Customer Reviews

Dickey Betts & Great Southern - Back Where It All Begins Live At The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Much as I anticipated the performance at this venue by a guitarist I have chased around for years, I have to agree with others who think this video is dreadful. I rarely feel ripped off when I purchase (and I did not buy this through Amazon, I might add) but this one is so bad that I feel compelled to warn others. I am scratching my head over the positive reviews that have posted for this DVD. Run away fast!

Yeah, ok, the drummer is way off, his timing sucks and he looks alternatively sick, angry or distracted. Maybe he was sick that day. But we have to remember that it is a live performance with all the screw-ups that come with it. Betts is still a master guitarist and band leader.

My only question is why is the sound on the CD so much fuller and better than on the DVD? They were recorded at the same show! I have to also highly recommend the 3 cd Instant Live set, recorded with this same band.

The music is really good . Great background music , Relaxing . The band is very good and jam well together. Favorite tracks : Back Where it All Begins & Change My Way of Living . The playing gets sloppy in some areas but always bounces back .

Being a huge Allman Brothers fan it pains me to say that the "encore" performance of Jessica sounds no better than your average bad garage band. It is typical of what goes on the entire show. Timing is all over the place, wrong notes come in bunches and even worse is when Betts tries to hide them by playing the same wrong notes in a riff again as though intended. The timing at the end is embarassing and the keys and guitars sound like they are playing at two different times.

Honestly, I wanted to like this performance. But it's uninspired and sloppy. If you're a musician you'll cringe. If you're a music enthusiast who knows good music when you hear it, you'll still cringe. Timing is poor. Playing is sloppy. Some interesting stuff by the bass player but that's it.

Why the one star? Because some other reviewers hit the nail on the head. This video has the feel of "hey dudes, we just came out to play." But selling this crap has the feel of "I'm an Allman Brothers player so I can still milk pure crapola for a few bucks." That's what this is. I am just grateful to have caught it on cable and I erased it from my DVR immediately after listening and fast forwarding throught his drivel.

First of all: Dickey Betts is NOT drunk at this show!!! In fact, he looks better than he has in many years, and he'd be a fool if he were to show up drunk to this performance that he knew was going to be filmed and taped, and it is filmed and taped on sacred ground- The Rock'n'Roll Hall Of Fame.

I fundamentally disagree with everybody who say that this is a "sloppy" performance. It's not! The band is really tight, but in some songs there are little parts where they don't follow eachother completely. That may well be because they know that they're being filmed and therefore are a little nervous. Who cares? For the love of God, it's a jam band!!! If everything were to be pitch perfect they wouldn't be interesting to listen to at all.

Some viewers have critisized DB on the fact that he plays a lot of Allman songs during this show. Well, I'll ask you: Who did write all those songs??? Dickey Betts did, so why shouldn't he play them? He even say something about the songselection during the interviews to explain why they chose those songs for this show.

IMO this band that have the potential to become just as good as the Allmans used to be a long time ago. They have two great guitarslingers (Dickey Betts and Danny Toler, who used to be with the Allmans too), they have a stunning bassplayer who really knows how to lay down that "seventies" basslines, they have a great drummer with a lot of energy and a piano/ hammondplayer/ singer who sounds a lot like Greg Allman when he was in his twenties.

I urge you to buy this DVD and support one of the greatest guitarplayers and composers of all time within this kind of music. You wont be dissapointed!!!

I am reminded of how unique and original Dickey's sound is. The Allman Bros will never be the same without him.Warren is great but Dickey is the real thing and Trucks is a screech owl next to Betts. That said, I'm disappointed at the number of solos that are edited in, ex. intro to Blue sky. I 'd rather hear what was played that night. Frankie on drums was not on. Toler's playing is as tasty as I've heard anywhere. Dickey's slide playing is excellent, and he is a versatile writer.Without Dickey's songs, the ABB are a second rate blues band and no more.

Let me start by stating that I am a Dickey Betts fan. I first discovered Dickey via the Allman Brothers Band, of course, and I remain an ABB fan, too. But I've purchased every Dickie Betts solo effort, with my favorites being the first Great Southern release and Pattern Disruptive. I also like Seven Turns by the ABB, which strikes me as essentially the Dickey Betts album that would have followed Pattern Disruptive, with Gregg Allman added soemwhere during the recording process to covert it to an ABB album. Without knowing, I always assumed that neither Pattern Disruptive nor Gregg Allman's Just Before the Bullets Fly sold very well and that management or record company executives "encouraged" Gregg and Dickey to reform the band. I'm only speculating on that, though.

I purchased this DVD precisely because I am a Dickey Betts fan, and I was hoping for a great performance. I kind of presumed that Dickey would want to show the ABB how great he still is, kind of an "up yours" in response to their decision to fire him.

Instead (and I'm surprised that not one of the earlier reviewers mentioned this), Dickie shows up drunk and gives a terrible performance. Isn't that precisely why the ABB fired this founding member?

The result? Dickie growls/yells rather than sings his vocals. Dickie's timing is off on what should be unison/harmony guitar lines with Dan Toler. Dickie plays unimaginitive and repetitive solos (...yes, he's always been repetitive, but that was countermanded by his creativity...). And Dickie slowed some of the tunes down to a lethargic pace, I presume because when he's wasted he can't play them at their more appropriate and energetic pace.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, I guess, but I am surprised that this disc has gotten any ratings higher than 3 stars. For me, it's zero stars, and disposed of.

I purchased this DVD set and thought it was excellent. However the CD portion had a song omitted on it. "Cleveland Blues" was not on it. Why? Does anyone have any information about that?

Excellent DVD plus a CD for 16 dollars, a must for any Dickey Betts fan

i recieved the cd/dvd a week ago, and i've watched it 3-4 times. it seems better each time i watch it. i'm glad to see dickey put this great band together. i only wish i was standing there jamming with them.this is a fantastic band and i highly recommend it [cd/dvd]. to young or older folks. the music is easy to listen to, and you don't have to worry about the pg rating. dickey betts is a true southern rock/blues legend. brother bob