The Miles Davis album-by-album thread

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by KevinP, Jan 16, 2008.

  1. George P

    George P Notable Member

    Location:
    NYC
    Mook and crispi like this.
  2. crispi

    crispi Vinyl Archaeologist

    Location:
    Berlin
    RPOZ51 and George P like this.
  3. ohnothimagen

    ohnothimagen "Live music is better!"

    Location:
    Canada
    Got it!:D Only listened to disc one so far but I'm digging it. Much better sound than the '72 Boston Pall's Mall show...
    That he did! I like how he can hold the pocket -playing the same riff over and over and not make it sound boring, "Black Satin", for example- and then out of the blue just rattle off some crazy lick that makes you ask "Where the hell did that come from?!" I like 50's Miles, 60's Miles -not a big fan of the Gil Evans collaborations though- but the 70's period is rapidly becoming my favourite mainly due to Henderson's bass playing.
     
    Roberto899, Crispy Rob and crispi like this.
  4. Yesternow

    Yesternow Forum pResident

    Location:
    Portugal
    "In a silent way" and "Jack Johnson" complete sessions are part of the past on this thread.
    Just a note for those who liked the more introspective tracks. Check these ones for similar mood:
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    The big difference: no Miles Davis on these sessions pushing everybody else to their "artistic" limit.
     
    Runicen, Bobby Buckshot and crispi like this.
  5. crispi

    crispi Vinyl Archaeologist

    Location:
    Berlin
    Continuing with our Miles chronology, we arrive in the year 1973, which is relatively uneventful when it comes to both studio and official live recordings.

    But before we move on, let's make a short stop-off and delve into a bit of a mystery. There is the stray studio track "Calypso Frelimo" from that year that will eventually end up on the album Get Up with It (which we will discuss when we get to 1974), but there is also that rare single-only release (promo-only) from Miles:

    Big Fun/Holly-wuud
    [​IMG]

    Recorded on July 26, 1973, this is basically a jam, the two tracks being different sections/takes of the same tune. The Complete On the Corner set contains two unedited takes of the tune, plus also the edited single versions.

    But while researching Miles's discography, I stumbled upon something previously unknown to me: according to the unoffical Miles discography, July 26, 1973 was a session dedicated entirely to tracks that ended up on Columbia singles. Apart from the before-mentioned "Holly-wuud/Big Fun", there was also the track "Molester" and new version of "Great Expectations/Orange Lady" and "The Little Blue Frog (Go Ahead John)". The last one is weird, because "The Little Blue Frog" is a track first recorded at the end of 1969, while "Go Ahead John" was from 1970, and they are not the same track. Hold that thought for a moment.

    Let's now look at "Molester":

    [​IMG]

    See how the label has a 1972 copyright? Well, the Miles discography definitely states this was recorded in July, 1973. Also, note how this was not a promo-only release, but apparently a regular release.

    A little more research reveals that the entire session was not only released on individual singles, but also on an LP in 1987, which contains on its A-side the Isle of Wight concert of 1971:

    [​IMG]

    The Discogs notes for this LP state: "B side contains the tracks from the 7" singles Davis did for promotional purposes throughout the 70s. The recordings are from 1969-1973. The record was pressed in very limited quantities and distributed in Europe only". Notice how they say the recordings are from 1969-1973, which could mean that in fact the discography is wrong for listing "Great Expectations" and "Little Blue Frog" as having being re-recorded at the 1973 date. It would also be pretty untypical of Miles to go back to such old tracks and re-record them in the studio.

    Even if we forget about the two older tunes and suppose those are listed incorrectly as being from 1973, this still leaves us with "Molester" — why hasn't this track been released on the Complete On the Corner sessions box, if it's from the same session and has seen official release both in 1973 and in 1987?

    Well, let's finally unveil the mystery. Coming to the rescue, the site Miles Ahead contains the crucial bit of information that clears it all up. On the session information for June 6, 1972, the track "Black Satin" contains the following note: "Issued in two parts, "Molester, part 1" (3:03) and "Molester, part 2" (2:09) on Columbia 45709 and CBS 450472". So, there you go. "Molester" is actually "Black Satin". That explains the "1972" copyright date on the label of the single. It also explains why that track hasn't appeared again since under that name.
     
    hyde park, LarsO, subtr and 8 others like this.
  6. crispi

    crispi Vinyl Archaeologist

    Location:
    Berlin
    The Zawinul album, recorded in 1970, should be very interesting to Miles fans because it contains Joe Zawinul's original orchestration for In a Silent Way, with all those chords that Miles got rid of for. Also, it's interesting to note that the Weather Report album, recorded in 1971, is pretty much in the style of Miles's band from 1969 and early 1970. That's doesn't look like a big time difference, but things were moving so fast at that time that it's actually quite surprising to see that the band without Miles reverted to an older style. Of course, Weather Report would later move on to create their own distinctive style.
     
  7. ohnothimagen

    ohnothimagen "Live music is better!"

    Location:
    Canada
    Dunno about Weather Report, but John McLaughlin's guitar work with Miles has piqued my curiosity about the Mahavishnu Orchestra...might seem like a dumb question but are are they worth checking out?
     
    DTK likes this.
  8. Mook

    Mook Forum Resident

    Yes, yes, yes & yes.
     
    IanL and crispi like this.
  9. Thoughtships

    Thoughtships Forum Resident

    Location:
    Devon, UK
    Yes. The Mahavishnu Orchestra are totally brilliant. You can get a box of their best five albums cheap as chips. Highly recommended for Miles fans.
     
    crispi likes this.
  10. ohnothimagen

    ohnothimagen "Live music is better!"

    Location:
    Canada
    'Kay:righton: I'll try and track some of their stuff down then.
     
    Mook likes this.
  11. DTK

    DTK Forum Resident

    Location:
    Europe
    I think their first 2 albums towers over everything else they did.
     
    ohnothimagen and Yesternow like this.
  12. Yesternow

    Yesternow Forum pResident

    Location:
    Portugal
    Don't expect the "in a silent way" guitar sound; "Inner Mounting Flame" is a sonic bomb compared to it.
    Amazing songs on that one. Wonder what people felt when they listened to it back then - it was louder and faster than rock acts.
    Still remember when I first heard "You know, you know": almost had a heart attack on that first guitar strike. I really jumped off my seat.
    Cobham's work on the drums alone is worth the money.

    They have a pearl on their second album: "Miles beyond". Different from the rest of what they were doing. But if you love Miles Davis you'll fell the connection.
     
    fredhammersmith and Mook like this.
  13. Beatnik_Daddyo'73

    Beatnik_Daddyo'73 Music Addiction Personified

    ...nice work @crispi :righton:

    The On The Corner Sessions is my favorite of Miles’ box sets. Love that “Holly-Wuud” single too. Would have REALLY liked the inclusion of the “Molester” single even if it’s just an edit of “Black Satin”.
     
    crispi and Crispy Rob like this.
  14. pbuzby

    pbuzby Senior Member

    Location:
    Chicago, IL, US
    Putting "Black Satin" on 45 and changing the title to "Molester." I wonder who thought that was a good idea.
     
    crispi likes this.
  15. crispi

    crispi Vinyl Archaeologist

    Location:
    Berlin
    Very good question. Which led me to do some more research. Actually, I wondered if it’s not the other way around, and according to this site, the Molester single came out in September 1972, while the album proper came out in October, according to Wiki. So it seems, they decided to change the title from “Molester”, not to “Molester”. A wise idea.
     
    LarsO, George P and DTK like this.
  16. DTK

    DTK Forum Resident

    Location:
    Europe
    Miles was charged with "imprisoning" a woman in his brownstone in July '72, maybe the title was a wry response to that incident.
     
    crispi likes this.
  17. DTK

    DTK Forum Resident

    Location:
    Europe
    Must pick up a copy of Zawinul!
    You're right about the first Weather Report album, it does sound a lot like Miles' band of the 69/early 70 period. I've been trying to get into it, but find it rather dull unfortunately. Miles' own comment on Weather Report from a 70s interview: "It's foggy, man!" :D
     
    crispi likes this.
  18. Roberto899

    Roberto899 Forum Resident

    Location:
    California
    You nailed it with Michael Henderson!! That's what I love too.
     
    ohnothimagen and crispi like this.
  19. 93curr

    93curr Senior Member

    Has anyone ever actually heard the 'Molester' single? I believe I only first heard about it in Jack Chambers's biography and, even there, he didn't seem to knw what it was. Kind of amazing to me that it's never shown up on YouTube. According to (at least) second-hand accounts on the internet, it's presumably a very different mix than 'Black Satin', but I'd love to know just how different. As you state, it's not included in the ITC box set, but the label photo is in the booklet, so it's not as if they's just forgotten its existence.
     
    crispi and Beatnik_Daddyo'73 like this.
  20. crispi

    crispi Vinyl Archaeologist

    Location:
    Berlin
    I saw copies on Discogs for $5 (US-based), so maybe someone wants to buy one and upload it to Youtube?
     
  21. Yesternow

    Yesternow Forum pResident

    Location:
    Portugal
    If you know Joe...

    Joe Harley Active Member
    The single was called "The Molester". Miles had just been arrested in NY for supposedly molesting a woman.
    I still have a DJ copy of it.
    Dec 21, 2007
     
    crispi likes this.
  22. DTK

    DTK Forum Resident

    Location:
    Europe
    Yeah, I have a vinyl rip of it. Will listen now and report back.

    EDIT. I wouldn't say "Molester" is a very different mix. It's basically the album version of "Black Satin" divided into side A and B. The mix is slightly different perhaps, but nothing sticks out.
     
    Last edited: Dec 9, 2017
    crispi likes this.
  23. crispi

    crispi Vinyl Archaeologist

    Location:
    Berlin
    Thanks for having a listen. I haven’t heard it, but it might even be that there isn’t a mix difference at all. Columbia are known for mastering their singles very differently than their LPs, with more aggressive treble and more compression. Sometimes the difference is so big that people who don’t know the distinction between mixing and mastering confuse it for the former. Plus, this was released less than a month before the album proper, by which time the LP mixes were presumably long finished in order to facilitate the LP to be released on time.
     
    DTK likes this.
  24. DTK

    DTK Forum Resident

    Location:
    Europe
    Yes, I think you're on to something. It's probably only a punchier mastering.
    Probably the reason the 45 sides weren't included on the box set.
     
    crispi likes this.
  25. Yesternow

    Yesternow Forum pResident

    Location:
    Portugal
    Never thought I would find tracks like these on the "complete" boxes:
    The ghetto walk
    Guinevere/ Corrado
    Duran/ Konda
    Jabali and specially: peace
    Maybe they weren't the right sound for the time. I really enjoy hearing them now.

    I also never thought that I would prefer the larger/unedited versions. The "on the corner" tracks make more sense to me on their complete versions.
    Just starting to get upset thinking about the "Yesternow" edits.
     

Share This Page

molar-endocrine