It’s become commonplace for presidents and politicians to consort with musicians, but that was not the case in the Seventies, when the two worlds barely collided. Starting with his run for governor of Georgia in the Sixties and continuing through his presidential campaign the following decade, Jimmy Carter proudly and openly associated with rock-era musicians. Aretha Franklin and Paul Simon played at his inauguration in 1977, and not surprisingly, he was friendly with the leading Southern rock bands of the time (some of whom came from his own home state).
Carter also tapped into the financial clout of rock & roll: When fans bought tickets to Carter benefits that featured the Allman Brothers Band, the Marshall Tucker Band, and others, his campaign was able to claim the sales amounted to small donations (and thereby matched federal funds). In a previously unpublished interview conducted in February 2023, just over a year before he died, former Allmans singer-guitarist-songwriter Dickey Betts talked with RS about his memories of Carter. Carter died on Sunday, Dec. 29, at the age of 100.
He was quite a guide to us. When he was running for governor [in 1966], he ran against Lester Maddox, who was the biggest bigot in the country. We were embarrassed to say we were from Georgia. When Jimmy became governor [in 1970], he totally changed the attitude in Georgia. All of a sudden, Georgia became the Peach State again.
Jimmy had a unique way. He was friends with our manager, Phil Walden, and Phil told us about him. He came by the studio a few times. That’s where we met him. He was listening to recordings we were doing for Brothers and Sisters. He showed up and had a good time with us and we had dinner together. We weren’t used to that sort of thing at all, but we thought, “This guy’s all right.” He probably had his favorite songs but he never brought it up. He did say he liked “Ramblin’ Man.” He said it was a real working-man’s song.
Georgia governor and U.S. presidential candidate Jimmy Carter, dressed in an Allman Brothers T-shirt, talks with the press while vacationing on Jekyll Island, just after the 1976 Democratic convention.
© Wally McNamee/CORBIS/Getty Images
We became close to him, and he asked us if we’d help with his campaign [with benefit concerts]. We’d met governors and things like that, but they never really included us. Jimmy was a friend to rock music, so a lot of the guys helped him out a great deal. At the time, the government said it would match money you raised on your own [for a campaign]. He didn’t take money from the Allman Brothers. The [fans who bought tickets] knew the show was going to a good cause. I’ve got a letter on the wall here that says, “Thanks for your advice.” [Laughs] It makes me really proud to have Jimmy Carter write a letter like that to me.
He was a very nice and intelligent man. He took the trouble to go to Gregg [Allman]’s funeral. And he really cared for the American people. You can see that the way he did more after he was president than while he was in office, with Habitat for Humanity and the work he did that helped the American people out quite a bit.
People don’t realize how great and meaningful somebody is until they pass away. I don’t know much about politics, but he said, “If I set a good example, everyone would do good.” It ain’t that way at all in Washington. They’re vicious people. Bill Clinton followed his model, but he could fight back and outsmart ‘em.
I remember going to a jazz concert at the White House [1978]. Of course, I got there and I left my damn ID at home. The Marines said, “Oh, go ahead in.” They knew me very well and knew I wasn’t going to do any harm. Jimmy was walking around the premises and someone said, “Go over and talk to him,” but I didn’t want to bother him. Then I went to use the men’s room in the White House, and as I was coming out, I ran into Jimmy with a group of people and he said, “Ladies and gentlemen, this is Dickey Betts, one of the best songwriters around nowadays.” That just floored me.