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Since releasing their self-titled debut album in 1995, Gov't Mule have remained close to their trademark bluesy hard rock roots. While they cover classic blues tunes regularly, they apply that musical signature. Heavy Load Blues marks the first time the quartet have recorded an album devoted strictly to blues. They cut it in one small room in a New England studio standing very close to one another – without headphones – using small vintage amplifiers. The band played stripped-down blues live from the studio floor; the few overdubs were added later. The 13-song standard version of the set offers six excellent Warren Haynes originals alongside covers by masters such as Ann Peebles, Howlin' Wolf, Elmore James, Bobby "Blue" Bland, and others. Haynes co-produced the set with John Paterno.

A veteran of the old Beale Street scene and once a partner of the legendary Memphis Slim, Laury never got his shot at fame and fortune, or even the opportunity to cut a record. Now, approaching his 80th birthday, Laury finally made his debut and shows on this rollicking, highly delightful CD that his boisterous voice and piano skills remain in good shape. Every number is an original, as Laury opens the session with some uncensored remembrances about old Southern sanitary habits. From there, you get terse, spirited singing, powerful left and right hand piano lines, and a percussive, pounding attack that features octave-jumping forays and furious phrasing. One record can't correct a lifetime of being unfairly overlooked, but it can go a long way.

Gov't Mule's sound is a throwback to the '70s heyday of Southern rock, and their style is peppered with references to the best of the Allmans, with a liberal dose of early ZZ Top thrown in for good measure. Their second album shows no signs of a sophomore slump, featuring playing and songwriting every bit as strong as their debut outing. Warren Haynes' guitar work, if anything, is even more adventurous this time around, particularly effective on the opener "Blind Man in the Dark," "Thelonius Beck," and "Birth of the Mule."

The last truly indispensable disc of the great guitar hero's career, and perhaps the most innately satisfying of all, these mid-'50s recordings boast magnificent presence, with T-Bone Walker's axe so crisp and clear it seems as though he's sitting right next to you as he delivers a luxurious remake of "Call It Stormy Monday." Atlantic took some chances with Walker, dispatching him to Chicago for a 1955 date with Junior Wells and Jimmy Rogers that produced "Why Not" and "Papa Ain't Salty." Even better were the 1956-1957 L.A. dates that produced the scalding instrumental "Two Bones and a Pick" (which finds Walker dueling it out with nephew R.S. Rankin and jazzman Barney Kessel).