Quote:
Originally Posted by chiliD
Dickey Betts wouldn't have been "Dickey Betts" without Duane Allman...Duane pushed Dickey to be better than he was... in the same way Danny Kirwan & Jeremy Spencer wouldn't have been who they were without Peter Green. Peter set the standard and Danny & Jeremy had to "up their game" to keep up.
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Dickey Betts was quite good right from the start. He fueled Duane with his great compositions every bit as much as Duane fueled him with his masterful licks. Also ABB would never reach the heights they did without Betts key contributions. Most of their hits came from his hand, with Gregg being a pretty close second. As for his instrumental abilities, the fact that he could carry on as the band's solo guitarist after Duane's death, even taking the band to further heights of popularity, should be proof of his guitar mastery. I'll never take anything away from Duane though; even Eric Clapton was blown away by his playing in Miami. And I'll give you your key point, that he certainly pushed DB to his guitar picking limits.
You also make the mistake many others do in equating Jeremy's prowess on the instrument with Kirwan's. Spencer was no match in that regard, so much so that Green's last masterpiece with the band, the Then Play On project, didn't even require Spencer. That was all Green + Kirwan on those layered riffs. Jeremy was a master of the stage, a competent slide guitarist into the bargain, a great rock n roller and parody "character", but an axemeister of Green or Kirwan's caliber, NO (even Spencer has conceded as much).