Gov’t Mule Covers the Rolling Stones’ ‘Monkey Man’ By ERIC R. DANTON
Gov’t Mule Covers the Rolling Stones - Anna Webber
Gov’t Mule is marking its 20th anniversary by digging into the band’s live archives, which include an assortment of Rolling Stones covers. One of them, “Monkey Man,” premieres today on Speakeasy.
The jam-oriented rockers played the song as part of a Halloween show in Philadelphia in 2009. It’s one of seven Stones covers on “Stoned Side of the Mule: Volume 1,” which also includes versions of “Under My Thumb,” “Shattered,” “Paint It Black” and “Angie.”
“For Gov’t Mule’s Halloween shows we put on a disguise and afford ourselves the luxury of playing an entire set of someone else’s music,” singer and guitarist Warren Haynes says. “We had covered a couple of Rolling Stones songs here and there before, but it was a fun challenge to learn a whole set of their music. ‘Monkey Man’ has always been one of my favorite Stones songs.”
Drummer Matt Abts helps on vocals toward the end of the song, repeating the line “I’m a monkey,” which Haynes says is a good fit. “His voice is more similar to Mick [Jagger]’s than mine so it sounds very appropriate.”
“Stoned Side of the Mule: Volume 1” is due this week on Nov. 28 for the Black Friday version of Record Store Day. It’s the first of four live releases Gov’t Mule plans to release over the next several months. The Pink Floyd covers collection “Dark Side of the Mule” is due Dec. 15. “SCO-MULE,” a three-hour jazz-rock instrumental album recorded when Gov’t Mule played with John Scofield in 1999, is due in January. And Haynes and Co. are planning a March release for “Dub Side of the Mule,” a collection of reggae tunes featuring reggae veteran Toots Hibbert.
LISTEN HERE: http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2014/11/24/govt-mule-covers-the-rolling-stones-mo...
Pages: 1
Gov’t Mule Covers the Rolling Stones’ ‘Monkey Man’ (Read 2,431 times)
