[Deathwatch] Buddy Miles, drummer, 60

[Deathwatch Central <cdw@slick.org>]

Buddy Miles, Drummer for Hendrix, Dead at 60
Date: February 27, 2008
Written By: Jeff Tamarkin

Buddy Miles, the powerhouse drummer best known for his brief stint as
one-third of Jimi Hendrix?s Band of Gypsys, died Feb. 26 in Austin. The
cause of death was congestive heart failure. Miles was 60.

Born George Miles on Sept. 5, 1947, in Omaha, Neb., his first
significant gig was playing drums in the Bebops, a band led by his
bassist father, George Sr. As a teenager Buddy Miles (pictured here
with Hendrix) played with a number of well-known jazz and R&B acts,
such as the Ink Spots, Ruby & the Romantics and the Delfonics. He began
drumming for R&B great Wilson Pickett in 1966 and the following year
was tapped by blues-rock guitarist Michael Bloomfield, who had recently
left the Paul Butterfield Blues Band. Bloomfield recruited Miles to
anchor a new horn-centered band called the Electric Flag, which made
its debut at the Monterey Pop Festival in June 1967. The band recorded
one highly regarded album for Columbia in 1968, with Miles also singing
some numbers, but that same year Bloomfield departed. Miles kept the
group going for one further album before going on to form his own Buddy
Miles Express, which released its debut album, Expressway to Your
Skull, in 1968. A followup titled Electric Church came out in 1969,
notable mostly because it was produced by Hendrix, whom Miles had met
earlier in Canada when both musicians were still working as sidemen.
Miles also contributed to Hendrix?s Electric Ladyland album in 1968.

Hendrix called upon Miles, along with bassist Billy Cox, to join him in
a new trio after the guitarist dissolved his group the Experience in
mid-1969. Performing newly written music, less showy and more
blues-rooted than that of the Experience, the Band of Gypsys recorded a
live album at New York?s Fillmore East on New Year?s Eve 1969-70, which
ultimately became one of the gems of the Hendrix discography. Simply
titled Band of Gypsys, its influence was vast?Miles Davis was one
artist who was said to have been impacted by it. Whether Band of Gypsys
would have continued remains an unknown as Hendrix died in September
1970.

Buddy Miles recorded his debut solo album, Them Changes, in 1970, its
title taken from a track he?d contributed to the Band of Gypsys album.
The song, which also appeared on the solo effort, became something of a
signature for him throughout his career. With his flamboyant manner of
dress, oversized build and equally oversized Afro, Miles retained a
modicum of popularity during the early ?70s, but he never regained the
high profile he?d enjoyed with Hendrix and the Electric Flag. Among
others, he recorded with Stevie Wonder, John McLaughlin, Carlos Santana
(their union produced a 1972 live album), Bootsy Collins, Barry White,
David Bowie and George Clinton. An Electric Flag reunion album in 1974
was not well received. Miles recorded and produced the ubiquitous
California Raisins commercials in the late 1980s, and was later
involved in other commercials. A 2002 blues album, Blues Berries,
received some positive reviews. 

Many thanks to Deathwatch Central for posting this obituary