Miles Davis Cookin'/Relaxin'/Steamin'/Workin'...Your Favorite?

There's a lot of talk on this forum about preferred versions of each album, but I don't recall a poll or many threads about the music on one record versus another, so here goes...

Steamin' is my clear favorite among the four. Something about the songs, the flow of the tracks, I don't know. Cookin' would be second on the strength of "My Funny Valentine" and "Airegin" (maybe my favorite tune across all four records).

I've always had the impression that Relaxin' is probably the most popular of the four, so if I didn't screw up the poll, we'll see. I like Relaxin' just fine, but it's my clear fourth.

 

Cookin' is the only one I keep from this group in my collection. I prefer the earlier Prestige albums.

 

Steamin' follow by Cookin'

 

Workin' for It Never Entered My Mind, the quintessential Miles ballad performance IMHO. Four ain't too shabby, either.

 

Relaxin' for If I Had A Bell. It is amazing that all four of these were done in a matter of a few days to get him out of his contract.

 

Workin'

 

1. Steamin'
2. Relaxin'
3. Workin'
4. Cookin'

 

Can't decide. They are all outstanding!

 

Why weren't you his producer/record label ?!?

 

I like them all. Definitely impressive how quickly they were all recorded.

 

Cookin'-but that's the first one of these I got so I am definitely biased!

 

Workin'

It Never Entered My Mind
Four
Ahmad's Blues

Nice poll! I've been reading Miles' autobiography and wanted to do the same, but was too lazy to go back and research if it had been done previously. As much as I like each of these, Walkin' is my favorite of his Prestige works. If the Milt Jackson/Monk session had been released together on one album it would have been a contender.

 

All of the tracks on Cookin' are from the final session. The other tracks from this Oct. '56 session, except "Half Nelson", are on Relaxin'. Enough tracks were recorded for and and a half albums.


Another one I like, which doesn't seem to be mentioned very often, is the Blue Note Volume 2: http://www.allmusic.com/album/miles-davis-vol-2-mw0000010565

 

Does this mean skipping It Never Entered My Mind?
Can't do this!

 

Workin feels like a club set, gets my vote

 

I kind of like the trashy reverb on the early RVG sessions. It adds vintage character.

 

Oh OK. I'll listen and see if I can spot it!

 

I have all the tracks from these four in one playlist on my iPod. I've only ever listened to it on random so I have no idea what songs appear on which albums! So my answer would be that I love them all.

 

A nice compilation of the best-of-the-best clocking at 80 min or less would be interesting.

 

All four equally. Relaxin' was one of the first LPs I bought, quickly followed by the others. I think they cost somewhere around $2.69 each at the time. I still have them.

 

Listened to Workin' this morning and it might be as good as Cookin', after all. "It Never Entered My Mind", "Four", and Brubeck's "In Your Own Sweet Way" is a hell of a 1-2-3 punch to open an album.

It's been a while since I read his autobiography, and I can't recall what Miles thought of these albums. I know he was looking forward to switching over to Columbia, but these weren't your average contract-fulfillers. Or maybe to him they were...

 

Same here. I love these four albums. I have the 45 RPM vinyl box- they sound great!

 

Looked it up fully expecting to read these words: "those sessions were a M.F."

But here's what the man actually had to say: "That was some great music we made at both those sessions and I'm real proud of it today. But this ended my contract with Prestige. I was ready to move on."