Gov't Mule carries on

The band copes with the death of its bassist by recording with a long list of players who had influenced him.

By PHILIP BOOTH, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published February 10, 2002

Gov't Mule, the Southern-tinted power trio featuring guitarist Warren Haynes and bassist Allen Woody, partners in the revived Allman Brothers Band, was on the rise in the late '90s.

The jamming band, with drummer Matt Abts, treated fans in 1999 to a four-CD live set documenting a New Year's Eve show in Atlanta. The next year, they released the potent Life Before Insanity, produced by Michael Barbiero (Blues Traveler, Guns N' Roses). The studio disc confirmed that Haynes and Woody need have no regrets over leaving the Allmans.

But Gov't Mule almost fell apart on Aug. 26, 2000, the day Woody died of unknown causes in a Manhattan hotel room. It seemed there was no way to replace him.

"That was our first response, that the band was finished, and it took us quite awhile to look at it any other way," Haynes says by telephone from New York. Dave Schools, bassist for Widespread Panic and a longtime supporter of Gov't Mule (now touring with the group), urged the surviving members to continue.

So did others, including friends in the Allman Brothers, the Grateful Dead, Blues Traveler and Metallica, and other bands and musicians who had carried on after losing key colleagues.

"They were saying basically the same thing -- "I know you don't feel like you can continue now, but you can,"' Haynes says. "We were at that point of needing to do a new record, anyway. But we thought, "What do we do? We just lost our bass player, founding member and best friend.' It was either take a year off and decide, or come up with some organic solution."

Woody's playing had drawn from rock, jazz and funk sources. So Haynes and Abts got the idea to record with a long list of bassists who had influenced Woody and/or Gov't Mule.

Les Claypool (Primus), Phil Lesh (Grateful Dead) and Jack Casady (Jefferson Airplane), immediately took to the concept. Next came Alphonso Johnson (Weather Report), Chris Squire (Yes) and Rocco Prestia.

"There was this really cool communal vibe that started happening," Haynes says. "People started helping us get other people. It was amazing. We started making phone calls, and everybody we called said, "Yeah, we'd like to be a part of it.' That's why it turned into two CDs."

Mike Watt (fIREHOSE), an alt-rock favorite, plays on Effigy, a Creedence Clearwater Revival cover that also features Jerry Cantrell (Alice in Chains) on vocals. It's one of 13 tracks included on The Deep End, Volume 1, released in October. The second volume will be out in May.

"He (Watt) is at one of the far ends of the boundaries," Haynes says. "And we kind of purposefully stretched the entire gamut to give kind of an idea of where our influences run and how far they run. Mike Watt helped us get Flea (Red Hot Chili Peppers). Chris Squire helped us get (John) Entwistle (the Who). Bernie Worrell (P-Funk keyboardist) helped us get Jack Bruce (Cream). He also helped us get Bootsy Collins (P-Funk)."

The list of bassists attracted to the project also includes Oteil Burbridge (Allmans), Billy Cox (Jimi Hendrix's Band of Gypsies), Mike Gordon (Phish), Roger Glover (Deep Purple), Larry Graham (Sly and the Family Stone), Tony Levin (King Crimson), Me'Shell NdegeOcello, George Porter Jr. (the Meters), Stefan Lessard (Dave Matthews Band), and Willie Weeks and Chris Wood (Medeski Martin and Wood).

Notable keyboardists, including Chuck Leavell (Allmans, Rolling Stones), Page McConnell (Phish), John Medeski (MMW), Eddie Harsch (Black Crowes) and Art Neville (Neville Brothers), also came on board. Most of the recording was done at Theater 99, a former vaudeville showplace in lower Manhattan, and In the Pocket, a secluded studio in Northern California.

The Deep End, not surprisingly, sounds impressively eclectic. Fool's Moon, the opening track, written for Bruce, is reminiscent of Cream. Maybe I'm a Leo, by '70s heavy metal gods Deep Purple, was recorded with Purple's Glover and organist Ronald Bramblett. Worried Down With the Blues, a Haynes original he had often played with the Allman Brothers, was recorded for the first time, with Allman members Burbridge, Gregg Allman and Derek Trucks.

Haynes and Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter recorded Lay of the Sunflower with Lesh and David Grisman on mandolin. Phish's Gordon collaborated with Haynes on Banks of the Deep End, a tribute to Woody. Gordon also hung around the sessions long enough to shoot a documentary, which may get a short theatrical run before its release on video. Jazz and fusion guitar great John Scofield plays on Sco-Mule, a tune Haynes wrote about two shows his band did with the fellow six-stringer.

Flea joined the Mule for Down and Out in New York City, a little-known James Brown song. Blues and R&B great Little Milton was tapped for guitar and vocal duties on Soulshine, a Haynes-penned staple of the Allmans' live shows. And Woody is heard on Sin's a Good Man's Brother, left over from the Mule's final recording sessions.

That kind of musical diversity has always been a part of Haynes' life. His early passion for soul, gospel and blues was augmented by the music he heard at home. One brother was a jazz fan, another listened to folk and rock, and their father was partial to bluegrass.

"The kind of rock music that I considered to be my favorite or my forte was the kind of rock music that was born out of the blues," says Haynes, a native of Asheville, N.C. "Blues is the kind of lifeblood of everything I do, blues and folk music. And my voice is so influenced by soul music and black gospel music."

In addition to his work with Abts, Schools and keyboardist Rob Barraco as the reconstituted Mule, the guitarist still tours with Phil Lesh and Friends and with the Allman Brothers.

"It's a lot of work, but it's a lot of enjoyment," he says about the hectic schedule. "I really enjoy doing all three of these things. The improvisation, to me, is probably the most attractive aspect of all three of these groups. I can't imagine being in a band that wasn't based in improvisation."

Preview

Gov't Mule with Steve Kimmock, 8 p.m., Wednesday (doors open at 7), Jannus Landing, 200 First Ave. N, St. Petersburg. Tickets: $17.50 advance, $20 day of show. Call (727) 896-1244

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