Hey this is Warren Haynes and you're listening
to My Weekly Mixtape with Brian Colburn and it's
different all the time. What is going on friends?
Welcome to My Weekly Mixtape, the show that takes
the classic mixtape approach. to building a modern
playlist. I'm your host, Brian Colburn, and joining
me tonight is a songwriter and musician who truly
needs no introduction. And honestly, anything
I say wouldn't do him justice anyway. From the
Allman Brothers Band to Gov't Mule to his
incredible body of solo records, it's an absolute
honor to welcome the one and only Warren Haynes
to the show. Warren, great to have you here,
my friend. Thank you. Glad to be here. Since
this is your first time on My Weekly Mixtape,
let's start with the basics. What does the word
mixtape mean to you? I guess interjecting your
own personality into music that you would like
others to experience. Great way of putting it.
Now today we're here to talk about the 2026 remix
and reissue of tales of ordinary madness your
debut solo album from 1993 And what a kickoff
fire in the kitchen is, man. So what does more
than three decades of hindsight tell you about
this album's longevity? You know, I haven't thought
of it that way. You know, it was my first solo
record, and they say you only make your first
record once. So a lot of thought went into which
songs we're going to. be on the record. Chuck
Lavelle produced it, and he and I went through
about, I think, around 30 songs that we were
choosing from at that time. And we were choosing
based on making a record that was cohesive and
where all the songs sounded like they belonged
on the same record. There were a lot of songs
that I had written back then that were among
some of my favorites that didn't necessarily
make the cut because they sounded too different
from the rest of the songs i think when i hear
it now i see how much i've grown as a songwriter
and how how many different directions i've pursued
through the years but i'm i'm very proud of that
as an opening statement it's a little intense
you know uh from a songwriting standpoint There's
a lot of aggression and getting things off my
chest, but I guess that goes with making your
first record. Well, you mentioned Chuck Lavelle,
who obviously has deep Allman Brothers roots
as well. What did you take away working with
him that stuck with you for your later bodies
of work as well as your stuff with Government
Mule? Well, oddly enough, at that point, Chuck
and I had never met. We knew of each other through
our situations in the Allman Brothers band, and
I was a big fan of everything I'd ever heard
him do. My manager at the time was friends with
Chuck, and when we were talking about possible
producers, he brought up Chuck, and I said, yeah,
that sounds really cool. I'd like to meet with
him. And we had a nice meeting and really hit
it off. He's a beautiful person and a fantastic
musician. I was honored to work with him. You
know, Chuck was, he struck a good balance as
a producer. He wasn't heavy handed and, you know,
saying things have to be this way or I think
this should go that way. He was kind of part
of a panel of people making decisions and he
always had suggestions and they were always good,
but he wasn't like. trying to force me to change
anything. If I felt strongly about something,
he was quick to say, hey, man, it's your record,
whatever you think. But he always had really
good advice based on his experience. And at that
point, he had played on a lot of wonderful records
and had a lot of studio experience. I had not
so much. And with each record you make, you learn
more about the studio environment. Now, you mentioned
earlier that it's a heavy record, and that heft
more than certainly shines through on tracks
like Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye. It originally came
out on Megaforce Records, which when I was growing
up, I associated with Metallica, Anthrax, S .O
.D., the metal universe, if you will. How did
Tails end up landing on Megaforce initially?
I don't remember exactly how they came to the
party, but they wound up making us a better offer
than a lot of the other major labels were making
at the time. Part of that included me being able
to make the record that I wanted to make. John
and Marsha Zuzula, that owned Megaforce, were
both very passionate about music. And even though
their roster was pretty heavy, they had stuff,
you know, a lot of the stuff on that label would
be stuff I wasn't a fan of. But they had cool
stuff like King's X, who I really, really liked.
And they were telling me how they were looking
to expand their reach and get out of that mold.
And they saw signing me as an opportunity to
show people that they weren't just a metal label.
And they were really great about saying, hey,
this is your record. We want you to make it how
you want to make it. And that was really important
to me. And they were very passionate. And were
they involved with this new version as well?
Missy Colazzo, who now owns Megaforce Records,
John and Marcia both passed away. And Missy was
part of the staff way back then. And she and
I did a lot of promo. She would drive me to radio
stations. She was the head of promotion back
then. She now owns the label. And we ran into
each other at a benefit. at the Beacon a few
years ago. And we're talking about the 30th anniversary.
And I said, well, you know, I've always wanted
to remix that record. And she smiled and said,
yeah, I think that would be great. Why don't
we do that? And so we reached out to Jim Scott,
who I've worked with in recent years and who
Megaforce has worked with as well. So it was
the right choice. Jim's fantastic. He did a wonderful
job. remixing it and yeah so they were they were
involved i was involved we just worked on it
together and and i'm happy with the way it turned
out as a music fan jim scott's resume is something
that is just to be lauded you have tom petty's
wildflowers santana supernatural foo fighters
one by one those are all where his grammys came
from and that's just scratching the surface So
given your working relationship with him, as
well as being the album's original co -producer,
were you hands -on with Jim during those remix
sessions? Yeah, Jim and I worked together on
two or three projects. And each time, well, one
of the projects, I was physically in the room
with him when we were mixing. And the other couple
of times, he would send me mixes throughout the
day to check out. get my input, and I would call
him back and say, hey, can we change this, change
that? Just subtle little things that are part
of the mixing process. But Jim and I worked great
together. And yes, it was like that. And Chuck
was involved, especially in the beginning as
well. He would send mixes to Chuck and I both,
and we would give our input. But Chuck was in
the middle of something at that point. And after...
a few tunes, he's like, you guys got this. I'm
going to let you have it. Now, being you were
obviously part of the original album sessions
as well as these remix sessions, what would you
say Jim's contributions were as well as what
did you hear in differences from the mixes? Well,
I wanted it to be more organic and drier, not
so much reverb, not so much EQ and processing.
One of the reasons that I wanted to remix it
was because even though I was very happy with
that record that we made in 92 and came out in
93, records at that time were still being made
in accordance with what was going on in the 80s,
where everything had a little more reverb, everything
had a little more EQ, everything had a little
more processing. And a few years after that record
came out, people started returning to a little
drier, a little more organic way of recording
and mixing. And I thought, well, I would love
to hear it that way. And so I've had that in
the back of my mind for decades. You know, there
was nothing wrong with it at the time, but it
had a bit of a timestamp on it. When you listen
to it. It sounds like it was made in that time
period because it was. But why not make it sound
like there's no timestamp on it and it could
have been made in any decade? I feel like that's
an interesting point because when Pearl Jam's
10 first came out, Brendan O 'Brien did the remix.
That was kind of the same mindset because Pearl
Jam's 10 had that sound with a little bit more
reverb on everything. And it kind of timestamped
the album to 1991. And now the remix version
tries to make it something that's a little bit
more timeless. Yeah. And coincidentally, that's
one of the records that we listened to when we
were mixing Tales of Ordinary Madness. We listened
to quite a few records from that time period.
And I remember listening to the first Pearl Jam
record. And at that time, it sounded really,
really good. That's a great sounding record.
But the same issue that when you think now, their
later records don't have quite as much gloss
on them. And I'm sure the reason they wanted
to remix 10 is the same reason I wanted to remix
this record. It's just a product of the time
changes. You go back and listen to any record
made in the 80s and early 90s, they all have
that certain sound about them. And before we
move on, Warren, I just want to let the listeners
know that if you want to hear all the songs we're
talking about tonight, you can hear them obviously
on all the streaming services or if you pick
up a physical copy of the album, but you can
also hear embeds of all the tracks over on the
episode page at myweeklymixtape .com. When they
push. Now, as a fan and listener who's lived
with this record for a long time, and I'm using
this clip of Sister Justice as an example, the
2026 mix genuinely makes me feel like I'm hearing
Tales of Ordinary Madness for the first time.
It reminds me in a way of the first time I heard
Stephen Wilson's remix of Jethro Tull's Aqualung.
It's the same songs. It's the same performances.
But suddenly there's this space, depth, and detail
in the songs that you never realized was missing
because you'd never heard it differently. When
you sit down and listen to this new mix now,
were there any performance moments that jumped
out to you that you maybe didn't realize from
the original release based on the mix? No, not
really other than the bonus track, Tear Me Down.
we recorded tear me down but we weren't able
to finish it because we were over budget and
out of time and we had brought in bernie warrell
to play a bunch of keyboard stuff and randall
bramlett to play a bunch of saxophone but we
didn't have time to sort through all of it and
figure out what we wanted to use so we just made
the decision mostly a financial decision to not
include it on the record so i hadn't heard what
was on the original tapes until 30 years later
and so i was able to go back into the studio
we didn't re -record anything we just sorted
through all the stuff that that had been recorded
that we had never really had a chance to listen
to and decided Okay, we're going to use this
keyboard track. We're going to use this sax track.
And Jim Scott mixed it as if it were a brand
new tune. And it was always one of my favorites,
but now it absolutely is one of my favorite tracks
on the record. I used to own a - And there's
something that you did on the re -release that
I find absolutely fascinating because a lot of
times it's commonplace when an album is re -released,
any bonus material is tacked on at the end of
the album. But here it's batting cleanup or track
four in between movers and shakers and I'll be
the one. And this placement feels really calculated
as someone who's probably a fan of the album
as an art form. What was your decision in changing
the album's original sequence? Well, I think
that's where it would have gone had we finished
it. And I think the addition of Tear Me Down
makes it a better record, makes it a more diverse
record, gives it one more upbeat tune. And so
I wanted to put it where I think I would have
put it in the sequence back then. picky about
sequencing and even though i know a lot of people
don't care about sequencing especially these
days so many of our favorite records through
the years had an impact on us that was based
on the way the records were sequenced and i made
a point of saying i don't want to put it at the
end i want to put it in the sequence as if it
were part of the record and i think that's uh
was the right decision i couldn't agree more
and do you think that streaming comes into play
with the fact that maybe people don't think as
much about an album listen versus individual
tracks anymore oh yeah absolutely yeah i think
that changed everything i encourage young people
to listen in sequence uh not just to my music
but to music in general most artists care enough
about the sequence to want to spend time dwelling
on it and and come up with something that they're
proud of again a lot of our favorite records
imagine if the first track wasn't the first track
or the closing track wasn't the closing track
it would have been for a whole different record
so i knew uh i knew fire in the kitchen was going
to be the opener and i knew broken promised land
was going to be the closer the rest of it i spent
a lot of time switching around and uh you know
You want the sequence to take you on a journey
in the same way that a live show does. And I
think all those things are important. Now I want
to touch on a song that I mentioned earlier in
passing, that being I'll Be The One. Now, the
version we're listening to now is the new remix
from Tales. However, on the Mo Voodoo bonus CD,
Government Mule did a version on that album as
well. As someone who loves pretty much any version
of I'll Be The One, I'd love to know how you
compare the solo Tales version to the Government
Mule rendition from a musical and maybe even
emotional perspective. Well, they're very different.
I think normally the government rendition of
something that I've done as a solo artist would
probably be heavier. But in this case, it's mellower.
I think the original version of I'll Be the One
on Tales of Ordinary Madness is pretty loud and
pretty aggressive. And I went back and forth
when I was writing it and recording it and the
way I performed it live with it not always being
that way. I've done it acoustic, which is interesting.
But I wanted the version on the Movudu EP to
be a little more R &B and a little less rock.
And so that's the way I look at it. I also think
the remix that Jim Scott did. captures it more
than the original mix. Even though the original
mix was really good, the remix is a little more
organic and timeless. And once again, a reminder
to those listening, while I'm playing clips in
the episode tonight, you can hear the full versions
over on the episode page at myweeklymixtape .com.
Now, Warren, I apologize. I have to sidebar a
moment here because... During your last answer,
you talked about the acoustic version of I'll
Be The One, and it brings me to one place. Live
at Bonnaroo, 2004. That album to me was such
a snapshot and a moment in time, that morning
acoustic set. Can you talk about what that performance
meant to you? Because there's something about
it. There's a magic to it, and it's just a special
performance. I think some of that was that it
wasn't intended to be a live album. They had
asked me to do a solo set at Bonnaroo, and that
was the first time that I had played by myself
in front of a big audience. And we recorded it.
It's really easy to record a solo set. And after
the fact, I thought, you know, it felt pretty
good. Maybe we should think about releasing it.
But it wasn't until afterward that that thought
crossed my mind. And maybe part of the reason
it felt good was because I was too tired to be
nervous. I mean, I don't think I'd ever performed
that early ever in my life. And in true Bonnaroo
fashion, you know, we were up all night the night
before. Got up and... drank some coffee and dusted
off the cobwebs and went on stage. And I remember
being tired, but maybe that worked to my advantage.
I mean, you couldn't tell in the performance.
Well, sometimes that's a good thing. You know,
I have this weird kind of rule of thumb, or maybe
that's not the right terminology, but this weird
philosophy that... Although you don't want to
purposely put yourself in a position of having
to perform tired. The times that it happens in
my experience where you think, oh, I'm fucking
exhausted. This is going to be a weird night.
Somehow they turn out really good. Well, one
thing that I've always admired about you as a
musician is how naturally you're able to collaborate
with so many artists, including. Pass my weekly
mixtape guests like Blackberry Smoke and Walter
Trout to Kenny Wayne Shepard and Joe Bonamassa.
And that's just scratching the surface. There's
also Railroad Earth and Grace Potter on your
Ashes and Dust album. In your experience, what
makes a musical collaboration feel grounded and
natural from the start? Sometimes it just has
to be. that unspoken thing that happens that
you can't predict or force. But some of that
is the right amount of similarity between the
two artists and between the influences that make
up those artists and the right amount of contrast.
I think for a collaboration to really work, There's
got to be a certain degree of contrast, and I
think that's a healthy thing. And some of it
has to do with mutual respect. You know, if you
try to do something and one of the artists doesn't
respect the other one, it's probably going to
come off insincere. And what I mean by that is
you have to accommodate the other person's personality
in the way that it's kind of hard to describe
but um there's just a vibe that happens when
you can feel that mutual respect that elevates
the music you know i've been in situations where
i was very intimidated by the other artist but
they graciously made me feel less intimidated
by just uh showing me a lot of respect and and
uh and being courteous and and compassionate
people like the first time i worked with a little
milton the blues artist who was one of the greats
i worked with him quite a bit and we became really
good friends but the first time we worked together
we we had already become pretty good friends
but i was still pretty intimidated by him and
uh We were in Muscle Shoals making a record.
And when it was time for me to do my vocal performance,
Milton came and stood in the vocal booth with
me. No pressure. And then I was like, Milton,
I was like, Milton, get the fuck out of here,
man. I'm intimidated enough with you in the building.
I don't need you standing right next to me, you
know, because he's one of the greatest singers
of all times. And he laughed. He's like, okay,
I'll get out of here. He's always just trying
to show you some love, you know. But if that
had gone a different direction, the vibe would
have been strange. You know, it just, it worked
out because he was a beautiful guy. And we had
that mutual respect for each other. And I think
that's one of the things that makes it work.
Well, while we're on collaborations, I'd forever
kick myself if I don't take this opportunity
to at least touch on one solo of yours that truly
resonates with me on another level. And that's
your stunning slide work on Blues Travelers,
The Mountains Win Again. If you'd be so kind,
I would love nothing more than to hear a little
bit about the backstory behind that incredible
solo and how your work with them came together.
Yeah, it's actually an interesting story. Blues
Traveler had been doing a lot of stuff with the
Allman Brothers. They had opened a lot of shows
for us and we had become friends. And they had
asked me to come and play a solo on Mountains
When Again. They didn't specify a slide solo.
They just said, come play a guitar solo on this
track. And coincidentally, Government Mule was
kind of looking for a producer at that time because
we had not made our first record yet, and we
didn't know who we wanted to produce the first
record. So Thompson and Barbiero were producing
Blues Traveler, and I went in to... do that overdub
with the two of them in the studio. And I played
a couple of solos. One of them might have said,
what do you think about Sly Guitar? And I was
like, I felt like at that point, every record
that I was playing on, people were asking me
to play Sly Guitar. And I was like, I kind of
feel it being non -Sly for whatever reason. I
don't know why, if I was just being stubborn
or that was my first impression. But I played
a couple of solos without the slide. And then
I think Michael said, you want to try one with
the slide? And I was like, sure. Yeah, let's
do it. And he says that I brought the slide bottle
that was given to me that used to belong to Dwayne
Allman. I don't remember that, but he's probably
correct because he usually is. He has a great
memory. But he said that I. Reached in my bag
and pulled out that Dwayne Allman slide and played
the slide solo. And that, you know, everybody
was like, yeah, that's the one. That's the one
we want to use. You know, I love that solo and
I love that song. And I was really honored to
be part of that. As I mentioned, Governor McMillan
was thinking about a producer. And so when I
went back and was talking to Woody, I was like,
you know, I really enjoyed working. With Michael,
I'd heard that he and Steve Thompson were kind
of going separate ways. And I was like, maybe
we should try him. I really, really enjoyed working
with him. So that experience led to us choosing
Michael to produce the first Government View
record. We actually kind of auditioned him because
we were going to record one song for this Hempalation
compilation record where we did Don't Step on
the Grass, Sam. And so I was talking to Woody.
I said, why don't we try him for this one track?
And if we like him, we'll use him for the album.
And so that's the way that whole thing went there.
Unbelievable. Now you mentioned Government Mule.
2026 is going to be another huge year just for
you on the road solo as well as with Government
Mule. But beyond all the touring, are there any
additional releases or maybe more new music that
fans can look forward to this year? Well, I'm
in the midst of trying to figure out what's going
to be next from a recording standpoint. But I'm
guessing you're referring to the reissue of the
first Mule record. We are going to release the
first government Mule record with a bonus disc,
an entire CD of unreleased studio outtakes with
the original trio with Alan Woody. And it's fantastic.
It's really... I went through and hand -selected
all the stuff that I didn't know existed or that
I didn't realize was as good as it was. A lot
of alternate takes. And I'm really happy that
we're finally going to put that stuff out because
it deserves to be out there. Now, are these the
original mixes, or is this like the Tales release,
all new mixes from the session? Most of them
are Michael's original rough mixes. which are
fantastic you know michael's one of those guys
that his live in the studio rough mixes sound
like a record he's just that that guy you know
and we could only choose ones that had an actual
vocal performance or something because i didn't
want to re -record anything i wanted it to all
be in its original form but there was enough
stuff to choose from that we're like wow this
is We filled up a whole disc of stuff I love.
Well, to close things out and staying with the
mixtape mode that this show is all about, what
are three songs that you've been listening to
lately, as Warren Haynes the fan, not the musician,
that you would recommend the listeners check
out? Well, let's see. This one's hard to find,
but Ray Charles' version of... Oh, What a Beautiful
Morning. It's on a record called True to Life,
which is out of print. But that version, that
vocal performance and that version of that tune
is one of the greatest things I've ever heard.
What have I been listening to recently? I mean,
I'm just being honest with trying to answer the
question. the best way I can. One of the last
records I listened to was, uh, yes, close to
the edge. I was driving in my car and, uh, setting
for the drive and listen to the entire album.
I have such diverse taste in music. You know,
I mean, I listened to a lot of miles Davis. I
listened to, uh, feel it used to kill him. And
Jaro is a fantastic, uh, miles record, but song
wise. Let's see. What else would I put in there?
You know, I listened to Little Wing the other
day for the first time in a long time. And every
time you hear it, you just wish it was longer.
You know, it's like such a beautiful piece of
music. I would love to hear Jimmy play that for
like eight minutes. Wouldn't we all? Well, Warren,
this has been an absolute honor. Thank you so
much for joining me tonight on My Weekly Mixtape.
My pleasure. And to those listening, you can
hear all the songs we've discussed tonight over
on the episode page at myweeklymixtape .com.
And be sure to pick up a copy of the 2026 remix
of Tales of Ordinary Madness, preferably from
your favorite indie record store of choice. Now,
if you like what you're hearing on the show,
I would love to hear from you. MyWeeklyMixtape
at gmail .com. Hit me up on social media at MyWeeklyMixtape.
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My Weekly Mixtape to other music fans out there
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my name is Brian Colburn. This has been my weekly
mixtape. And until next time, enjoy the tunes.