*** Gov't Mule

LIVE . . . WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM OUR FRIENDS

(Capricorn)

Guitarist Warren Haynes and bassist Allen Woody cut their teeth jamming in the Allman Brothers Band. With Gov't Mule they still know how to stretch a tune out live, but they place a higher premium on heavy volume and metallic thunder. Recorded in Atlanta last New Year's Eve, Live . . . with a Little Help from Our Friends finds Haynes, Woody, and drummer Matt Abts jamming with seasoned keyboardists Chuck Leavell and Bernie Worrell, Black Crowes guitarist Marc Ford (who sings on a 14-minute version of Neil Young's "Cortez the Killer"), and former Traffic sideman Randall Bramblett, and tackling material that ranges from the wistful ("Soulshine") to the gritty ("Mule") to the familiar (Black Sabbath's "War Pigs" and the Elmore James blues "Look on Yonder Wall"). As you might expect from a pair of Allman alums, there are some excessive song lengths -- "Afro Blue," the two-CD set's closer, lasts almost a half-hour. But Gov't Mule have the improvisational chops to keep things interesting for 29 minutes, and the talent to keep classic jazz fusion, psychedelia, Delta voodoo, and even a little folksy balladry all sounding fresh -- and loud.

-- Kandia Crazy Horse