Dickey Betts, guitarist and songwriter with the Allman Brothers – obituary

• Dickey Betts, who has died aged 80, was a guitarist, singer and songwriter and linchpin of the Allman Brothers Band, whose music, infused with jazz, blues and country, set the template for Southern Rock and made them one of the most influential outfits of the 1970s; he wrote several of their best-known songs, including Ramblin’ Man, their biggest hit single, as well as Jessica, the instrumental beloved of millions of Top Gear fans.