The recently deceased Dickey Betts did not often (or to a great extent) verbally expound upon the tragic death of Duane Allman in the fall of 1971. Instead, the surviving guitarist/songwriter/vocalist paid homage to the fallen ‘Skydog’ (a nickname courtesy of Wilson Pickett) by assuming titular leadership of the Allman Brothers in 1972 and 1973, staunchly upholding the legacy of these seminal Southern blues-rockers and shepherding them to their greatest commercial success. In direct personal terms, however, Dickey’s greatest tribute to his fallen comrade may be the naming of his son after him, and the dedication titled “Duane’s Tune” appeared a decade after the author’s offspring was born in 1978. A highlight of performances by The Dickey Betts Band (as depicted in the accompanying clip), the original recording is a notable inclusion on Pattern Disruptive, the last album by the group Dickey fronted under his own name before the fateful reunion of the Brothers, the very next year (not to mention the final solo recording of his career).
