# Allman Brother's Tour Manager Flees Drug Charges With Meth, Heroin and Syringes—Then Became Dickey Betts’ Sponsor | Kirk West

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/dopey-on-the-dark-comedy-of-drug-addiction-422100/allman-brother-s-tour-manager-flees-drug-charges-with-meth-heroin-and-syringes-then-became-dickey-betts-sponsor-kirk-west
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/dopey-on-the-dark-comedy-of-drug-addiction-422100/allman-brother-s-tour-manager-flees-drug-charges-with-meth-heroin-and-syringes-then-became-dickey-betts-sponsor-kirk-west.md
Podcast: [Dopey: On the Dark Comedy of Drug Addiction](https://stenobird.com/podcast/dopey-on-the-dark-comedy-of-drug-addiction-422100)
Published: 2026-07-22T09:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://www.dopeypodcast.com
Audio file: https://pscrb.fm/rss/p/injector.simplecastaudio.com/2946d116-c208-4c76-b441-a9811c7f3897/episodes/afa3c190-30f5-4300-8d2e-40caea68d67c/audio/128/default.mp3?aid=rss_feed&awCollectionId=2946d116-c208-4c76-b441-a9811c7f3897&awEpisodeId=afa3c190-30f5-4300-8d2e-40caea68d67c&feed=OC5bZYjc
Processing state: not_requested
JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/dopey-on-the-dark-comedy-of-drug-addiction-422100/episodes/allman-brother-s-tour-manager-flees-drug-charges-with-meth-heroin-and-syringes-then-became-dickey-betts-sponsor-kirk-west
Duration seconds: 8228

## Resource

Timestamps Notes: 00:00 Cold open 01:11 Welcome back, summer hiatus and working at Katz’s 03:36 Remembering Chris eight years after his death 03:45 Dopey voicemail: Naked Hash 08:38 DopeyCon announcement 10:58 Spotify and Patreon listener comments 15:46 Introducing Kirk West 18:10 Growing up in Iowa and discovering the Paul Butterfield Blues Band 25:10 Chicago, psychedelics and photographing live music 27:34 Shooting crystal meth for the first time 32:17 Drug dealing, the “Speed Freak” hot rod and fleeing Chicago 37:00 Boulder, San Francisco and the psychedelic underground 39:21 Arrested while hitchhiking through Nevada 44:10 Entering Gateway House instead of cooperating with police 51:24 Therapeutic-community treatment and hearing about Duane Allman’s death 56:08 Leaving treatment, heroin addiction and a murdered drug-dealing partner 01:04:48 Arrests, stealing camera equipment and entering recovery in Florida 01:09:13 Early Narcotics Anonymous and becoming a music photographer 01:12:49 Five years sober—and the controlled-drinking experiment 01:23:40 John Lennon’s death and Kirk’s final return to alcohol 01:25:12 Admitting the relapse and establishing his lasting sobriety date 01:27:40 Photographing Bob Marley, Springsteen, the Stones, the Who and the Clash 01:30:03 Becoming the Allman Brothers Band’s historian and archivist 01:37:22 Becoming the band’s tour manager 01:41:52 Tape trading, the H.O.R.D.E. tour and the resurgence of jam-band culture 01:44:16 How sobriety influenced Kirk’s work with the band 01:48:23 Dickey Betts’ removal and Kirk’s painful arbitration testimony 01:52:28 Meeting and marrying Kirsten 02:00:50 Buying the Allman Brothers’ “Big House” in Macon 02:03:45 Derek Trucks, Warren Haynes and the band’s final era 02:08:15 Lowell George offers Kirk coca…

## Actions

- request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/dopey-on-the-dark-comedy-of-drug-addiction-422100/episodes/allman-brother-s-tour-manager-flees-drug-charges-with-meth-heroin-and-syringes-then-became-dickey-betts-sponsor-kirk-west/transcription-requests` — Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode.
- read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/dopey-on-the-dark-comedy-of-drug-addiction-422100/allman-brother-s-tour-manager-flees-drug-charges-with-meth-heroin-and-syringes-then-became-dickey-betts-sponsor-kirk-west.md` — Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource.

A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed.

## Transcript

Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.