This CD has all of the music from drummer Tony Williams' Believe It and Million Dollar Legs LPs. The best-known version of Williams' Lifetime is the trio he led during 1969-1970 with guitarist John McLaughlin and organist Larry Young. There are times (particularly on the first half of this reissue) that this later edition of Lifetime approaches the power and creativity of the original group. Key among the sidemen is guitarist Allan Holdsworth, a very underrated and creative musician whose style falls between rock and jazz and who often improvises more like a keyboardist than a guitarist. Alan Pasqua on electric piano and bassist Tony Newton (who also takes a few forgettable vocals) complete the group; background brass and strings are added to some of the songs in the later date. Although not flawless (some of the music has dated), these long-overlooked performances are worth exploring by fusion collectors, especially for Holdsworth's fiery yet thoughtful solos. © Scott Yanow © 2013 AllMusic, a division of All Media Network, LLC. | All Rights Reserved http://www.allmusic.com/album/lifetime-the-collection-mw0000091754
Despite the overall fair review for this compilation album from Allmusic, it is worth reading P.McKenna’s review of “Million Dollar Legs” @ http://www.amazon.com/Million-Dollar-Legs-Tony-Williams/dp/B00009XFS8 Are the tracks really that bad? Don Menn in his review of “Million Dollar Legs” in Guitar Player, January 1977 said that “Allan Holdsworth assumes the lead guitar role in this percussionist's latest jazz-rock gathering. He whomps out big, ragged-edged chords, and he flings happy fills under the beak of keyboardist Alan Pasqua who pecks them right up and flies away with them. Holdsworth must have practiced scales for most of a previous life to achieve his speed and accuracy. Although fast, he is controlled, circling rather than fleeing too far from central tones, and he never substitutes virtuosity for taste, beauty, or funk. Neither does anyone else in this tight, wholly satisfying foursome”. Sean Trane in progarchives.com gave the album 3.5/5 ***** and said “While this album suffers from execrable reputation (some of it deserved), it's not quite as bad as what some reviewers would have you believe. True that the absolutely ugly artwork and the stupid title do no favour to this wax slice?.. You'd believe we're in some kind of mid-70's funky radio-friendly junk stuck somewhere between Orleans and Kool & The Gang, with Tony even looking a bit like a retarded shoe fetishist. If that wasn't enough, the album is over-produced with often unneeded horns and seldom useful string arrangements, but the New Lifetime's line-up remains unchanged, although it's more Pasqua's baby, as opposed to the previous being Holdsworth's. One thing for sure: Pasqua didn't feel limited to the Rhodes or Hammond, he was using synths to beef up the compositions and unlike many of those years, and he chose well his sounds. Admittedly, starting on an average jazz funk tune (a little long and repetitive) Sweet revenge, then on an atrocious (but thankfully short) sung track You Did It To Me (and they did, and it hurt), intended to be a radio hit filled with a full EW&F brass section, all these don't make a good start to an album that follow a minor masterpiece. However the title tracks does reverse things with some excellent chord progressions, good string arrangements (despite what I said in the opening paragraph), and some excellent GG-esque keyboards. Joy Filled Summer brings us more of the same minus the strings and more of Holdsworth and Tony dazzles us. Excellent track if a little repetitive. These two tracks are reminiscent of early Brian Auger's Oblivion Express. The flipside starts on the slow-evolving piano-dominated Lady Jade where the strings reappear, but this time in all cheesiness, but thankfully it's quickly over. The 7-mins What You Do To Me is an excellent crescendo track, one that might just be the answer to that excruciatingly bad "hit" on the A side. Again Oblivion Express shades are all over this track. The almost 10-mins finale Inspiration Of Love, where a tad of Lady Alice (Coltrane) permeated Pasqua's piano in the intro, before Holdsworth pulls a huge solo. Overall this closing monster is a fine piece if it wasn't for the over-powering string arrangements around the end of the track. Well the end of Lifetime was near as they would find themselves abandoned on a tour by their management, and if heir last album was not their best, it certainly doesn't deserve its bad reputation aside the awful front artwork. Definitely needs rehabilitation among some "fans".” “Believe It” received far more favourable reviews. Check out http://www.amazon.com/Believe-It-Tony-Williams/dp/B0001O2BY8/ref=ntt_mus_ep_dpi_2 Listen to the classic The Tony Williams Lifetime’s “Emergency!” album with John McLaughlin on guitar for hard edged fusion at it’s best [All tracks @ 320 Kbps: File size = 169 Mb]
TRACKS / COMPOSERS
1 Snake Oil – Tony Newton 6:30
2 Fred – Allan Holdsworth 6:48
3 Proto-Cosmos – Alan Pasqua 4:03
4 Red Alert – Tony Newton 4:39
5 Wildlife – Tony Williams 5:22
6 Mr.Spock – Allan Holdsworth 6:17
7 Sweet Revenge – Tony Williams 6:05
8 You Did It to Me Baby – Tony Williams & Antonio Newton 3:52
9 Million Dollar Legs – Tony Williams 6:39
10 Joy Filled Summer – Tony Newton 5:53
11 Lady Jade – Alan Pasqua 4:01
12 What You Do To Me – Tony Williams 7:08
13 Inspirations Of Love – Tony Newton 9:47
N:B Tracks 1-6 are on The New Tony Williams Lifetime’s “ Believe It” album, and Tracks 7-13 are from The New Tony Williams Lifetime’s “Million Dollar Legs” album
MUSICIANS
Allan Holdsworth - Guitar
Tony Newton - Bass, Vocals
Alan Pasqua - Keyboards, Electric Piano, Clavinet
Tony Williams - Drums
BIO
Tony Williams' death in 1997 of a heart attack after routine gall bladder surgery was a major shock to the jazz world. Just 51, Williams (who could be a very loud drummer) seemed so youthful, healthy, and ageless even though he had been a major drummer for nearly 35 years. The open style that he created while with the Miles Davis Quintet in the mid- to late '60s remains quite influential, and he had a long list of accomplishments during the decades that followed. Williams' father, a saxophonist, took his son out to clubs that gave him an opportunity to sit in; at 11, the youngster already showed potential. He took lessons from Alan Dawson, and at 15 was appearing at Boston-area jam sessions. During 1959-1960, Williams often played with Sam Rivers, and in December 1962 (when he was barely 17), the drummer moved to New York and played regularly with Jackie McLean. Within a few months he joined Miles Davis, where his ability to imply the beat while playing quite freely influenced and inspired the other musicians; together with Herbie Hancock and Ron Carter he was part of one of the great rhythm sections. Williams, who was 18 when he appeared on Eric Dolphy's classic Out to Lunch album, stayed with Davis into 1969, leading his own occasional sessions and becoming a household name in the jazz world. In addition to his interest in avant-garde jazz, Tony Williams was a fan of rock music, and when he left Miles he formed the fusion band Lifetime, a trio with Larry Young and John McLaughlin. After leading other versions of Lifetime (one of them starring Allan Holdsworth), Williams stuck to freelancing for a time, studied composition, and toured with Herbie Hancock's V.S.O.P. band. By the mid-'80s, he was heading his own all-star hard bop group which featured Wallace Roney as a surrogate Miles Davis and a repertoire dominated by the drummer's originals (including the standard "Sister Cheryl"). After breaking up his longtime quintet in 1995, Williams gigged a bit with a trio, recorded a very interesting set of original music for the Ark 21 label, and seemed to have a limitless future. His premature death makes one grateful that he started his career early and that he was extensively documented. © Scott Yanow © 2013 AllMusic, a division of All Media Network, LLC. | All Rights Reserved http://www.allmusic.com/artist/tony-williams-mn0000791318/biography
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