Gov't Mule - Pistoia Blues, 9 July 2022

If you look up the Wikipedia entry for Gov’t Mule, it will tell you they are a “Southern rock jam band”.  Well, jam band sure.  But Southern rock?  Seems to me that’s a pretty narrow, lazy description for the Mule.  Yeah, Warren Haynes played with the Allman Brothers Band, and once upon a D chord the Allmans pioneered a Southern sound.  But Gov’t Mule have a lot more bandwidth than yer typical modern-day Southern rock exponents, that’s for sure.

Three-legged Mule - with Danny Louis out of shot

They open with the spooky blues of ‘Dark Was The Night, Cold Was The Ground’, from their latest album Heavy Load Blues.  Haynes plays slide on a 12-string Gibson, while delivering a moaning vocal against the backdrop of rippling piano from Danny Louis, and before they’re done with it they summon up a Zep-like heft.  But the following ‘Mule’ (aka ‘Where’s My Mule’) really begins to show their range, combining cantering drums from Matt Abts and propulsive bass from Jorgen Carlsson with ringing guitar and swirling organ, before developing into progressive, jazzy blues jamming.
Danny Louis comes over all Jon Lord with soulful organ to open the swinging ‘Wake Up Dead’, on which Haynes’ guitar playing looks effortless, and not remotely choreographed as it would be for many a modern guitar slinger.  That soulful aspect continues on ‘Snatch It Back And Hold It’, with its cymbal-ticking rhythm and bum-shifting scratchy riff before it sparks a wig-out jam segment.  And if the classic ‘Ain’t No Love (In The Heart Of The City)’ has been done to death over the years, it’s still an opportunity for Haynes to make clear that he's a natural blues singer.
Their own ‘Rocking Horse’ is worthy of classic status too.  Danny Louis certainly seems to enjoy it, smiling and threatening to dance as he watches Haynes kicking off on guitar as Abts comes on strong on drums, then scat singing as they get funky for his keyboard solo.
Louis is also to the fore with some squally keyboard effects that presage throbbing bass from Carlsson that evolves into Floyd’s ‘One Of These Days’, which turns into the launch pad for some more jazzy improvising, with Abts scampering around his kit, and Carlsson’s bass careering along underneath ripped out chords from Haynes.  Then they chill out with a gentle and cool execution of slow blues on ‘Need Your Love So Bad’, on which Haynes’ vocal is again excellent.
They begin to meander a bit for this listener as the show pushes, in typical Italian festival fashion, past the midnight hour.  But then I’m not a Mule aficionado, and I tend to find lengthy jams interesting rather than exhilarating.
That doesn’t stop the crowd whoopin’ an’ hollerin’ on the first encore though, as they recognise the piano intro to the Allmans’ ‘Soulshine’, which has a real 60s/early 70s vibe.  Hands are in the air, and Haynes conducts what turns out to be a pretty half-assed singalong – the melody may be catchy, but the words aren’t really simple enough to be singalong fodder, at least for an Italian audience.  Never mind, they segue into Ann Peebles’ excellent ‘Feel Like Breaking Up Somebody’s Home’ to end the night, Haynes smiling at the crowd’s enthusiasm in spite of the bitter lyric.
They’re a curious live act in a way, the Mule.  Haynes isn’t particularly chatty, and he doesn’t move around much.  But still, he has undeniable presence.  Alongside him Carlsson grooves in gangly, grinning fashion on bass, while Louis is a twitchy presence on keys, serving up more than just the everyday Hammond’n’piano offering, and occasionally wriggling out from behind his set-up to chip in with rhythm guitar.  But as a band they’re more than the sum of these parts.  There’s chemistry in this quartet.  And together they make, not Southern rock, but their very own brand of bluesy, soul-weighted Mule-rock.

Gov't Mule - Heavy Load Blues

Well stone me, I’m impressed.  Albums of blues covers by established artists seem to be ten-a-penny this year, but this half’n’half originals and covers set by Gov’t Mule probably tops the lot.
Never mind the width - and with a running time of 78 minutes Heavy Load Blues is as wide as an elephant’s backside – feel the quality.  See, I can’t say I’m a huge Gov’t Mule fan, though I’ve got a couple of their albums and quite liked ‘em.  But that doesn’t matter, because a couple of listens to this tells you that you’re in the presence of some grown-ups who know what they’re about.
Okay, so a few of the songs here just are what they are, know what I mean?  They open with ‘Blues Before Sunrise’, and it’s a pretty straight reading with some screeching slide guitar and wailing harp, but even though it sounds like they’re just getting warmed up it’s still on the money.  

Gov't Mule - "Waddya mean, 'Say Cheese'?"

Pic by Jacob Blickenstaff

'Ain’t No Love In The Heart Of The City’ is a great song, nicely done, and easily matches up to the benchmark treatment by Whitesnake, while ‘(Brother Bill) Last Clean Shirt’ is less familiar fare -  a lesser known Leiber and Stoller slice of straightforward R’n’B, with a stop-time riff, and a distorted vocal to go with its pained narrative  By contrast, Ann Peebles’ ‘Feel Like Breaking Up Somebody’s Home’ is oft-covered, and the Mules don’t attempt any radical reinvention, but they still put it over with a stylish, funky edge, as drummer Matt Abts’ rock steady beat is accompanied by throbbing bass from Jorgen Carlssen, sparky clavinet from Danny Louis, and squelching guitar from Warren Haynes.
But while all of the above are very good, the Mule shine even more brightly elsewhere.  ‘Hole In My Soul’ and ‘Wake Up Dead’ are both originals, but they come with “where have I heard that before?” melodies.  The former leans on slinky horns and subdued organ, studded by prickling guitar licks from Haynes, while the latter features an ear-catching organ riff, which Louis follows up with an excellent solo, while Haynes provides more injections of guitar commentary, and a steely solo that values substance over flash.
‘Snatch It Back And Hold It’ will doubtless please jam band enthusiasts, as after three minutes the Junior Wells and Buddy Guy tune, with its stuttering riff, sinks into a slower jam, with everyone playing off everyone else and stacks of tension and release going on.  ‘Make It Rain’, meantime, sounds like it’s been around forever, even though Tom Waits only recorded it in 2004.  Probably a lot of that is down to Waits, but I’m inclined to give a heap of credit to the Guvnors too, as they trigger its fatalistic lyrical mood with a swaying Fender Rhodes piano phrase, and more crackling vocals from Haynes.  Then the following ‘Heavy Load’ is seven minutes’ worth of

"Has anyone found the ending yet, fellas?"

haunting acoustic blues, depending on little more than a pinging guitar motif, hints of slide and some sparse piano chords as the backing for Haynes’ evocative vocal about encountering “too many bridges, too many roads”.  For me it feels a minute too long – not the only occasion they overstretch, but given the “live in the studio” approach taken to the album, I’m guessing tracks would just end when everyone was ready to end.
‘If Heartaches Were Nickels’ is another original, but one that comes over like a ready-made classic of a blues ballad, simple but resonant, and with a heartsick lyric delivered by Warren Haynes in emotive fashion, before they pick up the tempo a tad for a playful organ solo, getting Dave Brubeck-jazzy as they head towards Haynes’ guitar solo and a subtle, flickering ending.  ‘I Asked Her For Water (She Gave Me Gasoline)’, on the other hand, is a lead-heavy storm, with a lurching riff reminiscent of Cream’s ‘Politician’, a surging organ turn from Louis, and a couple of solos from Haynes that progress from the merely tempestuous to howling, dizzying levels.  It could be the soundtrack to the Wolf turning in his grave.
Heavy Load Blues is supposedly the first blues album Gov’t Mule have ever recorded.  You could have fooled me.  The half dozen originals on offer here dovetail perfectly with the oldies sitting alongside them, and the end result is a standout collection.  Now you’ll have to excuse me – I need to go and dig out some more Mule albums.

Heavy Load Blues is out now on Fantasy Records.

Gov't Mule - The Tel-Star Sessions

So here are Gov’t Mule, going back to the vaults for their next release, a set of recordings dating from 1994, it’s title derived from the Florida studio where they laid the tracks down.

Right from the opening track, ‘Blind Man In The Dark’, the post-Hendrix, post-Cream vibe is apparent, with lots of syncopation and counterpoint going on between the trio, and an occasional air of free jazz that brings to mind the comment Jack Bruce was wont to make about Cream, “It became almost like an Ornette Coleman band, with Eric not knowing he was Ornette Coleman, Ginger and me not telling him.”  The following ‘Rocking Horse’ continues in the same vein, while also drawing in Southern rock stylings that reflect Mule's connection to the Allman Brothers Band.

Gov't Mule - "Where's the rest of the gear?"

Two other things stand out immediately though – the quality of the production, and Warren Haynes’ vocals.  For all that these were ostensibly demo recordings, the clarity and separation in the sound is startling, for which credit is presumably due to the sound engineer Bud Snyder.  Whether it’s Haynes’ fuzzy riffing, the twanging bass of Allen Woody, or Matt Abts’ circling of his drum kit to fill in the gaps, everything has the space to be heard.  Haynes’ voice, meanwhile, strongly evokes the late Jimmy Dewar with its rich, soulful quality, and that's a hell of a recommendation.

They ease off on the jazzy pyrotechnics after these openers, and get into some bluesier terrain, to especially good effect on a cover of Free’s ‘Mr Big’, on which they demonstrate an earthy quality.  It’s a song choice tailor-made for Haynes’ voice, and just one instance of the marvelous rubber band textures of Woody’s bass.  Similar qualities are evident a couple of tracks later on the slow blues of ‘Mother Earth’, where keep it simple as they work around a sturdy riff, with Haynes injecting some tasty but disciplined lead guitar.

A straightforward reading of ZZ Top’s ‘Just Got Paid’ seems a bit redundant, enjoyable though it may be, especially when Haynes kicks in some nifty slide guitar, but ‘Left Coast Groovies’ takes a more interesting route with its twisted rock-funk groove, Woody’s bass big and dirty and to the fore.

The aforementioned Jimmy Dewar carried out vocal duties for Robin Trower back in the day, of course – another neo-Jimi guitar practitioner.  And there are some echoes of Trower in the closing ‘World Of Difference’, the dreamy, spacey ambience of its opening recalling ‘Bridge Of Sighs’.  (In actual fact the album closes with two different versions of ‘World Of Difference’.)

All in all The Tel-Star Sessions is more than just a treat for the completists, even if it has been dug out from the back of the archives.  It stands up well on its own account, and if its heart is deeply wedded to the late 60s it still manages to sound fresh and contemporary.  Well worth a whirl.

The Tel-Star Sessions is released by Provogue/Mascot on 5 August.