Miles: BIG FUN ---->BitchesBrewBoxSet

[chewy-chew-chew-bean-benitez]

if i have the set (lost the booklet)- do i need BIG FUN? i specfiiclly am talking about GREAT EXPECTATIONS and GO AHEAD JOHN///are these songs in the box, and if so which ones are they? all this fusion miles blends together for me....

[Guy Berger]

if i have the set (lost the booklet)- do i need BIG FUN? i specfiiclly am talking about GREAT EXPECTATIONS and GO AHEAD JOHN///are these songs in the box, and if so which ones are they? all this fusion miles blends together for me....

"Great Expectations" is in the BB box, "Go Ahead John" is not.

Guy

[Guest Bixieland]

I have Big Fun -- it's good, I always kind of liked it. It's an interesting little collection of various electric adventures that were without a home. Not overly cohesive or focused in any profound way, but a nice 2 disc collection. I think I know why they named it Big Fun...since it doesn't come off as serious and pretentious or "important". But unless you're a Miles electric nut...I don't think you NEED these, but it is a fun listen of some pre barrel-scraping, vault raiding Miles (though that stuff can be good too!)

Edited May 26, 2007 by Bixieland

[mikeweil]

Go Ahead John is in the Jack Johnson Sessions box - IIRC you have all the studio material from Big Fun, Live Evil etc. when you have that and the BB box.

[jazzbo]

Big Fun was REVELATORY when it came out as a two lp set in the seventies. I snapped it up the minute issued or nearly. A sentimental favorite that I'll always enjoy.

[Guy Berger]

I have Big Fun -- it's good, I always kind of liked it. It's an interesting little collection of various electric adventures that were without a home. Not overly cohesive or focused in any profound way, but a nice 2 disc collection. I think I know why they named it Big Fun...since it doesn't come off as serious and pretentious or "important". But unless you're a Miles electric nut...I don't think you NEED these, but it is a fun listen of some pre barrel-scraping, vault raiding Miles (though that stuff can be good too!)

More or less my assessment as well. That said, I think it's several notches below Miles's best studio (and live) work of the period.

Not sure if everyone is aware of this, but the most recent CD issue of BF has a lot of bonus tracks that weren't on the original vinyl (mostly lifted from the BB box set).

Guy

[Guy Berger]

Go Ahead John is in the Jack Johnson Sessions box - IIRC you have all the studio material from Big Fun, Live Evil etc. when you have that and the BB box.

I haven't bothered with the JJ box, but my understanding is that it doesn't have the final released version of "Go Ahead John", just the various segments that make it up.

I just remembered that the studio recording of "Ife" (from 1972) is not on the BB box either, though presumably it will show up on the forthcoming On the Corner and Beyond box.

Guy

edit- From Losin:

The issued version of "Go Ahead John" is heavily edited from the raw materials listed above. In addition to splices, crossfades, and other editing tricks, Teo Macero used devices to alter the stereo spectrum (part 1), loop solos (part 2), etc. Columbia C5K 86359 [Guy: the JJ box] includes only the raw materials; the original appears on Columbia PC 32866 [Guy Big Fun] and equivalents. Overlapping times reflect the crossfades used on some of the transitions, and discrepancies in durations reflect small differences in analog tape speed.

Edited May 26, 2007 by Guy

[mjzee]

The version of Go Ahead John on BF is truly bizarre...the drums go back and forth between the left and right channel, seemingly with no logic...it has a very obnoxious sound, and is truly Big Fun. I'm disappointed that they didn't include that version in the Jack Johnson box, since it was the version that Miles approved.

This is the descripton from the JJ box:

"NOTE: The issued version of "Go Ahead John" on PG 32866 was oddly constructed, using various sections of the above takes. It begins with part two B, cuts to a section which uses part two A and part two C simultaneously, then a section with part one and part one remake simultaneously, and finally a piece of part two B for the ending. All of this was mixed with an automatic switcher that shot the guitar back and forth between each channel."

Edited May 26, 2007 by mjzee

[jazzbo]

Believe me when "Go Ahead John" came out it was DA BOMB. It was the one side from that two lp set I could play for any of the music lovers I knew and it would trip and flip them up. The production was very adventurous for the time, and Miles played straight and clear blues with some brilliant call and response via taping. . . .I made some Miles fans with that side, and even if I made no convert, I made impressions.

I've got an lp facimile edition of Big Fun from Sony now to replace the vinyl. . .sounds really good, but the vinyl is the real deal still. (Probably the case on all the Miles titles; I'm just so out of the turntable loop any longer.)

[sidewinder]

I got that 'Big Fun' UK CBS 2LP set back in 1974/75 when it first came out and 'Go Ahead John' grabbed me from the outset. Still love playing that twofer, with the panning of the drums between the two speakers thanks to one of Teo's lash-up contraptions. Agree with Jazzbo - a wonderful bit of open-horn blues from Miles, with overdubbing, on that track. His sounds has rarely been caught better

Edited May 27, 2007 by sidewinder

[Hot Ptah]

If you like 1970s electric Miles, you need Big Fun.

[Guy Berger]

If you like 1970s electric Miles, you need Big Fun.

I'll agree up to a point, but IMHO there are at least 10 electric Miles albums to get before this one.

Guy