Jan 042017
 
govt mule beacon

Warren Haynes’ band Gov’t Mule have made a tradition of epic New Years Eve shows at New York’s Beacon Theatre. Last year they did three full sets of covers of other artists (as “Grateful Mule”, “The AllMule Brothers,” and “The Mule” [The Band]). And for 2016, they paid tribute to the long list of musician who left us this year, covering Leonard Cohen, Prince, David Bowie, Leon Russell, Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings, Merle Haggard, The Eagles (for Glenn Frey), Parliament Funkadelic (Bernie Worrell), Earth, Wind & Fire (Maurice White), The Black Crowes (Eddie Harsch), and Emerson Lake and Palmer (Keith Emerson and Greg Lake). Whew!

We’ve rounded up some of the best videos we could find (of Funkadelic’s “Maggot Brain,” Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah,” The Eagles’ “Take It Easy,” Earth Wind and Fire’s “Shining Star,” ELP’s “Lucky Man,” Merle Haggard’s “Mama Tried,” David Bowie’s “All the Young Dudes” and “Rebel Rebel,” and Prince’s “Purple Rain”). Below that you can stream audio of the full show and see the setlist of covers, many songs the band has never played before. They’re also selling the full show online at MuleTracks.

Set 2 (Tribute to Musicians lost in 2016):

Maggot Brain
(Funkadelic cover) (with Marc Quiñones) (also with the Chronic Horns; with ‘Auld Lang Syne’ theme; followed by New Year’s countdown)

Flash Light
(Parliament cover) (with Marc Quiñones) (also with the Chronic Horns & Jasmine Muhammad & the Sweet ’16 Singers) (live debut by GM)

Red Hot Mama
(Funkadelic cover) (with Marc Quiñones) (also with the Chronic Horns & Jasmine Muhammad & the Sweet ’16 Singers) (live debut by GM)

Tight Rope
(Leon Russell cover) (with Marc Quiñones) (also with the Chronic Horns & Jasmine Muhammad & the Sweet ’16 Singers) (live debut by GM)

Delta Lady
(Leon Russell cover) (with Marc Quiñones) (also with the Chronic Horns & Jasmine Muhammad & the Sweet ’16 Singers)

Take It Easy
(The Eagles cover) (with Jasmine Muhammad & the Sweet ’16 Singers) (live debut by GM)

Already Gone
(The Eagles cover) (with Jasmine Muhammad & the Sweet ’16 Singers) (live debut by GM)

100 Days, 100 Nights
(Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings cover) (with the Chronic Horns & Jasmine Muhammad & the Sweet ’16 Singers) (live debut by GM)

Midnight Rider
(The Allman Brothers Band cover) (with Marc Quiñones) (also with the Chronic Horns & Jasmine Muhammad & the Sweet ’16 Singers) (first since 30 Aug. 1997)

Lucky Man
(Emerson, Lake & Palmer cover) (with Jasmine Muhammad & the Sweet ’16 Singers) (live debut by GM)

Hallelujah
(Leonard Cohen cover) (without Matt Abts & Jorgen Carlsson)

Bird on the Wire
(Leonard Cohen cover) (with the Chronic Horns & Jasmine Muhammad & the Sweet ’16 Singers)

Mama Tried
(Merle Haggard cover) (preceded by ‘Angel Band’ snippet) (with Jasmine Muhammad & the Sweet ’16 Singers) (live debut by GM)

Shining Star
(Earth, Wind & Fire cover) (with Marc Quiñones) (also with the Chronic Horns & Jasmine Muhammad & the Sweet ’16 Singers) (live debut by GM) (>)

Getaway
(Earth, Wind & Fire cover) (with Marc Quiñones) (also with the Chronic Horns & Jasmine Muhammad & the Sweet ’16 Singers) (live debut by GM)

Descending
(The Black Crowes cover) (with Marc Quiñones) (live debut by GM)

All the Young Dudes
(David Bowie cover) (with Jimmy Vivino) (also w/Chronic Horns& Jasmine Muhammad & the Sweet ’16 Singers; J.Vivino, lead vox) (live debut by GM)

Rebel Rebel
(David Bowie cover) (with Jimmy Vivino) (also with Marc Quiñones) ( live debut by GM)

Kiss
(Prince cover) (with Jimmy Vivino) (also w/ Marc Quiñones, Chronic Horns&Jasmine Muhammad & the Sweet ’16 Singers) (live debut by GM)

Let’s Go Crazy
(Prince cover) (with Jimmy Vivino) (also w/ Marc Quiñones, Chronic Horns&Jasmine Muhammad & the Sweet ’16 Singers) (live debut by GM)

Encore:

Purple Rain
(Prince cover) (with Jimmy Vivino) (also w/ Marcus King,Quiñones, Chronic Horns&Jasmine Muhammad&Sweet ’16 Singers) (live debut by GM) (>)

All the Young Dudes Reprise
(David Bowie cover) (with Jimmy Vivino) (also w/M.King,Quiñones, Chronic Horns&Jasmine Muhammad&Sweet ’16 Singers) (live debut by GM)

Buy the complete show online at MuleTracks.

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  3 Responses to “Gov’t Mule Cover Bowie, Prince, Cohen, Haggard, and More in Epic Tribute to 2016’s Dead Musicians”

Comments (3)
  1. Good article, but who is the tribute for on Midnight Rider? I’m thinking Robert Kim Payne, who was listed as a co-writer of the song, but I can’t find any info on it.

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