Carlos Santana

Mexican rock music, often referred to in Mexico as rock nacional ("national rock"), originated in the 1950s with covers of standards by Chuck Berry, Elvis Presley and The Everly Brothers, among others, bands such as Los Rebeldes del Rock, Los Locos del Ritmo, Los Crazy Boys, Los Nómadas, and Javier Bátiz soon arose with original compositions, often in English. The group "Los Nómadas" was one of the first racially-integrated bands of the 1950s. Their lead guitarist Bill Aken (Adopted son of Mexican movie actress Lupe Mayorga, said adoption making Aken the cousin to Ritchie Valens) wrote most of their original material, including the raucous "Donde-Donde," and co-wrote the material for their "Sounds Of The Barrio" album that is still being sold by various Internet web sites. Their 1954 recording of 'She's My Babe' was the first top 40 'R & B' recording by a Latino band. In the southwest U.S. Spanish guitar rhythms and Mexican musical influences may have inspired some of the music of American musicians Ritchie Valens, Danny Flores (of The Champs), Sam the Sham, Roy Orbison and later, Herb Alpert. Initially, the public exhibited little interest in them, because of media attention paid to La Ola Inglesa (British Invasion).

However, after the substantial success of Mexican-American guitarist Carlos Santana in the United States in the late 1960s, a large number of bands sprang up, especially in Mexico City. Most of these bands sang in both Spanish and, with foreign commercial exposure in mind, English. Mexican and Chicano rock has crossed into other Hispanic groups like José Feliciano and Lourdes Rodriguez of Puerto Rican descent.

Important bands of this period were Enigma, Kaleidoscopio, El Tarro de Mostaza, El Ritual, Peace and Love, Ciruela, The Spiders, Love (El Amor), Three Souls in My Mind, Toncho Pilatos, Los Dug Dug's, El Epilogo, La Semilla del Amor, Love Army, Tinta Blanca, La Revolución de Emiliano Zapata, La Tribu, 39.4, La Division del Norte, Bandido, and Cosa Nostra.

Early years[link]

Rock activity at this time in Mexico took place in either Mexico City and the nearby area or in northern cities such as Mexicali, Monterrey, Nuevo Laredo, and Ciudad Juárez, and Tijuana, whose proximity to the United States resulted in more exposure to American sounds.

Rock, as elsewhere, became tied with the youth revolt of the 1960s. Many Mexican rock stars became involved in the counterculture movement. The three-day Festival Rock y Ruedas de Avándaro, held in 1971, was organized in the valley of Avándaro near the city of Toluca, a town neighboring Mexico City, and became known as "The Mexican Woodstock".

In that rock festival, nudity, open sex, drug use, profanity/ obscenity, and the presence of the American flag so scandalized conservative Mexican society that the government imposed cultural curbs in Mexican pop music on a temporary basis. The festival, intended to emulate Woodstock and Altamont, was never expected to attract the masses it did, and the government had to evacuate stranded attendees en masse at the end of the festival.

During the President Luis Echeverría's administration, the Mexican government tried to win back the country's legitimacy through populist, leftist-oriented programmes. Most things that could possibly be connected to the counterculture or student protests was sidelined on public airwaves by the powers that be, who feared a repeat of the student protests of 1968, the very same event which the new government denounced. But, most Mexican rock bands sang and criticized the administration in general and, more specifically, corruption, poverty and persistent social inequalities taken place through Mexican history.

Few bands survived the curbs; though the ones that did, like Three Souls in My Mind (later El Tri), remained popular due in part to their adoption of Spanish for their lyrics, and also as a result of a dedicated following. As the hippie trend waned c. 1973, many Mexican bands inclined themselves to progressive rock and hard rock. During the seventies there was a surge of many new bands but there was very little support from the music industry towards producing original rock music,and the bands suffered from it and had to limit themselves to perform in hoyos fonqui. Representatives of this period were: Perro Fantastico, Mara, Vox Populi, Stray Cat, Rock Moviloy and many more. Perro Fantastico a band from the east of Mexico City (Ciudad Nezahualcoyotl) created rock music singing in Spanish and English, formed by the brothers Jose Luis and Jaime Francisco González (guitar and bass) with Guillermo Avalos (drums) and Arturo Fajardo (rhythm guitar) and played among the other bands in places like Salon Chicago, Macumba, el Herradero and other places until the band disbanded around 1978. During the seventies bands also performed in high schools, universities and other places. Many others followed or continued during the eighties.

Música rupestre scene[link]

Since the late 1960s, there existed poets that sang with acoustic guitars and played in the then prosperous café cantante scene. These forums showcased the folkloric music that came from South America, specially from Peru and Chile. Performers like Víctor Jara, Violeta Parra, Inti Illimani, Los Folkloristas and local Óscar Chávez among many others denounced in their songs the atrocities of the military juntas, all of which experimented even worse repression than those in Mexico during the Tlatelolco incident, that governed most of the countries from Nicaragua to Tierra del Fuego, and curiously the cafes cantantes thrived, as long as nothing was overtly critical of the Mexican government in general.

The scene eclipsed by the early 1980s, but several musicians like Rockdrigo, sometimes nicknamed "the Mexican Bob Dylan" developed an own Mexican folk style, which came to be known as 'Música Rupestre'. Later on they were dubbed 'Los Urbanos', because although they played acoustic guitars, the themes of their lyrics revealed the adverse conditions the working class had to face in the big cities, and blues forms were then incorporated in their compositions. When El Tri made an electric rendition of Rockdrigo's 'Metro Balderas' the fusion of rock and música rupestre was consummated.

Many others had continued to surface, but Rockdrigo's untimely death during the earthquake of 1985 in Mexico City skyrocketed his already legendary status, and thus he is considered the most influential exponent of both rock urbano and música rupestre.

Other notable bands: Banda Bostik, Sur 16, Tex-Tex, Interpuesto. The racially-integrated group "Los Nómadas" was one of the few to survive for decades and would stay together until well into the 1980s. They were often called into recording sessions to back up Latino artists such as Freddy Fender. Their final recording session was in early 1990 and when Chico Vasquez died several months later, the group disbanded.

Metal scene[link]

Since the 1960s hard rock had been assimilated by several groups, like the aforementioned Los Dug Dug's and El Ritual, and later by others like Náhuatl, Nuevo México and Bloody Rock. During the following decade it continued to exist in forms of heavy blues, which was an authentic underground movement, which peaked in the late 1970s when the Hoyos Funky came to notoriety around 1977.

Groups like Ramses and La Cruz are veterans of the era and were some of the first to be labeled as "heavy metal", but then again it was not until the 1990s that bands like Transmetal, Next, Lvzbel and Semefo contributed to the scene with original approaches, when the most radical forms of the genre like death metal and grindcore were fully digested. Today the metal scene is populated by such groups as Brujeria, Hacavitz, and Disgorge.

The early bands were followed by myriads of other groups, that exist in an evergrowing underground movement of sports arenas weekend concerts all over the country.

Melting pot: Chopo Bazaar[link]

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In 1980 an unprecedented event took place: The National University of Mexico UNAM, through one of its cultural departments, invited the public in general to bring over their L.P. records and participate in trading them with other attendants. The gathering place was The Museo Universitario del Chopo, (popularly known as "Museo del Chopo") located in the heart of Mexico City, every Saturday morning.

For the first time since Avándaro rock musicians and record collectors had the opportunity to meet each other and exchange records, which created a collective conscience about rock and subculture in general that nevertheless had existed but did not have a "proper" site to develop. In the beginning the trading took place inside the facilities of the museum, but by the end of the year it could not contain an evergrowing crowd interested in finding records that were otherwise impossible to get from the established outlets, and the trading had become selling in many cases, where commerce sharks took advantage of the incipient new market for rock "rarities".

So the gathering extended to the street right in front of the museum, and several stands were erected, transforming all the affair in a tianguis, a kind of street bazaar. Despite this the record trading was still the main attraction, but other problems emerged. The resident neighbors of the museum saw how their calm Saturday morning became disturbed by a menacing motley crowd, that now included punks, new wavers, hippies, rastafaris, and every other extravagant people that found could express themselves freely at the weekly gathering, and as said before, met others with the same likings and inclinations, but with eventual sneaking inside the surrounding buildings to smoke a joint, or worse.

Soon the government tried to ban the tianguis, and as a matter of fact, the museum had already closed its doors to the whole event, stating that it or the National University "had nothing to do with the current state of affairs". They had created a monster, and it had grown so out of hand, that now it was on its own, and was being put down, like in the old days. But now the participants knew each other well, and the "heads" of the tianguis organized themselves, and as a group presented a proposition to the local government dependency, offering reliable and uncompromising security, and most important, a permanent fee.

However, the officials were reluctant, and between 1982 and 1989 the "Chopo"(as it was now known) changed locations no less than six times, from parks to parking lots to faculty gardens, always because of pressure from officials. And against all odds, it was still growing.

Finally, since 1990 it has been taking place on a street behind the Buenavista Train Station, not three blocks away from the original 'Museo del Chopo' location. From the original one hundred people that began attending in 1980, it is estimated that more than ten thousand people visit the tianguis every week. From the original record trading, it now displays all kinds of clothing, posters, movies, handicrafts, magazines, books, instruments, and all paraphaernalia related to the subculture, and rock in general.

There have been interesting social studies about the Tianguis Cultural del Chopo (the official name), and people from around the world have marveled at display of such intense variety of subculture, when they have had the opportunity to watch it first hand. The Chopo has been a launching platform for many artists of different disciplines (not only rock music) to the world.

The mid-eighties[link]

Mexican Rock immediately fell prey to the British Invasion of the early 1980s. Spanish rock bands like Hombres G, Mecano, Radio Futura and La Unión took over the spotlight. Mexico responded with bands like Caifanes, Maná, Ritmo Peligroso, Botellita de Jeréz, El Tri and Micro Chips. Mexican pop bands like Timbiriche, Pandora, and Flans as well as Spanish pop bands like Olé-Olé dominated the airwaves.

Monterrock[link]

Starting in the 90s, Monterrey, Nuevo León has witnessed the birth of several bands that have become internationally acclaimed. Their genres vary considerably. Bands include Plastilina Mosh, COhETICA, Zurdok, Kinky, El Gran Silencio, Jumbo, Panda, Genitallica, Heavy metal band "IRA". The song "Los Oxidados" by Plastilina Mosh opens the 2005 movie Mr. & Mrs. Smith. Kinky performed at the 2004 edition of the Coachella Music and Arts Festival in Indio, California, along with Radiohead, The Cure and The Killers. Monterrey has recently earned the nickname "Monterrock", and is considered the musical capital of Mexico's current rock scene. A few of the most popular live music venues in Monterrey include Arena Monterrey, Auditorio Banamex, as well as local clubs Cafe Iguana and McMullen's, both located in the Barrio Antiguo section of the city.

Pop rock[link]

Maná performing in Southern California.

In the 1990s and 2000s, a number of performers have attained international renown, including pop-rock acts such as Gloria Trevi, Ana Sidel, Café Tacuba, Fobia, Caifanes (now Jaguares), Julieta Venegas, ska band Maldita Vecindad, and synth-pop group Mœnia. Control Machete, Delasónica and Molotov explore rap/rock fusion, with lyrics containing social commentary mixed with urban vulgarity. The most popular Mexican rock group during this period was Maná, which has sold over 22 million albums worldwide.^[1]

Present[link]

The 2000s also saw the emergence of a new generation of Mexican alternative and indie rock musicians. Alternative groups such as Panda, División Minúscula, Zoé and Insite have received mainstream success in Mexico and throughout Latin America.

The Indie music scene in Mexico has produced bands such as Porter, Austin TV, Los Dynamite, Chikita Violenta, Bengala, and Hello Seahorse!, which often write lyrics in English and have toured alongside American indie rock bands throughout Latin America and the United States.

Popular electronic music and synth-pop groups include Belanova, Jotdog, Sussie 4, Hocico, Amduscia and The Nortec Collective.

References[link]

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2008)

External links[link]

• Mexican rock at Last.fm
• List of bands that play Mexican rock at rockeros.net

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (October 2011)

Buddy Miles
Miles performing in Hamburg, 1972
Background information
Birth name	George Allen Miles, Jr.
Born	(1947-09-05)September 5, 1947 Omaha, Nebraska United States
Origin	Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Died	February 27, 2008(2008-02-27) (aged 60) Austin, Texas, United States
Genres	Rock, R&B, funk
Occupations	Musician, songwriter, arranger
Instruments	Drums, guitar, vocals
Years active	1967–2008
Labels	Mercury, CBS, Columbia, Epic, Casablanca, Atlantic, United For Opportunity / Douglas Records, Hip-O, Ruf
Associated acts	Ruby & the Romantics, Ink Spots, Delfonics, Wilson Pickett, Electric Flag, Mike Bloomfield, Jimi Hendrix, Band of Gypsys, John McLaughlin, Carlos Santana, Bootsy Collins, The California Raisins
Website	www.buddymiles.com

George Allen Miles, Jr. (September 5, 1947 – February 26, 2008), known as Buddy Miles, was an American rock and funk drummer, most known as a founding member of The Electric Flag in 1967, then as a member of Jimi Hendrix's Band of Gypsys from 1969 through to January 1970.

Biography[link]

Early life[link]

George Allen Miles was born in Omaha, Nebraska on September 5, 1947. He was known as a child prodigy, originally playing drums in his father, George Miles, Sr.'s, jazz band, The Bebops, beginning at age 12. Miles Sr. had played upright bass with Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Charlie Parker and Dexter Gordon.

In his teens Miles Jr. was often seen hanging out as well as recording at the Universal Promotions Corporation (U.P.C.) recording studios, which later became Rainbow Recording Studios^[1]

Miles was given the nickname "Buddy" by his aunt after the drummer Buddy Rich.

Early career[link]

Miles played in a variety of rhythm and blues and soul acts as a teenager, including Ruby & the Romantics, the Ink Spots, the Delfonics and Wilson Pickett. By 1967 he moved to Chicago where he formed the Electric Flag with guitarist Mike Bloomfield. Nick Gravenites was the vocalist on this (and also some other Bloomfield LP's). The blues-soul-rock band made their live debut at the Monterey Pop Festival in mid 1967 and released their debut Columbia album, A Long Time Comin', early the next year (1968). Miles sometimes sang lead vocals for the group in addition to playing drums. The group broke up after their second album An American Music Band (late 1968) and Miles formed The Buddy Miles Express, with Jim McCarty, later the guitarist for Cactus. A Greatest Hits album by The Electric Flag was issued in 1971 by Columbia. In 1974 The Electric Flag reformed briefly and released the Atlantic album The Band Kept Playing.

Jimi Hendrix[link]

After Electric Flag Miles began a closer musical relationship with Hendrix and after Buddy Miles Express split up, Miles would begin the collaboration with the rock legend Jimi Hendrix, and bassist Billy Cox that produced the Band of Gypsys Lp. Miles had met Jimi Hendrix in an earlier time, when Miles was only sixteen and both were acting as sidemen for other artists in the early '60s. The meeting had occurred in Canada in 1964, at a show both were participating in.

Miles said of his first meeting with Hendrix: "He was playing in the Isley Brothers band and I was in Ruby and the Romantics ... [Jimi] had his hair in a pony-tail with long sideburns. Even though he was shy I could tell this guy was different. He looked rather strange, because everyone else was wearing uniforms and he was eating his guitar, doing flip-flops and wearing chains."^[2] Although all photographs, (and there are several of him with the Isley Bros), of Hendrix playing in bands prior to his move into Greenwich Village, in late 1966, as 'The Blue Flame' show him wearing band uniform, with no sideburns to speak of and only fashionable, moderately longish processed hair, certainly nothing you could tie in a pony tail. This prefaced a later friendship that would result in several jams and the occasional unreleased recording with Hendrix. In 1967, Hendrix and Miles jammed at the Malibu home of Stephen Stills, and went on to play together again at various times, in both Los Angeles and New York in 1968. Hendrix occasionally joined Electric Flag on stage^{[citation needed]}. On the recordings for Electric Ladyland Hendrix used some guest artists, one of them being Buddy Miles who played on the songs "Rainy Day, Dream Away" and "Still Raining, Still Dreaming", which are actually the same long jammed song cut in half with 1983 a Merman I Should Turn To Be edited in between.

In 1969 Hendrix found time to write a short poem as a liner note to Expressway To Your Skull and to later produce four of the tracks on its follow up Electric Church, the two studio Lp's released by Buddy Miles Express. The title of the latter Lp being taken from Hendrix's poem on the first. There was also obvious public curiosity as to whether the name of the band "Buddy Miles Express" was influenced by Hendrix's act, "Jimi Hendrix Experience".

After the Jimi Hendrix Experience split, Hendrix formed Gypsy Sun and Rainbows, which featured Mitch Mitchell back on drums again, and Billy Cox on bass, amongst others. Then this group was disbanded in late September 1969 with nothing that was deemed releasable from their sessions. They had though recorded complete versions of Message To Love and Machine Gun, songs which would feature on the Band of Gypsys LP, the two songs that would comprise the Band of Gypsys single: Stepping Stone and Izabella and another song the Band of Gypsys worked on too, but didn't finish: Burning Desire. Between late September and mid October 1969, according to Buddy Miles: "Jimi was not happy. He felt powerless. He couldn't do what he wanted to do.".^[3] Hendrix's solution to the problem, in mid October 1969, was to found a short-lived band called Band of Gypsys and Miles was brought in to join him. Alan Douglas and Stephan Bright were initially brought in to "produce" their recording sessions, but Cox immediately clashed with the pair deeming them unworthy. He eventually stormed out of the sessions after a furious row with Bright and went home to Nashville for two weeks, before being coaxed back. And at the end of Douglas and Bright's one and a half months they had only produced one usable backing track: Room Full of Mirrors. Douglas (and therefore Bright, his employee) resigned stating business pressure, pressure from Hendrix' manager Michael Jeffery, and Hendrix' own "lack of interest". The same day as Douglas resigned Hendrix signed the contract with Bill Graham for the two dates. Hendrix had been talking about a "Band of Gypsys" "jam" Lp since late 1968, after the settlement with Chalpin. He also introduced the band known as 'Gypsy Sun and Rainbows' who he introduced by that name, but also almost in the same breath as 'Band of Gypsys' during their 'Woodstock' concert - only credited as 'Jimi Hendrix' on the two Woodstock Lp's. One of the notable features for his audience at the time was the fact that all of the players were black. This was a first for Hendrix as an international recording star – although he had, of course, played with the Isley Brothers and Ike & Tina Turner, amongst several other r&b bands in his early days – and this choice has been seen by some as a move toward reconnecting with his soul roots. It has also been seen as having had the effect of re-associating rock with its African American roots. Originally it was a single LP, but additional cuts from the concerts have been released on a double CD Live at the Fillmore East. During the two and a half months run up to the two night's recordings for the Lp, the band rehearsed and recorded in New York City where Hendrix had his apartement, where his management was, where he was building his Electric Lady studio, and where he had lived and recorded since moving there from Nashville in 1964 - apart from his sixteen months "exile" in London, a later two month sojourn there in 1969, and his West Coast tours when he would base himself in L.A. Hendrix had become entangled in legal litigation concerning the contract with Ed Chalpin's PPX he had signed to prior to his agreement with Jeffery & Chandler and becoming internationally recognized. He was required to give his next Lp to Ed Chalpin to be released by the Capitol Records label as part of the agreement in court. This fact led to Buddy Miles and Billy being hired as full time employees (with benefits) for the duration of this three month collaboration called the 'Band of Gypsys' that produced that Lp for Chalpin and Capitol and a single for Reprise.

Hendrix during a, one off, charity event a month later (for the Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam committee), had a minor, possibly drug-related (opinions differ) meltdown on stage which has also been speculated to have been an act of sabotage on the part of a very frustrated manager Michael Jeffery, who was not a fan of the Band of Gypsys, and has been claimed as fact by Miles. Miles had this to say about the incident years later:

"Jeffery slipped [Jimi] two half-tabs of acid on stage as he went on ... [Jimi] just freaked out. I told Jeffery he was an out-and-out complete idiot and a fucking asshole to boot. One of the biggest reasons why Jimi is dead is because of that guy."^[3] Miles and Jeffery already had a strained relationship, as Jeffery was always uncomfortable with Hendrix and Miles' close friendship. After this, one off, charity event at Madison Square Garden in January 1970, Jeffery told Buddy Miles he was fired and the Band of Gypsys was no more. Although Cox, and presumably Miles as well, had already been paid off as full-time salaried employees, with a $1,000 bonus "for their services" the week before.

Besides recording the live Lp, studio recordings were made during the rehearsals leading up to the two concert dates and continued sporadically over a further three weeks. Cox and Miles' recording for the single's A side was completed on the 7th, and the only other completed backing track was Power of Soul on the 21st. At this point most of Hendrix' and Eddie Kramer's time was taken up with (Hendrix only) overdubs and mixing of the studio tracks. As well as the beginning of the very long mixing and editing for the finished Lp. Some of these songs were marked down by Hendrix as contenders for his next Lp. The songs are: "Room Full of Mirrors", "Ezy Ryder", "Power of Soul" and the Band of Gypsys single "Stepping Stone" b/w "Izabella", released a week after the LP, but back on Reprise records. This original version of "Stepping Stone" was later given new guitar overdubs, Miles' drums were replaced by Mitchell and it was re-mixed by Hendrix, towards releasing it on his next Lp. These songs have been released in several posthumous Hendrix albums. The album Band of Gypsys — released in March 1970 (US) June (UK)— made the Top 10 on both sides of the Atlantic, and stayed in the US charts for over a year. Hendrix' final extensive tour (he had only played five major concerts (one morning and two nights) in the previous nine months since the original 'Experience' broke up - not counting his last a very disappointing two song show at Madison Square Gardens and these were all in New York City apart 'Woodstock' in New York state) and his tragic early death on the back off it on September 18, 1970, causing the album to sell more and for a longer period. There are now videos of Buddy and Randy Hansen covering several of Jimi's songs on a major website.

Post-Hendrix[link]

Buddy Miles went on to produce other records under his own name. A song he had written and recorded with the Band of Gypsys, "Them Changes" was again recorded by Miles with his own band on a release soon after Hendrix's death on Mercury Records. Miles' former Band Of Gypsys sideman, Billy Cox, performed bass guitar on this track. The Buddy Miles Express had split prior to the Band of Gypsys being formed and Buddy Miles just used his own name now. That band included bassist David Hull (who would go on to work with Joe Perry of Aerosmith), guitarist Charlie Karp, the band Farrenheit (with Charlie Farren), and The James Montgomery Blues Band. The Buddy Miles Band would release a live album entitled Live which again included his by now signature song, "Them Changes". In late 1968, they appeared in the Monkees television special 33 1/3 Revolutions Per Monkee which aired in April 1969.

In 1970, while recording the album We Got To Live Together Buddy Miles learned of the death of Hendrix, which he mentions on the inner cover of the album. Released in 1971, We Got To Live Together is produced by Buddy Miles and Robin McBride. It comprises 5 songs including the instrumental "Easy Greasy". High energy drumming with funky overtones and big horns make this album quintessential Buddy. The other cuts on the album are: "Runaway Child (Little Miss Nothin)", "Walking Down the Highway", "We Got To Live Together", "Take It Off Him and Put It On Me". All the songs were written by Buddy Miles with C.Karp except for "Take it Off...".

Buddy also contributed to a number of Cheech and Chong songs. One was "Lost Due To Incompetence (Theme For A Big Green Van) 1978" from the film Up In Smoke. Buddy did an album with Adrian Gurvitz (from The Gun) in 1973 called Chapter VII (this album has photos of Buddy and his family along with some shots of Carlos Santana, Jimi Hendrix and Sly Stone). Buddy had major success with Them Changes, a soul and pop hit in 70-71.

Miles would see the song released yet a fourth time on a collaborative live record he made with Carlos Santana. This particular version was particularly notable for its intense energy, horn lines and blazing guitar work supplied by a very young and energetic Santana. Miles would then go on to be signed by the '70s-'80s era record label, Casablanca Records, best known for their rock act KISS. Miles' work for the label included the excellent album released under his own name, Bicentennial Gathering Of The Tribes. It would include on its liner notes a quote from President John F Kennedy concerning the American Indians. That quote would include the line "When we neglect the heroic past of the American Indian, we thereby weaken our own heritage." This was interesting in relationship to his former friendship and collaborations with Jimi Hendrix who, in fact, had much American Indian blood in his family line. From 1994 - 2006 Buddy Miles formulated his new version on The Buddy Miles Express in the N.Y.C./area featuring Charlie Torres on Bass Guitar and Vocals . Rod Kohn on Guitar and vocals . Kenn Moutenot on drums / vocals /management and now longest standing B.M.E. member and band leader Mark " Muggie Doo " Leach on Hammond B3, background vocals and Keyboards. They toured non stop in the United States and overseas with almost one thousand concerts and festivals to their credit. Buddy also composed and recorded many songs with this new version of " The Buddy Miles Express " that is yet to be released.It was Buddy's most enduring live band throughout his illustrious career. This popular touring line up lasted for six fruitful years together with the same members. Part of Miles' appeal as a rock musician was his physical appearance. He drew many stares and smiles as he held court from the drumset in the Electric Flag days, with his American flag or sequined shirts, his high-brushed Afro, and his massive frame and smile. Buddy was an eyeful for the hippies and concertgoers of the day.

The Club Fed Sessions[link]

In late 1984-early 1985 while living in a halfway house in Oakland, California, Miles commuted almost every single day to Marin County to collaborate with a handful of musicians and songwriters at the Ice House Studios in San Rafael. The list of collaborators included David Jenkins (Pablo Cruise), Pat Craig and Dave Carlson (Tazmanian Devils), Robbie Long, Bill Craig, Tony Marty, and Tony Saunders. First recorded as a demo, the result was an album's worth of material. The project was soon moved to the Record Plant in Sausalito, where Jim Gaines of Huey Lewis & The News fame came in to take over production chores. The group produced over 15 songs ranging from funky soulful grooves to r&b ballads, and featuring some of the best singing work that Miles ever did. One cut, "When The Train Leaves the Station," featured solos by both Carlos Santana and Neal Schon from Journey. The title song of the proposed album, "Anna", helped Miles land his next recording job with the California Raisins. However, during the album's production, the Record Plant was seized by the United States Government when its owner was indicted on drug trafficking charges. The musicians and employees working there began calling the studio "Club Fed" (hence the name "The Club Fed Sessions"). Unfortunately, the album was never released, and the masters remain in the can in the hands of Miles' former manager. Years later, Pat Craig digitized some of the mixes and has been known to offer the album from time to time on eBay as a collector's item under the title "Buddy and Me.". The songs included on the tracklist were "Anna," "Forever in a Moment," "Tonight", "Next to You," and "This Could Be An Everlasting Love".

1980s-2000s[link]

In 1986 Miles performed vocals for the "California Raisins" claymation ad campaign, most notably singing "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" and was also lead vocals on two California Raisins albums featuring 1960s R&B covers. In 1986 and 1987, he also rejoined Carlos Santana as a vocalist on Santana's album Freedom. In 1987-88, Buddy moved to Southern California and formed the line up of Marlo Henderson on Guitar, Derek Sherinian on keyboards, and Michael BeHolden on Bass. The band toured around the California coast, then eventually did a tour of the chitlin circuit in the deep south before disbanding in early 1989. In 1996, he sat in with rock band Phish at Madison Square Garden. also in 1996 Miles did several dates with the NJ based blues band Rock'n Daddy, that also included former TV Toy guitarist Bob "BIG BUD" Solberg, drummer Paul "fergy" Ferguson, and bassist Phil "catfish" Endean (who after developing arthritis in his left hand now has a custom motorcycle business at endeanmc.com), Phil, after a rehearsal gave Buddy one of his prized Fender Strats that Buddy fell in love with while using in his guitar playing parts of their shows, Through the late 1990s, Miles' charitable side was seen in his band's playing pro bono at several annual tribute concerts for local friend and fan Linda Gillespie, who had been killed in a car accident in the Spring of 1994 in Winthrop Harbor, IL. While residing in Chicago in 1990, Miles formed MST with guitarist Kevon Smith and Joe Thomas. They recorded Hell and Back in 1994. They toured the US and Europe until 1997 and can be seen in the Tribute to Jimi Hendrix - CAS (1997) DVD directed by Patrick Savey featuring Buddy Miles, Kevon Smith and Joe Thomas.

In 1997 Buddy Miles relocated to Fort Worth, Texas. He began collaborating with young guitarist from Dallas, Texas, Lance Lopez. The former Band Of Gypsys legend would go on to mentor Lopez, leading to him co producing his debut album 'First Things First', along with Grammy winning producer Jay Newland (Norah Jones) which was released independently in 1999

Buddy Miles was seen in the Hendrix-family-owned, official video release The Making of Electric Ladyland on Rhino Records. That video featured interviews with the majority of players who were involved in recording the legendary Hendrix album. Miles even went as far as to be video recorded playing his same drum tracks yet again in the studio to the original multi-track recordings of Hendrix. In 1999 Miles appeared on the late Bruce Cameron's album, Midnight Daydream that included other Hendrix alumni Billy Cox and Mitch Mitchell along with Jack Bruce and others.

In 2004 Miles reunited yet again with Billy Cox of the Band of Gypsys to re-record songs from the original live album of 1970 with guitarists Eric Gales, Kenny Olsen, Sheldon Reynolds, Andy Aledort, and Gary Serkin. The album, titled The Band Of Gypsys Return, was released in 2006. Until his death, Buddy Miles continued to be active musically and performed many shows with proceeds going to help support victims of natural disasters and other noble causes.

Buddy Miles is credited on sessions with George Clinton/Parliament/Funkadelic.

In 2005 Buddy Miles began collaborating with Florida based Guitar Virtuoso Tony Smotherman in which the two toured the Southeast with a Blues-Rock Band performing various pieces from Miles' Collaborations with Jimi Hendrix. Miles and Smotherman last performed at the Austin Convention Center at the 2007 Summer NAMM Show with Vernon Reid of Living Colour.

Buddy Miles played his last live dates in 2007, on the West Coast of the United States with special assistance from Mark Donovan, former drummer of the Malford Milligan Band based out of Austin, TX. Also in Texas with Lance Lopez & Collin Keeton. He was forced to cancel the remaining dates because of heart problems.

Death[link]

Buddy Miles died on February 26, 2008, at his home in Austin, Texas at the age of 60. His family was by his side. According to his website he died of congestive heart disease.

There was a history of congestive heart failure in his family. His sister and mother both died of the same illness. It is known that his heart had certainly been struggling, working at only 15%, and his health had been consistently deteriorating over the past few months. According to friends, "he had turned off his defibrillator and was ready for heaven."^[4] There was no funeral; Miles was cremated.

The day before Buddy died, he heard Steve Winwood and Eric Clapton playing 'Them Changes' at Madison Square Garden through his cell phone. 'Them Changes' is now part of Clapton's set on tour as a tribute to Buddy. The UK-based newspaper The Independent ran an almost full-page obituary for Buddy Miles in its Friday February 29, 2008 edition. The title for the piece was "Buddy Miles: Flamboyant Hendrix drummer", and can be found on page 47.

Asked how he would like to be remembered by the American music magazine Seconds in 1995, Miles simply said: "The baddest of the bad. People say I'm the baddest drummer. If that's true, thank you world."^[5] A memorial concert took place on March 30, 2008 at Threadgill’s on Riverside Drive, South Austin.

Discography[link]

Solo[link]

• Expressway to Your Skull - Mercury (1968)
• Electric Church - Mercury (1969)
• Them Changes - Mercury (1970)
• We Got to Live Together - Mercury (1970)
• A Message to the People - Mercury (1971)
• Buddy Miles Live - Mercury (1971)
• Booger Bear - Columbia (1973)
• Chapter VII - Columbia (1973)
• All the Faces of Buddy Miles - Columbia (1974)
• More Miles Per Gallon - Casablanca (1975)
• Bicentennial Gathering of the Tribes - Casablanca (1976)
• Sneak Attack - Atlantic (1981)
• Hell and Back - United For Opportunity / Douglas Records (1994)
• Tribute to Jimi Hendrix - CAS (1997)
• Miles Away from Home - Hip-O (1997)
• Blues Berries - Ruf (2002)
• Changes - SPV (2005)

Collaborative[link]

• The Electric Flag - A Long Time Comin - Columbia (1968)
• The Electric Flag - The Electric Flag: An American Music Band - Columbia (1968)
• Jimi Hendrix - Band of Gypsys - Capitol (1970)
• John McLaughlin - Devotion - Douglas (1970)
• Carlos Santana & Buddy Miles! Live! - Columbia (1972)
• Hardware - Third Eye Open (1994)

References[link]

• Pareles, Jon (February 29, 2008). "Buddy Miles, 60, Hendrix Drummer, Dies". The New York Times. Retrieved on February 29, 2008.
• Perrone, Pierre (February 29, 2008). "Buddy Miles: Flamboyant Hendrix drummer". The Independent newspaper.
• Cheech and Chong Dot Com (February 27, 2008) "REST IN PEACE BUDDY MILES". '

External links[link]

• Official website
• Buddy Miles at Allmusic
• Michael Bloomfield Chronology (with information on Buddy Miles' time with the Electric Flag)
• Buddy Miles Photos