![]() ![]() Carlos was coming off the massive commercial success highs of three critically acclaimed Santana albums, but was moving away from the Latin rock format he had pioneered and was taking more and more aggressive steps towards focusing his attentions and talents on fusion jazz.Ĭarlos though was a huge fan of Jimi Hendrix, very evident in his pre-studio and early studio playing techniques and extremely evident in the unreleased 1967 single “Ballin'” a gigantic homage to Jimi! The chance to team up with Band Of Gypsy’s drummer Buddy Miles was as close as he would ever get to meshing with one of his guitar heroes. Review Carlos Santana & Buddy Miles Live!…was recorded on New Year’s Day, 1972 at the Sunshine ’72 Festival inside Diamond Head volcano crater, Honolulu Hawaii. Regardless, your classic rock collection isn’t complete without this one. That’s a little hard to believe, but what else could explain it? If additional material comparable to what is being offered here is ever released, criminal negligence charges should be levied against Bob Irwin, the “Reissue Producer”, for keeping it under wraps for so long. Sadly, no additional tracks have ever been added to any of the reissues, suggesting that no additional quality recordings from the concert exist. The pressed copies of the 2005 release must have gone quickly, explaining the need for this 2008 reissue. This is at least the third time this disc has been reissued, having been remastered in 1994 and reissued in 2005. Over the years these tracks have merged in my mind, and belong together as one piece of work every bit as much as the flip side of the original vinyl disc. Robert Hogins on organ and Coke Escovedo on timbales, along with a trio of conga players, do yoeman’s work keeping up with Santana, Schon, and Miles. All of these tracks, save ‘Faith Interlude’, which is perfectly titled given it’s bouyant strains, are funky tomes of dynamite. ![]() Only an upbeat, horn augmented version of ‘Evil Ways’ stands alone, almost as a centerpiece. While the track listing lists five seperate tracks, tracks one and two (‘Marbles’ and ‘Lava’) and tracks four and five (‘Faith Interlude’ and Mile’s best known composition, ‘Them Changes’) segue seamlessly into one another, creating a musical suite. I’m not sure how ‘free form’ this filth is (it’s credited to Miles, Santana, drummer Gregg Errico, and bassist Ron Johnson), but it manages to hit a funk groove on several occasions and passes the ample running time (especially for a vinyl disc) admirably. ![]() While it may take a little time and a few listens for the 25 minute plus ‘Free Form Funkafide Filth’ to grow on you… it does. I wasn’t sure if I would like it, but in 1972 most people were convinced you couldn’t go wrong with Carlos Santana, and I was one of them. I first acquired a copy of this disc as one of my 12 “free” records when I joined the Columbia Record Club. I guess this one doesn’t rise to the level of the McCartney death hoax!įortunately, the music does rise to the occasion. I can see Carlos playing guitar in several of them, and there’s a number of Hawaiian-looking people standing around as well. Supporting that fact is a collage of about fourteen photographs from the concert itself. But the concert actually took place in Hawaii, in the center of the Diamond Head volcanic crater, on Januduring the ‘Sunshine ’72 Festival’. Perhaps also lending to the controversy is the liner notes listing the recording date as “January 0, 1972”, a non-existant date, suggesting the concert never happened. ![]() While it sounds hokey at times, that doesn’t mean the performances didn’t happen. It was common practice in the early seventies to modulate the amplitude of the crowd noise, as is evident on programs such as ABC-TV’s ‘In Concert’ late night program, and this seems to be what was done with ‘Live!’. I think many of the myth-makers are deluded by the overly-engineered master tapes. Others suggest that Carlos played little on the disc, and while I respect the six-string talents of Neal Schon (who legend also says turned down an invitation from Eric Clapton to flesh out Derek and the Dominos to play with Santana’s band, and who built a great reputation for himself as lead guitarist for Journey), there are numerous guitar runs on ‘Live!’ that have S-A-N-T-A-N-A written all over them. Some people claim that the concert never took place, which seems unlikely since Santana and Miles toured together extensively in late 1971 and early 1972. Review There seem to be all sorts of urban legends surrounding this 1972 Top Ten album from Carlos Santana and Buddy Miles. Carlos Santana & Buddy Miles! Live! (1972) ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |