Keep on Smiling was a hit single for Wet Willie and Capricorn records. 

I saw Betts, Hall, Leavell and Trucks twice in 1982. 

Jimmy sang lead on several songs and played Saxophone. 

One show was at a bar/restaurant in my hometown. It's still there and still open under the same name. 

It's hard to believe Dickey Betts, Jimmy Hall, Chuck Leavell and Butch Trucks played there. Dave Goldflies was on bass. 

Butch said between sets as soon as they get a deal, they were going into the studio and record an album of new originals. But they never got signed. All the labels they tried turned them down. 

That same period the Gregg Allman Band with Gregg, Dan and David Toler and the late bass player Bruce Waibel ( apparently committed suicide at age 45) couldn't get a record deal either! 

Guess it's a statement to where the music business was in the early and mid 80's. 

BTW Jaimoe was working as a farm hand and was the drummer in the house band of a little joint in Forsyth, Georgia. 

It was unbelievable to me all these favorite players of mine had all gone back to square one and playing bars. 

By 1987 and SRV and Bonnie Raitt on the album stations, Gregg finally got signed to Epic and things began to pick up. In 1989 I drove to see the Allman Brothers on their 20th anniversary tour at the auditorium on Independence Boulevard in Charlotte, N. C. and to my surprise the place was PACKED!! About 8,000 people. 

It was Gregg, Dickey, Jaimoe, Butch, Warren, Woody and Johnny Neal. They were promoting the DREAMS box set. 

I had already seen Warren and Johnny Neal with Matt Apts in Dickey's band three times but it was small night clubs. 

It must have made Gregg, Dickey, Butch and Jaimoe feel good to see a big auditorium SOLD OUT!! 

The Duane Allman magic had pulled them out of the bars!! Sometimes I wonder if it weren't for Duane Allman, would Gregg, Dickey, Butch and Jaimoe had ever made it. Possibly Warren Haynes too! 

Dickey said in 2008 he would like to think his music was good enough that he would have made it in the music business. But it didn't happened that way he said. It was being around the energy of Duane and Berry and the other guys and he wonders sometimes if he would have been successful if he hadn't become involved with them. Dickey said his whole adult life orbits around the Allman Brothers Band. 

Once Keith Richards said the same about the Rolling Stones. Maybe if Keith hadn't been in the Rolling Stones he would only own 5 guitars instead of 3,000. And two would be in the Pawn Shop because he needed some money. 

I was there! Great day. Devon's band was excellent. They did a nice version of Dreams.

@robertdee 

Is that bar you referenced the Coffee Pot in Roanoke, Va? If so, I've been there years ago.  I think the BHLT show from there was shot for TV back in the day.

@martind28 That is right. It's still there and still called the Coffee Pot. 

Yes they had a TV crew and Butch said as soon as they got a record deal they would record their debut album and release the Coffee Pot show if it's good enough on VHS. 

But they never got a record deal. Nobody was interested in the record business in 1982 or 3. I don't think that show ever came out on an official release but some bootleg copies were circulating in the 80's. 

It was so strange to me to see Jimmy Hall, Dickey, Butch and Chuck playing such a small place. 

In 1976 Dickey, Gregg, Butch, Chuck and Jaimoe as the The Allman Brothers Band played the big coliseum in Roanoke. It think is was May of 1976 and was their last show before they broke up over the Gregg Allman/Scooter Herring drug bust issue. 

Of course Gregg Allman with the Toler Brothers in his band couldn't get a record deal either and they eventually were mostly in bars too. 

It was about this time Gregg filed for bankruptcy with more liabilities than assets. And Jaimoe was in Forsyth, Georgia doing farm work and playing drums in the house band at a little dive bar in Forsyth, Georgia. 

They were back to square one or worse. Unbelievable. 

@martind28 Well here it is on YouTube. Looks as if it may have been a special for the USA cable network back then. 

@robertdee:  THANKS SO MUCH FOR THE BHLT SHOW!!  I had NO idea that this footage existed.  Gonna load it into the big screen with soundbar right now!!!

Their show was longer than that. When I saw them at the Moonshadow Saloon in Atlanta they did a song called Cadillac Tracks and it smoked! Wish it was on the video above.

@kcjimmy The lady at the beginning revealed this was taped for the USA Cable Network so it likely at a time restraint. 

Wish Cadillac Tracks were on it too. I remember Butch Trucks saying they had new material and as soon as they get a record dead they are going into the studio. 

But they were turned down by every label they tried. And Gregg's band was turned down by every one too. 

Thank goodness in 6 years Epic records signed both Gregg and Dickey then in 1989 Epic wanted Gregg and Dickey to do an Allman Brothers Band album. Gregg and Dickey refused. Saying when they backed the band out in 1982 to save what legacy it had left, they were getting bad reviews and low record sales. 

Gregg and Dickey agreed to do a tour in 1989 to support the Dreams Box and see if the band would get close to the original band and not sound like they did in 1980, 81 and 82. They asked Chuck and he said he would be a no if the Toler Brothers were in it and the last bass player. Gregg didn't like Goldflies either. So they asked Warren and did a search for a new bass player and Allen Woody got the job. 

But Chuck Leavell still said no. He was going with the Rolling Stones as a sideman. 

The band brought in Johnny Neal to replace Chuck but Gregg didn't like Johnny's playing and his two year contract wasn't renewed. 

They 1989 tour went very well. Big crowds and they sound real good. Gregg and Dickey decided to shelve their solo bands for the time being. This angered Danny Toler. He was out with nothing. I remember Danny's interview. Toler felt betrayed by Gregg Allman and said he rode on a tour bus for years all over the country with Gregg Allman to these bars and dives and they finally get a record deal and put out two albums and the first one, I'm No Angel, went gold (500,000 plus copies) and they were getting bigger places to play and wham Gregg Allman rejoins the Allman Brothers and Danny wasn't invited. He was clearly pissed. 

Well I found them doing Cadillac Tracks at another venue. Also noticed Jimmy Hall had a solo album called Cadillac Tracks so it must be a song Jimmy Hall wrote. 

Dickey says after Ramblin' Man that he wrote the song at 4 in the morning at the Big House in Macon, Georgia in 1973. 

Those guys!!:) The version on Brothers and Sisters was recorded in 1972 and was the last thing Berry Oakley played on in the studio. 

Gregg hitchhiked with a bass player from LA to Jacksonville, Florida in March 1969 to join the Allman Brothers but his ride said he dropped Gregg off at LAX!! 

Gregg said the first time he heard Derek Trucks play was in Miami, Florida. Derek was just a young teen and was there playing a little beer joint and Butch Trucks talked him into going. Gregg said he and Butch were in Miami with the band recording Enlighten Rouges. The man conducting the interview said "Enlightened Rouges came out in 1979 the same year Derek was born. Gregg then said " Well man that couldn't be right. I don't want to make Derek older than he is. I'll have to think about that and answer your question another time. I must have seen Derek the first time somewhere else". 

I have more from Gregg and Dickey but I'll stop. 

@kcjimmy  I bought a full-length DVD in Germany, it is still available at amazon: Betts, Hall, Leavell And Trucks - Live At The Coffee Pot 1983

@shorty That was recorded in Roanoke, Virginia for a cable TV broadcast. I think the USA Network. 

It's not that unusual for those kinds of shows to get unofficial or bootleg releases. 

Betts, Hall, Leavell and Trucks was looking to sign a deal with a label but when it became clear it wasn't going to happen, Butch left and I think it was Matt Apts who replaced him. It wasn't long until they broke up and Dickey moved to Nashville hoping to get something going there a la Hank Jr. or David Allen Coe. 

Gregg couldn't get a deal either. The Allman Brothers Band owed Clive Davis one more album but it was never recorded because Clive wanted to micromanage it. 

I just saw TTB play this song a few nights ago! Here is a video from a few weeks back: