DICKEY BETTS

All musicians and artists - we all got quirks that have to be put up with at certain times.

As far as the music goes, I like melody.

If you've got a corporation, and you throw out one of the founding partners that is responsible in part for making the organization what it is today, you have to compensate that person. You have to come to a settlement.

Some people take me as being a rowdy, honky-tonk hero type. Some people see me as a quiet person. I guess I can be either one, you know, at any moment.

My daddy had been a fiddler, and I heard a lot of fiddle music as a child. I had a ukulele and had played along with him.

Blues players are around for 50 years, and that's just fine.

My guitar has, like, become part of me, you know.

When I was a kid in school, and you asked me what I was gonna be, I mean, even as a little first grader, I was gonna be a guitar picker on the 'Grand Ole Opry.' I just had it in my head that that's what I wanted to do, having no idea how it was done.

I've written some songs that are pretty scary, but 'Jessica,' 'Ramblin' Man,' and 'Blue Sky' are happy songs. That's the way I wrote them: have-fun tunes to make you feel good.

Our main thing we'd have to entertain us: All my uncles would come over, and we'd sit around the living room on a weekend night, and we'd play. That was a big event for me, getting to play. We never did have any percussion.

You can't play music and be mad at anybody. It'll show in your heart!

I kind of question whether to say this or not, but it's almost like the Allman Brothers turned into an Allman Brothers tribute band.

In 1969, I was playing guitar in several rock bands that toured central Florida.

In rock n' roll music, you almost have to apologize for being around more than four or five years. I don't know why.

Our tunes aren't just sing-along tunes: they're very complex. After a few days of that, you gotta take a break.

Sometimes arguments get publicized so much that it gets blown all the hell out of proportion.

People say a lot of things in the heat of the moment. But in the entertainment business, ya never say never.

The thing with Berry and Duane and the rest of us in the original Allman Brothers seemed to be a once-in-a-lifetime thing. When Duane was killed, we knew we lost a great part of that, but we still managed to play some great music.

When I was a kid, my dad was in construction and used to move the family back and forth between central Florida's east and west coasts.

I had a ukulele when I was about seven. Then I started playing around with the mandolin and the banjo.

I've learned to climb a tree pretty fast.

It's hard for people to understand that when five or six guys are together working intensely, they can really get into some duels.

I have so many great memories of the Allman Brothers early days. It was an incredible time.

Now, I'm not the kind of guy who likes to look in the mirror and say, 'Oh, you're the best.'

I wouldn't call myself a jazz player or a blues player.