Tony Williams' Lifetime

[bassist15]

Im a big fan of Miles' electric period which included John Mcglaughlin and Larry Young . I have really heard to much talk about this band or much video of them at all.

[Peck_Time]

Hi, Miles Davis was never in Tony Williams Lifetime. Tony Williams was in Miles' band with Ron Carter, Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter/ George Coleman.

Ummm also most of the bass was played by Larry Youngs left hand wasn't it?
Although I have vague recollections of some recordings with Jack Bruce on slab.

[middlebit]

Jack Bruce joined Williams, Mclaughlin and Young for the second Lifetime album, 'Turn It Over'. I love the two first releases, only the sound quality is really sub-standard.

[bassist15]

I didnt mean Miles was in Lifetime I just said that McGlaughlin and LArry Young both played on some Miles albums that Ive heard and I enjoyed their playing so I wanted to know about tony williams' group

[middlebit]

@bassist15: You might want to check out the 'Spectrum: The Antholgy' album by Lifetime if you can find it.

[The Owl]

This band was seriously pioneering, they achieved a volatile fusion just a bit BEFORE Bitches Brew. It's odd that at the time, they weren;t exactly given a warm welcome in the jazz realm but years later had proved very iinfluential. LA based keyboardist Wayne Peet seems to have a serious fondness for them, evidenced by a couple of his releases:

Fully Engulfed

Live At Al's Bar

I've heard rumors that Bill Laswell is remastering "Emergency" and "Turn It Over" but not sure if that's still a go. Sure would be nice though, the music was groundbreaking but the recording quality was soooo bloody awful (budgetary constraints I guess). It'd be also great if the awful vocals could be erased (thankfully the vocals were brief and few in number). That criticism aside, I LOVE this band.

Also, here's a cool cover of "Sangria for Three" done at a Tony Williams tribute concert in LA some time ago, the players are:

Alex Cline: Drums
Nels Cline: Guitar
Wayne Peet; Hammond Organ

http://www.nelscline.com/sounds/Exclusive/sangria.mp3

[peteroberts]

there's a Tony Williams record called 'Lifetime' released in 1964 that a lot of people don't know about...strange instrumentation (drums, 2 basses, and sax for most of it). Very out.

[diptixon]

I think Motown bassist Tony Newton played on some of that stuff... he also went on to play in Gary's Moore's hard rock band G-Force in the early 80's...

[Electricmayhem]

It's funny that I just found a thread about Lifetime...I was just looking through a downbeat mag from a few months ago that had an article about them. Checked it out on itunes too, and I get what everyone says about the recording quality. But that is some good music!

[The Owl]

Originally Posted by diptixon

I think Motown bassist Tony Newton played on some of that stuff... he also went on to play in Gary's Moore's hard rock band G-Force in the early 80's...

Tony N did, it was in the second version of LIfetime, circa 1975, the band that boasted another Brit guitar virtuoso, one Allan Holdsworth.

[narud]

Originally Posted by The Owl

Tony N did, it was in the second version of LIfetime, circa 1975, the band that boasted another Brit guitar virtuoso, one Allan Holdsworth.

along with black market,romantic warrior,inner mounting flame,and thrust, thats one of the best fusion albums ever imo.

[brianrost]

The original Lifetime trio that recorded "Emergency" had no bass player at all and on "Turn It Over" Jack Bruce is only on about half the tracks. You can barely hear Jack the mix is so bad.

Looking back, I suppose only the people who saw them live will ever know what they really sounded like.

[dougjwray]

This year, John Scofield, Larry Goldings and Jack DeJohnette, calling themselves "Trio Beyond", released a Lifetime tribute album.
It's not as beautifully ugly and spooky and '60s-wild as the original stuff, but still interesting to listen to.

[JimK]

Originally Posted by peteroberts

there's a Tony Williams record called 'Lifetime' released in 1964 that a lot of people don't know about...strange instrumentation (drums, 2 basses, and sax for most of it). Very out.

That's a great record...definitely 'out' for Blue Note Records (at that time).
Very little to do with the Tony Williams Lifetime vibe, though.

IIRC, Mclaughlin's 2nd solo disc, Devotion, has Larry Young...some of that Lifetime fire is there.

[brianrost]

Originally Posted by JimK

Mclaughlin's 2nd solo disc, Devotion, has Larry Young...some of that Lifetime fire is there.

Except Buddy Miles is pretty bland compared to Tony