"Beyond the Corner": New Miles Davis Box Set

Obvious guess would be that either the master tapes were missing or damaged.

I wondered about that too, especially there were no such issues (iirc) with any of Miles' other (and older) records/reissues.

But this piece by Paul Tingen more-or-less answers the question(s).

(although it sounds like Sony insisted on a remix and "oh, the tapes are no good" was a convenient -- and not easily verifiable -- justification)

Re-reading passages from the Tingen book now (good book, btw) I love how Paul Buckmaster came in with all these über-"heavy" charts to create some Stockhausen/Sly Stone hybrid only to be in the middle of describing the drum fills he'd composed for the band when Miles cut him off and was like, "Yeah, play that" -- blowing off the rest of Buckmaster's charts and leaving the final groove on "On the Corner" almost comically unfunky.

I still find most of Teo's edits on this one kind of unnecessary btw.

Miles, like Teo, was an incredible genius at editing. "Shhh/Peaceful," in its unedited form, prominently features Josef Zawinul's theme, but Miles and/or Teo knew exactly what to leave on the cutting room floor. I think part of Miles' genius, cruel though it might have been at times, was to say, "That thing you labored on for hours/days/weeks/months? Yeah, we don't need that."

And with On The Corner, I think Teo did some brilliant work. I don't think his edits are unnecessary; I think they add focus and cohesion.

live albums from this era are great, so all of the editing is technically unnecessary, right? It's not like Macero's editing was saving recordings that were otherwise unlistenable in their raw state. He just added that 10% extra structure that makes things a little more interesting. And the opening of On the Corner is a great example of that because the album version begins in a much more exciting way than the unedited track. It's funny because the supposedly unedited track actually sounds like you're dropping into the middle of something that's already in progress while the edited version sounds like a proper beginning.

I guess I would agree with that. The editing is generally just a lot more subtle on OTC than on Bitches Brew, where whole compositions are rendered from the end of Teo's razor blade. Generally, tho, OTC doesn't really "function" like a composition the same way even BB's cuts did. There are very few variations, the dynamics are considerably reduced and the melody is, "Black Satin" notwithstanding, pretty much nonexistent. As a result, I just feel like Teo's edits tighten it up more than "re-compose" the thing.

Does anyone else think "Bitches Brew" is a thirty-minute "Spinnin' Wheel" variation, btw?

the blood sweat and tears song?

Yup

Was flipping through John Szwed's (highly recommended) Miles bio last night, and it says that Miles was indeed consciously riffing on "Spinning Wheel" (as well as one of Betty Davis' demos). So I guess that song's existence is finally justified.

< pats self on back>

(actually, I figure I must've heard that info somewhere before)

oh yeah, I hear it now. interesting.

It might be the best thing ever made (the box).

― Andy K, Wednesday, September 5, 2007 11:20 AM (fourteen years ago) bookmarkflaglink

OTMMM

"One and One (Unedited Master)" = peak music. It's hard to believe they had that in the can and it didn't make the original album. And "Mr. Foster" is maybe the single most beautiful electric Miles recording...except for this one, recorded at the same 1975 session as "Minnie" and unacceptably left off the box because Miles doesn't play on it:

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

I want that box so bad, but I'm not willing to pay $400+ for it. They've got the Bitches Brew, IASW and Jack Johnson boxes for sale on his official site but sadly not this one.

I paid $200 for my copy in 2016, which felt slightly insane at the time but which I don't regret at all. $400+ is beyond the pale though. I almost grabbed another one when it briefly became available again at list price a couple years ago, but it was either gonna sit on my shelf gathering dust or be predatorily flipped for profit, neither of which would have felt great.

Yeah, I missed that window when it became available again. I placed an order, but it got canceled, annoyingly. Guess the oversold that box. Fingers crossed it comes up again.

Agreed that the On the Corner set is one of the best ones in the series (In a Silent Way the perennial favorite, of course).

This outtake is stunning, J. Never heard it before. Have always thought Miles the balladeer was as alive and potent as ever in the fusion era, just not as prolific. Seems he was leaning on the organ a bit in this one, so even if he's not playing trumpet, I can't help but think there's still that undeniable haunting Miles quality to it.