You wouldn't know it from listening to Warren Haynes' work as a
solo artist, as a member of the Allman Brothers Band, and
frontman for Gov't Mule, but there was a time when he didn't play
guitar. He says, "I didn't even get my first guitar until I was 12. My
oldest brother had an acoustic guitar, and I would bang on it and try
to play."
Guitar wasn't even his first love. Around the time he was 8 or 9,
growing up in Asheville, NC, Warren's two older brothers began
turning him on to soul music. He would sit in his room, singing
Smokey Robinson, Diana Ross, Otis Redding, and Wilson Pickett.
He became fascinated with the sounds of Motown and Memphis.
"All I cared about was the singer. The really strong singers really
knocked me out. Levi Stubbs of the Four Tops still is one of my
favorite voices of all time, and I always liked B.B. King, even before
I liked the blues. His voice was the main thing."
Guitar didn't escape Warren's attention long, however. He would
soon turn on to rock 'n roll. "I really liked Eric Clapton. He was the
first guitar hero that I had. I liked the real heavy Cream stuff. I liked
all the Derek and the Dominos stuff." Warren's brothers used his
admiration of Clapton to expand his musical horizons to take in the
blues masters. They would tell him to check out a Howlin' Wolf
record because Clapton plays on it. Interviews with Warren's favorite guitarists led him to other blues players and
the scope of his guitar playing grew accordingly.
It wasn't long after discovering the pleasures of guitar playing, that Warren was performing for appreciative
audiences at walkathons and pool parties. Then, when he was abut 14, he started hanging out around local pizza
parlors that had been converted into nightclubs. "We were way too young to be drinking, but we thought it was
cool to go in there and listen to live music. They didn't really hassle us too much." About six months later, word
got out that Warren played guitar. The regulars wondered what "the kid" could do, so they offered him the stage.
Warren remembers, "This guy played left-handed, but he played upside down. So I played his left handed guitar
and turned it over. It was turned right, but it was awkward. The first time I ever played professionally in a club I was
playing and upside down Les Paul in this little hippie club."
Things progressed quickly for the guitarist. He played in bands on local gigs, and then in a band called Ricochet,
which developed a good regional following. One day, Warren got a call from David Allen Coe. Coe wanted Warren
in New Orleans the next day. It was a good break for a young man at the age of twenty.
Warren played with David Allen Coe form 1980 to 1984. He traveled all over the States and went to Europe with
him as well. He played on nine of Coe's albums. Warren also met Dickey Betts an dGregg Allman through David
Allen, and when Coe's band opened up for the Allman Brothers at the fox Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia, Dickey sat
in.
After four years. Warren moved to Nashville to do session work, but the Allman Brothers connection wouldn't go
away. Dickey was doing some demos in Nashville and called someone up to put together a group of background
singers. As fate would have it, Warren was one of them. "Dickey came up to me and said, 'Good!' and started
laughing." Good-natured ribbing aside, Dickey kept thinking about Warren's guitar playing. He called Warren up
later, and invited him down to work on some songs. Those songs turned into Dickey's solo album, Pattern
Disruptive.
At the same time, Gregg decided to record "Just Before The Bullets Fly", which Warren co-wrote, as the title track
to his 1988 album. It's no wonder that when the Allman Brothers reformed their reunion tour in 1989, Warren got
the call. That tour marked the beginning of eight extremely productive years of touring and recording. During that
span, Warren's songwriting, singing, and guitar playing helped the Allman Brothers record five albums (Seven
Turns, Shades of Two Worlds, An Evening With the Allman Brothers Band, Where It All Begins, and 2nd Set).
These albums became the Brother's most critically acclaimed records in fifteen years. The band was nominated for
three Grammy awards, two of which were for the instrumentals co-written by Warren and Dickey Betts ("True
Gravity" in 1990, and "Kind of Bird" in 1991), and they won a Grammy in 1995 for "Best Rock Instrumental
Performance" ("Jessica"). Many critics give Warren credit for putting the fire back in the Allman Brothers Band.
In 1993, Warren stepped into the spotlight with his first solo record, Tales of Ordinary Madness, on Megaforce
Records. He recruited Chuck Leavell to share production duties, and Chuck also played on the record. A year later
through an impromptu jam with the Allman Brothers Band partner Allen Woody and drummer Matt Abts (who
Haynes new from the Dickey Betts Band), Gov't Mule was born.
The trio released their critically acclaimed debut album on Relativity Records in 1995, and quickly gained a loyal
fan base by hitting the road during the Brothers' touring breaks. Warren was voted #1 slide guitarist by Guitar
Player magazine in both 1995 and 1996. Meanwhile, the Mule released a second record, Live at Roseland
Ballroom, which received many critical accolades. In the fall of 1998, Gov't Mule recorded Dose, on Capricorn
Records, which was produced by Michael Barbiero (Blue Traveler, Gun's n' Roses, Soundgarden).
Warren's latest Capricorn Records release with Gov't Mule is entitled Live...With a Little Help From Our Friends,
with appearances from such fellow musicians as Jimmy Herring, Chuck Leavell, Bernie Worrell, Randall Bramlett,
Yonrico Scott, Derek Trucks and Marc Ford. Included on the new album are many fan favorites and covers like
Black Sabbath's "War Pigs" from a 1999 New Year's concert at the Roxy Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia and a duet
with Marc Ford on Neil Young's "Cortez the Killer".
Warren is currently working on material for his follow-up solo album and can also be heard on Kevn Kinney's
up-coming release.
