Gov't Mule Heavy Load Blues album cover

Heavy Load Blues Gov’t Mule

By Mike O’Cull

Iconic jammers Gov’t Mule, a national treasure if there ever was one, deliver every bit of their considerable power on their new all-blues album Heavy Load Blues. It comes out November 12th, 2021 on Fantasy Records and gives listeners a deeply creative tour through a load of amazing blues songs, some familiar and some not. Grammy-winning bandleader Warren Haynes is a vocalist, songwriter, guitar legend, and producer for the ages and steers the Mule in the soulful and artistic way he always has, which makes Heavy Load Blues a profound experience from start to finish.

Heavy Load Blues features covers of timeless blues performers including Howlin’ Wolf, Elmore James, Junior Wells, Ann Peebles, and Bobby “Blue” Bland, and of blues-influenced stars Tom Waits and the Animals. There are also some new Haynes-written cuts in the mix. An expanded deluxe edition will also be available that contains additional studio and live tracks, including one more Haynes’ original and covers by Savoy Brown, Sonny Boy Williamson, Muddy Waters, and Otis Rush.

“For me, personally, it’s kind of been on my list of things to do for years,” says Haynes. “I didn’t know if it was gonna be a solo album or a Gov’t Mule record. We play some traditional blues on stage from time to time and although it’s usually never more than a few songs per show, our approach to the blues is unique and based on our collective chemistry as a band.” He goes on to say, “This album gave us a mission. Although in some way it was ‘anything goes,’ we wanted to stay true to the spirit of the blues in a traditional sense. It’s not a blues/rock record; it’s a blues record. We wanted it sonically to sound different from a normal Gov’t Mule record.”

Haynes, Matt Abts (drums), Danny Louis (keyboards, guitar, and backing vocals), and Jorgen Carlsson (bass) tracked Heavy Load Blues at The Power Station New England live off the floor to analog tape using a back line of righteous vintage gear. Haynes and John Paterno (Michael Landau, Robbie Williams, The Steve Gadd Band) co-produced the 13 songs on the record and did fine work capturing the essential spirits of both the band and the material.

Heavy Load Blues jumps off with an inspired take on Leroy Carr and Scrapper Blackwell’s 1934 jam “Blues Before Sunrise.” It’s a perfect traditional shuffle done with a Chicago inflection and a load of sweet slide guitar. It’s everything we want the blues to be and one listen will guarantee that you spin the rest of the record in a single sitting. Haynes’ guitar tone is thick and dirty to the point where you can almost hear his tubes glowing.

“Hole In My Soul” is a simmering slow blues cut full of the pain of real heartbreak. Horn and organ parts add to the track’s impact, as do Haynes’ restrained, expressive vocal and guitar stylings. No one in the band overplays or ruins the tune’s emotion and, as a result, this one hits dead on-target. “Snatch It Back and Hold It,” written by the late, great Junior Wells, gets a cool and energetic workout that includes a spontaneous funk jam called “Hold It Back” in the middle, which makes for a nice gear shift. This is Gov’t Mule at its best, flowing freely and displaying the old-school core of the group at the same time.

Tom Waits’ moody “Make It Rain” is practically a cinematic interlude, a vibe that usually accompanies covering anything by the experimental California songwriter. Waits writes music that exists in its own dramatic world but also allows like-minded glitterati like Gov’t Mule to redecorate the place as they see fit. Haynes steps into Waits’ lyrical persona like a heavyweight champ and their shared admiration for Howlin’ Wolf binds the two men together.

Speaking of Wolf, his classic “I Asked Her For Water, She Gave Me Gasoline” gets its boundaries pushed by the Mule and comes out as a heavy funk number that’s miles away from the original. Keyboardist Danny Louis goes hard here, riffing inventively while also providing atmospheric backup for Haynes’ guitar excursions. Haynes’ plaintive, soaring lead vocals complete the magic. Other tracks of note include “I Feel Like Breaking Up Somebody’s Home” and the closer “Black Horizon.” Gov’t Mule has a definite winner in Heavy Load Blues, one that feels like an organic extension of the group’s already-monstrous body of work. Crank it up and you’ll be warm all winter.

Watch “Snatch It Back And Hold It”

 
Heavy Load Blues pre-order link 

Gov’t Mule website