Building a Library around the ultra-heavy bass of Woody, sive lineup:Jack Casady, George Porter remembrance of Woody, and one about Haynes' cornucopia of guitar tones, and Jr., Phil Lesh, Alphonso Johnson, Les the moment he heard of Garcia's death. drummer Matt Abts' precise, melodic Claypool, Schools, Chris Squire, Tony Haynes' reunion with the ABB accompaniment. The first two tracks, Levin, and others. The bonus disc in- required an internecine series of events "Blind Man in the 1)ark" and cludes two live tracks recorded with to occur, including Betts' meltdown "Thorazine Shuffle," represent the Schools at the Orpheum theater in and Woody's death. When Betts and Mule ethos as completely as possible. New Orleans in 2001, and aDJ Logic Gregg Allman developed irreconcil- No one knew it at the time, but the remix of "Sco-Mule." able differences Haynes was asked to dark, troubled visions of Mule's 141i' But even as he made The Deep End rejoin the group. With Derek Trucks &five Insanity (2000) would be Allen discs and took Mule out on the road with as his partner guitarist, Haynes once Woody's last hurrah. Haynes has since Schools or Burbridge, Haynes was again revived the ABB band on the said that he was writing about Woody's rejoining the ABB in the wake of Dickey stirring Hittin' the Note (2003), directing problems subconsciously in such songs Betts' departure —and playing with Phil the band's sound while insuring that as "Wandering Child," "Life Before In- Lesh & Friends. Then' and Bark Again the basic forms and trademark arrange- sanity," "Bad Little Doggie," "Lay Your (2002) is generally considered the best of ment touches stayed true to the band's Burden Down," "Fallen Down," and the post-Grateful Dead recordings. Lesh identity. [Hittin' the Note] brings a "No Need to Suffer." Woody's death in tried anumber of different combinations wealth of new Allman/Haynes mater- late 1999 could have meant the death before settling on alineup with Haynes ial into the band's book— "High Cost of Gov't Mule as well, but Haynes and and Jimmy Herring on guitars, Rob of Living," "Desdamona," "Old Before Abts went on to make the ambitious Barracoa from the Zen Tricksters on My 'Time"—as well as the Gov't Mule 7/te Deep End (2001), using acatalog of piano, and drummer John Molo. stomper "Rocking Horse." bassists who'd influenced Woody. Haynes' lithe, Garda-mode soloing and Haynes will unveil an album of With Chuck Leavell on keyboards, the telepathic interchange with Herring and acoustic material next year, but mean- good ship Gov't Mule II set sail in Lesh illuminate the Lesh-Robert Hunter while the five-song "The Lone EP" is uncharted waters. originals "Celebration" and "Night of available. The disc includes a live The new approach allowed Haynes to 1000 Stars." Haynes excels on lead and "Patchwork Quilt," from the 2000 move the band away from astrict power- backing vocals as well —important ele- Gathering of the Vibes concert, "Fallen trio format, stretching out the sound and ments in the album's success, given Down" from the 2002 Terrapin Station writing more versatile arrangements. Lesh's vocal limitations—but his most show at Alpine Valley; and studio ver- Haynes also came up with some of his striking contributions to the album are sions of "I'll Be the One," "Indian best songs ever. "Banks of the Deep three chilling original songs, two in Sunset" and "End of the Line." End," co-written with Phish bassist Mike Gordon, is an especially powerful tribute to Allen Woody's struggle with the demons that ultimately devoured him. "Got to hold on to apiece of dry land," Haynes sings with the desperation of a man who's been there himself. "Fool's Moon," avehicle for Jack Bruce, is anoth- er comment on "burning out too soon," o while "Life On the Outside," with bassist .t1 Larry Graham, deals with the need to go on with the inspirational dew "Be who you are. that is the message." Other bassists on The Dar End in- cluded John Entwistle ("Saine Price"), 1411111101er Flea ("Down and Out in New York City"), Mike Watt ("Effigy), and Roger Glover ("Maybe I'm aLeo"). "Sco-Mule" LA T INTERNATIONAL features jazz guitarist John Scofield and We are continually earning recognition for the highest performance to price keyboardist Bernie Worrell. Little Milton ratio of all cable companies. Our customers tell us our cables are sonically equal comes in to sing "Soulshine" with Willie to (or better than) those of any of the competition and at very moderate prices. Weeks on bass, and ABB mates Oriel Call for free product information that also includes literature that demystifys Burbridg,e, Gregg Allman, and Butch wire and cable technology. Trucks pitch in on "Worried Down with Call 800 321 2108 Fax 856 428 1832 the Blues." The bonus Hidden Treasure disc features Dave Schools on "Blind Man in Some current dealers: the Dark" and "Fallen Down," Mike Audio Accurate 972 960 2911 EchoAuclio 503 223 2292 Gordon and Page McConnell on "Jesus Champlain Valley Spkrs. 505 332 0336 eAudioNet 518 782 5489 Home Theatre Concepts 309 266 6640 Sound Waves 408 479 1733 Just Left Chicago," and asolo acoustic version of"Soulshine" from Haynes. L A T INTERNATIONAL, INC. In concert and in the studio, Gov't 317 Provincetown Rd Cherry Hill NJ 08034 Mule has continued to use akaleido- A subsidiary of LAT International Enterprises, Inc. scopic of bassists, and The Deep End Visit us at: www.latinternational.com e-mail:[email protected] Vo1.2 (2002) collects an equally impres- Stereophile, September 2003 129 .