When Warren Haynes joined the Allman Brothers Band in 1989 as the southern rock band reunited to celebrate their 20th anniversary, he knew what he was getting into. There were few more venerable pop-cultural institutions in America. This was a band whose history had been writ large in tragedy and triumph.
Haynes would be stepping into a role once occupied by the late Duane Allman, who, in 1971, died in a motorcycle accident, aged just 24. As a lifelong fan of the band, Haynes was more than aware of the history, the weight of it. But as a fan of the band, he knew the material, and he knew the key players, and that helped. So, too, did their attitude to making music.
Speaking to MusicRadar at the Gibson Garage London, Haynes says it was the outlaw country icon David Allan Coe who first introduced him to ABB founding members, vocalist/keyboardists Gregg Allman and guitarist Dickey Betts.
He would help both with their solo careers, playing with the Dickey Betts Band, playing on and sharing writing credits on Betts’ 1988 studio album, Pattern Disruptive, and guesting on the title track of the Gregg Allman Band’s album, Just Before The Bullets Fly, from the same year.
Even so, the Gov't Mule frontman/guitarist and founder was still a little trepidation about becoming an honorary brother.
It was intimidating because the Allman Brothers Band was always one of my favourite bands
“Well, it was intimidating because the Allman Brothers Band was always one of my favourite bands, and I had no expectations of that happening,” says Haynes. “But I had been playing with Dickey and his band for two or three years, and that really helped condition me for being in the Allman Brothers.
“By the time I joined the Allman Brothers, Dickey and I had been playing for three years, and writing songs together for three years, so we had that initiation period, so to speak, which made it a little easier.”
Others were not so lucky. Allen Paul joined the old-fashioned way, rocking up to drummer Butch Trucks' studio to try out like everyone else.
“He just auditioned, and the next day was in the Allman Brothers,” says Haynes. “I had three years of standing next to Dickey Betts, in smaller venues.”
Even so, those first rehearsals were inspiring. Haynes was playing Allman Brothers’ tracks under the banner of the Allman Brothers. It was for real now. And Gregg Allman and Dickey Betts did not hire players to just play the hits as they were performed on the records.
That wasn’t enough; Allman and Betts wanted the new blood to shape their sound. Why hire a freewheeling player like Paul on bass guitar then have him play it wrote? It was the same with Haynes; they wanted him to put his own spin on it.
“They were great about allowing and encouraging everyone to bring their own personality to the music,” says Haynes. “From the very beginning, they never asked me to play more like Duane Allman, or less like Duane Allman. It was always, ‘Be yourself. Play like you. Play it however you want to do it,’ knowing that I had this reverence for Duane’s playing, and for the music in general, and that I wasn’t going to go too far away from the feeling and the spirit of the music. But I wanted to make it my own as well.”
It involved walking a line but Haynes did just that. Take Blue Sky; if ever there was a Duane Allman guitar part that demanded a little finesse it was this Betts-written classic from Eat A Peach.
Haynes’ first point of difference would be his choice of electric guitar. He would often use his red Custom Shop Stratocaster for Blue Sky – though, like Duane, Haynes, too, would revert to a Les Paul.
Haynes also approached the rolling and tumbling lead-rhythm solo with a glass slide on his ring finger. Check out the Allman Brothers Band’s 1991 performance of Blue Sky at the Great Woods Amphitheater in Mansfield, Massachusetts. There you have Betts on his Goldtop, Haynes on the Strat, both meeting in the middle to harmonise.
“Even playing Blue Sky on slide was strange, because Duane never played slide on it. But that was something that Dickey probably asked me to do for his band – or maybe it was my idea, I don’t know. But also, we played it in G at that time, whereas the original was in E. Dickey changed the key somewhere along the line.”
Even playing Blue Sky on slide was strange, because Duane never played slide on it
In the ‘90s incarnation of the Allman Brothers Band, Blue Sky’s key might have changed. The slide was a novel approach. And yet there is still a little of Duane Allman in how Haynes plays it on slide. Haynes’ old ABB bandmate, Derek Trucks, has spoken before about Duane Allman’s slide style, how he left it all out there, played on the edge.
“Duane’s slide sounded like it could totally flame out or go off the rails at any time,” Trucks told MusicRadar, in 2021. That’s kind of how Haynes is in the footage from Great Woods, and that fits with his ethos of staying true to the spirit of the original material and Duane Allman’s playing, without doing the same thing again.
In 2025, Haynes is continues to honour the Allman Brothers Band legacy. He has just announced The Whisper Sessions, a pared down version of his 2024 studio album, A Million Voices Whisper.
The Whisper Sessions rework the tracks for just Haynes’ voice and guitar, except for a trio of tracks featuring Trucks – including a cover of the Allman Brothers Band’s Melissa, and a track called Real Real Love, which was written from an unfinished Gregg Allman song that Allman’s manager, Bert Holman, sent Haynes.
The Warren Haynes Band is on tour in Europe in July, and Haynes will be fronting Gov’t Mule as they celebrate their 30th anniversary with a co-headlining tour with and Tedeschi Trucks Band. See Warren Haynes for dates and ticket details.
You can pre-save The Whisper Sessions now. It’s out September 12 via Fantasy. And you can read our full interview with Haynes, coming soon to MusicRadar.
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