First conceived by guitarist/vocalist Warren Haynes and bassist Allen Woody while they were members of The Allman Brothers Band in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Gov’t Mule was intended to evoke the spirit of seminal power trios such as Cream and The Jimi Hendrix Experience. Three decades’ hindsight from the release of their self-titled debut album (released 6/27/95), clarifies just how successful the original threesome was in achieving its original end (s).
After recruiting Matt Abts on drums (like Haynes, a member of Dickey Betts’ band circa 1988’s Pattern Disruptive album), the three-man alignment embarked upon rigorous touring and the very next year, recorded their first studio album at the Bearsville complex in upstate New York.
These sessions, however, took place in the wake of the very first demo recordings, made in June 1994 at Tel-Star Studios in Bradenton, Florida (officially released in 2016 and featuring a carryover of seven numbers to the eponymous release). Minimal instrumentation of sparse arrangements, such as “Blind Man in the Dark,” fostered maximum interplay and a proportionate power. The heart of extended improvisations, involving multiple segues performed on stage during the self-referential “Mule,” depicts the fundamentally no-nonsense approach to musicianship.
From a three-decade perspective, the self-discipline and structure the band evinced so early in its gestation is all the more remarkable. Right from the start, in the form of the blues-based “Mother Earth” and through to the album’s closer “World of Difference,” the durability of the original material in this dozen-track sequence manifest itself to the point that many such tunes, like “Temporary Saint,” remain staples of the Mule repertoire even today.
Setting out in high relief the attributes of the original songs are covers like the dramatic set-opener here. Haynes’ a cappella rendition of Son House’s “Grinnin’ In Your Face” carries an indirect link to Free’s blues-based “Mr. Big,” and while Mule is faithful to the unsung British band’s arrangement to a point, the three-piece band does take some liberties with the tune.
Meanwhile, the group also unveiled their version of “Rocking Horse,” composed by Haynes and Woody along with one-time Allman Brothers guitarist Jack Pearson and Gregg Allman himself. In retrospect, it’s an inevitable inclusion in the repertoire of latter-day ABB, as it’s tailor-made for tandem harmony guitars.
Recording largely live, Gov’t Mule’s work in this roughly seventy-minute LP also included the acoustic likes of a mood piece called “Dolphineus.” Another instrumental, “Trane,” hints at the open-ended improvisational orientation of The Mule’s live shows and the layered textures that resulted were preserved in full, resonant audio by producer/engineer/mixer Michael Barbiero(a feat he also achieved fulfilling similar roles for the latter-day Allmans’ on their final studio effort, 2003’s Hittin’ The Note).
Offering a contrast to the darker air in many of the original songs here, the lighthearted, tongue-in-cheek tone of “Left Coast Groovies” illustrates the well-crafted material Mule had at its disposal from the get-go. Meanwhile, the savagery captured on “Monkey Hill” validates the initial vision of the two founders.
As clear as was the concept that fostered their unity in action (including the name of the band itself, hearkening to post-civil war history), thirty years’ perspective, including the various metamorphoses of personnel in that interim, only further ratifies that Gov’t Mule entirely transcended their self-professed roots on their eponymous initial outing.
And, in accomplishing that admirable feat, the group also acted as a nexus between the burgeoning jamband phenomenon and the improvisationally oriented groups of the Sixties and Seventies such as the Grateful Dead and the Allman Brothers Band.
