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Irie Jam: Toots Hibbert x Gov't Mule Explore The Missing Link Btwn Jam Bands & Reggae [LargeUp Exclusive]
Irie Jam: Toots Hibbert x Gov't Mule Explore The Missing Link Btwn Jam Bands & Reggae [LargeUp Exclusive]

Irie Jam: Toots Hibbert x Gov't Mule Explore The Missing Link Btwn Jam Bands & Reggae [LargeUp Exclusive]

Lenny Kravitz, Grace Jones, Lauryn Hill, Lion Babe, Thundercat, SZA & More Rock The Afropunk Festival 2015 in Brooklyn, NY.

Reggae music has always been a secret ingredient in the success of the Jam Band phenomenon, from the Grateful Dead down to Phish. Now LargeUp seems to have discovered a missing link of sorts with the premiere of this live clip of reggae legend Toots Hibbert (of Toots & The Maytals fame) performing his song "Hard Road" backed by Gov't Mule (the jam band formed by Warren Haynes, guitarist for the Allman Brothers). Get some backstory on the collaboration--a leak from a full album Toots x Gov't Mule called Dub Side Of The Mule, recorded live in concert on New Year's Eve 2006--below, and click through to watch:

Mighty High, a 2007 album by “The Mule,” featured Rastafari-inspired reworkings of earlier material, as well as a selection of reggae covers, and they have occasionally worked with Toots Hibbert over the years. At their New Year’s Eve 2006 concert at Beacon Theatre in New York City, the group brought the legendary Maytals frontman for a full hour set, backing him on some of his most classic songs including “Pressure Drop,” “54-46 Was My Number,” “Reggae Got Soul,” as well as a rendition of Toots’ version of the Radiohead song “Let Down.” That performance is now seeing commercial release April 7th with Dub Side of the Mule, part of a series of archival live recordings being released by Evil Teen Records to celebrate Gov’t Mule’s 20th anniversary this year.

The show also featured a version of “Hard Road,” an unreleased, Selassie-inspired Toots track that’s been a part of the Maytals live show in recent years. With no new Toots material or shows on the horizon, as the singer continues to recover from a head injury sustained in 2013 (get well, brother), we’re pleased to be able to share something fresh from one of our favorite voices, with a premiere of “Hard Road,” as contained on the deluxe edition of Dub Side of the Mule.

>>>Watch Toots x Gov't Mule - "Hard Road" (via LargeUp)