Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Wandering Child
2. Thorazine Shuffle
3. No Need to Suffer
4. Dolphineus
5. War Pigs
6. 30 Days in the Hole
7. Mr. Big
8. Hunter

Disc 2:

1. Gambler's Roll
2. Look on Yonder Wall
3. 32-20 Blues
4. I Shall Return
5. Soul Shine
6. Mule

Disc 3:

1. Spanish Moon
2. Sad and Deep as You
3. Third Stone from the Sun
4. Devil Likes It Slow
5. Cortez the Killer

Disc 4:

1. Afro Blue
2. Pygmy Twylyte

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #112625 in Music
• Released on: 1999-11-16
• Number of discs: 4
• Formats: Box set, Collector's Edition, Enhanced, Limited Edition, Live, Original recording reissued

Amazon.com
Gov't Mule's arsenal of endless jams that somehow perpetually build in intensity make it natural that this Southern power trio has so quickly returned to the live-record format. The Mule's second concert recording in four years is as virile as the title is impotent. Recorded in Atlanta on New Year's Eve, 1998, this four-disc collector's edition will please fans who weren't satiated by the original 145-minute two-CD set. With a Little Help serves as a road map through their array of influences, as the band wends its way through Black Sabbath, Humble Pie, Free, Elmore James, Traffic, and Neil Young & Crazy Horse before settling in for the night at the John Coltrane Inn for a half-hour of "Afro Blue." Despite all this prime cover material, the highlight may still be Warren Haynes's original "Soulshine" (first recorded while Haynes and bassist Allen Woody were with the Allman Brothers), a gritty and spiritual Muscle Shoals soul number that finds Haynes bouncing guitar licks off young Derek Trucks while the unlikely keyboard tandem of Bernie Worrell and Chuck Leavell dig in behind them. The steady stream of guests--including former Black Crowes guitarist Marc Ford, former ARU guitarist Jimmy Herring, and reed man Randall Bramblett--keeps things moving along, but in truth, Haynes, Woody, and drummer Matt Abts hardly need any help generating incendiary, densely packed music. This powder keg is a mission statement and a mission accomplished all in one wrapper. --Marc Greilsamer

Customer Reviews

Wish I'd found it sooner
Why did'nt I hear about this band sooner? I surf through reviews on Amazon looking for new good stuff to check out. After reading the reviews for this set, I went out and bought it. Wow. First about the sound quality. I guess they wanted to present the whole show in sequence with nothing missing, But they had a lot of problems with recording. So they spliced in audience recordings where necessary, resulting in the "concert hall echo" from time to time. They ran out of tape (?!) before the encore, resulting in the "lo-fi" Afro Blue. In the liner notes, Warren says, "no remixes, no overdubs, no apologies" or something like that. No apologies needed. I spend a lot of time and do a lot of listening in my car, which has a great system. While listening to this, I've found myself laughing, crying, and having to pull over due to bad driving, or forgetting where I am and what I'm doing (note - I've been drug and alcohol free for 10 years). It just takes me to a whole different place, where everything's ok. Enough said? This is my first review, for what that's worth. As to those that took the time to review it before me, thank you. The world is now a better place.

Hell hath no fury like Gov't mule
I was recently compiling a short list of the great live albums of all time for a freelance piece I'm working on. "More miles than money" by Alejandro Escovedo, Townes Van Zandt's "The Highway Kind" Lyle's Lovett's "Live in Texas"... then, this neatly packaged gem comes into my grubby little hands... Of course, I knew Gov't Mule from the stunning debut record, and I'd heard "dose", but nothing prepared me for the pyrotechnics on this live set. The interplay between the musicians is as close to true empathy as you are likely to hear. This reminds me of the Coltrane quartet's classic recordings from the Village Vangaurd shows. The bluster and energy is tempered by a strong sense of structure. They know what makes great music. The scorching version of "soulshine" is a stand out, and the take of "afro blue" is easily worth the price of the set. This stands proudly beside the greatest live records of all time. The sound quality is of an audiophile level, as well (except "afro blue" which is curiously of a lower fidelity).

My highest reccomendation.

Simply The Best
Some of you might call me a music freak with a collection of 2000+ CD's. I'd rather call myself a music lover. However, that's not the case here. What I think is the point is that out of all those CD's this one is my absolutely favorite! No doubt about it. If somebody asks me the classic question of having to choose one CD to take on the isolated island my old answer was "Layla and other assorted love songs". Was. Now it's this one. Give it a spin and I guarantee it'll stay in your CD-player for a long long time. The only drawback of this package is the packaging: The CD's are really hard to take out of their pockets & you have to touch the shiny CD area when you do that. That's no good at all. So I suggest you get some empty jewel cases at the same time you get this boxed set and you'll live your life "happily ever after"... =o) A [extremely] good CD!!!