special thanx to mule.net
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Check out The New School Of Gov't Mule on tour now. Warren and Matt are back out there spreading the music with the help of their friends Dave Schools (Wide Spread Panic) and
Chuck Leavell (ABB, The Stones, and Eric Clapton).
special thanx to mule.net
copyright holder unknown
Warren Haynes - Guitar and Vocals
Matt abts - Drums
Dave Schools - Bass
Chuck Leavell
Woody we miss you, but I'm sure that you're up there jammin' at that awesome gig in the sky and looking down on the new school and enjoying every minute of it.
special thanx to mule.net
copyright holder unknown
SMILE AT HALF MAST
by Warren Haynes
It's raining and my smiles at half mast
So many people - What do I say?
No more lying - no more dwelling on the past
No more faking after today
For so long there were no answers but now
We all know what to do
Pouring rain - wash away my pain
Let the love come shining through
So many things left unresolved
but it's not about that now
Face the people with my smile at half mast
But I can't face myself today
Waves of emotion with my smile at half mast
But there are no words to say
The smoke will rise - The fog will lift
And we'll see clearer than before
As I sit crying with my smile at half mast
A window opens as I close the door
Trying to find the whole truth
With my smile at half mast
But the truth doesn't matter anymore
My spirit's bleeding - my soul is crying
No more dying after today
Maybe I'll believe again some day
Face the ghost of beauty past - the ghost of music past
With my smile at half mast
If Southern rock bands from the early '70s don't seem cursed, they certainly
seem doomed. And none more so than the Allman Brothers Band. Allen Woody, bassist for the star-crossed Georgia rock and roll institution from 1989 through 1997, and then of Gov't Mule, died in a hotel in Queens, N.Y., on Saturday, August 26 at 44. The cause of death has not yet been determined. The
New York medical examiner's office said that an autopsy was inconclusive.
Douglas Allen Woody was born in Nashville in 1956 and began playing bass when
he was 14. Given his Southern upbringing and his musical inclinations, he must
have been profoundly affected by the Allman Brothers and Lynyrd Skynyrd. He joined the band of classic Skynyrd drummer Artimus Pyle, who introduced him to
the Allmans' drummer, Butch Trucks.
When the Allman Brothers reformed after a seven-year hiatus in 1989, Woody became the fourth bassist to play in the band (and now the third bassist to die). The band has since maintained a consistently successful touring schedule
and a sporadically successful recording career.
Allen, a muscular and fluid bass player, and '90s-era guitarist Warren Haynes
brought a fiery jazz-fusion element to the Allmans until 1997, when the two formed the power trio Gov't Mule with drummer Matt Abts.
Since that time, Mule has been a regular concert presence throughout the U.S.,
releasing the studio albums Gov't Mule, Dose, Life Before Insanity, and the live albums Live at Roseland Ballroom and Live With a Little Help From Our Friends. The last four were released on the Allmans' former record label, Capricorn, which had long squabbled with the band over royalties.
The Allman Brothers Web site posted this message: "We were very saddened to learn yesterday morning that Allen Woody unexpectedly passed away sometime Friday evening or early Saturday morning. It is our understanding that Allen
had an early morning flight scheduled from New York to his home in Tennessee.
At the present time, that is all the information that we have."
Woody is survived by his wife, Jenny, and daughter Savannah. Information
regarding an education fund for Savannah Woody can be found at the above Web
site.
Review for 6/23/00 show
Gov't Mule defies categorization with Southern rock, jazz mix
Updated 12:00 PM ET June 26, 2000
By Sheila Agan
The Lantern
Ohio State U.
(U-WIRE) COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Rock 'n' roll is alive and well and wailed through
Polaris Amphitheater Friday night as Gov't Mule took the stage as the opening
act for the Steve Miller Band. Band members Matt Abts, Allen Woody and Warren
Haynes delivered a high-energy performance, revving the engines of the audience
mix.
To put a definitive label to their music would be difficult. Highly influenced
by Southern rock, blues, jazz and other genres, this trio blends styles effortlessly.
"We don't like categories," said Haynes. "We're influenced by so many different
types of music, a pigeonhole really narrows it down too much."
To say their sound is contemporary, however, would be a mistake. In line with '70s super bands would be more appropriate and reflects the group's roots,
which go back to that time.
The band was not formed overnight. Haynes and Abts met when they jammed in the
Dickey Betts Band during the '80s. Haynes and Woody were brought together when
they played for the Allman Brothers Band during its 1989 revival.
To guess Gov't Mule's music would only appeal to baby boomers would also be a
mistake. The audience consisted of many different age brackets.
"I was pretty surprised," said Angela Corrill, 19, of Middletown, Ohio. "I liked them a lot. They were good. I was real happy."
Gov't Mule attributes this mixed appeal to those looking for tunes out of the
ordinary. "We're an alternative to the alternative," Woody said.
"Yeah, rock music -- what an alternative," Haynes said. "But it is these days.
It's definitely the exception rather than the rule. We're not a top 40 band.
We're not a boy band. We're not a big radio hit band either. It's not a mainstream kind of thing. Not to put down today's current music, but a lot of
it is not music that we're into."
Mule's current album, Life Before Insanity, is their fifth release. Debuting in
1995, the group's first album was self-titled, followed by Live at Roseland Ballroom, Dose, and Live... with a Little Help from Our Friends.
Gov't Mule's members are thoroughly personable and down-to-earth. Following their performance, they met with fans for an autograph session.
Their sense of humor is reflected in the very name of the band.
"Gov't Mule is Mrs. James Brown's rear-end," said Woody. "In the south, that's
an expression for a woman's big butt."
The name of the band came to fruition while Haynes and Woody were touring with
the Allman Brothers Band at a blues festival in Memphis, Tenn. James Brown performed at the festival the night after ABB.
Later in the evening, Brown and his wife were dancing and another ABB member
whispered to Woody, "Government mule." The name carried over to the new band.
"To make the story more twisted," continued Woody, "she died on the operating
table and we couldn't tell anybody where we got our name. We're not so embarrassed to talk about it now. It was like six years ago. She was undergoing
cosmetic surgery and they put her under and she never woke up. It's a funny story later, but at the time we were just going, 'Oh my God.'"
