This is terrific, from 2001:

With the rush to go on the road and the DVD after coming out of retirement, I've wondered if time is of the essence because of some sort of Glen Campbell type issue. I pray not. Very interested to see how cogent he sounds in the Dan Rather interview. There were interviews a few years ago (maybe ca:2012) and he seemed out of it and disconnected.

I don't think that's the issue, I wouldn't jump to to conclusions for fear of starting any rumors. I am certainly not privy to any info, but I think the tour has more to do with what Dickey has stated in interviews: with Gregg's passing, and his boredom - why not hit the road one more time? Not making any excuses for him, but age, time off, dexterity, and hearing affected by decades in front of a Marshall stack turned up to 111 are going to affect playing.

Hi Jonesy. By 100 % I meant whether Dickey had shook off enough of the rust to do a DVD. I was surprised by how bad he sounded at the White Buffalo. Timing off and so many really bad notes. He was better in Macon but still had some timing problems here and there and hit some clams with his new guitar. A black SG seems to be his number one right now and the pickup switch is where it is on a Les Paul. It has good tone though.

I didn't make it to the festival in New York State. I'm in my 70s too and felt washed out over the weekend after doing some hay baling in the hot Sun. But I just heard from a friend who was there and while Dickey wasn't stroking like he did with Duane and later with Warren, Jack and Derek. Yes Derek. I saw a Las Vegas show in 1999 and Dickey was good as ever that night even while playing an old Strat the whole night except for acoustic songs. Had that old road worn Fender sounding more like a Gibson than the Paul Reed Smith he left Goldie for in 1994. My friend said Dickey was still playing real fine on most of the songs. So maybe he is ready to record a live DVD. I certainly hope so because the original six are such a big deal to me as you have noticed. They are the REAL Allman Brothers.

And I knew some big fans who stopped following the band after Duane and Berry died. They questioned if they should still call it the ABB back then. But I stuck with them because the two gone died and Chuck and Lamar were filling those holes. I agree Berry Oakley was also a huge part of that original sound. Hell I guess they were a band of equals. All with different styles but somehow it all fit so nicely. Butch once said it was so uncanny their different styles fit together so well it was as if the gods chose the players instead of Duane.

But I came to really dig the Chuck/Lamar band. It was different but they could really hit the note the 6 times I saw them in 1973. And having Chuck was the right move then. It would have been so distracting seeing another guitar player in Duane's spot. And Chuck is a world class musician.

When they faxed out Dickey, Butch wanted to hire Jimmy Herring but Jimmy wouldn't do it saying he was uncomfortable replacing a living original member. The Gregg said in an interview if Warren hadn't come back, Gregg was in favor of breaking up. Derek later said that Gregg felt that not just anybody could join the band. But since Dickey was original and both he and Warren had been in the band with Dickey, other than Jack, Derek said he and Warren were the only ones that didn't break the line back to the original six. When I read that it became a little easier to see the band but it still stuck out at times that nobody with a guitar or bass was up front from their glory days. And actually commercially 1973 was their peak year and that was the Chuck/Lamar band. Sold out stadiums coast to coast and Brothers and Sisters was number one for 5 weeks out of 200 albums on the chart and sold over 4 million copies. And Dickey wrote 4 and Gregg two. That record made them millionaires.

"Butch wanted to hire Jimmy but Jimmy wouldn't do it" - we all grilled Butch on the former site, the green one, and he told me privately they never planned to fire Dickey, they just wanted him to take some time off for the summer tour and they hoped he could return in the fall. They put the stipulations in the fax (which Dickey rejected and felt were bogus and a coverup for other reasons for his ousting, ie. money) which he would have to meet to return to the band. They did not speak to him personally, they just sent that fax. The band did invite him to the 40th anniversary show extending the olive branch, but Dickey publicly stated it was not done in the right way so he would not show up. The premis that Jimmy Herring was being considered as a permanent replacement for Dickey is not correct.

You're both correct, but you're talking about two different time periods of 2000. Jimmy signed on for the summer 2000 tour, which was envisioned as a sub job while Dickey dried out and got the help he needed. Similar to 1993.

When Dickey responded with a lawsuit, he was then out of the band. And Jimmy was asked and declined, AFAIK. He said he couldn't 'replace' a living member of the ABB, which is different than subbing. Jimmy also said he would help out the organization with any transitional stuff, and he did. He played through September and came back for the Christmas Jam in December with Warren. That was the symbolic handoff to Warren, in retrospect.