Changed my life literally as I became a student of Sri Chinmoy inspired by the music. Played music in Jatra, the minor league band that allowed you to move up to the Mahavishnu II incarnation. Amazing scene in NY with Johns music and Santana hanging out in the 70s in Jamaica Queens.....
I was in the University of Pennsylvania bookstore when I first heard the Mahavishnu debut. Couldn't believe what I was hearing, it was that good. For a second I considered dropping out of college to listen to it endlessly.
My mate, for some inexplicable reason, bought this on cassette when it came out. We loved it straight away. A truly remarkable record and a couple of years later were lucky enough to see them. I always felt that they were just about to explode!!
My God I love this channel. I agree this album changed the history of Jazz and rock. Fully realising the potenial of them coming together and yes they did continue to develop and it got even better, more refined and neauced in it's expression and compositional brillance. This album has a certain fire that I think most people feel makes it their best, but overall I agree that Birds of Fire is their greatest album. Can't wait to hear you talk about the others, particularly 'Apocalypse' which is a very improtant album to me and often gets overlooked. Thank you so much for doing this. 🥰
Was hoping for a little more discussion of You Know You Know because I am trying to figure out why I love that song so much. Will go now and listen to it again. Thanks! 👍
Hello and good afternoon! I'm really excited, one of the really few channels that has more to say than the usual stuff. I would also like to thank you for the History of Jazz series. Really informative and not the same sermon over and over again. I have a lot of fun watching this channel! Greetings from Hamburg, Ger.
I'll never forget hearing meeting of the spirits on my clock radio on an after midnight jazz show. I was blown away. I didn't know music could sound like that. I agree, birds of fire was better with the moog added. flame was raw power birds was refined a bit with better technology. thanks for this video!
I had a nearly similar experience -I was falling asleep with the local college station playing, and on comes the opening chords of meeting of the spirits. I couldn't believe my ears-called the station at 2 in the morning to find out more (I was 14 at the time)
It was 'You Know, You Know' that really got to me on this album. I recorded their performance on The Old Grey Whistle Test onto a Philips Cassette and that went everywhere with me until the album came out. You can hear me shushing my dad when he comes into the room in the middle of 'Lotus on Irish Streams'. Before this I was heavily into 'Devotion' and it is interesting what you say about Buddy Miles' drumming. I think I quite liked that primitive, unresolved sound! The recording was dreadful, but the music soared. Where will you shine your spotlight next, Andy?
Birds of Fire and I will make my way through the MO albums. If you like Devotion have you heard JM on Escalator over the Hill by Carla Bley? And of course the incredible Go Ahead John by Miles off Big Fun?
Thanks for the video Andy. I never really take ranking videos all that seriously, it's just a personal preference and all sorts of things come into play. I think you make a strong case here though. The band did develop further and expand their sound pallet when Jan got his new toys and the recording improved. Jerry and Rick rarely got the credit they deserved. I've got a live boot where Jerry is definitely the 'man of the match'. Rick , as you say, always held things together ( and of course had a great moment on the classic 'One Word ' ). I don't know if it's something you fancy doing but it would be nice to have an in depth appraisal of some of McLaughlins less celebrated albums. Stuff like 'Extrapolation', ' Floating Point' and many others deserve to be better known in my view. Not just Johns stuff either. A 'Great Fusion Albums You Might Not Have Heard' series might be fun.
This may not be the best mahavishnu album but this is the one people heard and was the most influential imho. I like what you said about the timings, that was most interesting because I hadn’t really thought about that aspect of it. I wonder when the odd time signatures in rock started ? I think Coryell was doing it somewhat but more in a Jazz way. The Dead had a piece called “the eleven” in 68 which if you squint your ears hard enough could be heard as proto Mahavishnu, ( the version on “Two from the Vault” 1968) is largely improvised jamming but it’s in 11. I guess the idea of playing modern jazz timings in a psych rock format bubbled up in all kinds of odd places. I don’t know. A video about the history of Jazz/Rock in terms time signatures would be interesting
@@AndyEdwardsDrummer Don Ellis did he play with Coryell ? It’s a very familiar name. I have I heard him. Move over Chuck Mangione I have work to do. Thanks
Hey Andy. Great upload and looking forward to the others. A quick question, have you heard of "The Fourth Way" band which was formed in 1967 at San Francisco Bay Area, which was arguably the first Jazz Fusion band. It would be great if you did one on that group because of how unknown they are. I'm a big fan of their studio album and their other live ones. I wish some-one like Ken Burns did a documentary on Jazz-Fusion with interviews with John or Herbie. Great work dude.
Yes, that was Mike Nock's band. Mike was from New Zealand and worked with Rick Laird too. Great band. I discuss them a little on my Origins of Jazz Fusion video and mention them in my King Crimson and The esoteric video
@@RobertVeasquez Some people hate what they value being polluted by outside influences. It what drives most racism and prejudice too. I think it would be of value to be abke to spot when this is happening culturally...
I like to think when we have bands like MO, Holdsworth, Tribal Tech etc, that it is implied the rankings are always subject to shift. So many times I have said "Birds is better than Inner", then 1 week later "No, Inner is better than Birds" etc. Same thing with Holdsworth, right now I have my heart set on Secrets as barely beating out Hard Hat Area for my favorite and prior to this I had Sand as my favorite. Always fluctuating. I guess the point I am trying to make is that there is some sort of magic when it comes to fusion because any other genre my rankings have always remained the same(i.e. Kill Em All has always been my favorite Metallica album, Rust in Peace for Megadeth).
John McLaughlin said that the band was making 'light year' advances by the time of Birds Of Fire album. Just a trivial point but sometimes wondered what Dance Of Maya title refers to - the Buddhist Maya of the illusionary physical world or the Maya tribes of human sacrifices ?
@@stringrip A third point is that if you find a live version you'll hear that he pronounces it as " My ah ", not " May ah ", and I'm sure he would use the second pronunciation for the tribe. Also, I think it's fair to say that the concept of Maya is just as bad as the habits of the Mayans.
I just forced friends to listen to Mahavishnu😂 But I wasn't able to give such a wonderful review about that groundbreaking debutalbum...so what choice did I have?
Not only is the Dance of Maya heavy as f..k I wonder if it had some degree of influence on a certain Dorset born guitarist - Larks tongues part 2 seems to be channeling it and the Dance of Maya wouldnt be out of place on either Starless and Bible Black or Red- or did JMc take what RF was doing in 1970 and 71 and showed him what it could become - not only that, was RF's choice to incorporate violin based on what Jerry Goodman brought to the MO?
Extraordinary album. Changed my musical life
Changed my life literally as I became a student of Sri Chinmoy inspired by the music. Played music in Jatra, the minor league band that allowed you to move up to the Mahavishnu II incarnation. Amazing scene in NY with Johns music and Santana hanging out in the 70s in Jamaica Queens.....
My head literally blew up when I first heard this album back in the ‘80s. I’m still convalescing.
I was in the University of Pennsylvania bookstore when I first heard the Mahavishnu debut. Couldn't believe what I was hearing, it was that good. For a second I considered dropping out of college to listen to it endlessly.
My mate, for some inexplicable reason, bought this on cassette when it came out. We loved it straight away. A truly remarkable record and a couple of years later were lucky enough to see them. I always felt that they were just about to explode!!
Perhaps my favorite album of all times...
Hearing this album around 12 years ago changed my life and my musical direction.
My God I love this channel. I agree this album changed the history of Jazz and rock. Fully realising the potenial of them coming together and yes they did continue to develop and it got even better, more refined and neauced in it's expression and compositional brillance. This album has a certain fire that I think most people feel makes it their best, but overall I agree that Birds of Fire is their greatest album.
Can't wait to hear you talk about the others, particularly 'Apocalypse' which is a very improtant album to me and often gets overlooked.
Thank you so much for doing this. 🥰
I reckon I can't go wrong here doing more McLaughlin....
Thanks for this deep dive on this album and for this new series regarding MO. The greatest band of all time.
I hope you enjoy it
Was hoping for a little more discussion of You Know You Know because I am trying to figure out why I love that song so much. Will go now and listen to it again.
Thanks! 👍
my first concert i attended was Mahavishnu in 1973 at Princeton University. WOW !!!!!
Hello and good afternoon! I'm really excited, one of the really few channels that has more to say than the usual stuff. I would also like to thank you for the History of Jazz series. Really informative and not the same sermon over and over again. I have a lot of fun watching this channel! Greetings from Hamburg, Ger.
Thanks Vincent!
Being a blues/rock player, Dance of Maya with the syncopated R&R beat blew me away.Just a hint of what's to come.
Enlightenment on speed
I agree. Especially with how billy was recorded much better later on
I'll never forget hearing meeting of the spirits on my clock radio on an after midnight jazz show.
I was blown away. I didn't know music could sound like that. I agree, birds of fire was better with the moog added. flame was raw power birds was refined a bit with better technology.
thanks for this video!
I had a nearly similar experience -I was falling asleep with the local college station playing, and on comes the opening chords of meeting of the spirits. I couldn't believe my ears-called the station at 2 in the morning to find out more (I was 14 at the time)
As "perfect" as birds of fire was, I prefer the rawness of inner mounting flame
It was 'You Know, You Know' that really got to me on this album. I recorded their performance on The Old Grey Whistle Test onto a Philips Cassette and that went everywhere with me until the album came out. You can hear me shushing my dad when he comes into the room in the middle of 'Lotus on Irish Streams'. Before this I was heavily into 'Devotion' and it is interesting what you say about Buddy Miles' drumming. I think I quite liked that primitive, unresolved sound! The recording was dreadful, but the music soared. Where will you shine your spotlight next, Andy?
Birds of Fire and I will make my way through the MO albums. If you like Devotion have you heard JM on Escalator over the Hill by Carla Bley? And of course the incredible Go Ahead John by Miles off Big Fun?
Excellent Andy!
Cheers Brian
Thanks for the video Andy. I never really take ranking videos all that seriously, it's just a personal preference and all sorts of things come into play. I think you make a strong case here though. The band did develop further and expand their sound pallet when Jan got his new toys and the recording improved. Jerry and Rick rarely got the credit they deserved. I've got a live boot where Jerry is definitely the 'man of the match'. Rick , as you say, always held things together ( and of course had a great moment on the classic 'One Word ' ).
I don't know if it's something you fancy doing but it would be nice to have an in depth appraisal of some of McLaughlins less celebrated albums. Stuff like 'Extrapolation', ' Floating Point' and many others deserve to be better known in my view. Not just Johns stuff either. A 'Great Fusion Albums You Might Not Have Heard' series might be fun.
Thanks for that, I will definitely be covering more JM albums, but of course from a view pov best to cover the big sellers
This may not be the best mahavishnu album but this is the one people heard and was the most influential imho. I like what you said about the timings, that was most interesting because I hadn’t really thought about that aspect of it. I wonder when the odd time signatures in rock started ? I think Coryell was doing it somewhat but more in a Jazz way. The Dead had a piece called “the eleven” in 68 which if you squint your ears hard enough could be heard as proto Mahavishnu, ( the version on “Two from the Vault” 1968) is largely improvised jamming but it’s in 11. I guess the idea of playing modern jazz timings in a psych rock format bubbled up in all kinds of odd places. I don’t know. A video about the history of Jazz/Rock in terms time signatures would be interesting
Don Ellis was the man...
@@AndyEdwardsDrummer Don Ellis did he play with Coryell ? It’s a very familiar name. I have I heard him. Move over Chuck Mangione I have work to do. Thanks
@@AndyEdwardsDrummer WOW !! I feel like I just discovered the Dead Sea Scrolls ! Thanks.
Hey Andy. Great upload and looking forward to the others. A quick question, have you heard of "The Fourth Way" band
which was formed in 1967 at San Francisco Bay Area, which was arguably the first Jazz Fusion band. It would be great if you did one on that group because of how unknown they are. I'm a big fan of their studio album and their other live ones. I wish some-one like Ken Burns did a documentary on Jazz-Fusion with interviews with John or Herbie. Great work dude.
Yes, that was Mike Nock's band. Mike was from New Zealand and worked with Rick Laird too. Great band. I discuss them a little on my Origins of Jazz Fusion video and mention them in my King Crimson and The esoteric video
@@RobertVeasquez Some people hate what they value being polluted by outside influences. It what drives most racism and prejudice too. I think it would be of value to be abke to spot when this is happening culturally...
I like to think when we have bands like MO, Holdsworth, Tribal Tech etc, that it is implied the rankings are always subject to shift. So many times I have said "Birds is better than Inner", then 1 week later "No, Inner is better than Birds" etc. Same thing with Holdsworth, right now I have my heart set on Secrets as barely beating out Hard Hat Area for my favorite and prior to this I had Sand as my favorite. Always fluctuating. I guess the point I am trying to make is that there is some sort of magic when it comes to fusion because any other genre my rankings have always remained the same(i.e. Kill Em All has always been my favorite Metallica album, Rust in Peace for Megadeth).
It's all a nonsense except it's a good excuse to talk about music
John McLaughlin is God. Fusion man from South Australia. Cheers
John McLaughlin said that the band was making 'light year' advances by the time of Birds Of Fire album. Just a trivial point but sometimes wondered what Dance Of Maya title refers to - the Buddhist Maya of the illusionary physical world or the Maya tribes of human sacrifices ?
I agree with that comment from JM. They had advanced even further by the time they got to BOF, I haven't got a clue about the Dance of Maya origins
If it were the latter it would be called " The Dance Of THE Maya " - but more to the point, it would be completely out of context !
@@PIPEHEAD Point taken, you are right. However in the context of the deep foreboding nature of the track I keep thinking about the Maya tribe.
@@stringrip A third point is that if you find a live version you'll hear that he pronounces it as " My ah ", not " May ah ", and I'm sure he would use the second pronunciation for the tribe. Also, I think it's fair to say that the concept of Maya is just as bad as the habits of the Mayans.
ruclips.net/video/enJc2sCeQ-s/видео.html
I just forced friends to listen to Mahavishnu😂 But I wasn't able to give such a wonderful review about that groundbreaking debutalbum...so what choice did I have?
Not only is the Dance of Maya heavy as f..k I wonder if it had some degree of influence on a certain Dorset born guitarist - Larks tongues part 2 seems to be channeling it and the Dance of Maya wouldnt be out of place on either Starless and Bible Black or Red- or did JMc take what RF was doing in 1970 and 71 and showed him what it could become - not only that, was RF's choice to incorporate violin based on what Jerry Goodman brought to the MO?
I like jazz fusion bit this is just too fast and complex no emotion or feel. Just too busy to be good.
perhaps you are looking for the wrong emotions...