Mahavishnu Orchestra 1972

[zonlicht1980]

john was defintely on acid here!!

[drummerman558]

@zonlicht1980 Doubt it retard!!

[zonlicht1980]

@drummerman558 fuck u mr pathetic...

[skaterat121]

JERRY GOODMAN 4:27 HOLY FUCK!

[bradiporitmico]

this is the the song that has turned upside down my vision of music.. 23 years ago when I was 15 old... the Inner mounting flame... music has never been the same since this album.

This version is amazing!

[TheDanification]

i cannot imagine shredding on a 12 string. awesome stuff here.

[Oneness100]

This was John's first band that became popular and televised. John was more used to being a side player with Miles and Tony Williams. So, he probably was a little camera shy. I think he is more interested in playing than talking.

[jaydogg17]

Jerry Goodman is fuckin amazing...

[EliotKrupa]

BILLY...HOLY FUCK!

[inyofacepriklips]

cobham was the best

[inyofacepriklips]

hey john...take some more acid why don't ya..

[zarwarrior]

Music with a high nutritional value. Not the junk food version that they try to feed us on radio.

[YourMateJosh]

i challenge each person who reads this to put the mahavishnu orchestra into on word.

my word is: delicious.

[davelewitt]

the Mahavishnu Orchestra was the band that defined and personified "jazz- fusion"

they were the pioneers--

check out Sister Andrea from the live album to hear one of the all time great guitar solos

[Tezman82]

John is kinda creepy with his intro.

[DarkeningSkies1]

I love the contrast between John's gentle, almost shy stage persona (announcement-wise), and his full throated guitar attack. So cool.

[hallibosx]

@DarkeningSkies1 .. that's just what i thought a minute ago and i could not describe it any better. you're right. :)

[gotrottin]

I have been hooked from the first phrase of the fisrt song on Birds of Fire. Music never had this kind of intensity until John put it there.

[Gazontheraz]

me too.

[turntapzap]

You had to really be talented in those days. No bullshit.

[tomk773]

He did an album w/Carlos Santana: 'Love, Devotion, Surrender'

[tomk773]

Mahavishnu John McLaughlan (lead vocals, guitar) -I remember them well, I was 11yrs & buying their records..

[SanjibanSellew]

Super good!!

[Tweekerhead]

Jerry Kills!

[salvadorascencio]

fantastic indeed

[RockWillLiveOn]

Wow... just WOW

Never heard of this band before, until I was looking at a countdown list of the greatest songs of all time, and I saw this song.

Why can't there be musicians like this nowadays? I wish I was growing up in the 70's :(

[Dorsch123]

Who know what shuffle (?) billy plays, it begins at 1:33. 8th notes on the hihat and the rest on the snare as ghostnotes, how many ghostnotes?

If there is any good drummer who would help me, please write a message to me!

[hubbsllc]

Dorsch123 -

It sounds more complex than it is...I used to wonder how he did it too until I realized that Cobham was playing open-armed with the hi-hat to his left. All he's doing is single-stroke 16ths with the left hand falling on the beat. You can see there at about 1:30 that he hits the HH on the 1 and 1& with his left and then the snare with his left on the 2 and the 4. All the other strokes are soft ones on the snare. Sounds like a flurry of snare ghost notes but it's very economical.

[Dorsch123]

thanks man! good to notice that there are people like you ;)

[written12]

@hubbsllc

I neither play drums as you do or have the technical terms on my lips, but I agree that Cobhman's playing is economical- quite elegant, actually.

It's ear-catching but neither abandons the ensemble sound or an instrumentalist he duets with.

[tommoralesmusic]

In regards to fast playing and tightness under extreme speed, It is very difficult to think of a better guitar/drums combo than McLaughlin / Cobham.

[tkarkkun]

great stuff man!

[MagnusLindblOOm]

This was the best I´ve seen in a long time. I just looooove the 70´s=)

[MeinErsterFilm]

twilight of the gods

[spoketwister]

Smoke lotsa dank........Everyday!

[PhilAroundhits]

Didn't know JML used drugs. You sure ? Cause it seems so far from the musician we listen to since 40 years. Yoga, bouddhism with Santana... Miles didn't do hero, and he fired those who took some but he ruined his health with cocaine. Coc is the worst . Unfortunately, It hasn't the bad reputation of hero but it destroys a life in less time. That has no necessary relation with how an artist is gifted. Duke or Ella were solid persons, Bird, Bill Evans weren't. Genius is probably hard to carry.

[JIOREO]

Miles fucked up? and Picasso, Jaco, Marvin Gay, Alfred Hitchcock and Orson Wells, and any number of intensely creative and gifted humans in all (creative) fields of life including music. Miles (the artist/musician) can only be looked at like James Brown...as THEE man (period)  The background of an artist is of interest, but the product of that artists gift to everyone as visionary (closest to the source) is what's important. I would never end a sentence w/ "Miles is fucked up".

..

[bobdonlon]

What a bunch of drug-induced masturbation.

[immortalx50]

Hahah, what a childish insult. It IS a drug-inducted improvised shredding, and that's why everybody likes it

[JIOREO]

Sorry if what I've said came off as an insult, I have the utmost admiration for JM as a musician, then and now. Drug 'influenced' in it's depth and complexity I will concede, but drug induced (as in while playing) seems more of an insult to his craft and talent. I obviously have no way of knowing for sure, but my take is he was crystal clear when he performed/recorded, and what we hear is him being so far 'in' that he sounds far out, hence "the inner mounting flame".

[zappahead538]

fuck you

[JIOREO]

Love JM's intro. It's like he's on quaaludes and his hands are on speed!

[dapunkof1975]

Or hes just smoking the good shit

[JIOREO]

Hard to say but I doubt that he could play like that stoned. I was being a bit facetious w/the quaaludes/speed comment. As far as real drugs, he was a heroin addict back when he first played w/Miles (Jack Johnson/Bitches Brew) and if you listen to (even earlier) some early Tony Williams Lifetime w/JM on guitar, they both did some pretty psychedelic/trippy sounding shit! I always felt that his Mahavishnu/spiritual involvement was a result/aid after kicking heroin. Just my take.

[SevenCircles]

I think so too, John was not a very technical player in the 60:s he didn´t really became a virtuoso until the seventies

[mario21128]

i know it seems almost impossible to play at that intensity stoned, but he had to be on something....most of the recordings i hear him playing on are so far out, including his spoken words

[GDarkstar74]

That's very interesting. I knew that McLaughlin used to like to trip on acid and smoke weed back in the 60's and 70's but I never heard that he was on heroin. It was probably a result of hanging around Miles Davis. Miles was FUCKED UP.

[redl3ss]

Miles was not fucked up... he just was the best trumpeter composer and band leader in the history of jazz, perhaps you don't know that except from JML some other great 70s musicians like Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, Joe Zawinul, Wayne Shorter, Tony Williams, Billy Cobham, Dave Holland and many more. He just changed the world, but as it seems you can't accept that he created cool jazz and jazz rock.

Now go jump, kiddie.

[GDarkstar74]

Yeah, I'm not dumb. I like to believe that a musicians drug use doesn't influence their creativity or abilities, because some of the greatest musicians used drugs, and some didn't. All i meant is that Miles did a lot of drugs, and became a little nuts, but still genius. I have his albums from Milestones, Birth of Cool, and all his bebop stuff, through Bitches Brew. Miles invented Jazz/Rock fusion with that album and he is the one to thank for all the fusion groups that followed.

[Bassplyr1470]

If you know something about Miles then you would know that Miles dropped Heroine cold turkey on his fourth attempt around 1954, before he made history as one of the few gods of jazz. Instead of talking about how much music you have, you should keep on topic. The point of youtube comments is to share your belief not your "vast" music collection.

[GDarkstar74]

Yeah I know, but he was absolutely not "clean" after that. He continued to have some struggles with drugs and alcohol.

[Bassplyr1470]

Ok i guess clean is a subjective term. But I mean clean as in not on a drug thats up with Heroine. None the less. Drugs didn't not affect bitches brew and in a silent way as much as it makes sense for them to have done the entire album that's just the way Davis was going.

[GDarkstar74]

yeah absolutely, he knew what he wanted to do. He was the first to do it and he did it brilliantly.

[funkishbass]

Never liked this music in high school, don't like it now. It's so self-consciously trying hard.

it's bordering on plain tasteless to my ears.

All good players, yes, better performances elsewhere IMHO when they're not together in this "band".

I jammed with Cobham, amazing.

Thanks for letting me make my comment.

Except Jan Hammer, he's incredible right throughout.

Bye

[JIOREO]

to each their own.  (opinion)

[JIOREO]

For any bass players out there- Rick Laird held it down! Imagine keeping time w/that band! And for tech-geeks, at 6:17 check out his Fender P-bass w/removed pups and a (Gibson?) humbucker ala 70's Fender Tele bass in the extreme neck position! For the ultimate MO recording listen to (live) Between Nothingness and Eternity. Music of insanely complex passionate intensity and beauty made when they were at their peak powers! A peerless supergroup.

[dorian411]

Spot on. That IS the mongo front Humbucker from the Gibson EB series. I did the same to my hollow-body, Hoffner copy. Could not afford the EB-3 in high school (68 -72) so ripped out the original crappers and put in that mother. Got that Jack Bruce narly sound and loved every second of it.

[jsilence418]

Awesome thanks.

[beng1lh00ly]

Is that a Rhodes or a different electric piano being played by Hammer?

[hubbsllc]

Yes, that's a Fender Rhodes with the lid removed. The structures that you see there are the highly stylized tuning-fork-like tone generators.

[filltrate]

Billy Cobham was "ghost" after the performance like he had a joint waiting for him back stage! HA HA!

[jazzowacko]

stupid video effects !, music is great ! cobham is... wwauw !

[astroman287]

this is freak out time.but i mean that in a kind way.

[drummerman558]

aargh!! jerry goodman is so amazing!!! hes right up there with john for musicality if you ask me.

[wowza1234567]

how awkward was john in the beginning??

[DruggardlyBros]

haha it spooked me a little bit

[speedboarder87]

He was just trippin', hahaha

[keo774]

@wowza1234567 what do you mean?

[mercury110]

great to see this for the first time after hearing on record all these years.

i can appreciate what cobham contributed that much more. like great soloists coltrane and hendrix, they played off the drums. McLaughlin does the same.

Thanks for putting this up.

[drummerman558]

simply amazing

[DrummerTjsteen]

They make it look to easy

[firstbooob]

JERRY GOODMAN...JUST A MENTION...

[drummerman558]

haha, nice

[gomisdangster]

all music is beautiful. to me, there's music and silence. that's it. if someone is making noise and their happy with it, so what? i'd imagine that guys like these appreciate their artistic success much more than their commercial success, anyway.

[elfidox2]

juanbarros88

thank you for telling the truth!

all we have now for music is crap like

hip-hop

or that mainstream mtv rock that so many teenagers seem to like

music is dying....

and it's so sad......

[veezocaveezo]

this is so good, it's disgusting. This is a great example of fantastic musicians.

They all should have some award..

[corenzwit]

Awesome! Billy Cobham is my favorite drummer.

[THEPIGSARESMELLY]

this video is so cool and the drummer and guitarist have a musical connection

[yuritim]

The Absolute Gods of Jazz Fusion of all times.

[martinvfphoto]

WOW! . . . mahavishnu must be sanskrit for MOTHERF@CKERs!

[andrewtheman19]

haha amen dude...

[oregonbobv]

I was fortunate to see this amazing group 3 times in new York including their last show at Linciln Center. Jerry Goodman is hot on this set. WOW!!!!

[AmericanDiaz]

Anyone who compares mars dorka to MVO, should quit trying to justify their generations mediocre attempts at greatness.

[andrewtheman19]

What's wrong with comparing? I doubt anyone says they're better...hell it's all music, is beauty not in the eye of the beholder?

[andrewtheman19]

What's wrong with comparing? I doubt anyone says they're better...hell it's all music, is beauty not in the eye of the beholder?

[AmericanDiaz]

lol

[hateaters]

John sucks at talking in front of an audience. So does the singer from Dream Theater.

[andrewtheman19]

you suck at life.

[hateaters]

you suck at ?

[milesofsmiles]

tasteful drum  kit...

[fredtellum]

If you want to do some musical archeology dig up "the Graham Bond Organization" in 1964 in London with John McLaughlin, Graham Bond, Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker.

That was a super-group of kids there.

[andrewtheman19]

Dude is it just me or is McLaughlin high as hell when he gives that opening speech?

[fredtellum]

No way is he high on drugs. He is high on a spiritual and musical plane that very few will every touch.

He was definitely not a druggie.

[undersolo]

He's on something.

[dapunkof1975]

Not accusing anyone here but I do hate how some people compar Mars Volta to Mahavishu. First of all, Omar is no where near the skill and talent of that of John Mclaughlin, Omar's playing is just effects and no foundation, just tremelo runs on blues scales and Ikey the keyboardist...Nothin' special, he ain't no Jan Hammer.

[Screamingdk]

mars what da get the fuck out here,with that kiddy porn bullshit. Mars couldn't wipe their collective asses .

[AmericanDiaz]

Mars Volta can suck my volta.

[fopstra]

hahaha, those mathematic musicians, hahaha...

[Philtertip]

Cobham is great... like Bruford in reverse!!!! Very similar drummers. A "lightning quick" snare technique and huge dynamics.... John on the guit box is another matter.... the grandfather of shred!!!!

[dapunkof1975]

Wow, interesting comparison between Cobham and Bruford. In a way I agree with and the both of them are my favorites as well.

[utubesucks2003]

I really wonder why theyre not like big like the stones or whatever, i understand they are technical musician masters but if they did a little more songwriting to appeal to masses they could have vastly attracted a listening base and then went totally into their craft once people knew about them from simpler compositions (provided they could make ones like that cause it does take a certain genieus) and be hailed to the sky.

[acidtones1]

They had no singer. I think that's the reason why.

[MeHungy136]

yeh they would have... but there are some people who want to write music to express themselves creativley instead of just selling records and appealing to an audience. Thats the definition of underground music... these guys weren't mainstream

[juanbarros88]

Good music is hardly popular music, and common listeners dont understand music and cant appreciated as an Art. They like stuff one can sing and repeat the chorus several times, and they prefer understandable rhythms and melodies. They dont ever care for harmony. COmmon listeners are like deaf and retarded. for example most people like hip hop...WTF is that shit??? It kinda pisses me off, stupid music making money. its like a joke in music. its an insult to the art of music....

[SonOfYoungwood]

Exactly.

[utubesucks2003]

Yeah I more or less agree with you. But look The Beatles, they have all the ingredients you mention about infectious choruses and "understandable rhytms", but I'd hardly consider them sub-par even though they are vastly popular by mainstream listeners.

Hip Hop is mostly shit. However, I respect The Last Poets, and you might like K'naan.

[juanbarros88]

Well True,There's always exceptions....I like the Beatles, they arent virtuosos but they are talented, they can make simple good music, fun to listen to

[slabjellyhed8]

Why can't I dig Mahavishnu Orchestra and hip hop? Grow up man... there's something to be learned from all different sorts of music. Sure, a lot of music, jazz included is designed with nothing more in mind than to make money. Still a lot of it is from the heart... hip hop included.

[juanbarros88]

@slab it's fine as long as you dont make me listen, haha jk. I think im fine w/o hip hop though, Im not missing anything important. Your ears can like everything i dislike and vice versa, and it's acceptable, dont know if respectable... hahaha jk. I admit it's very hard for me, H-Hop irritates me. I respect ppl that listens to it peacefully, and don't make me listen to it. hip hop listeners have to be considerate like I am w/ my music. many find it offensive in many ways

[Pomeray8]

@slabjellyhed8 Exactly! I like them both, a lot!

[jet5775]

@juanbarros88 Amen Brother

[HispanicImpression]

@juanbarros88:

You're my friend now.

[keo774]

@juanbarros88 youre right, but maybe youre too critic: you have to respect other poeoples opinion

[ThisEarth]

@juanbarros88 If you acknowledge music as an art form then you must also acknowledge its vast range of different styles. You just show how single minded and arrogant people can be when it comes to their preferred genre therefore your subjective view of what music "is" is irrelevant. Say that You enjoy this but don't enjoy hip hop. That at least would be valid. Also - there's no such thing as "art of music". It's "music as an art[form]". Welcome the day you hear a rap track you can listen to.

[IGSXIII]

God... how much fun would it be to be able to play at that level...

[20Ashfork07]

Saw them in LA in the early 70's. Wow...I couldn't breathe..Standing room only, I didn't mind...One of my best music experiences ever.

[jonrickly]

ok...i saw them in 71...

they opened for emerson, lake and palmer at the santa monica civic....

then again at the whisky a go go...

unreal!!

[20Ashfork07]

That is where I saw them too...Whisky a go go...

[luisritx]

wow

[Thirdeyelogy04]

This music is amazing.

But we still have hope for today with bands like The Mars Volta.

Check them out.

[gotdapown]

I don't understand how anyone can possibly compare the Mars Volta to this band.. Mimicking progressive bands from 30 years ago doesn't make you progressive, that is regressive. The Mars Volta tries to replicate, but just aren't as good as their predecessors. Omar and Cedric were more progressive with At the Drive-In, an actual respectable and talented band from the last decade.

[ianstronach]

My guitar teacher (Charlie Smith) at music college in Newcastle, England taught John a couple of times. John is from Yorkshire, lived for some time in north east England. Charlie told me that John was amazing even as a young man of about 19 years old.

[kidkitna]

OMG these guys rock! Im so glad I took jazz history this semester. I may have never heard of these guys!

[fonfogua]

esta musica no la entiende ni dios

[dodecafono]

¿Por que se debería 'entender' la música?

[docevil003]

Now I remember why i loved growing up in the 60's/70's...

So much great music, and then... a band like this?

Saw them at the old Scheaffer Stadium (now Gillette NE Patriots) The strangest pairing of bands ever.

J. Geils Band opened. Whaaaat?? Yes! So the stadium was filled with beer drinking biker dudes and tabbing, meditative introverts... and there was no trouble.

[LADYxGORE]

heroin.

[newthings158]

lovely lovely, I was hooked in 1971 when I was 14 and became a Mahavishnu snob! Have found others since then but I always come back to McLaughlin...

[hihats]

Mahavishnu Orchestra...music of the most HIGH.

[spacepatrolman]

BLISS OUT.

[TheTravelingThumb]

Somebody 'school me'...but is there any band in modern rock that plays with this much intelligence, ground-breaking sounds, odd-meters and virtuosity?

[darfunkel]

Id have to site heavy metal bands like Liquid Tension Experiment and Electrocution 250... not sure if that fits in your modern rock list.

[UrinalDude]

I'm sorry, they're great musicians and I loved it, but I burst out laughing when John spoke at the beginning. It was pretty funny.

[OODYOOOO]

yo cobham is jacked, and where john from ithought he was english but he sounds foreign

[Northwfilm]

Mahavishnu O. was ground breaking... it was beyond fusion... John's conversion and love of Sri Chimnoy and his teachings flowed down from his compositions to his fingers... you either got it or you didn't... that's right chaspagano... you obviously didn't. Thanks for the video, sure did bring back wonderful memories.

[docevil003]

Amen Brother!

[feralmusic]

well...at least the kids today have got taking back sunday. lol...

[mikeh69]

I thought when John spoke it was in a way very spirtual and like.....God

[chaspagano]

i'm sorry but these guys were the complete shit at this time. weather report or no weather report. jerry goodman is rippin'...

[walterkolosky]

"Power, Passion and Beauty: The Story of the Legendary Mahavishnu Orchestra" by Walter Kolosky.

Allaboutjazz.com says:

"Kolosky has finally righted a wrong, delivering a book that is as factual an account of the group's rise and fall as will likely ever be published…”

Walter Kolosky says: …it is my turn to pay the music back. “Power, Passion and Beauty” is my offering."

Visit www.abstractlogix.com/mahavish­nubook

[cornishmusic]

Billy Cobham is outstanding on this - great video!

[lytovcas]

When he was trying to speak to the microphone it was completely clear that he'd better speak thru his guitar.

Amazing video capture. Amazing performance.

[Mundos]

cobham on the fibes...didn't know he ever played those