To celebrate Traffic guitarist Dave Mason’s birthday today, I’m sharing a song off one of my favorite live albums—Gov’t Mule’s Live… With a Little Help From My Friends. The album captures one of the epic New Year’s Eve shows that Gov’t Mule is known for. The 4-disc box set presents their 1998 NYE show in full. Disc three of the box set has three of the best covers Mule has ever done – Spanish Moon, Cortez the Killer and Sad and Deep as You.

When Warren and Gov’t Mule cover a song, they really make it their own. Their rendition of “Sad and Deep as You” is a perfect example of the Mule taking a great song and transforming into something different while true to the original.

This was from the Mule power-trio days with Allen Woody on bass, Matt Abts on drums and Warren Haynes on guitar and vocals. As the album title mentions, the show was filled with tons of guest appearances. “Sad and Deep As You” features Chuck Leavell on keys and Randall Bramblett on saxophone. It’s Bramblett’s sax playing that really puts this one over the top for me. This 14 minute version will leave you begging for more.