Marc Quiñones
at the Crossroads of Southern music, history, & culture
Wishing a very happy bday (12/29/63) to Marc Quiñones, ABB percussionist from 1991 to 2014.
“They tell me I started physically playing at three, but in my mind and my heart I had been playing before then. Even before I was born, my father and my uncle were playing at my house, so who knows if by osmosis that was transferred to me while I was in my mother’s womb? Music was always happening: Cuban music, Puerto Rican music, salsa music, music where the drumming was prevalent. So maybe it was just meant to be.”
Joining the Allman Brothers Band
Butch saw Marc with the fusion band Spyro Gyra and immediately recruited him for the Allman Brothers Band.
“Following a show in Tallahassee, a stranger came rushing up to him. ‘You’re amazing! I think I’m going to have to steal you from this band!’
I’m like, ‘Yeah, whatever, man,’ but I gave him my number. The manager of Spyro Gyra was like, ‘That's Butch Trucks from the Allman Brothers!’ Which meant absolutely nothing to me.’
Shortly after, Trucks called with an offer to lay down tracks for Shades of Two Worlds. ‘I still have no idea who the Allman Brothers are. To me, it’s just another session. I see Jaimoe sitting on a cooler, chilling out; I think he’s one of the roadies. I thought one of the guitar techs was Dickey Betts. But Butch and Jaimoe will both tell you now that it was a blessing that I had no idea who they were, because I didn’t have any preconceived notion of what I should play.’”1
Tom Dowd picks up the story
“Butch had heard him in concert and said, ‘We gotta get this kid’ because we were talking about adding percussion to the album.
Dickey and Warren especially, they wanted to put percussion in some of the songs. I mean, they were going to try it themselves.
Then Butch said, ‘I found this kid, he’s so goddamn good.’
Now, ‘True Gravity’ is one of those genius things where it took me about three days to learn the song myself. There are six bars of four, there are seven bars of eight, there are...you wouldn’t believe!
Quiñones arrived, I put this thing in front of him and he says, ‘Play me the tape.’ I played him the tape, and the son of a bitch is writing the chords down as fast as they’re playing them.
I looked and I said, ‘What instrument do you play?’ He said, ‘I used to play trumpet.’
I mean, he’s as fast as Warren is on chords. He’s so incredibly gifted, yet he’s very quiet. He’s a different trip entirely. Like I say, it’s wild. He’s stripping down the chords, and I’m going, ‘I don’t believe this. Nice to have a guy like this in the band, but I’m not ready for this.’
The other one who’s like that who doesn’t let on but knows where the hell they are in any goddamn song is Butch. Butch, Marc, and Warren probably know the chords to every song better than Dickey or Gregg.”2
A gifted musician, Marc’s now touring with the Doobie Brothers.
He was onstage with Jaimoe, Warren, Oteil, Derek, and Chuck at the Brothers shows in NYC April 2025.
LAGNIAPPES
Here’s three Allman Brothers-related sides to Marc Quiñones:
Solo artist: Marc Quiñones “Midnight Rider” with Derek Trucks on guitar and Oteil Burbridge on bass. Marc’s take on an Allman Brothers classic.
Gregg Allman bandmate: Gregg Allman “My Only True Friend” from Gregg’s final solo album, Southern Blood3 (2017). Marc joined Gregg’s band after the ABB called it quits.
The Allman Brothers Band: Allman Brothers Band “True Gravity” 7/7/96 Lakewood Amphitheater, Hot ‘Lanta. This one’s in honor of Dowd’s story above. And buckle up! The ABB took this one to some EPIC heights in summer 1996–the final summer tour of the Warren & Woody lineup.
Thanks for being here.
Until next time.
This is from an old Hittin’ the Note in the collection of paid Long Live the ABB subscriber, my pal Gary Nagle, Chairman Wonwayout. I’m still chasing down exactly which issue.
Southern Blood was Gregg’s swan song, a brilliant, career-capping album IMNSHO.
