Posted on 02/26/2021 4:48:45 PM PST by simpson96
"Jessica" is an instrumental piece by American rock band the Allman Brothers Band, released in December 1973 as the second single from the group's fourth studio album, Brothers and Sisters (1973). Written by guitarist Dickey Betts, the song is a tribute to Gypsy jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt, in that it was designed to be played using only two fingers on the left hand.
Betts wrote the majority of "Jessica" at the band's farm in Juliette, Georgia. He named it after his daughter, Jessica Betts, who was an infant when it was released. She had bounced along to the song's rhythm, and Betts attempted to capture her attitude with its melody. He invited fellow guitarist Les Dudek over to collaborate on it, and Dudek performed the bridge. The arrangement was crafted prior to recording, which took place at Capricorn Sound Studios in Macon, Georgia.
The Allman Brothers Band - Jessica (1973)
(Excerpt) Read more at youtube.com ...
Before I discovered Rush, the Allman Brothers were my favorite band.
This song, Jessica, will be the last song played at my homegoing.
Made me adore James, Richard and Jeremy the more for playing it on Top Gear.
Michael Allman, Duane’s son, is a performer too. He has a voice like burnt honey in whiskey but also bad habits. It’s a shame.
Thanks for the excellent tune.
I’m sorry. Michael Allman is Gregg’s son.
Great writers and players. If it is “Idlewild South” the band’s farm (on a pond) mentioned— that was off 80 West of Macon near Lizella. Around the time of that album’s so named. Then they were out NE of Macon later.
Long time ago, and a whole lot of.... well, chemicals consumed, and very young deaths. Tom Dowd’s producing of Idlewild South put them on the map (Criteria Studios, Miami).
A friend of mine has Jessica for his phone’s ringtone.
Church Levell’s piano solo really sets it off.
Jessica was Dickie Betts’ song all the way.
“Jessica” = back roads through the south in a 1970 VW bus (yes, really), windows down, wind blowing through in the heat of July, kudzu everywhere, cicadas in the background, “traveling” music. A moment in time, captured ...
Good times, Bramps! Good times...:)
I was as happy as could be. I had just got out of the Navy, was going to college on the old GI Bill, and seeing my extended group of friends I had missed so much.
Good times indeed. But hey, I enjoyed the Seventies, too, so that’s taste for you!
>I’m pretty sure “Jessica” was written after Duane’s death in 1971 and was released in 1973.
It was, but it’s still the Allman Brothers Band, so...
>Duane Allman may be the most underrated guitarist of all time.<
No one who knows anything about music underrates him. But yeah, you don’t hear him mentioned many times when people talk about great guitar players, Dickey Betts too. You hear Hendrix, SRV, Clapton etc..
>Listen to any of the “Layla” tracks where they isolate his slide guitar, and you realize how awesome he was as a studio session guitarist with some of the top bands of his day.
Layla is basically all Duane Allman. All Clapton had was the slow, piano section, Duane came in and did the rest.
The piano is by Bobby Whitlock. Allman plays the slide guitar, Clapton lead electric.
Duanne literally camped out in the parking lot of the Macon studio till they let him audition. He went on to do session work with Aretha Franklin, Boz Scaggs, Percy Sledge, Wilson Pickett and just about everyone else who recorded there.
Duanne and Boz Scaggs, Loan Me A Dime. Some of Duanne’s best guitar ever.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=oTFvAvsHC_Y
That studio was one of everyone’s favorites, everyone you can think of recorded there. Even British bands like the Who knew about it. Steve Miller recorded there, Roy Buchanon, REO Speedwagon, The Guess Who, Peter, Paul & Mary, I can’t remember who else. Very long list. I saw a good documentary a while back. Long list of musicians recorded there. Duanne was part of the regular back up band, rotating crew of about 2 dozen musicians, all the best in the business. I think that’s where guys like Donald “Duck” Dunn and Steve Cropper got their start. Most of them knew what the others would do before they did it. They were that tight as a band.
Gregg got Duanne to join his band, the Allman Joys, later renamed Allman Brothers. Clapton was recording Layla when his manager shut it down and got him to go see the Allman Brothers onstage. Then got him backstage. Duanne and Eric were so intimidated by each other neither would pick up a guitar. Eric thought Duanne was one of the best he had ever seen. Ditto for Duanne, Eric’s reputation was well established by then. Eric was recording under the bands name, Derek and the Dominoes, to try and slide under the recognituon of rock and roll fans. That ended soon as he opened his mouth, his voice is very recognizeable. This is after someone spray painted “Clapton is God” on a London subway wall. Clapton wanted out of the rock superstar business.
I think it was Eric’s manager finally got them to pick up 2 guitars, not long after that Eric was inviting Duanne to do some tracks on what became Layla. Both junkies, they got along well. The story I got long ago was they would do heroin and jam till they passed out, wake up and do it again. Bowls of heroin and speed sitting around the studio, the producer freaked out. I’ve read that in several legitimate articles about the recording sessions, it’s not just a rock n roll rumor. It’s definite they were both junkies. Clapton admits that much.
Loved those guys along with Charley Daniels and the Marshall Tucker Band. They were all great back in those days!!
What was it that Ronnie Van Zant say in the Lynyrd Skynard song, . . . “Dickie Betts playing on that red guitar” . . . . ??
Somebody Lend Me a Dime is a masterpiece. Thanks for the link.
One of my very favorite songs, 7am on a Beaumont radio station. I had never heard of Boz Scaggs, knew of Duanne from Allman Brothers, Statesboro Blues and One Way Out. A year later I was listening to Eat A Peach all the time. Band I’m in still plays Melissa, the last song Duanne recorded.
No telling what those guys would do, 6am they’d play an entire album. That’s where I first heard this song, and the Harry Nilsson album “The Point”, which became an all time favorite too. Also a full length animated feature aired on ABC.
https://tubitv.com/movies/467301/the-point
Great way to spend an hour 11 minutes. I’ve been listening to the album since about 1974. Just got it on cd, and movie on dvd, still had every word of the lyrics memorized. Album is narrated by Nilsson, movie by Ringo Starr. Definitely worth watching.
>“Dickie Betts playing on that red guitar”<
That was Charlie Daniels in “The South’s gonna do it again”
“Richard Betts playin’ that red guitar”
>>The piano is by Bobby Whitlock. Allman plays the slide guitar, Clapton lead electric.<<
I was talking about the writing, composing of the music. Clapton had the words and they had the piano part, it was Duane Allman who came in and worked with Clapton on the guitar parts. That famous riff came from Duane Allman.
After their father was killed their mother sent them to a military boarding school so she could work full time while also going to college to get a CPA. They only spent a couple of years there before their mother’s situation changed and they changed schools but a man I used to work with was an alumnus of that school and he knew both of the Allmans. He swears he remembers them sitting on samsonite chairs on the stage of the school gym trying to learn to play guitar and Duane was showing Greg the licks for Richard Berry’s “Louie, Louie.”
I guess everybody’s got to start somewheres.
I knew it was somewhere out there. I just remembered that line.
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