Level: 2/3
Tuning: Standard

The event the song refers to would have been remembered in Atlanta. According to the research of John Garst, just before Christmas in 1892, Frank Dupree robbed an Atlanta jewelry store and made off with a diamond ring. In the process, he killed a Pinkerton agent and wounded a bystander. He escaped to Chattanooga, Tennessee, and then on to Detroit, where he was captured. After a sensational trial and despite public sympathy (probably because both he and Betty were white), he was hanged in 1922. He was the last man to be executed by hanging in Georgia before the introduction of the electric chair. Early versions of the ballad related the whole sordid tale, but over time "Betty and Dupree" evolved into a more sentimental story of love and sacrifice.

I first heard "Betty and Dupree" in the early 1960s played by Brownie McGhee. It took me over thirty years before I decided to make my own arrangement. In the interim the song was recorded numerous times from Chuck Willis, Cookie and the Cupcakes, The Grateful Dead and even Peter, Paul & Mary! My arrangement is in the key of E and has many of the trademark licks and turnarounds for playing in E. For a completely different take on the playing of this blues ballad check out the 1930 recording of Dupree Blues by Willie Walker.