Dickey Betts & Great Southern/Atlanta's Burning Down

Personnel: Dickey Betts (vocals, guitar, electric guitar, slide guitar); Dan Toler (guitar, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, background vocals); Michael Workman, Tom Broome (keyboards, background vocals); Ken Tibbets (electric bass); Donnie Sharbono (drums, percussion, background vocals); David "Frankie" Toler, Jerry Thompson (drums, percussion).
Audio Remixer: Johnny Sandlin.
Liner Note Author: Mick Skidmore.
Recording information: Criteria Studios, Miami (11/1977).
This is a fine straight repackaging of Dickey Betts' original incarnation of Great Southern. It's hard to imagine any fan not already owning these on CD, but then anything is possible. These two recordings were done years after the sublime Highway Call, and feature Betts wedding the laid-back country-rock of the former album to the raucous brand of soulful blues played by the Allman Brothers Band. Marred somewhat by slick and overwrought production, these two albums -- on a single CD -- still showcase plenty of fine guitar playing and songwriting by Betts. ~ Thom Jurek