Miles' "On the Corner"

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