During their April 19th performance at the Sound Amphitheater in Gautier, Mississippi, Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit paid tribute to legendary guitarist Dickey Betts with a special performance of the Allman Brothers Band’s instrumental masterpiece, “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed.” The performance featured Luther Dickinson of the North Mississippi Allstars trading solos with Isbell and Sadler Vaden, Isbell’s guitar foil in the 400 Unit, over a 16-minute version of Betts’ composition. The performance held special significance for the group, who have included the song in their set in the past and featured it on their 2021 covers record, “Georgia Blue.”
After the performance, Vaden spoke about Betts’ influence on him as a guitarist, saying, “When you start playing guitar, you’re immediately drawn to Duane Allman playing slide, but then you realize there’s this other guitar player in the band. He was a big driver of the band and was very creative, and he played with such space and loved jazz music, so he brought that influence into the Allman Brothers. He was just so musical. I would consider him very underrated, too, as a guitar player.”
The following morning, Dickinson recalled his experience sharing the stage with Betts at Tipitina’s in New Orleans back in 2003. He described how Betts and Derek Trucks, Betts’ former Allman Brothers bandmate, had a warm and respectful conversation, despite Betts’ ouster from the band in 2000. Dickinson was impressed by the graciousness and kindness of both musicians.
Isbell and his band have previously honored Betts’ bandmate Gregg Allman, who passed away in 2017, with performances of “Midnight Rider” during shows following his death. Tributes have been pouring in for Betts following the death of the Southern rock giant. Andy Aledort of Rolling Stone recently recounted how he became Betts’ right-hand man, and shared some of Betts’ thoughts on his music and his legacy.
