Buddy Miles

Buddy Miles - Blues Berries - 2002 - Ruf Records

The Bluesberries album was recorded in Austin Texas, at Arlyn Studios, between February 9, and February 16, 2000. Additioal recording including the entire song "Down At The Crossroads" and most of the vocals for the entire album were recorded at Diamond Head Studios in Dallas, Texas, in February and August 2000. The engineers in Arlyn were Larry Greenhill and Steve Chadie, with Jim Gaines as producer from February 10-13, 2000. Gregg Diamond is the executive producer. It is an outstanding album of soul, blues, funk, and rock. Buy Buddy Miles' great "Hell and Back" album.

TRACKS / COMPOSERS

1. Tobacco Road - Loudermilk
2. Big Mama - Blues Berries, Ware
3. Compassion For The Blues - Blues Berries
4. Live Is What - Blues Berries
5. Rock 'n' Roll - Blues Berries
6. Come On Back - Athas, Blues Berries
7. Texas Cannonball - Blues Berries, Diamond
8. Bayou Delta - Blues Berries
9. Miss Suga' Fine - Blues Berries
10. Down At The Crossroads - Blues Berries

MUSICIANS

Buddy Miles (vocals, drums)
Greg Diamond (acoustic guitar)
Rocky Athas (guitar)
Mark Leach (Hammond B-3 organ, keyboards)
Tommy Shannon, Robert Ware (bass)
Chris Layton (drums)

REVIEWS

Buddy Miles has never been an easy artist to categorize. Is he is a rocker, a bluesman, or a soulster? Truth be told, he is all of those things rolled into one; over the years, his work has been influenced by everyone from Jimi Hendrix to Muddy Waters to James Brown and Sly Stone. Recorded in Texas in 2000, Blues Berries is primarily an album of blues-rock with soul and funk references. Miles was 53 at the time, and the veteran singer/drummer is very much on top of his game on sweaty offerings like "Bayou Delta," "Compassion for the Blues," and "Texas Cannonball" (an ode to the late Freddie King). The impressive band that Miles leads, the Blues Berries, is quite mindful of the Texas blues and blues-rock traditions -- fans of King, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Albert Collins, and Johnny Winter should have no problem getting into either the original material or an inspired performance of the standard "Tobacco Road." But at the same time, Miles and the Blues Berries do not escape the influence of Chicago blues. The soul elements are especially strong on "Come on Back," which combines rock with a strong appreciation of Otis Redding, Wilson Picket, and the Stax Records/Southern soul sound of the '60s. Back in the '60s, "Come on Back" probably would have been too rock-minded for most R&B stations in the U.S. -- even so, it's a great soul/rock track that recalls a time when a lot of Ike and Tina Turner and Sly & the Family Stone fans were also Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix fans. Blues Berries is not recommended to blues purists, but this excellent CD offers considerable rewards to those who hold rock, soul, and the blues in equally high regard. © Alex Henderson, All Music Guide

He has made this new album "Blues Berries" full of rollicking blues. No horns, no "tasteless" free form funky drumming and you will not hear any electronic gimmicks. It is nothing but the Blues, played by some masters. The members of his band surely know one or two things about the good old rolling and rocking blues. Some of them are seasoned enough to have played with Johnny Winter in 1968 and later on with Steve Ray Vaughn. They know less is more. Listen to the songs: aren't they stripped down to the bone? It is not the old-fashioned, twelve bar blues, but a special kind of blues-rock with catchy melodies and words of truth. And, please, listen to Buddy singing the Blues. His voice, full of a lifetime of "them changes", is better than ever. If he sings about the ups and downs of life, you can be sure, he is not talking falsely. He may have had a bad reputation, but now with this new album, he is back in full glory and deserves some well-earned respect. There are not too many of the true originators of modern Rock, Soul and Blues left. Buddy Miles has the experience and his own well-worn kind of street-credibility. His fans all around the world know: It is easy to believe him, when he sings the Blues. That is why you too should give him a hand. Before life explodes again. Come on! © Adrian Wolfen (Editor of "Jazzthetik"-Magazine, Germany)

BIO (BUDDY MILES)

Best known as the drummer in Jimi Hendrix's Band of Gypsys, Buddy Miles also had a lengthy solo career that drew from rock, blues, soul, and funk in varying combinations. Born George Miles in Omaha, NE, on September 5, 1947, he started playing the drums at age nine, and joined his father's jazz band the Bebops as a mere 12 year old. As a teenager, he went on to play with several jazz and R&B outfits, most prominently backing vocal groups like Ruby & the Romantics, the Ink Spots, and the Delfonics. In 1966, he joined Wilson Pickett's touring revue, where he was spotted by blues-rock guitarist Mike Bloomfield. Bloomfield had left the Paul Butterfield Blues Band earlier in 1967 and was putting together a new group, the Electric Flag, which was slated to be an ambitious fusion of rock, soul, blues, psychedelia, and jazz. Bloomfield invited Miles to join up, and the band made its debut at the Monterey Pop Festival; unfortunately, the original lineup splintered in 1968. With founder Bloomfield gone, Miles briefly took over leadership of the band on its second studio album, which failed to reignite the public's interest. With the Electric Flag's horn section in tow, Miles split to form his own group, the similarly eclectic Buddy Miles Express. Signed to Mercury, the group issued its debut album, Expressway to Your Skull, in 1968, with Miles' fellow Monterey Pop alum Jimi Hendrix in the producer's chair. In turn, Miles played on Hendrix's Electric Ladyland album, and later took part in an all-star jam session that resulted in Muddy Waters' Fathers and Sons album. Hendrix also produced the Miles Express' follow-up, 1969's Electric Church, and disbanded his backing band the Experience later that year; shortly afterward, Hendrix, Miles, and bassist Billy Cox formed Band of Gypsys, one of the first all-black rock bands. Bluesier and funkier than Hendrix's previous work, Band of Gypsys didn't last long in its original incarnation; Miles departed in 1970, replaced by Experience drummer Mitch Mitchell, but not before his powerhouse work was showcased on the group's lone album, the live Band of Gypsys. After backing John McLaughlin on 1970's Devotion, Miles returned to the role of bandleader and recorded his most popular album, Them Changes, in 1971; it stayed on the charts for more than a year, and the title cut became Miles' signature song. From December 1971 to April 1972, Miles toured with Carlos Santana, which produced the CBS-released concert document Carlos Santana & Buddy Miles! Live!; recorded inside an inactive volcano in Hawaii, the album sold very well, climbing into the Top Ten. Miles cut a few more albums for CBS, participated in a short-lived Electric Flag reunion in 1974, then moved to Casablanca in 1975 for a pair of LPs. Aside from a one-off album for Atlantic in 1981 (Sneak Attack), Miles kept a low profile over the next decade, partly to battle personal problems. Miles returned in 1986 as the lead voice in a TV ad campaign that featured clay-animated raisins singing "I Heard It Through the Grapevine"; the ads proved so popular that a kid-friendly musical franchise was spun off, and thus Miles became the lead singer of the California Raisins, performing on two albums (mostly R&B covers) and a Christmas special. Additionally, Miles rejoined his old friend Carlos Santana as the official lead vocalist of Santana during part of the late '80s, making his studio debut on 1987's Freedom. In the early '90s, Miles played with Bootsy Collins (both solo and as members of Hardware), and in 1994 he formed a new version of the Express and recorded Hell and Back for Rykodisc. Miles Away From Home followed in 1997 on Hip-O. Miles toured steadily through the '90s, and subsequently formed a more straightforward blues band called the Blues Berries with guitarist Rocky Athas; their first album, Blues Berries, appeared on Ruf in 2002. © Steve Huey, All Music Guide

BIO (BUDDY MILES) - WIKIPEDIA

Buddy Miles is the stage name of American drummer and vocalist, George Miles. Born on September 5, 1947 in North Omaha, Nebraska, Buddy Miles was known as a child prodigy, originally playing drums in in his father, George Sr's band, The Bebops. Although George Sr. had played upright bass with Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Charlie Parker and Dexter Gordon, the name that Buddy Miles will forever be associated with is Jimi Hendrix who he played drums for in the short-lived but extremely influential, Band of Gypsys. In addition to his father's band The Bebops, as a teenager Miles played in a variety of bands including Ruby & the Romantics, the Ink Spots and the Delfonics. In 1967 he formed Electric Flag with guitarist Mike Bloomfield. While the lead vocalist for the Flag was Nick Gravenites, fans of the Flag always looked forward to the numbers sung by Miles. Listen to the slow blues song "Texas" by the short-lived Flag and you will get a sense of what Miles brought to the group. The group broke up after their 2nd album, and Miles formed the Buddy Miles Express. After Electric Flag, Miles would begin involvement with the legendary Jimi Hendrix. Miles had met Jimi Hendrix in an earlier time when both were acting as sidemen for other artists in the early 60's. The meeting had occurred in Canada at a show both were participating in. This prefaced a later friendship that would result varied collaborations between the two artists. An extremely busy Hendrix would produce the Buddy Miles Express release, "Electric Church" in 1969. There was obvious public curiosity as to whether the name of the band "Buddy Miles Express" was influenced by Hendrix's act, "Jimi Hendrix Experience". Soon after, Jimi Hendrix started opening his recording style to now include guest artists. And in this mode Hendrix was working in, Buddy Miles quite naturally was invited to participate. He played with Jimi Hendrix on the hugely influential Electric Ladyland album. Miles played on the songs "Rainy Day, Dream Away" and "Still Raining, Still Dreaming". Soon after the release of this groundbreaking album, he would join Hendrix in a short lived band called "Band of Gypsys". One of the notable features of this band was the fact that all of the players were black. This was a first for Hendrix as an international recording star but his choice of players resulted from musical preferences and not racial ones according to all published sources concerning the act. This act, "Band of Gypsys" was based in New York City where Hendrix was spending the majority of his time. Hendrix, who was tangled in legal litigation concerning contracts he had signed in the past prior to his becoming internationally recognized, was required to release a record to the Capitol Records label as part of the agreement in court. This fact led to the live recording of his collaboration with Buddy Miles and Billy Cox. The Band of Gypsys made a famous and enduring live album that was recorded in New York's Fillmore East on New Year's Eve 1969/70. However during a follow up performance a month later, Hendrix had a minor, drug-related meltdown on stage and Miles was fired by Hendrix manager, Michael Jeffery. Miles continued to work with Hendrix during early and mid 1970 after his "Jimi Hendrix Experience" had failed to reform to record. Miles would share recording studio drumming duties on songs that would appear on records released after Hendrix's September 1970 death such as "Cry of Love" and the controversial "Crash Landing" produced by Alan Douglas. 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 passing on Mecury Records. By this time Miles had dropped the "Buddy Miles Express" act name and shortened it to just his own name, Buddy Miles. That band included bassist David Hull (who would go on to work with Joe Perry of Aerosmith) and guitarist Charlie Karp. The same band would release a live album entitled "Live" which again included his by now signature song, "Them Changes". Miles would see the song released yet a fourth time on a collaborative live record he made with none other than 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 70's-80's ear 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. It should not go unmentioned that 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. 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 1960's R&B covers. In 1986 and 1987, after spending the late 1970s and early 1980s incarcerated for drug charges, he also rejoined Carlos Santana as a vocalist on Santana's album Freedom. 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 a trio of guitarists that included Eric Gale who had gained fame on his own already. Buddy Miles continues to be active musically and performs selected shows with proceeds going to help support victims of natural disasters and other noble causes.