Warren Haynes (Govt Mule) – Taking To The Stage
As Govt Mule release a live CD and DVD on Provogue/Mascot – Bring On The Music – Live At The Capitol Theatre – Pete and Warren catch up to talk playing live, song selection and much more…
JLTT: Great to catch up, bud – where are you right now?
WH: At home, Pete and about to set off for Cincinatti…getting a plane as we are playing there tomorrow.
Before we talk about the new live releases which prompts this chat, it was good to catch up with you and Joe Bonamassa just before the Mule gig, at side of The Forum. How was that show, for you?
Oh I enjoyed it..great crowd I recall. Enjoyed it quite a bit. It was nice to see Joe and get him up to join in the show..I thought it was a fun night! Glad you were both there for it.
We didn’t tell anyone who was about to guest! Whose idea was it to do Beck’s Freeway Jam?
We’ve done that tune a few times, here and there. I was just looking for something fun, to play with Joe.
The audience went crazy!
Yeah! I think it’s a good vehicle – no pun intended – for the interplay thing. For that sort of thing. And we also did If Dimes Were Nickels which is a cool blues tune, in the spot with Joe.
In passing, we spoke about that Splinter Group album I gave you with the acoustic versions
Thanks, I love those takes on the songs, really lovely to have
A great song, you can enjoy it in different settings. It will stand up
Absolutely it will. If you can interpret a song in a different way, it will stay fresh. Which is a plus, whichever way you consider it. A new approach..every great song can be considered for that.
What put me on to that, was listening closely to Miles Davis. He seemed to hear in certain popular tunes tonal possibilities for stretching out…
(Ponders) Yes, in jazz Pete if there’s a good melody, then…an interesting foundation..you can make it into whatever you want. The other evening I happened to hear Wes Montgomery’s take on The Beatles’ A Day In The Life..
Oh, I know that! It’s magical!
(Warmly) It’s like a whole other world, where he takes it…prompted of course by the mood of that melody..
I agree and I’m thinking what Miles did with Time After Time (You’re Under Arrest album – PS)
Right! That’s a great example. Some people might think that song’s way too poppy for Miles to be drawn to it, but you can hear how he spins it..oh and I was thinking of Miles doing Guinnevere
Dave Crosby considers that to be a major career highlight, Miles doing his song!
As anyone would be! He takes it somewhere else, of course
Let’s look at some of the Mule live selections – Thorazine Shuffle, now how did that come about?
Initially, it was a rhythm that Matt Abs had put together and sent me a tape of. It was this bizarre time-signature, everybody debates over what exactly it is ! Three bars of five and one bar of seven, is how I figure it to be. But he sent me that pattern and I wrote music to it. Then I decided it shouldn’t just be an instrumental, did some lyrics and so that is how Thorazine Shuffle came about. It was meant to be tongue in cheek. Humorous, I guess – but I was looking through some archive stuff the other day and we have our 25th anniversary coming up so we are going back to try and locate some unreleased items for all that. Literally starting with the first album. Will be twenty five years next year. There’s all these tapes and cassettes and DATs and stuff and on that song the original title on any recordings was ‘555 – 7”…
The other striking one for me is Endless Parade
Well that has always been one of my favourites. It’s a cool version and it balances out in a way some of the shorter selections in the programme. Didn’t make the actual movie but the audio is there, as you say. BUT it was filmed and could be released in the future, somehow. It was really hard to decide what was going to go on the film, or be audio only. In some cases the choice was determined by what might have appeared on previous dvd releases. Both those you mention turned out very well.
You might recall when we met to discuss that album, I absolutely LOVE revolution Come, Revolution Go..
I do. We decided to include two versions of it, as they were different from each other. That song is really growing all the time. It’s played a little differently night after night. You know, we didn’t repeat any songs, the original concept was to not repeat any songs over the two nights recorded. Except that number. Oh and Travelling Tune.
It’s a pretty intense kinda song – revolution in the air. I wrote that song when we were travelling around all over the country in America realising how the country was becoming so divided. Not so much judging the signs though I have leanings to one particular side. But looking at it in a way that the division being something more than it has been in my life up to now…I wrote it before the election. Knowing in my heart that the election outcome wasn’t going to solve anything. That division was going to be as wide or wider whoever won the majority. So the fact that we didn’t expect Trump to win didn’t change the intensity of that song. Until things change, it’s a little bizarre here, people are so far apart in their stances, it makes you wonder where it’s all heading.
We have polarisation here right now. Respect for the other side diminishes. The Labour politician Denis Healey says it was different in earlier generations, because in the last War, you found yourself fighting alongside people of all shades having to form a team and fight the enemy.
That has to be true, considering it. Now when folk allow their convictions to encroach into their daily lives, it’s causing friction. There has to be an enemy..it’s a terrible way of looking at it. BUT when you’re not happy with your life, you blame someone else!
I also feel that the Internet is a big part of it. People don’t feel outnumbered, there’s someone out there supporting their outlook.
When Glenn and I first met you, Danny had just joined..and wow does he add to the colours!
Yes..when I asked Danny to join the Mule, he didn’t have any hesitation at all, he wanted to do it. He loved the original trio’s and didn’t want to spoil the vibe. He wanted to figure out what his role would be, to not change that. In the beginning, we talked about what keyboard sounds he would be using to enhance the ensemble sound. Mostly organ, Wurlitzer…then it expanded to clavinet..then to guitar and horns and he’s doing more background singing as well..and of course we write a lot together. What he does allows us to head off in a lot more directions when it suits… We can be anything, at any moment.
He’s your Brian Jones
(Laughs) I think he would love that comparison…yes!
There was a guy – Mark – in Crowded House sitting at the back with an acoustic guitar, an electric piano, a Rick 360 – 12….I was fascinated by what he came up with in their shows. I often change a setlist – particularly solo shows – by the sound of the room. I just know what songs will sound best in that individual room.
Yes. I understand that, entirely. Now one of the reasons that we don’t put a setlist together too far in advance is so it’s tailor-made to the gig. It will vary according to the audience, the city, the venue and its sound qualities. Even if we have decided on a programme before the soundcheck, it can change just ahead of the actual performance. Especially if it is a place we have never played before. We can omit or replace if we get that feeling, on an inclusion.
I was talking with Billy Gibbons about Santana and at a soundcheck Carlos will wander about to find the sweetest spot for sustain and mark it on the floor.
Oh yes, I saw Carlos once at Budokan and he must have done that..also the tech did something to the amp setting on some solo’s ..some kinda adjustment..
There have been three acts that I never mind what they play in a show…with Zappa I never knew what numbers he would include, the two hours would always be entertaining. Then Phish – your Phish – seems to have an endless choice of material. own and versions. And Mule
Well I’m honoured that you feel that way about us! The thing that all those acts have in common is that each and every show will be unique..not to be repeated, ever. It’s part of The Mission!
Would you make a live album with Grace Potter?
(Ponders) Hmm..I’ve never thought about it, but you know we both enjoy working together. We are actually doing something together coming up in the near future.
We are doing a set just the two of us. This is at an outdoor festival. It will be the first time that we’ve ever done that. I’m curious to see where that will lead…
Finally, was that a 12 string Les Paul?
Yes. At the time that Gibson made it for me there were only two in existence, of that model. After that they started making a 12 string Les Paul but it wasn’t the same as that one that I have. The headstock was smaller and there were other compromises. To my knowledge there’s still only two originals, in the world.
Thanks for the chat, Warren
Hey – great to talk deep stuff with you, as always!
Pete Sargeant
(Many thanks to the guys at the Mascot Label Group UK office and of course Warren)
Feature Image Photo Credit: Jay Sansone
Band Photo Credit: Jacob Blickenstaff
Gov’t Mule’s ‘Bring On The Music – Live at The Capitol Theatre’ is out now on Provogue/Mascot Label Group on 2CD Set, Blu-Ray, Vinyl and Digital.
You can purchase it here: http://bit.ly/31lGORx
For more information visit the band’s official website here: http://bit.ly/2CFuK1X
