R.I.P. Buddy Miles

Being from Seattle, and a Garfield High alum, I have a fetish for all things James Marshall Hendrix. So when I heard Buddy Miles had died it was only too obvious to post something from Band of Gypsys. Recorded on New Years Eve, 1969 at the Fillmore East, the album was released as part of a court settlement over a disputed contract Hendrix signed in 1965.

Hendrix' backing band had become a game of musical chairs after splitting up the Experience before Woodstock (with the then-ubiquitous Al Kooper even making an appearance in some sessions). Here, Hendrix' friend Billy Cox from the 82nd Airborne lays down the proto-funk bassline. It was Cox who brought on Miles, a veteran of Wilson Pickett's rhythm section.

It's a stirring contemporary critique of Vietnam-era militarism. Hendrix had already employed onomatopoeia for his Star Spangled Banner, and Miles' rapid fire fifths on the one and march cadences (and plaintive wails) toward the end of the song compliment the sounds of whistling bombs and shells from Hendrix' guitar. Those notes were themselves shaped by the Octavia, Univibe, Fuzz and Wa-Wa pedals developed by a former naval sound engineer Roger Mayer. The Miles-penned, straight-ahead "Changes" follows as the first track on the flip side.

Machine Gun by Band of Gypsys

The photo above includes the 20 watt, Williamson circuit tube amp I use as a monitor -- manufactured by the same Bell that brought you the Huey chopper. I'd recommend a 150 gram re-press to fellow collectors.