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With a simply-designed but eye-catching package inside and out, The Georgia Bootleg Box documents the process by which the original Gov’t Mule trio, two years into its existence, was well on its way towards a mission of fine-tuning a repertoire that provides a foundation for the group even today, in its third formal incarnation.
Comparable to similar audio documents such as The Miles Davis Quintet Live at the Plugged Nickel 1965 and John Coltrane’s The Complete Village Vanguard Recordings, the overlap of songs in setlists that represent three consecutive performances in 1996, is but a superficial blemish, the only apparent shortfall of the six disc set. Likewise, the occasional imperfections of the recordings themselves (to a great degree rendered insignificant by Greg Calbi’s expert mastering), referenced in Warren Haynes’ and engineer David Oade’s essays in the accompanying booklet are no more than minor imperfections at worst in the context of these concerts.
Guitarist/vocalist Haynes, joining forces with the with Matt Abts on drums and the late Allen Woody on bass, are captured here finding new ways to segue in and out of tunes, not to mention rediscovering and reinventing their own material like “Temporary Saint” and “Painted Silver Light,” plus covers such as “Going Out West.” All of this furious but smartly dynamic interplay, not coincidentally quite obvious on “Birth of the Mule,” is the means by which the three musicians are executing the fundamental concept of Gov’t Mule as a contemporary version of the power trio as originated by Cream and The Jimi Hendrix Experience.
The latter receives direct homage in a tease of “Third Stone from the Sun,” while nods to peers of those iconic artists appear in the form of the Grateful Dead’s “St. Stephen,” Blind Faith’s “Presence of the Lord” and ZZ Top’s “Just Got Paid”. Then there’s homage to jazz-rock fusion in the form of improvisation upon The Mahavishnu Orchestra’s “Eternity’s Breath:” not much less raw than it’s surroundings from these April shows.
No Gov’t Mule set would be complete without notable guests, here most notable in the person of Derek Trucks (roughly five years hence destined to be a guitar partner of Haynes in ABB), who tears into the bluesy likes of “Send You Back to Georgia,” among others, on successive nights. Along those lines, there are other exemplary documents of Gov’t Mule in concert, including an expanded single disc version of Live at Roseland, the expansive four disc package With A Little Help From Our Friends as well as the triple set Mulennium. As the initial release in an ongoing archive project, however, The Georgia Bootleg Box bodes extremely well for the ongoing success of series.
