When Marc Quiñones first joined the Allman Brothers, he had no idea who they were. He signed on in 1991 and stayed until 2014: "Following a [Spyro Gyra] show a stranger came rushing up. “You’re amazing! You know, 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.”⁠

Producer Tom Dowd took note of that same reading ability that had helped Quiñones hit his stride in New York. “They were paying this complicated instrumental that went from 4/4 to 7/4 to a 2/4 bar here and there. The changes were going by so fast that I asked Tom to sketch out a diagram for me. And he goes, ’You read music? Great! That makes it easier for us.’ He sketches out a part and we knock it out, and he’s going on about how amazing that is, because Gregg and Dickey can read only chord charts.”⁠

Quiñones was the answer to the band’s long search for a final rhythmic ingredient. Both drummers had always wanted to add percussion to the mix. Both had, in fact, gotten up from behind their kits on occasion to make that addition. Yet everyone was committed to the 2-drummer concept, which stemmed from the late Duane Allman’s admiration for how James Brown used that formulation to maximum funk effect. ⁠

From his perspective, Quiñones played in this setting more or less as he had played over the years with every other band: the same patterns, the same feel. Apparently, no adjustment was needed to fit into what Trucks and Jaimoe had cultivated." From Drum Magazine 📷️Unknown