Allen Woody
Encyclopedia
Douglas Allen Woody was bass guitar
ist best known for his tenure in the rock
groups The Allman Brothers Band
, Gov't Mule
, The Artimus Pyle Band
, The Peter Criss Band
, Blue Floyd, and Montage.
along with guitarist Warren Haynes
upon the group's reunion in 1989. Woody and Haynes formed side project Gov't Mule
in 1994 with former Dicky Betts drummer Matt Abts
. Haynes and Woody decided to leave The Allman Brothers Band in 1997 to put a full-time effort into Gov't Mule.
Woody was found dead sitting up in a chair in the morning of Saturday August 26, 2000 at the Marriott
Courtyard Motel
in Queens
, New York. A preliminary autopsy
performed was inconclusive and showed no immediate cause of death. He is survived by his wife Jenny and daughter Savannah.
Woody's death helped Haynes in his decision to return to The Allman Brothers Band. Gov't Mule continued on after Woody's death with Andy Hess
assuming bass duties after a three-year period that saw a rotating group of bass players including Mike Gordon
, Dave Schools
, Oteil Burbridge
(Woody's replacement in the Allman Brothers Band), George Porter Jr. and Les Claypool
.
signature bass was similar to two specially built double-neck instruments that Gibson
made him: a bass/guitar and a bass/mandolin. With the Allman Brothers, although Woody used many different basses, Gibson Thunderbird
s were his preferred instruments, along with Alembic Inc
basses. With Gov't Mule, Allen usually played the Gibson EB series, particularly the hollow-bodied EB-2 and the solid-bodied EB-3. At times he played a Rickenbacker
or Gibson Thunderbird. Ampeg
SVT was his amp of choice most of the time. Epiphone posthumously released an Allen Woody Limited Edition Bass, a semi-hollow arch-top similar to the Rumble Kat.
The movie Rising Low
, directed by fellow bass player Mike Gordon
, is a documentary about bass players dedicated to the memory of Allen Woody and features bass players that he respected and knew in his lifetime.
Gov't Mule albums featuring Allen Woody
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
ist best known for his tenure in the rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
groups The Allman Brothers Band
The Allman Brothers Band
The Allman Brothers Band is an American rock/blues band once based in Macon, Georgia. The band was formed in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1969 by brothers Duane Allman and Gregg Allman , who were supported by Dickey Betts , Berry Oakley , Butch Trucks , and Jai Johanny "Jaimoe"...
, Gov't Mule
Gov't Mule
Gov't Mule is a Southern rock jam band formed in 1994 as an Allman Brothers Band side project by Warren Haynes and Allen Woody.The band released their debut album Gov't Mule in 1995...
, The Artimus Pyle Band
Artimus Pyle
Thomas Delmer "Artimus" Pyle is an American musician best known for playing drums with Lynyrd Skynyrd, for which he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2006.-Early life and career:...
, The Peter Criss Band
Peter Criss
George Peter John Criscuola , better known as Peter Criss, is an American drummer and singer, best known as the original drummer for the rock band Kiss...
, Blue Floyd, and Montage.
Biography
Woody joined The Allman Brothers BandThe Allman Brothers Band
The Allman Brothers Band is an American rock/blues band once based in Macon, Georgia. The band was formed in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1969 by brothers Duane Allman and Gregg Allman , who were supported by Dickey Betts , Berry Oakley , Butch Trucks , and Jai Johanny "Jaimoe"...
along with guitarist Warren Haynes
Warren Haynes
Warren Haynes is an American rock and blues guitarist, vocalist and songwriter. Haynes is best known for his work as long time guitarist with The Allman Brothers Band and as founding member of the jam band Gov't Mule. Early in his career he was a guitarist for David Allan Coe and The Dickey...
upon the group's reunion in 1989. Woody and Haynes formed side project Gov't Mule
Gov't Mule
Gov't Mule is a Southern rock jam band formed in 1994 as an Allman Brothers Band side project by Warren Haynes and Allen Woody.The band released their debut album Gov't Mule in 1995...
in 1994 with former Dicky Betts drummer Matt Abts
Matt Abts
Matt Abts is a Grammy Award-nominated American drummer best known as a member of the band Gov't Mule.-Biography:Abts started playing music while attending high school in Panama before relocating to Virginia where he spent the next eight years playing music regionally in vast number of local bands...
. Haynes and Woody decided to leave The Allman Brothers Band in 1997 to put a full-time effort into Gov't Mule.
Woody was found dead sitting up in a chair in the morning of Saturday August 26, 2000 at the Marriott
Marriott International
Marriott International, Inc. is a worldwide operator and franchisor of a broad portfolio of hotels and related lodging facilities. Founded by J. Willard Marriott, the company is now led by son J.W. Marriott, Jr...
Courtyard Motel
Motel
A motor hotel, or motel for short, is a hotel designed for motorists, and usually has a parking area for motor vehicles...
in Queens
Queens
Queens is the easternmost of the five boroughs of New York City. The largest borough in area and the second-largest in population, it is coextensive with Queens County, an administrative division of New York state, in the United States....
, New York. A preliminary autopsy
Autopsy
An autopsy—also known as a post-mortem examination, necropsy , autopsia cadaverum, or obduction—is a highly specialized surgical procedure that consists of a thorough examination of a corpse to determine the cause and manner of death and to evaluate any disease or injury that may be present...
performed was inconclusive and showed no immediate cause of death. He is survived by his wife Jenny and daughter Savannah.
Woody's death helped Haynes in his decision to return to The Allman Brothers Band. Gov't Mule continued on after Woody's death with Andy Hess
Andy Hess
Andy Hess is an American bassist and former member of Gov't Mule, having joined the band in 2003. Previously, he was The Black Crowes' bassist from February 2001 until their hiatus early the following year...
assuming bass duties after a three-year period that saw a rotating group of bass players including Mike Gordon
Mike Gordon
Mike Gordon is a bass guitar player and vocalist most noted for his work with the rock band Phish. Gordon is also an accomplished banjo player, and is proficient at piano, guitar, harmonica and percussion...
, Dave Schools
Dave Schools
Dave Schools aka "Dave Smalls", is the bassist for the band Widespread Panic , and hails from Richmond, Virginia. In addition to playing with Panic, he has had numerous side projects with Jerry Joseph, The Stockholm Syndrome, J Mascis and the Fog, Slang, and Acetate...
, Oteil Burbridge
Oteil Burbridge
Oteil Burbridge, in Washington, D.C.), is a Grammy Award-nominated American multi-instrumentalist, specializing on the bass guitar, trained in playing jazz and classical music from an early age. He has achieved fame primarily on bass guitar during the current resurgence of the Allman Brothers Band...
(Woody's replacement in the Allman Brothers Band), George Porter Jr. and Les Claypool
Les Claypool
Leslie Edward "Les" Claypool is an American musician and writer, best known as the lead vocalist and bassist in the band Primus. Claypool's playing style on the electric bass mixes tapping, flamenco-like strumming, whammy bar bends and slapping.Claypool has also self produced and engineered his...
.
Musical equipment
Woody was a respected bass guitarist - he had a large collection of bass guitars (around 450), featured in his own bass instruction video and was held in high esteem for his playing. The Epiphone Rumble KatEpiphone
The Epiphone Company is a musical instrument manufacturer founded in 1873 by Anastasios Stathopoulos. Epiphone was bought by Chicago Musical Instrument Company, which also owned Gibson Guitar Corporation, in 1957. Epiphone was Gibson's main rival in the archtop market...
signature bass was similar to two specially built double-neck instruments that Gibson
Gibson Guitar Corporation
The Gibson Guitar Corporation, formerly of Kalamazoo, Michigan and currently of Nashville, Tennessee, manufactures guitars and other instruments which sell under a variety of brand names...
made him: a bass/guitar and a bass/mandolin. With the Allman Brothers, although Woody used many different basses, Gibson Thunderbird
Gibson Thunderbird
The Gibson Thunderbird is an electric bass guitar made by Gibson.-Background and introduction:The Gibson Thunderbird was introduced in 1963. At the time, Fender had been the leader in the electric bass market since their introduction of the Precision Bass twelve years earlier.The Thunderbird was...
s were his preferred instruments, along with Alembic Inc
Alembic Inc
Alembic was founded in 1969 and is a manufacturer of high-end electric basses, guitars and preamps.-History:Ron and Susan Wickersham founded Alembic, Inc. in 1969...
basses. With Gov't Mule, Allen usually played the Gibson EB series, particularly the hollow-bodied EB-2 and the solid-bodied EB-3. At times he played a Rickenbacker
Rickenbacker
Rickenbacker International Corporation, also known as Rickenbacker, is an electric and bass guitar manufacturer based in Santa Ana, California...
or Gibson Thunderbird. Ampeg
Ampeg
Ampeg is primarily a musical instrument amplifier manufacturer headquartered in Woodinville, Washington, though they also manufacture guitars to a small extent...
SVT was his amp of choice most of the time. Epiphone posthumously released an Allen Woody Limited Edition Bass, a semi-hollow arch-top similar to the Rumble Kat.
The movie Rising Low
Rising Low
Rising Low is Mike Gordon's second feature film - a documentary based on the life and death of Gov't Mule bassist Allen Woody and the making of a double-disc tribute album featuring a host of legendary bass players...
, directed by fellow bass player Mike Gordon
Mike Gordon
Mike Gordon is a bass guitar player and vocalist most noted for his work with the rock band Phish. Gordon is also an accomplished banjo player, and is proficient at piano, guitar, harmonica and percussion...
, is a documentary about bass players dedicated to the memory of Allen Woody and features bass players that he respected and knew in his lifetime.
Discography
Allman Brothers Band albums featuring Allen Woody- Seven TurnsSeven TurnsSeven Turns is the tenth studio album and eleventh album by the Allman Brothers Band, released in 1990. The album was well-received, and was their first release since 1981...
(1990) - Shades of Two WorldsShades of Two WorldsShades of Two Worlds is a 1991 album by the Allman Brothers Band. Among the tracks are several longer songs of varying genres: the rock song "Nobody Knows"; jazzy instrumental "Kind of Bird"; and the blues-rocker "Get On with Your Life". Dickey Betts takes a more prominent role in songwriting here...
(1991) - An Evening with the Allman Brothers Band: First SetAn Evening with the Allman Brothers Band: First SetAn Evening with the Allman Brothers Band: First Set is the thirteenth album by the rock group the Allman Brothers Band. It was recorded live in December, 1991, and March, 1992, and released in 1992....
(1992) - Where It All BeginsWhere It All BeginsWhere It All Begins is a 1994 studio album by The Allman Brothers Band. "No One to Run With" obtained the greatest amount of album-oriented rock airplay, while "Soulshine", written by Warren Haynes, gained success as a concert and fan favorite. Gregg Allman also started to confront his substance...
(1994) - An Evening with the Allman Brothers Band: 2nd SetAn Evening with the Allman Brothers Band: 2nd SetAn Evening with the Allman Brothers Band: 2nd Set is a live album by the American rock group the Allman Brothers Band. It was recorded in 1992 and 1994, and released in 1995.-Track listing:...
(1995)
Gov't Mule albums featuring Allen Woody
- Gov't Mule (1995)
- Live from Roseland BallroomLive from Roseland BallroomLive at Roseland Ballroom is the first live album by the jam band Gov't Mule. It was taken from their performance on New Year's Eve, 1995, opening for Blues Traveler. It was recorded at the Roseland Ballroom in Manhattan....
(1996) - DoseDose (album)Dose is the second studio album released by Gov't Mule. It is a much darker record than Gov't Mule's self titled debut album. The songs "Thelonius Beck" and "Birth of the Mule" were tributes to jazz musicians Thelonious Monk and Miles Davis, respectively....
(1998) - Live... With a Little Help from Our Friends (1998)
- Life Before InsanityLife Before InsanityLife Before Insanity is the third studio album by Gov't Mule, released in 2000. It is the last album recorded with founding member Allen Woody, who died shortly after its release.-Track listing:All songs by Warren Haynes unless otherwise noted....
(2000) - The Deep End, Volume 1The Deep End, Volume 1After the death of founding member and bassist Allen Woody, Gov't Mule considered breaking up. Instead, remaining members Warren Haynes and Matt Abts recorded several songs with bass players admired by Woody. The Deep End, Volume 1, issued in 2001, was the first CD of material released from these...
(2001) - MulenniumMulenniumMulennium is a live release by the band Gov't Mule. The release includes all three sets from the band's December 31, 1999/January 1, 2000 New Year's Eve show at the Roxy Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. The band had headlined the same venue exactly one year before, which resulted in their second...
(2010)
External links
- Allman Brothers– Official Allman Brothers Band website
- Gov't Mule– Official Gov't Mule website
- Warren Haynes talks about Allen Woody– Friend and bandmate Warren HaynesWarren HaynesWarren Haynes is an American rock and blues guitarist, vocalist and songwriter. Haynes is best known for his work as long time guitarist with The Allman Brothers Band and as founding member of the jam band Gov't Mule. Early in his career he was a guitarist for David Allan Coe and The Dickey...
talks about Allen's bass playing, guitar collection and their original ideas when creating Gov't Mule - Rising Low
- Allen Woody Tribute Site– Allen Woody Tribute Site