Official Electric Miles Davis Thread

Re: In A Silent Way.

I've been listening to this album for more than 25 years, and I was wondering if one of you could solve a minor mystery for me. What IS that sound that occurs -- possibly by accident -- on 'Shhh/Peaceful' at 04:25, and again at 16.22?

It's a percussive, dissonant sound that doesn't correlate to any of the instruments that are listed. It sounds a bit like someone hitting two top bars of a marimba (but that's not really a close enough description).

I've never seen it mentioned in any sleevenote that I've read, so maybe nobody else has ever wondered about it.

But I do... Does anyone happen to know?

 

Could it be a bottle? This is from the Laswell interview I linked in an earlier post: "...the original In A Silent Way contained some pretty brutal edits. So I tried to build up more of a composed piece with a flow, using that bowed bass as an opener. There were also some loud sounds which we ducked, such as a bottle falling on the piano and some talking that no-one had bothered to edit out 30 years ago." Macero repeated sections so might explain why it appears twice.

 

Apologies. I put the link on another Miles thread. Here it is: http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/may98/articles/billlaswell.html

 

It sounds like that to me. And yes, the entire first six minutes or so of Shh/Peaceful is repeated at the end.

 

A bottle... yes, that must be it!

Thanks so much. Mystery solved.

 

Glad to help

Would love to know what was in the bottle though!

 

This is more of a Visual Arts question, but since the "Electric Miles" DVD was being discussed earlier, I will bring it up here.

I just bought that DVD and played it for the first time yesterday. In the Audio Setup, I wasn't able to click on the PCM Stereo option, only between DTS 5.1 and whatever the other 5.1 is. Played through my regular stereo setup, it still sounded excellent, but why would I not be able to choose PCM Stereo?

 

Miles electric era always leaving me wanting more . . .

 

Did you see my response to the thread you started on this? The default is pcm stereo, you don't have to choose it. You'll see a dash (-) before the words 'pcm stereo' in the audio options menu, which I take it to mean is the dvd's way of telling you to do nothing if you want stereo. Enjoy.

 

Finally got a copy of the 1978 Coryell session. Miles may not play trumpet but you can tell he's there. Worth a listen for those of you who enjoyed that other Miles-free track, 'Turn of the Century.'

Also got to hear the alt. takes of 'Back Seat Betty.' I don't think Miles had changed his attitude to making music from his 70's methods at that point. Good stuff.

 

That 1978 session has attained almost mythical status amongst Miles fans. I was disappointed it wasn't included on the On The Corner boxed set. Can you describe the music? Pete Losin dismisses it on his Miles Ahead website.

And how do the alternate versions of BSB compare with the released version?

 

I'm still gathering my thoughts on the '78 session. It wouldn't sound out of place in the middle of the OTC box, ore next to 1976's 'Turn of the Century.' The multiple takes are almost begging to be edited together into a 20 to 30 minute track.

As for 'Back Seat Betty', I don't have The Man With The Horn to compare, but it sounds a lot like the live takes on 'We Want Miles', which I do have. That's a good thing, by the way. Some nasty, fuzzed up guitar in there too. I guess either of these takes could also have been edited down by a few minutes to make an LP version. Miles sounds pretty healthy on there, and he's playing lines that wouldn't be out of place on Bitches Brew.

 

I have read suggestions that one of them *is* the released version in unedited form, but can't confirm at this point.

 

Many thanks evilcat and pbuzby.

 

+1

i am pretty impressed by ability of evilcat to come from Mo wax and switch to Miles with intensity.....
... and attack Coryell discography... WOW

 

Thanks for the compliment

To put things into perspective... I have roughly the same number of Miles CD's as I do Sonic Youth CD's... When I love music, I really love it, and we all know Miles is worth the intensity!

 

Yeehhh..Pete Cosey! Love the pic! I've been jamming to acid funk Miles all day, and as I'm writing this, Pete Cosey is shredding up the guitars for the tenth time on side two of Dark Magus. Yeeehh this music rocks. Whenever I need to feel better, I'll just throw on Magus and headbang to its voodoo thrash.

I can only imagine how scary and alien this sounded back in the '70s. Miles 1973-75 acid funk band was the heaviest, fastest, meanest sound on the planet. To me and my generation, raised on Metallica, Dead Kennedys, Sonic Youth, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Radiohead, Public Enemy, this is normal. I still feel like we're catching up to Miles. We've captured elements of the sound, but have yet to integrate the whole. There really is nothing else like this sound.

Get Up With It, Dark Magus, Agharta, Pangaea - those four albums just reside in their own universe.

Oh, and Pete Cosey is a guitar god. Why isn't there a line of bands and rappers lined around the block to beg him to play on their albums? Give me his address and I'll take the next bus

 

Here's an essay about Miles Davis' Pangaea that I wrote for my blog, Videogames of the Damned. It's a pretty good one...I hope you enjoy.

Some Thoughts on Miles Davis' Pangaea

 

Thanks, that was good reading and made me relisten to that great music.

 

I certainly did Daniel - thanks for posting it. You're right that Pete Cosey hasn't had the recognition he so richly deserves. Let's hope a 1975 boxed set emerges one day.

 

Thanks for the kind words. I know there's a lot of excellent talent in the 1973-75 band, so it seems a bit unfair to single out Pete Cosey. I think it's just the shock of discovering a guitar god who remained so obscure. He never appeared on an album after Miles Davis? How is that even possible?! I'm stunned that he didn't become famous in the '90s. There should have been rock bands and rappers lined up around the block to get to him. Play on our album, play on our album!

 

He has been on some albums after Miles, with the highest-profile being Herbie Hancock's Future Shock. Kind of a reclusive guy.

 

Of all the Miles boxes this is definitely my favourite, although if I'm pushed I'd say that the albums from the quintet of '65-68 are responsible for my favorite Miles Davis period, but there is something dark, murky & intense in the OTC era that cannot be shaken & it demands your attention.

 

Yeah, Star People is an excellent album, better than The Man With The Horn, Miles's playing sounds a little weak on that one, I do also really like Decoy -its perhaps a little commercial here n' there (not as commercial as You're Under Arrest), but it has some strong compositions & that was a good line up of musicians he had going on there for a while.

 

Couldn't agree more. There's an interview here, where Pete describes the problems he had after leaving Miles's bands.

http://www.thelastmiles.com/interviews-pete-cosey.php