Miles' "On the Corner"

I keep meaning to revisit Jack Johnson because it's never made much impact on me.

(x-post)

This is one of my 2 favorite Miles albums (if one can have such a thing). The other is "Get Up With It," so take that how you may.

It's one of the dirtiest and most frantic records I've ever owned. It's like a frantic machine-guns-and-motorcycles chase seen through the streets of the crowdedest city on Earth on the hottest day of the year during rush hour.

Hah, completely OTM, but I have to admit that in practice this translates into something midly irritating..

the best thing about this period is that miles thought it might get him through to the kids but he failed completely. one of the best-sounding failures to meet an objective ever.

fusion was also the death of jazz in many ways.

It's funny how Miles was trying to hook the kids like Sly and James Brown did, but he created this utterly dark, ferociously hectic album instead. On The Corner will freak out many more partiers than it will inspire them to dance. I've never heard such menacing hand claps in my life. And, yes, OTC *is* funky, but in an alien way. OTC was way ahead of its time and remains one of my favorite albums ever.

What'd you think about Miles Beyond, the other electric Miles book? And how are you going about things differently?

I thought the Tingen book was pretty good, but like every other writer on Miles to date, he gave unfairly short shrift to the 1980s material. I think that's the biggest difference between my book (Running The Voodoo Down: The Electric Music Of Miles Davis, coming out from Backbeat Books in spring 2005) and all the others before it. I started listening to Miles in 1986 or 1987, and I have always heard Tutu and You're Under Arrest on the same plane as Kind Of Blue or Milestones or Bitches Brew or whatever. (In fact, I don't like BB all that much; the first two tracks are great, but some of the other stuff really plods.)

The other big difference is, I deliberately set out not to write a biography. I didn't interview hardly anybody; the book is criticism, pretty much from front to back. There are facts present, of course, but I didn't feel the need to be the 4000th guy to ask Herbie Hancock what he thought about switching to electric piano for Miles In The Sky, or whatever. I wrote my book by reading all the others, listening to all the albums, reading a shitload of other stuff, and gathering my own thoughts on Miles. So you get Miles from a 32-year-old metalhead's perspective.

I expand the scope a little, too. I talk about his sidemen's (and ex-sidemen's) records - Mahavishnu Orchestra, Tony Williams Lifetime, Mwandishi, the Headhunters, Return To Forever. I talk about James Brown, Jimi Hendrix and Sly Stone. I talk about bands today that are exploring Miles's ideas, like Burnt Sugar and DJ Krush and Tim Hagans and some of the Thirsty Ear Blue Series guys, plus that Henry Kaiser/Wadada Leo Smith project Yo Miles. It's probably gonna be received by the jazz press as a bizarre melange of useless tangents and ranting, but fuck 'em. One of the things I say early on is that I think everybody has their own Miles. I decided to write a book about mine.

Honestly, I was just discussing this with Dahlen the other day: Miles' 70s stuff? SO much has been written about it, but it's all, yeah, mostly the same. I think people have spent a lot of energy rehashing what Miles' motivations were—who he was listening to, etc.—but almost none figuring out what he actually did on those records.

So, needless to say, I'm looking forward to your 32-y/o metalhead perspective. Maybe you can find some obscure connection between Pete Cosey and Yngwie Malmsteen.

btw, i always thought it was greg tate who got more critics to take 70s miles more seriously.

otc is halfway to kraftwerk on the stiff funk meter, but only halfway. who in the post punk world was avowedly influenced by this stuff? i always used to mix otc and agharta into metal box and hex enduction hour.

I listen to Jack Johnson and Get Up With It a lot, and regard those two as the best electric Miles records. And Agartha, but I'm a bit burnt on that one these days, having listened to it quite a bit over the last few years. Altho there's lot of great stuff on other records. On the Corner is something I admire and in certain moods really like a lot, but it's never gotten me like JJ or GUWI. I bought the remastered CD recently and have been listening to it more, and I've come to appreciate it a lot more.

this is my favorite miles after in a silent way.

I haven't actually heard this one but it sounds like it would be my favourite album ever.

since when is funk not about finding new alien ways of being funky? It's one of the funkiest things I've ever heard

But yes, he's more fair than, say, Bill Cole was. And it's light years beyond that Ornette book, where the author refers to all the Prime Time stuff as having "emphasis on the 2nd and 4th beats".

These two artists have very dissimilar approaches. Apples and oranges. This looks like the ol' 'let-me-pull-a-couple-names-out-of-a-hat' trick to me.

what if art ensemble of chicago had a funk rhythm section

Have you ever heard their music? Was there a more versatile double-bassist than Malachi Favors? They're quite capable of playing in just about any style they wish, as needs arise. But what about their very singular music do you find unsatisfactory? i.e. why would you ask them to blithely gesture when they've spent lifetimes cultivating a sound that is very much their own ( hint: they don't sound like "coltrone/coleman" either)

Anyway, On the Corner is a definite top-5 Miles disc. Used to consider it my all-time fave, but I'm not so sure now. Yes, handclaps! ALso sitar and cowbell.

Ha! Same here. One of those records you instinctively understand (or not ;) even if it's like nothing you've ever heard before. First jazz (or should that be "jazz"?) record I ever bought and still my favorite of his (together with Bitches Brew, never can decide which is my fave/fave).

(ok i can really, but it's just so... not quite funky, but... maybe jess is otm.)

xpost giving that playlist a listen now, thanks! even that smaller selection adds up to an hour and a half, but that's approachable for me. i do get overwhelmed by massive boxsets, so this is nice.

1. One And One (unedited master) - this is a completely different track!

Here's some comments I found on the Steve Hoffman forum. I'm still confused:

> Again, don't know what happened here, but this is *not* the unedited master of "One and One", but entire different tune altogether. My notes show that this has been partly released before in
> 1998 on "Panthalassa: The Music of Miles Davis 1969–1974", under the title "What If", mixed by Bill Laswell.

> "One and One" on the original album is really Black Satin.

> The discography lists "Black Satin" as being an overdubbed edit from the "On the Corner" master, while it is obviously an overdubbed edit of the "Helen Butte/Mr.Freedom X" master.

Giving your list a try now. Unlike the other complete sessions sets, I feel like I didn't give this one the attention it deserves because I never got a physical copy.

"One and One" is basically an alternate/dub mix of "Black Satin." Less melodic, more focused on the groove. The long opening track "On the Corner...Vote for Miles" and the long closing track "Helen Butte/Mr. Freedom X" are lengthy studio jams sliced up by Macero.

There was a single released, "Molester," which is "Black Satin" chopped into two parts like a James Brown single.

To be clear, “One and One” on the On the Corner LP is indeed a mix of “Black Satin.” “One and One – Unedited Master” on the box is a completely different track, none of which appears on “One and One” or the LP best as I can tell. Unless some of the solos are spliced on to the “Black Satin” groove?

this album has come to rule my life after years of love and affection. I listen to it every day. I listen to it slowed down. I listen to it sped up. I listen to this incredible 1972 Palo Alto show (an attendee says every non-percussion instrument was hooked up to a wah-wah pedal). I love this fucking music so much

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyBUUUj306M

whoa never heard that show, thanks

Thanks, flappy--killer show. OTC era live band is super underrated/under-documented and I haven't explored too much beyond the In Concert album.

Lately I've been obsessed with this boot from January 1974 (Dark Magus band), especially the Ife that opens set 2, early drum machine sputtering in and out of the mix:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTT9pyfVAx0

This Palo Alto show is killer!

They really need to do an In Concert/Dark Magus/Pangaea/Argarta-era live box

the story about New Riders of the Purple Sage playing after Miles is pretty funny and depressing. Lots of fist fights

If you haven't been following it yet, I highly recommend The Heat Warps, a project that is "exploring every available Miles Davis concert recording from 1969 through 1975 in chronological order". It just recently got into 1970, a lot of good material to come.

from the comments on that 1972 Palo Alto show, Eric Golub:

I was at this concert! In fact it was my first Miles Davis concert. On this tour, Miles introduced the new "On The Corner' sound -- but the "On The Corner" record wasn't released until a few weeks later! So we were a little puzzled, if awestruck. My buddy who was sitting next to me made a photo that day; I'm trying to find my copy of it to post! Every non-percussion individual in this band was playing through a wah-wah pedal -- including the soprano sax player (whom we'd never heard of, and who wasn't long in the touring group) and the electric sitarist. It was outdoors on a cool, overcast day. Miles Davis was, incongruously, the opening act; after his set, the New Riders of The Purple Sage performed. The contrast in musical styles and lack of demographic overlap was perhaps the most extreme I've ever experienced, in 50 years of concertizing & attending performances! Miles had his serious car crash just a couple weeks after this as well, and my next Miles Davis concert was spring '73 in Berkeley, in which Miles was on crutches -- and mustachioed as well. Dave Liebman had replaced Carlos Garnett, and I believe the electric sitarist was gone, but not the tabla player Badal Roy.

another comment by someone else:

I was there also, my buddies and I drove up from San Luis Obispo to see the show. It was new music from Miles I had not heard before from his new album "On the Corner" which as you mentioned was released by Columbia weeks later. The stark contrast in mood that Miles set for the audience was punctured by the onset of country-rock/ Grateful Dead influenced Bay Area rock band New Riders of the Purple Sage who definitely was challenged to keep the audience after Miles's departure. I too was disappointed by the fist-fights that punctuated an otherwise pleasant afternoon of Miles and his band. I couldn't understand why violence would take place among such wonderful music and outdoor ampitheater ambiance.

xp

amazing thanks!!

In Concert is so sick, I don’t mind the rough audio quality

I adore it as well. The “Rated X” open alone is worth the proverbial price of admission.

Just discussed this with a friend, I would really like to hear actual sessions from this album (as opposed to other tracks – tho they are generally quite good during this era). There was so much post-production and editing going on with those sessions that supposedly Herbie Hancock heard a track he was on from OTC and didn’t even recognize it. Whether or not that was actually true, I think it would be illuminating to hear, for instance, what the studio take(s) of something like “Rated X” or “He Loved Him Madly” actually sounded like in the studio.

As for the former, I think it was Jack Chambers who first floated that Teo Macero pasted a Miles organ part over a rhythm section from a completely different piece. I’m slightly doubtful of that story as In Concert reveals Miles conducting that track more or less as it appeared on OTC. But, you know, session tapes would clear that up.

Aren't the un-messed with tracks on the "Comnplete On The Corner" box?

yeah, some of them are.

at this point, i honestly wouldn't be surprised if columbia just started releasing all of the unused studio stuff, like they did here.

whoa, wtf, never seen that!

lol Miles / New Riders reminds me of the time I saw William Parker & Hamid Drake open for Akron/Family. Maybe not quite as stark, but the deep, cleansing spiritual vibe and incredible rhythm of the openers was so amazing that I couldn't even stand being in the room for Akron/Family's just ok freakfolk whatever afterwards and had to leave

"only attending for the opener" are some of my favorite show memories, so i always love hearing similar stories.

That Freedom Jazz Dance set is sadly (but maybe not surprisingly) underwhelming. Obviously, being a fly on the wall in a Miles session will never be uninteresting, but there’s nothing approaching a revelation, and it’s the one posthumous release where you think, yeah, Teo Macero was right when he said Miles would never have allowed any of this stuff to be released had he lived.

Yeah, I didn't understand why that was a volume in the Bootleg Series and not a super deluxe edition of the album in question.

That Freedom Jazz Dance set is sadly (but maybe not surprisingly) underwhelming.

honestly, it made me lose interest in the bootleg series to the point that i just now looked and found out that volume six was live stuff with the coltrane-era band and that it has already been available for two years. my reaction? meh.

On April 30th, bought (or at least, paid for) the newly-discovered dead stock (presumably) copies of several of the "metal spine" boxes I missed back in the day, including 'On the Corner' from the official Miles Davis web shop. Now it's just a funny passtime where I periodically check the order summary to verify that the order has been neither cancelled nor status updated (no way, "shipped"). Maybe they'll get around to refunding me the several-hundred dollars or shipping next year...

Oh shit, have you not gotten yours? I have a friend that got a bunch of them. I didn’t pop for OTC yet but am still thinking about it.

As for outtakes, I don’t know about that Freedom Jazz Dance Bootleg Series set, but a bunch of the Bitches Brew outtakes that hit YT a few years back were pretty revelatory:

https://youtu.be/84QDf5vCOgU

I didn’t pop for OTC yet but am still thinking about it.

It doesn't seem to be listed anymore, I get a "Product currently not available." for it. Most others are still there though.

honestly, it made me lose interest in the bootleg series to the point that i just now looked and found out that volume six was live stuff with the coltrane-era band and that it has already been available for two years. my reaction? meh.

― Totally different head. Totally. (Austin), Tuesday, July 21, 2020 9:39 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

The first three sets (1967 and 1969 live stuff with DVDs, the Fillmore box) were so great. Then there was that stupid Newport set, about half of which was previously-released, followed by Freedom Jazz Dance. No wonder people stopped caring about future releases. But the 1960 box with Coltrane is brilliant.

The freedom jazz dance set does not make for fun listening imo. I was surprised at how much I did not enjoy this glimpse behind the curtain as it were.

After reading Miles' autobio, where he mentioned that the band seemed frustrated that they never played the stuff they were recording at gigs, I too felt that it was a real missed opportunity. For all his pushing his musicians, he seemed to feel that playing the standard repertoire every night was the safer bet.

the band seemed frustrated that they never played the stuff they were recording at gigs

"Footprints," "Gingerbread Boy," "Masqualero," "Riot," and "Agitation" were all regularly played in 1967 (though those five might've been the only contemporary pieces they performed live).

That said, the band stretched out waaayyy more on the live standards than they did on the studio recordings of new pieces. The Plugged Nickel performances of warhorses like "Walkin'" or "Four" are much more daring than anything on E.S.P. or Miles Smiles.

The Palo Alto show is fucking great & noisy & weird!

They really need to do an In Concert/Dark Magus/Pangaea/Argarta-era live box

― The Mandymoorian (Whiney G. Weingarten), Monday, July 20, 2020 12:34 PM (two days ago) bookmarkflaglink

This, though considering Sony/Columbia still hasn't managed to issue Pangaea or Argarta as properly mastered CDs in the domestic US, I am not holding my breath

That said, the band stretched out waaayyy more on the live standards than they did on the studio recordings of new pieces.

yeah, i mean, that stuff is well-nigh unrecognizable a lot of the time.

I actually enjoyed that Freedom Jazz Dance set, but I think I like hearing bands rehearse and uncut session recordings more than other people. it's definitely the bootleg series i return to the least. The Newport set was kind of a lame concept but it does have plenty of killer stuff on it.

Thanks for the recs on the live versions of of the Shorter-penned material. I've never had the Plugged Nickel set, but clearly I need to dig into it via streaming. Masqualero is a favorite of mine so I'm eager to check that out.

If you haven't been following it yet, I highly recommend The Heat Warps, a project that is "exploring every available Miles Davis concert recording from 1969 through 1975 in chronological order". It just recently got into 1970, a lot of good material to come.

― soaring skrrrtpeggios (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Monday, July 20, 2020 1:55 PM (one year ago) bookmarkflaglink

I've been catching up on the shows posted on The Heat Warps, currently flipping out over this footage of the On the Corner band from NYC, January 1973 (afaik the only circulating footage of this line-up). From the mega-rare 1974 documentary Prince of Darkness. It feels beamed in from another dimension--washed-out 16mm film with occasional trippy kaleidoscope effects; Miles higher than a kite with trademark big sunglasses, afro, and rare mustache; dark, manic voodoo funk.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYsCJuPFLMw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1BfHOtKDcHU

Fifty years old as of Tuesday. Still sounds incredible to these ears. One of my bigger Miles related disappointments remains missing out on the complete sessions box. You'd think there would be good money in his estate keeping those boxes in print, even if later versions forego the fancy box like the original version.

it’s definitely a weird time for CDs in general

listened to this record driving home late last night — an optimal experience! still sounds so dense and dangerous and weird.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Fe1ENe-aMAAOOOY?format=jpg&name=small

xpost - Oh definitely, but it seems to me like bigger box sets like this still seem to sell rather well, at least for legacy artists like this.

I wrote about it for my weekly email newsletter.

Fantastic article, you highlighted a lot of the little details that have enthralled me. And the story about the car crash, damn!

yeah that was great, thanks

50 years ago this eve, Miles began a 6-night stay at Marvelous Marv's in Denver, CO - a venue that would become Ebbet's Field the following year.

"On the Corner" was released during the residency and though no tapes circulate, all accounts suggest the band boogied hard. 1/4 pic.twitter.com/Z3peVj2C9N

— Jeremy Erwin (@theheatwarps) October 10, 2022

hink he means "legendary"? Milesologists think it did happen:

In a 2020 interview, Mtume spoke of a mythical 3-hour set the band played during this run, with Miles collapsing in the elevator post-gig (that portion begins around 12-minutes in). 2/4https://t.co/bbNgxBeTjA

— Jeremy Erwin (@theheatwarps) October 10, 2022

also from that thread:

Yep. Here’s the full lineup:

Miles Davis (trumpet)⁰Carlos Garnett (soprano sax)⁰Reggie Lucas (guitar)⁰Khalil Balakrishna (electric sitar)⁰Cedric Lawson (organ)⁰Michael Henderson (electric bass)⁰Al Foster (drums)⁰Mtume (conga, percussion)⁰Badal Roy (tabla)

— Jeremy Erwin (@theheatwarps) October 10, 2022

super good, unperson. thanks!

I don't remember a lot of the box having much to do with the album or sessions for it---mainly an unnecessary reminder of how fast he was moving in those days---but worth hearing, sure, as long as you're not expecting any OTC revelations.

I wrote about it for my weekly email newsletter.

― but also fuck you (unperson), Thursday, October 13, 2022 11:24 AM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

Fantastic article, you highlighted a lot of the little details that have enthralled me. And the story about the car crash, damn!

― Gerald McBoing-Boing, Thursday, October 13, 2022 2:22 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

until Robocop verifies it happened, i can't believe it.

Speaking of how fast Miles was moving, as awesome as the Dark Magus/Agartha two-guitar thing was, I'm a big fan of the rather less-documented OTC-era version of this band. AFAIK, In Concert at the Philharmonic is among the only real documents where we hear what On the Corner might've sounded like live. The version of "Rated X" that kicks off the record--with its ever-so-slow build and introduction of different elements and the bass groove not entering until about six minutes in--has always felt to me more like a proper extension than its studio counterpart (which is insane and amazing).

I believe I've seen clips of a video of this band, but, yeah, if there's some three hour bootleg of this lineup kicking around, sign me the fuck up.

https://theheatwarps.com/category/1972/

for your live electric miles needs