Brad Spurgeon's Blog

PARIS – I had to stop everything I was doing tonight when I saw that my friend Mark Greenberg posted a link to the full concert video of the Dickey Betts Tribute live in Macon gig that he played in on 28 February, last month. I had seen Mark mentioning this upcoming gig on Facebook for a while, but I never expected this concert to be as astounding as it is. I am posting the link so you can immediately drop everything you are doing, tune in and listen to the whole three hours of it – or, if you don’t immediately have that amount of time to spare, skim through and find the Allman Brothers Band songs you love the most and listen to those, then go back again. Spoiler Alert: The concert ends with “Ramblin’ Man!”

Dickey Betts, if you don’t know, was one of the founding members and guitarists of the Allman Brothers Band. And you will recognize which one when you hear his son’s guitar playing and vocals, especially on that aforementioned song, which was written and sung by Betts. He died at the age of 80 last April, and this memorial concert brings together not just his own son, Duane Betts, but other big stars and Allman musicians and family such as Warren Haynes, Chuck Leavell, Derek Trucks, Susan Tedeschi, Charlie Starr, Oteil Burbridge, Devon Allman.

Dickey Betts Tribute live in Macon

Just when I was feeling about as low as I ever could in my entire life about the United States, this film and concert has reminded me of one of the many things I love about the country. I won’t go into any detail anywhere about any of that, just take a look for yourself. This is a fabulous concert, especially if, like me, you love or grew up with the Allman Brothers Band’s music.

Mark Greenberg, whom I mentioned posted the link and is playing drums, is another inspiring part of my life. In 2011 when I was doing a week’s worth of open mics in New York City and he was running the Bitter End Jam, which he has done for almost as along as the Allman Brothers exist (exaggeration), I was about to walk out the door feeling way too intimidated to get on stage. He was standing on the sidewalk outside during the break, and seeing me walking out with my guitar he asked what was going on? (I must have signed a list to go up before this.) I came up with some lame excuse that had nothing do to with telling him I was actually scared shitless to go up with musicians of that quality, when he talked me into going up anyway. We worked out what the songs would be, he said they could do them, and up I went. Best moment of my time in NYC.

The next day, Mark gave me more of his time being interviewed on my cameras in his practice studio in the legendary Music Building, for my worldwide open mic film, Out of a Jam. Mark was one of the most inspiring of those I interviewed, and he appears throughout the film as one of the regular “talking heads.” All of this made seeing this film an emotionally moving thing. But there was more moving to it than you can yet imagine.

Seeing Mark in this Dickey Betts tribute, you will find him as one of three drummers always on the stage, and you will recognize him easily because he is the one with the shortest hair. When I interviewed him his hair was down to his shoulders. My bet is it will grow back there soon, but at the moment, Mark Greenberg has been going through treatment for pancreatic cancer, a disease that took his father’s life some decades ago. To see his optimistic and defiant, and joyful posts regularly on Facebook, and above all, to see him back on stage behind the drums at a gig like this, is yet another in the long line of inspirational things I now connect his name to.

Thanks Mark, and hope we get to play together again some day soon too! Maybe not in Macon, Georgia, where you played this concert – but why not Macon, France?

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