@penguinzzz "Shame there's not more Scofield & Berg but McLaughlin is a nice compensation." Good point. IIRC, Bob Berg did say that a lot of his playing had been edited out. It would be good to hear the unedited versions.
Same. I don't know if I just got tired of it (something that rarely happened with Miles) or what, but I "lent" my copy to a friend, never expecting to get it back.
Does anyone know if there's a chance of an extended album of this, or any of other Miles' albums at some point? Many rock artists are currently issuing box sets or remasters of their work (Beatles, Lennon, Hendrix, Bowie, Dylan, Bush etc). I know Miles has a Bootleg Series but this is moving very slowly.
I was thinking about the Bootleg Series today. At the moment, Bowie and Dylan are getting one release a year (Bowie's isn't exactly the Bootleg Series) and I don't particularly follow The Beatles, but there seem to have been a few legacy releases in the last five years. Miles seems a bit behind, every 18 months - 2 years or so, though I might be wrong. Would be great for them to come up with a coherent plan for the series with year on year releases, especially with (so everyone keeps on saying as I buy more CDs) the death of physical media or at least the CD imminent, there's only so much mile(s)age they can get from taking their time over things.
I remember reading somewhere a few years back that the In A Silent Way box set had been a good consistent seller for Sony. There's also been several other box sets but nothing from Miles's post-retirement period from Sony. Here's hoping!
You’re Under Arrest is my favorite so far among the 80’s albums I think. Just a cool mix of moody, commercial and quirky. And SO 80’s!
Enjoy Arrest pretty good. Was never a fan of Human Nature, but it was better live. Miles recorded a lot of pop covers for the album that weren't included. Along with the uncut jams with Berg, Sco and McLaughlin that'd make a nice box set. And the album was a big seller, so you'd think the concept would make sense for Sony.
IIRC, the late Bob Belden, who worked on a number of the Miles boxed sets, said that there had been plans to release extended versions of Columbia's 80s albums, but the plan was shelved. With luck, it might be resurrected.
Unfortunately I don't detect any enthusiasm for revisiting this period of MD. I think there's a general anti - 80's prejudice at work which doesn't help.
On another note, always nice to revisit Sco tearing it up on Katia - his second last performance as part of MD's band. Notwithstanding Stern's brief return, it was a big change after Scofield left IMO.
Miles' bootleg series releases at least are progressing along faster the The Velvet Underground's. We've still only got one VU BS release, The Quine Tapes, and that was in 2001!
The opening to “One Phone Call” is based on that same guitar riff from The Meters that McLaughlin used on Jack Johnson (and Hendrix used on Band of Gypsys and so on and so on).
Sly used it too, though I can’t remember which song just now. In fact, The Meters might have taken it from Sly.
Yes I always heard it as nod to Sly’s ‘Sing a Simple Song’ - though likely taken from the Hendrix/ Band of Gypsys version in the intro to “We Gotta Live Together” Edit: actually the dates are off for the Hendrix- so Sly was the influence
It's a modified version of the riff from Sly Stone's Sing a Simple Song, as first recorded on the Jack Johnson track Right Off in April 1970. And played live in the early/mid 70s. And then the riff popped up in the 80s again. Nothing to do with The Meters - though I'd be interested to hear that song, which perhaps also lifted Sly's song?
Yeah, we worked that out—I knew it was a Sly song too. It does appear in a Meters song, but they probably lifted it from Sly too. If I could remember which song, I could check the dates.
Not an idiot, you're actually the first one who put it all together. I'd never made the connection between Sing a Simple Song and the Band of Gypsies track and Right Off before, so this has all been interesting. I have all four and should probably make a playlist with them all.
All the best for the season fellow Miles fans! I have really enjoyed reading the comments on this thread - cheers for the excellent 1980s album summaries @rxcory! Hope we can resume the thread in 2019 - what next, Aura or Tutu?
The Gypsys track We Gotta Live Together is really a cover of the 1969 Joe Hicks song "Home Sweet Home" (produced and written by Sly Stone) , then Jimi starts playing the "Sing A Simple Song" riff and Buddy finishes by vamping on the title. Sly Stone should have received writers credit perhaps, but him and Buddy Miles (who receives credit) and Hendix were all friendly at the time. In essence, it's a heavily edited portion of a jam from the middle of a performance of Voodoo Child (Slight Return) that Jimi constructed to fill out the Band of Gypsys album, which he had to deliver against his will due to a contract dispute, and he didn't want to give away too many of his new songs.
