Dickey Betts has been hospitalized due to a freak accident. To submit a story or to just say hello, email us at [email protected] Check out the Live Music News and Review.com Facebook page for updates and announcements. It has been a very trying few years for the Allman Brothers Band with the deaths of founding members Greg Allman and Butch Trucks.  The news does not get better coming out of Florida where Dickey Betts is listed as in critical condition. Editors note:  This hits especially hard, as a guitar player myself I have looked to Dickey Betts for inspiration in my own limited style. Watching him on stage over the years has been like watching a master craftsman, part blue collar worker, part artisan.  His playing has helped to define an entire genre. Get well soon, Dickey! From the website of Dickey Betts. Betts, the “Ramblin’ Man” singer-songwriter and founding Allman Brothers Band guitarist, went out to their backyard on Little Sarasota Bay and while playing with the family dog, slipped and cracked his head, causing bleeding from the brain. Betts has been sedated at an undisclosed local hospital following the accident Monday evening at the Osprey home he shares with wife Donna. David Spero, Betts’ longtime friend and manager, said the beloved rock legend is “listed as in critical but stable condition”. Brain surgery, to relieve swelling, has been scheduled for Friday. Donna is by her husband’s side with Dickey’s children. ‘The family appreciates all of your thoughts and prayers during this very trying time.” Donna said. “Dickey is a notorious fighter and he is displaying that now!” Last month, Betts suffered a “mild stroke” at his Sarasota home and had to cancel upcoming tour dates. A few weeks later, Spero announced Betts was responding “very well to treatment” and on Sept. 14 posted to Betts’ social media pages that, “Dickey Betts is raring to go. His recovery from his minor stroke is ahead of schedule and he has already started playing his guitar again.” Now, though, Betts’ family, friends and band mates are focusing their attention on Betts regaining his health; with the upcoming November shows obviously being cancelled. “It was just a few days ago that Dickey was telling me how excited he was to get back in front of the fans on November 1,” Spero said. “It is very unfortunate, for all involved, that we need to cancel those shows. Please add Dickey into your thoughts and prayers” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zgd1W8ESao8   To submit a story or to just say hello, email us at [email protected] Check out the Live Music News and Review.com Facebook page for updates and announcements.