"I saw Neil Young last night. Miles Davis was the support..."
Yesterday I bought the Neil Young and Crazy Horse live at the Fillmore East CD (a snip for a fiver in Fopp).
Recorded in March 1970 the cover shows the marquee of the Fillmore with artists for that night's performance and future attractions. The second name is Miles Davis. When I first saw this sleeve I'd assumed Miles was appearing on another night, but reading the gig review printed on the inside sleeve it's clear that Miles was the support. It's also clear that he didn't go down too well "... one extended number, an atonal offering featuring alternating solos... ...boring and repetitious" and lots of the audience went out. As the date puts the performance between the releases of In A Silent Way and Bitches Brew it doesn't surprise me that the audience had a hard time.
However it just strikes me that this is a remarkable bill. I certainly couldn't see any promoter mixing genres like that today. Even at festivals different genres have different stages.
And just to give the audience their money's worth Steve Miller Band were on the bottom of the bill. They weren't appearing as unknowns either as this was post Livin' in The USA.
If that bill could be assembled today, what would the ticket price be? £200 face value?
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To link to another thread...
that's why we called music 'progressive' back then. The idea was to be challenging and push forward the boundaries of what was considered 'normal' rock and roll.
No promoter would dare present such a mixed bill at a mainstream gig these days for fear of upsetting the paying public.
To be fair, in this particular case, Miles was making a big effort to break into the 'white rock' audience. Bigger audience, more exposure, more money
The staggering lack of imagination...
shown by the majority of gig promoters these days is a terrible shame. But maybe it's not really their fault, perhaps most people would simply rather pay their hard earned to see something they know they'll like.
But when one sees old concert flyers from the 1960s and 1970s, some of the musical pairings that were put together back then were just so adventurous. I wish I'd been old enough to have seen some of them.
A great resource for checking out those amazing bills is 'The Art Of Rock' by Paul Grushkin, which reproduces hundreds of gig posters from the 1950s to the 1980s.
You only have to look at the fuss surrounding Jay-Z
at Glastonbury to see why these kind of bills do not happen anymore.
Or was that just Noel?
Nope...
...it even made the Word podcast
But wouldn't an equal amount...
..of fuss be made if the promoters of "The Monsters Of Hip-Hop" festival tried to include, oh I dunno..Rachel Unthank?
Aerosmith
I'm sure I remember reading that they supported Flatt and Scruggs on a stadium tour, possibly with Ted Nugent. :-o
Now *that's* a bill
I'd pay to see!
The link between Miles and Neil:
Tunes that go on for ten minutes. What was it about the Fillmore era? Derek and The Dominos, The Allman Brothers Band, CSNY, The Grateful Dead, Cream, Neil Young and Crazy Horse...was a law passed saying that 10-15 minute songs were all well and good, nay, compulsory?
Why does music have to be in three minute chunks?
Jazz, opera and orchestral music is rarely three minutes long. Why should popular music be any different?
A piece of music should be as long as it needs to be; whether that's 2m50 or 22m
I agree
But in the early 70s and late 60s, those Fillmore gigs and their ilk really set a trend, don't you think?
At the Isle of Wight
Miles followed Tiny Tim!!
Not such a silent way....
According to Carlos Santana, Miles' set at the Isle of Wight helped many people there to achieve "multi-dimensional conciousness".
Listening to it, I'm just shocked at how funky Dave Holland's bass sounds.
Miles and the Dead
I've just found out that in April 1970 Miles was supporting the Grateful Dead which lends credence to stimpy's assertion that he was appealing to the white rock audience.
An even more unlikely mix than supporting Neil, I'd have thought.
They should have recorded an album together....
Miles Adead
Eyefangew.
Or better still...
Miles N'dead
Or...
Miles Longer