Additionally, he frequently played back up for Presley, Waylon Jennings, Jerry Lee Lewis, Kris Kristofferson, Willie Nelson, the Oak Ridge Boys, George Jones, Reba McEntire and Porter Wagoner.

As a producer, Young worked on Billy Swan's 1974 hit "I Can Help" as well as released his own album in 2000 called Having Thumb Fun with My Friends.

In 2009, the Atlanta, Ga., native was inducted into the National Thumbpickers Hall of Fame. Steve Wariner, who had worked with him on numerous records, remembers Young fondly.