“Gov't Mule is my favorite band at this moment (a close second is MOE.) consisting of one of the baddest MOFO's on guitar, Warren Haynes.
Warren played with David Allan Coe from 1980 to 1984. He traveled all over the States and went to Europe with him as well. He played on 9 of Coe's albums. Warren also met Dickey Betts ad Gregg Allman through David Allan, and when Coe's band opened for the Allman Brothers at the Fox Theater in Atlanta, Dickey sat in.
After four years, Warren moved to Nashville to do session work, but the Allman connection wouldn't go away. Dickey was doing some demos in Nashville and called someone to put together a group of background singers. As fate would have it, Warren was one of them. " Dickey came up to me and said, 'What are doing here?', I said, 'I'm singing back-up on your stuff.' He said, ' Oh really. You got your guitar with you?' I told him no and he said, 'Good!' and started laughing." Good-natured ribbing aside, Dickey kept thinking about Warren's guitar playing. He called Warren up later, and invited him down to work on some songs. Those songs turned into Dickey's solo album, Pattern Disruptive.
At the same time, Gregg decided to record "Just Before The Bullets Fly", which Warren co-wrote, as the title track to his 1988 album. It's no wonder that when the Allman Brothers reformed for their reunion tour in 1989, Warren got the call. That tour marked the beginning of eight extremely productive years of touring and recording. During that span, Warren's songwriting, singing, and guitar playing helped the Allman Brothers Band record five albums (Seven Turns, Shades of Two Worlds, An Evening With The Allman Brothers Band, Where It All Begins, and 2nd Set). These albums became the Brothers' most critically acclaimed records in fifteen years. The band was nominated for three Grammy awards, two of which were for instrumentals co-written by Warren and Dickey Betts ("True Gravity" in 1990, and "Kind of Bird" in 1991), and they won a Grammy in 1995 for "Best Rock Instrumental Performance" ("Jessica"). Many critics give Warren credit for putting the fire back into the Allman Brothers Band.
In 1993, Warren stepped into the spotlight with his first solo record, Tales of Ordinary Madness, on Megaforce Records. He recruited Chuck Leavell to share production duties, and Chuck also played on the record. A year later, through an impromptu jam with Allman Brothers Band partner Allen Woody and drummer Matt Abts (who Haynes knew from the Dickey Betts Band), Gov't Mule was born.
The trio released their critically acclaimed debut album on Relativity records in 1995, and quickly gained a loyal fan base by hitting the road during the Brothers' touring breaks. Warren was voted #1 slide guitarist by Guitar Player magazine in both 1995 and 1996. Meanwhile, the Mule released a second record, Live at Roseland Ballroom, which received many critical accolades.
Presently, Gov't Mule is at the center of Warren's creative energies. In April 1997, he and Allen Woody decided to leave the Allman Brothers Band in order to concentrate on the Mule full-time.
After the August 2000 death of the bassest, Allen Woody, Warren has been working with numerous musicians throughout the music wrelm, such as Bootsy Collins (P-Funk, James Brown), Flea (Red Hot Chili Peppers), John Entwistle (The Who), Stefan Lessard (Dave Matthews Band) and Les Claypool (Primus) Gregg Allman, Rob Barraco, Randall Bramblett, Jerry Cantrell, Audley Freed, Eddie Harsch, Chuck Leavell, Danny Louis, Paige McConnell, Little Milton, John Scofield, Derek Trucks and Bernie Worrell.
”
11:11:37 AM 2/22/02
“I'm a private citizen mule, but I used to play bass, trumpet, baritone and I have a drum machine. Does that count?
Geez Dawg, yer embarrisn' me.”
11:22:36 AM 2/22/02
“awesome.. so its a southern rock, 'dickie betts' sort of large band sound? with plenty of blues and hot guitar work?”
12:32:52 PM 2/22/02
“Towndawg, you wish. Think post-punk with HPM.”
12:39:14 PM 2/22/02
“that culd be kinda kewl.. will hafta chk these guys out..”
12:43:29 PM 2/22/02
“Hey! Just had to register my note of "praise" for the Mule.
He was a terific host for me when I went to Florida several weeks ago, went out of his way to pick me up, etc.
Definitely a good guy!
(Thanks again, Mike!)”
8:16:44 PM 2/23/02
“BTW, anybody ever heard a song called, "Billy's Mule?"”
8:17:13 PM 2/23/02
“My daughter and I saw the mule, HPM the boy scoutmaster, last Sunday at Olustee, FL. (There was a Civil War Battle Reenactment there.) HPM had taught the scouts to take turns carrying his pack!
LOL. It was good to see you again, HPM.”
9:24:58 PM 2/23/02
“The boys carring my pack?!?!
Heck no! It would get left somewhere beside the trail!
LOL.
I told the boys that you were a backpacker and one of the little ones said: "I bet he's been everywhere!"
It was classic.”
