Gibson Legend Warren Haynes Talks About Gov’t Mule’s New By a Thread

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Gibson Legend Warren Haynes Talks About Gov’t Mule’s New By a Thread
12/18/2009
Ted Drozdowski
Gibson Lifestyle

Warren Haynes is one of the most versatile Gibson players around — recreating the tones of Duane Allman and Dickey Betts in the Allman Brothers Band, free-flying with the Dead, and ranging everywhere from reggae to jazz to blues to bare-knuckled rock ‘n’ roll with the group he founded and leads, Gov’t Mule.

That versatility is the cornerstone of the Mule’s just released By a Thread, a bold, brawny celebration of the outfit’s 15 years of music making. By a Thread puts a heavier accent on Haynes’ guitar playing than other recent Mule discs. It’s stripped-down and, at times, multi-layered; less jam oriented and more composed.

“To me it demonstrates all the different sides of Gov’t Mule,” says Haynes. “I love the fact that each song is different than the one before it. There are some shorter songs — for us — but plenty of long jams, and a wide variety of great guitar tones. As always almost all of the solos were played live on the basic tracks, but with a wide variety of guitars and amps. I mostly played my ’61 ES-335, my Signature Model Les Paul, my Custom Shop ES-335, and my three pick-up non-reverse Firebird. It all just seemed to fall into place.”

Haynes custom-built Gibson Les Paul 12-string also makes an appearance on the Leadbelly-like blues “Railroad Boy,” where Haynes gooses up the sonic qualities of the guitar’s natural chorusing effect by tuning the low string down a whole step and using a capo on the seventh fret.

What also fell into place was a monumental sparring match between Haynes and Z.Z. Top’s Billy Gibbons on “Broke Down on the Brazos,” a dirty blues that captures the hardscrabble vibe of the territory along the muddy brown river that runs through half of Texas.

“Billy and I have been friends for a long time,” Haynes relates. “After we wrote and recorded ‘Brazos’ it reminded us of early, nasty Z.Z. Top, so I asked Billy if he would play on it and he obliged. We sat across from each other with two Les Pauls and traded licks for about 30 minutes. It’s one of the few songs where we overdubbed the solos, but it was worth it to get the interaction between Billy and myself.”

Both “Broke Down on the Brazos” and “Steppin’ Lightly” were written in the studio — specifically Willie Nelson’s Pedernales Studios by Lake Travis, about 30 miles from Austin.

“We did our last CD there and really enjoyed the vibe and being away from everything,” says Haynes. “They have great old-school analog gear, which is what we love. The location affected the music and even the lyrics to a few songs, like ‘Broke Down on the Brazos’ and ‘Steppin’ Lightly,’ which were written in the studio.”

“Brazos,” with its spare but blustery sound, recalls the early days of Gov’t Mule and their brilliant eponymous debut. But the tune evolved from a jam new Mule bassist Jorgen Carlsson and drummer Matt Abts began, and Haynes and keyboardist/guitarist Danny Louis joined.

“The music came together very quickly,” Haynes recounts. “I wrote the lyric and we recorded it right away. I think it’s a good indicator of the new chemistry with Jorgen.”

Shades of the ’60s supergroup Cream appear in two numbers, the overt tribute “Inside Outside Woman Blues #3,” an answer to the Eric Clapton penned “Outside Woman Blues,” and “Steppin’ Lightly,” which blends the kind of stark rhythm strumming Steve Cropper perfected at Stax Records with a touch of reggae and a powerhouse Les Paul solo.

“ ‘Steppin’ Lightly’ was written towards the end of the sessions with Danny playing guitar instead of keys,” Haynes explains. “All the blending of elements just came about instinctively. The ‘skank’ guitar is Danny. We tracked the song with two guitars, solos and all. This song shows us breaking some new ground while still sounding like Gov’t Mule.”

The epic “Monday Morning Meltdown” is another ’60s flashback — to the sweet side of Jimi Hendrix, whose “Angel” is in a similar vein.

“I had written ‘Monday Morning Meltdown’ before the sessions,” Haynes relates. “When we rehearsed it we tried it a few different ways. This one just stuck. It has the jazzy mid-section and the psychedelic outro complete with actual backwards guitar where we flipped the tape over and I played to the backwards music then flipped the tape back over — which may explain your Hendrix analogy. This song is very different for us in a healthy way and is really growing live.”

Of course, the foundation of Gov’t Mule’s reputation as one of modern rock’s most flexible ensembles rests on the band’s live shows. Although the Mule will play Haynes’ annual Christmas Jam in Asheville, North Carolina, on December 12, and a pair of New Year’s Eve concerts in New York City’s Beacon Theatre, the “By a Thread Tour” kicks off in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on January 20. Details are at http://www.mule.net/tour/mule.php.


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