|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
Welcome to the Unofficial Home Of Gov't Mule in Europe.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
NY Times
Obituary for The Great Allen Woody D. Allen Woody, Bass Player for the Allman Brothers Band, Dies at 44 Douglas Allen Woody, a former bassist for the Allman Brothers Band and a spin-off group, Gov't Mule, died on Saturday at the Marriott Courtyard Motel in Queens. He was 44. The cause was unknown, said Ellen Borakove, a spokeswoman for the New York City medical examiner's office. An autopsy performed yesterday was inconclusive, she said. Allen Woody, as he was known, was born in Nashville, where his father, a truck driver, weaned him on the blues, country and rock oldies. Inspired by watching Paul McCartney play with the Beatles, he began learning the bass at age 14. Not long afterward he first heard the Allman Brothers Band on the radio and became interested in exploratory Southern rock. Mr. Woody majored in music at Middle Tennessee State University and worked selling instruments at Gruhn Guitars in Nashville, where he met many of the city's top musicians. In the mid-80's, he joined the Artimus Pyle Band, led by the former drummer for Lynyrd Skynyrd. It was Mr. Pyle who introduced Mr. Woody to Butch Trucks of the Allman Brothers Band, who suggested that Mr. Woody audition as bassist. Mr. Woody joined the Allman Brothers Band when the group re-formed after a seven-year hiatus in 1989. Previously the band had lost three members to early deaths, two of them bassists and the other its cofounder, Duane Allman, who was killed in a 1971 motorcycle accident. The revised line-up, with Mr. Woody on bass and another newcomer, Warren Haynes, on guitar, helped bring the band new commercial and critical success. In 1994, while still touring with the Allmans, Mr. Woody and Mr. Haynes formed a side trio with a drummer, Matt Abts, called Gov't Mule. They recorded for Capricorn, a label that had a longstanding feud with the Allman Brothers over record royalties. Three years later, Mr. Woody and Mr. Haynes left the Allman Brothers to devote themselves to their trio. Gov't Mule added a harder edge to its jams and explored a wide terrain that ranged from free jazz to the alternative rock of Radiohead. An avid biker with tattoos and a handlebar mustache, Mr. Woody was distinguished by his ability to move from slow, blues-drenched playing to fast, pronounced runs. He was also known for playing customized instruments like a double-necked combination of a guitar and a mandolin. Gov't Mule recorded five albums for Capricorn and was set to begin a tour on Sept. 2. Mr. Woody is survived by his wife, Jenny, and his daughter, Savannah, both of Nashville.
|
The Story Of Gov't Mule
For the last 12 years Gov't Mule have arguably been the most consistent and hard working band on the planet. Their blend of Raw Blues, Hard Rock and ...well just about every other musical form going have seen their status rise to dizzying heights. Formed in 1994 by Allman Brothers Band members Warren Haynes (Guitar) and Allen Woody (Bass), they were joined by former Dickey Betts Band Drummer "Matt Abts" and quickly set about whipping up a storm during their time off. The first time they all played together was in los Angeles in May 1994, while Haynes and Woody were on tour with the Allmans, they jammed with Abts at a Los Angeles club following the ABB show. "It was pretty exciting," says Haynes. "As we played together more and more, we got to thinking that maybe we should put the time and effort into making it a real band." The band released their debut album "Gov't Mule" on the 27th June 1995. Extensive touring including a National Tour with The Black Crowes began to help build a solid fan base through its intense live performances. On New Years Eve 1995 the band opened a show at The Roseland Ballroom, New York City for "Blues Traveler", the show was released as the bands second album in October 1996. A band that thrives on the thrills of playing live, Live at Roseland Ballroom is a true reflection of Gov't Mule's philosophy of playing unrestrained, improvised jams. "We approached the show just as we would any other," explains Matt Abts. "The thought of a live record didn't even cross our minds, which is obvious since we opened with a 17 minute instrumental." Warren Haynes adds, "There weren't even plans to record the show, it was a last minute decision to tape." Their name began cropping up in many music magazines at that time and they were certainly drawing the attention of many a musician including the likes of ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons plus James Hetfield and Jason Newstead of Metallica. Despite the fact the the Mule and Metallica couldn't really sound more different Gov't Mule seemed to be appealing to everyone whatever their Musical persuasion.
American Guitar magazine "Guitar World" said "The Mule's sound has deepened, expanding in almost every direction-becoming both bluesier and heavier, more expansive and tighter". On New Year's Eve 1997 at The Roxy Theatre in Atlanta they were joined by members of the Allman Brothers, the Black Crowes and Parliament for their show. This was released in both a two and four CD version as Live ... With A Little Help From Our Friends. It included Neil Young, Jimi Hendrix, and Dave Mason covers. There are so many highlights featured on this collection but I guess if I had to pick one it would be the rousing rendition of "Look over Yonder Wall" the old Blues chesnut that gets a modern workout from the mighty Slide of Warren Haynes.
The next year, Haynes and Abts began to record a tribute CD using Woody's favorite bass players. These sessions resulted in two CDs The Deep End, Volume 1 (2001) and The Deep End, Volume 2 (2002). A documentary of the recording sessions was also made by Phish bassist Mike Gordon called Rising Low. Bass contributions to the CDs came from Jack Bruce of Cream, John Entwisle of The Who, Mike Watt of The Minutemen, fIREHOSE, and The Stooges, Les Claypool of Primus, Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Chris Squire of Yes among others. If the logistics of getting all those legendary players to play on so many recording sessions was a nightmare then getting so many of them to all turn up for a gig to do it one more time must have felt like sheer insanity. However, "The Deepest End" Concert came together and was captured as a three CD set (Two audio and One DVD). Warren said "We came up with the idea when it was time to settle on a new bass player and go back to being a band, we thought that it would be nice to have one final blow-out with as many bassists as possible. It took a lot of work to make the whole thing happen, but sometimes when a project is based on faith and good vibes it seems to fall into place. When it came to touring in support of the Deep End CDs, Haynes and Abts used a revolving door of keyboardists and bassists. Keyboardists included Chuck Leavell from the Allman Brothers and the Rolling Stones, Rob Baccaro, and Danny Louis. Bassists included Dave Schools of Widespread Panic, Oteil Burbridge of the Allman Brothers, and Andy Hess of the Black Crowes. When it finally came to choosing a full time Bassist the band settled on Andy Hess. Warren explained "You know, we’ve played with over 30 bassists in the last two or three years, and the experience has been amazing. What we’ve learned from all of them has been incredible. But playing with Andy had that unspoken thing that people start a band based on in the first place. He felt like part of a unique chemistry. We’ve been blessed that we’ve had some great chemistry with so many different people, and to take that lightly would be foolish. Since Allen Woody was such a diverse, versitile musician, we needed somebody that could play so many different types of music, and equally effectively. And Andy is that person". Deja Voodoo the first CD with Danny Louis and Andy Hess, was released in September 2004. The band continue to tour extensively in between Warren playing with The Allman Brothers, The Grateful Dead and just about anyone else who needs him. In April 2005 the band finally set foot on European soil to the delight of their many thousands of fans. Subsequent years has seen the band return to both Club and Festival shows across the continent raising their stock higher and higher on each visit. Recorded output has also been added to with the release of studio album "High and Mighty" as well as the Live EP "On Easy Street" and the Reggae reworking of many Mule songs on "The Mighty High" for more info see the Discography section on this site. Gov't Mule, Euro Mule, Global Mule........They're Bad, They're Worldwide. Biography © Steve Hoare July 2005 - updated Dec 2007 And finally, the question that has been asked so many times with so many different answers - Where does the bands name come from? Okay, you ready? In 1995 the Allman Brothers were headlining this festival in Memphis, and we headlined one night and the next night James Brown headlined. Allen and Jaimoe, who is one of the two original drumers in the Allman Brothers, stayed behind to watch James Brown after the rest of the band left to go on to the next town. And there’s this segment in James’ show where he’s waltzing with this woman, who turned out to be his wife. And she had an extremely large rear-end, and Jaimoe turned to Allen Woody and said, “Shit, Government Mule,” talking about the size of her ass. And Woody told Matt and I the story later and we all laughed and said, “Well, we’re looking for a name, maybe that’s what our band should be.” So we named our band after James Brown’s ex-wife’s big, fat ass. And we felt so guilty that for years when people asked us where we got the name we’d just say “Oh, we don’t want to get into it.” But a few years ago, it kind of snuck out, and a few people know now. Taken from The Gov't Mule Interview by Julie Pailey - New Orleans' Monthly Entertainment Magazine.
|
|
Warren Haynes also features on the following recordings: Bloodline Bloodline Dickey Betts Band Pattern Disruptive (1988) Derek Trucks Band Out of the Madness (1998) Memphis Horns Memphis Horns (1971) Memphis Horns with Special Guests (1995) Points West: New Horizons in Country Music Points West: New Horizons in Country Music (1979) David Allan Coe Just Divorced (1984) Live: If That Ain't Country (1997) Billy Joe Royal Royal Treatment (1987) Greatest Hits [Atlantic] (1991) Gary Stewart Brand New (1988) Battleground (1990) Marty Stuart Let There Be Country (1988) Danny Tate Danny Tate (1992) Michael McDonald Blink of an Eye (1993) Blues Traveler Four (1994) Chris Anderson Old Friend (1995) Don Michael Sampson (website) Copper Moon (1995) Screamin' Cheetah Wheelies Magnolia (1996) Xanax Twenty Five Tidy (1997) Blues Co-Op Muddy Water Fever (1997) Walkinbird Walkinbird (1998) Michelle Lewis Little Leviathan (1998) Hound Dog Taylor: A Tribute (1998) Stuck Mojo Rising (1998) Jeff Stevens Bolt out of the Blue (1998) Pal Rakes Midnight Rain (1998)
More Great Mule Sites
eMULE
Mailing listt
|
|||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
Contact me at Site compiled and owned by Steve H. All content featured in this website is for educational purposes only. All information contained within is to the best of my knowledge true. All Concert dates are assumed to be correct at the time of writing, however always contact the venue before travelling. |
|
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
When
it became apparent that the Allman Brothers weren't planning on
recording any new material, Haynes and Woody left to concentrate
full-time on Gov't Mule in 1997. In
February 1998 the band released their second Studio album "Dose".
Dose was quite
a progression from their self titled debut
and showcased a band who
had racked up over 300 gigs in a relatively small amount of time.
The bands vision of a high powered jam band playing Progressive Rock
with the subtlety of a Jazz ensemble and the power of a Heavy Rock
trio had come to full fruition.
In
2000, the band released Life Before Insanity to critical praise.
Many thought that this would be Gov't Mule's breakthrough CD.
However, Allen
Woody was found dead in a Queens, N.Y., hotel room on Saturday Aug.
26; he was forty-four. A
chambermaid discovered the body at The
Courtyard LaGuardia in East Elmhurst. Haynes and Abts considered
breaking up the band but did stage a concert called "One for
Woody" to raise money for his daughter's education. The Allman
Brothers, the Black Crowes, members of the Grateful Dead, and other
friends of Woody also performed at the concert.
