[rating=3.00]
If you’ve ever seen and heard Warren Haynes perform Otis Redding and Delbert McClinton covers, you know he has more than a passing interest in both soul and rhythm and blues. But the passion in this man’s singing on “Save Me,” the final cut on Man in Motion, borders on desperation: arguably the most confessional vocal he’s ever done, this single performance alone is enough to redeem the inconsistencies that otherwise afflict the exercise in style that constitute his second solo album.
Left to his own production devices in collaboration with Gordie Johnson (who’s produced the last two Gov’t Mule studio sessions), Haynes keeps the vocals in direct proportion to his guitar playing throughout an album crafted as homage to soul, notably released on the Stax label. He wisely allows Ruthie Foster to wail rather than indulge himself in any vocal histrionics, the kind of restraint that also earmarks the reading of William Bell’s “Every Day Will Be Like a Holiday:.” Here Ivan Neville’s presence on vocals and keyboards (oddly more prominent than George Porter Jr. on bass) are essential to a fairly authentic cover.
Still, that track reminds how fortunate Warren Haynes didn’t do an album of all covers in this genre of choice, though the blues-based “Your Wildest Dreams” comes close. His preference to keep his guitar tones clean and uncluttered is one of the most distinctive features of Man in Motion: at his best, Haynes is a raw yet melodic guitarist, an approach he uses pointedly on the title track which runs close to eight minutes without dragging in the least.
On “River’s Gonna Rise” (only slighter shorter), the lyrics move from the personal to the universal and back again as drummer Raymond Webber hammers out a portentous rhythm. But “On a Real Lonely Night” is a bit too short on substance to support Ron Holloway’s rounds on saxophone and “Sick of My Shadow” could likewise use some editing. In those moments, plus the too-close for comfort rewrite of “In the Midnight Hour” called “Take A Bullet,” the thought occurs that a selected run of shows recorded live with this all-star band might’ve sufficed for Warren Haynes to fulfill his eclectic ambition. But then, as he sings on “Take A Bullet:” ‘headfirst is the only way into life.’ The man’s wholehearted devotion to his muse is, in the end, what makes Man in Motion memorable.
