By Wade Tatangelo
TicketSarasota.com
Warren Haynes has done everything from co-writing the Garth Brooks hit “Two of a Kind, Workin' on a Full House” to playing lead guitar with The Dead. Haynes has successfully toured and recorded as a solo act and, for the past two decades, with his rock group Gov’t Mule, which returns to Jannus Live in downtown St. Petersburg on Saturday.
Despite all his varied accomplishments, Haynes remains most famous for his role as guitarist, songwriter and singer in The Allman Brothers Band, which, depending on who you ask, will be ending its amazing 45-year-run later this month with several shows at the Beacon Theatrte in New York. Here are highlights from our recent phone interview.
Q. When I first met you after a Gov’t Mule show at Jannus Live in 2002, Red Dog (longtime Allman Brothers roadie Joseph Campbell who died in 2011) got me on your tour bus and I was sitting there with (bassist) Dave Schools, we were drinking Heinekens, and you stood, in the rain outside the tour bus, for like an hour signing autographs. I remember Schools telling me, “I would never do that.” That has always stuck out in my mind about the kind of person you are. What makes you go that extra mile for the fans?
A: It’s not that hard. They give us the support to be touring musicians, without the audience there’s no reason to tour.
Q: When you showed up at that Dan Toler benefit here in 2011 and you did “Simple Man” the crowd went wild and it meant a helluva lot to Danny ( who died in 2013). Why was that so important for you to come here, barely making it, in between tour dates?
A: I love Danny. He was a wonderful musician and a wonderful human being. I miss him. I really loved him.
Q: And you never even played with him, at least not in the Allman Brothers. You joined about eight years later. I mean, were you guys even that close?
A: Yeah, we were not in the Allman Brothers at the same time but we played together a few times and always had a blast hanging and playing together.
Q: The latest Gov’t Mule album “Shout!” is outstanding overall but two tracks really move me. What inspired “Captured”?
A: That song touches on the changes in my life as a new father. I have a three-year-old son. It just changes everything. You reach a point where family trumps everything and it is different seeing that through my eyes, someone who waited to be a dad later in life.
Q: “Bring on the Music” is such a powerful song, too. What’s that about?
A: “Bring on the music” was written after a very vivid dream I had of losing someone very close to me. Of course, these days that’s happening a lot more than I wish in real life. It’s just about changing your perspective on things and concentrating on what’s most important in your life and bringing everyone together because we’re all in it together.
Q: You do a killer version of Gregg’s “Come and Go Blues” on the new tribute album “All My Friends: Celebrating The Songs & Voice Of Gregg Allman.” So, is that your favorite of Gregg’s songs that you didn’t co-write with him?
A: I have so many favorites it would be impossible to choose one but I love that tune and I had performed it solo, acoustic a couple times and thought it would be nice to do it with a band.
Q: So Gregg Allman is really sending a mixed message about the future of the Allman Brothers Band. First, you and (fellow Allman Brothers guitarist) Derek Trucks announce you will be leaving the band at the end of this year and Gregg then says the whole band would also retire at the same time. But in a more recent interview, Gregg says the Allman Brothers will continue with a new guitarist. Warren, what’s going on?
A: I wish it wasn’t so misleading. There’s a very vague message being presented by the band and truthfully when (fellow guitarist Derek Trucks) and I released the press release earlier saying that we were leaving the band that’s not really the way it all went down. I mean we, the band as a unit, has been talking for several years and even made a decision two or three years ago to make the 45th anniversary the last year. And then at least one member started getting cold feet and wanted to change things and a lot of us kind of felt like that, no, this is the right thing to do, we all planned accordingly. But I think it’s important to know that the concept of going out on a high note is not a concept that came from us that’s a concept that has come from the entire band and even goes back to when I first joined the band 25 years ago.
Q: How do you feel about the Allman Brothers continuing without you?
A: Well, this incarnation of the Allman Brother has lasted 14 years, longer than any other version, and the musical chemistry we have together is amazing and we have built it year after year and so my feeling, for many, many, years now, has been this incarnation should stay together for as long as it can and when its’ done, me personally, I think that should be the last incarnation of the band. But that’s not my decision to make, you know? If the band chooses to continue I wish them well but that’s not what we’ve all talked about and agreed upon for several years now.
Q: Where were you at when you co-wrote what would become one of Garth Brooks’ big hits “Two of a Kind, Workin' on a Full House”?
A: I was living in Nashville at the time somewhere around 1987 playing with Dickey Betts, if my memory serves me, and when I was living in Nashville I would co-write with a bunch of guys and that’s how that song came about and several others that were recorded. One was recorded by George Jones. “Two of a Kind, Workin' on a Full House”?” is really a great country song.
Q: It is! Any chance of you sitting in with Brooks on his current tour?
A: We’ve never met but I sure am grateful he recorded the tune and I hear he’s really a sweetheart of a person but we never actually met face to face.
Q: It just so happens I spent a couple hours yesterday at Dickey Betts’ house here in Sarasota. Now that you are going your separate ways from the Allman Brothers, like Dickey did in 2000, any chance of working with him again in the future?
A: Yeah, we found ourselves in Germany at the same time, I guess it was last year or so, and I was hoping it was working out he could come and sit in with Gov’t Mule but it didn’t work out, but we had a nice conversation. I haven’t seen him in a while and we, prior to that, it had been a while since we had spoken. But Dickey is the one that brought me into the Allman Brothers and I’m forever grateful for that.
Q: “Soulshine,” which you perform with the Allman Brothers and Gov’t Mule, is such an emotionally powerful song. Did you know right away you had written a classic?
A: It just seemed like a really simple song with a simple message. I even remember trying to make it more complex and add more parts to it and stuff and it never seemed like it wanted to go there. It maintained this simplicity that I guess is part of the beauty of that tune. But I had no idea people would connect with it the way they do. For me, it was just something I connected with myself and it talks about my dad a little bit, who was a great role model for me.
Q: You’ve worked with so many great artists and achieved so much as a solo artist and songwriter during your career. What are you most proud of?
A: Being in the Allman Brothers for 25 years is something that completely changed my life and was a magnificent opportunity that I could’ve never hoped for or dreamed of and it’s lead me to a lot of other wonderful opportunities. I think what I’m most proud of is the music that we’ve made in the different bands and projects that I’ve been a part of. I’ve been surrounded by amazing musicians and artists and being able to pursue my own music while pursuing music with other people who are institutions in their own right, writings songs for all the different camps and writings songs for Gov’t Mule and my solo records and for other artists, being able to juggle all of that has kind of been a dream come true for me. It’s quite overwhelming when I look back at all the opportunities that I’ve been able to take advantage of. People talk about me having a busy schedule. Well, I do what I love for a living, so I’m extremely fortunate. I probably wouldn’t work so hard if I didn’t love my work.
The road does not go on forever. Warren is really starting to speak his mind while retaining his humanity towards other musicians and fans
And then at least one member started getting cold feet and wanted to change things
Gregg would be my guess here.
quote: And then at least one member started getting cold feet and wanted to change things
Gregg would be my guess here.
No way. This has Butchie written all over it. He's the only one without a musical outlet post-Allmans. Plus, he probably blew most of his retirement $ on moogis and needs the dough.
great interview
Derek was criticized (unfairly, imo) for saying something along the same lines - it seems as if the concept was shared by many
concept of going out on a high note is not a concept that came from us that’s a concept that has come from the entire band and even goes back to when I first joined the band 25 years ago.
A class act as always
Top notch human being.
Q: When you showed up at that Dan Toler benefit here in 2011 and you did “Simple Man” the crowd went wild and it meant a helluva lot to Danny ( who died in 2013). Why was that so important for you to come here, barely making it, in between tour dates?
A: I love Danny. He was a wonderful musician and a wonderful human being. I miss him. I really loved him.
Was really happy to see Warren & Dickey there for brother Dannny.
But Dickey is the one that brought me into the Allman Brothers and I’m forever grateful for that.
Well put Warren. a man never to stir things up, what a wondeful human being. Pity there are not more like him on earth.
"Well, this incarnation of the Allman Brother has lasted 14 years, longer than any other version, and the musical chemistry we have together is amazing and we have built it year after year and so my feeling, for many, many, years now, has been this incarnation should stay together for as long as it can and when its’ done, me personally, I think that should be the last incarnation of the band."
Very well said by Warren! I have basically been saying the same thing for years now.
It's not so much whether the Allman Brothers CAN continue without Warren and Derek. Of course they can. The question is whether they SHOULD continue. For all the reasons Warren outlines, it seems like at one point the whole band was clear on that question.
"If the band chooses to continue I wish them well but that’s not what we’ve all talked about and agreed upon for several years now."
I really feel for Derek and Warren. They hold up their end of the bargain, probably sticking around a year or two longer than they would have otherwise, then one or more of the original members goes back on their word? And then, after all that, not even a proper farewell tour?
Gregg and/or Butch are lucky Warren and Derek are such polite gentlemen. They would be well within their rights to be much harsher and more critical about this situation.
"Well, this incarnation of the Allman Brother has lasted 14 years, longer than any other version, and the musical chemistry we have together is amazing and we have built it year after year and so my feeling, for many, many, years now, has been this incarnation should stay together for as long as it can and when its’ done, me personally, I think that should be the last incarnation of the band."
Very well said by Warren! I have basically been saying the same thing for years now.
It's not so much whether the Allman Brothers CAN continue without Warren and Derek. Of course they can. The question is whether they SHOULD continue. For all the reasons Warren outlines, it seems like at one point the whole band was clear on that question.
"If the band chooses to continue I wish them well but that’s not what we’ve all talked about and agreed upon for several years now."
I really feel for Derek and Warren. They hold up their end of the bargain, probably sticking around a year or two longer than they would have otherwise, then one or more of the original members goes back on their word? And then, after all that, not even a proper farewell tour?
Gregg and/or Butch are lucky Warren and Derek are such polite gentlemen. They would be well within their rights to be much harsher and more critical about this situation.
Gregg has encouraged both Warren and Derek to go their own way for a few years now. I doubt that he is the problem.
Their time with the Allman's has ended but we still have many years of Gov't Mule and Tedeschi Trucks music and concerts to look forward to. And if Gregg should decide to keep the Allman's Bros going with two new guitar players then for me that is all gravy and I would certainly go see them play.
Because of his track record, I wish Warren would have been charged with putting together a meaningful farewell tour. Perhaps he was and declined, who knows. Even if the ABB continues in some iteration, this version of the band deserved a momentous going away celebration to acknowledge all they have accomplished over the last 14 years, especially the contributions of Messrs. Trucks and Haynes.
Q. When I first met you after a Gov’t Mule show at Jannus Live in 2002, Red Dog (longtime Allman Brothers roadie Joseph Campbell who died in 2011) got me on your tour bus and I was sitting there with (bassist) Dave Schools, we were drinking Heinekens, and you stood, in the rain outside the tour bus, for like an hour signing autographs. I remember Schools telling me, “I would never do that.” That has always stuck out in my mind about the kind of person you are. What makes you go that extra mile for the fans?
A: It’s not that hard. They give us the support to be touring musicians, without the audience there’s no reason to tour .
this says it all
And if Gregg should decide to keep the Allman's Bros going with two new guitar players then for me that is all gravy and I would certainly go see them play.
It seems illogical to me that Gregg would try to keep a version of the ABB as we know it going, as he seems to have no appetite for long guitar-based jams.
If the ABB keeps going it might be more akin to GA&F, in which case why bother?
And if Gregg should decide to keep the Allman's Bros going with two new guitar players then for me that is all gravy and I would certainly go see them play.
It seems illogical to me that Gregg would try to keep a version of the ABB as we know it going, as he seems to have no appetite for long guitar-based jams.
If the ABB keeps going it might be more akin to GA&F, in which case why bother?
Not saying it will happen but if it did I would go see the new band.
I wouldn't see a Beacon show minus Warren/Derek/Oteil if the tickets were free.
Different strokes.
Because of his track record, I wish Warren would have been charged with putting together a meaningful farewell tour.
He's not their road manager. I would like to think the band would have toured more if possible, but between Gregg's health and their other commitments, it didn't work out. It's kind of surprising Gregg has been on the road at all, and I think the only reason is that he thinks being off the road is worse than being on the road with an oxygen tank nearby. I'm looking forward to the shows next week, and whatever happens happens.
And if Gregg should decide to keep the Allman's Bros going with two new guitar players then for me that is all gravy and I would certainly go see them play.
It seems illogical to me that Gregg would try to keep a version of the ABB as we know it going, as he seems to have no appetite for long guitar-based jams.
If the ABB keeps going it might be more akin to GA&F, in which case why bother?
Ditto -- all the guys like it better, ergo sound better, in their solo bands -- Warren, Derek, Marc & Otiel are class acts down the line & they're (ABB) calling it a gig at the perfect time -- you know Gregg, Butch & Jaimoe are looking forward to some serious R&R
I love the ABB
[Edited on 10/14/2014 by Stephen]
How about a Govt Mule / DB & GS summer 2015 Tour?????
How about a Govt Mule / DB & GS summer 2015 Tour?????
I was thinking a TTB/Mule tour the other day, w/ maybe a ABB tune extended encore. Either one though!
THAT is an AWESOME idea & concept! Thinking likely the festival scene will be the outlet for this, but a regular tour would be zen, in my opinion
How about a Govt Mule / DB & GS summer 2015 Tour?????
And YES x Warren is ALWAYS a class act... the world would be a better place with more folks like him were in it.
He has the right perspective on SO many things & his character is so solid & kindhearted.
That first chunk of interview speaks volumes....
How about a Govt Mule / DB & GS summer 2015 Tour?????
I was thinking a TTB/Mule tour the other day, w/ maybe a ABB tune extended encore. Either one though!
Oh yeah - a TTB/Mule tour absolutely floats my boat. IMHO Dickey no longer has the chops to duel with Warren.
The only thing I'm hoping for is a reunion each year at Peachfest. 2 nights a year, that's it. Warren says that the plan for the past 3 years was to end it after this year, so then why would they start Peachfest 3 years ago? How can you have Peachfest without the Allman Brothers?
Great stuff, thanks for the post.
A Kirk West photo by way of Alan Paul's fan page. Love it!
The only thing I'm hoping for is a reunion each year at Peachfest. 2 nights a year, that's it. Warren says that the plan for the past 3 years was to end it after this year, so then why would they start Peachfest 3 years ago? How can you have Peachfest without the Allman Brothers?
So Butch would have some kind of income going forward, perhaps? He has to have something to bring the cash in.
The only thing I'm hoping for is a reunion each year at Peachfest. 2 nights a year, that's it. Warren says that the plan for the past 3 years was to end it after this year, so then why would they start Peachfest 3 years ago? How can you have Peachfest without the Allman Brothers?
Using the same logic as having Peachfest in PA and not GA.
I really have not posted alot in all of the threads(concerning the ABB and Warren and Derek leaving ,etc..) since it was announced.
I kinda think to myself when I read some of these posts. Talking about a reunion, jamming together, getting togetherat festivals next year? From the article that was posted on this thread and the audio one from the radio station recently, and my perception,I HIGHLY doubt there will be any "reunion" ,"jams" at fetivals any time soon. From my understanding of Warren, he is closingo out this chapter for now. So is Derek. It's like if you are in realtionship with someone, business or whatever. You decide to end it for now or forever, you dont come out an say, hey lets get together next week or in couple of months. There was a reason behind a decision to go separate ways. People
need to get away for awhile and have some time apart. I am not saying it wont happen, but not in the near future by ANY means. I would be suprised if I see any ABB reunion with Warren and Derek joining them on stage in the next 2-3 yrs. I can see Warren and Derek maybe getting together at times, but I doubt that would happen in 2015, it could, but I would not place money on it. Maybe those two need time apart also. Not because of any animosity, just to have time away and do different projects, growth, etc...
Everyone has a plan, till you get punched in the face,
