# Allman Brothers instrumentals

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/allman-brothers-instrumentals/503387>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [July 17, 2009, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/allman-brothers-instrumentals/503387 "2009-07-17T22:42:04Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Mangosteen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Mangosteen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangosteen)\
**Post date:** [July 17, 2009, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/allman-brothers-instrumentals/503387/1 "2009-07-17T22:42:04Z")

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When Dickey Betts wrote ‘In Memory of Elizabeth Reed’ and other great instrumentals, did he mean them to be instrumentals or did he or the band just decide they couldn’t come up with suitable lyrics for the songs?

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**Author:** ![Alan\_Bird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b3f665/32.png) [@Alan\_Bird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alan_Bird)\
**Post date:** [July 17, 2009, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/allman-brothers-instrumentals/503387/2 "2009-07-17T22:48:33Z")

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Good question. Though I love “Jessica” so much I wanna believe it was conceived as an instrumental.

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**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\
**Post date:** [July 17, 2009, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/allman-brothers-instrumentals/503387/3 "2009-07-17T23:36:52Z")

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AFAIK, they were all instrumentals. The tune for “Elizabeth Reed” is fairly complex without an easy refrain and you’d need someone like Lambert, Hendrix, and Ross to find lyrics to fit.