this Monday, then Tuesday, and then today….it sucks…it really does Christian. Now only Jaimoe survives from the original 6. Betts was a hell of a guitar player, singer, and songwriter.

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  13. Really good write-up and appreciate you finding the top YouTube. They played this one a lot on the radio maybe even overplayed, but it’s been years since I heard it and it feels fresh again. Solid Gold.

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      2. Oh yea…they were all new to the song at this point and still getting used to be Duaneless… and were about to be without Oakley the bass player in a few more days.

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    1. Yea man…I could not believe it. I posted this and I was looking up Betts interviews about an hour before someone commented that he passed.

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