“In Memory of Elizabeth Reed” is an instrumental jam made famous by the Allman Brothers Band. It was written in 1970 by Dickey Betts, who named the song after a headstone he saw in Rose Hill Cemetery in the band’s hometown of Macon, Georgia. The band members were in the habit of hanging out in the quiet, peaceful old cemetery and playing a bit, or partying or whatever. Duane Allman wrote the song “Little Martha” and named it after another headstone in that cemetery, where both he and Berry Oakley would quite soon be laid to rest themselves.
Betts has always said his inspiration for the song was a woman whom he did not name publicly (but might as well have, since he did mention her boyfriend by name.)
Anyway, she passed away… last night, in SFO, during a full moon, a lunar eclipse and the passing of a comet. Stylish to the end.
R.I.P., dear lady.