| Born | December 12, 1943, Good Samaritan Hospital, West Palm Beach |
|---|---|
| Hometown | West Palm Beach, Bradenton FL |
| High School | Moved to Sarasota, left high school at 16 to play music. |
| Main Instrument | Guitars |
| Other Instruments | Slide guitar, Dobro, Ukulele, Mandolin, Banjo |
| Early Influences | Grand Ole Opry radio show, Chuck Berry, Duane Eddy, Freddie King, Charlie Parker |
| Local Bands, Approximate Years | Sarasota: “Swinging Saints”, Jacksonville: “Second Coming” w/ Berry Oakley, The Allman Brothers Band, Dickey Betts & Great Southern, Dickey Betts Band |
| Current Hometown | Sarasota FL |
| Current Occupation | Musician, songwriter, recording artist. |
| Contact/Links | |
| Current Musical Involvement | Last Toured as Dickey Betts and Great Southern around 2014 |
| Comments, Highlights | Forrest Richard Betts grew up in the West Palm Beach suburb of Westgate. He came from a musical family. His father Harold was an accomplished fiddle player, and his mother Estora played coronet in a Salvation Army Band. He started playing around age four. He wrote his first song while in the third grade at West Gate Elementary. He also became a skilled carpenter and hunter. While in the seventh grade, the family moved to Sarasota. He eventually moved to Jacksonville and hooked up with bass player Berry Oakley. Oakley introduced him to Duane Allman, and shortly after, The Allman Brothers Band formed. Betts wrote or co-wrote a number of the Allmans most popular songs, including “Blue Sky” and “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed”. Dickey Betts and Great Southern appeared at SunFest 2013. He has released a number of solo and band albums with Great Southern from 1994 to 2010 |
