A perfect tribute.
About a week or so ago, Lukas Nelson played a headlining show in Jackson, Wyoming and he brought out a very special guest to perform “Blue Sky” with him in Duane Betts, who is of course the son of the late, great Dickey Betts, who passed away in April.
He’s also the frontman of Duane Betts & Palmetto Motel, and is a co-founding member of The Allman Betts Band, which is comprised of the sons of three founding members of the Allman Brothers Band in Devon Allman (son of Gregg Allman), Duane Betts (son of Dickey Betts), and Berry Duane Oakley (son of Berry Oakley).
And obviously, seeing the son of the former Allman Brothers Band guitarist teaming up with Lukas, son of the great Willie Nelson (who has close ties to the band), is so special, and they’ve appeared together onstage here and there before.
Of course, the song is significant in that it was written and sung by Dickey and was his debut as a vocalist for the Allman Brothers Band, who penned it about his girlfriend (and later wife), Sandy “Bluesky” Wabegijig. The track is also notable as one of guitarist Duane Allman’s final recorded performances with the group.
The two guitarists, Duane and Dickey, alternate playing the song’s lead, and the sound is notably more country-inspired than many of their others.
As Alan Paul write in his 2014 book, One Way Out: The Inside History of the Allman Brothers Band, Betts intentionally wrote the song to be ambiguous in terms of gender, so anyone could relate to it:
“Once I got into the song I realized how nice it would be to keep the vernaculars—he and she—out and make it like you’re thinking of the spirit, like I was giving thanks for a beautiful day. I think that made it broader and more relatable to anyone and everyone.”
Though lead singer Gregg Allman was the obvious choice to take over vocals, Duane encouraged Dickey to sing it himself:
“Man, this is your song and it sounds like you and you need to sing it.”
He was right, and “Blue Sky” was included on their iconic 1972 third studio album Eat a Peach. I could listen to these two play all day long, and they really did an incredible job with this song. I can’t get enough, truly… do yourself a favor and check it out:
“Blue Sky”