a Guide to The Mahavishnu Orchestra Live | Bootlegs and Official Releases

[@tonycortizasjr.282]

Andy, thanks for all the MO live performance info. I was at the March 11, 1973 MO performance at the Orpheum Theatre in Boston. I was 20 yo, going to college in Boston then. Big jazz and fusion fan then. I remember it being an amazing concert, and for some reason, thinking it was a 2 hours and 45 minutes performance. How could I think that? Looking at the times listed, each show was about 1 1/2 hour long.

[@flame-sky7148]

In my opinion , that 1973 Live in Chicago Mahavishu/Santana is probably the best bootlegs of all. I always thought that it could have been released officially. Even Cobham's Taurian Matador is incredible. Larry Young is simply incredible. As far as the Mahavishnu Orchestra boots, one of my favorites is the Munich Germany 1972. I think the best sounding bootleg is the Century Theater (Buffalo, NY) 1973 show. Great topic Andy!

[@davestephens6421]

My new Inner Mounting Flame t.shirt arrived today from DJtees.....love it!! Features the front album artwork!!! Not that anyone in my hometown will have a clue 😂 Looking forwards to the Andy Edwards AI Re-masters of bootleg MO 😂

[@guillaumechabason3165]

My favourite record and tee shirt of all times

[@aliensporebomb]

Wow, that ending! The type of playing you'd hear John do once in a while and just sit there with your jaw on the floor rolling around. A good collection of "you gotta hear this!" recordings.

[@jerrypotente872]

I believe I saw the film footage of Mahavishnu, John and band at Syracuse University in black-and-white about a month back and I thought it not only was an astounding show, but it was a very cool document of that era and the students reactions to the band playing just great. I’m gonna check out some of the other stuff you recommended Andy good show and I like you a bit of psychedelia with John at the end cool man.

[@eightrodway]

I also saw the MO December 4, 1971 at University of RI, Keaney Gym. "Sedate" is about the last word that comes to mind. The entire audience was stunned speechless.

[@DarkSideOfTheMoule]

Loved your remixing on the Dance of Maya - Steven Wilson better watch out! Also, I was so excited to hear about the Santana/McLaughlin 1973 show as I wasn't aware of that recording (I really dig it when they play together like on Flame Sky from the Welcome album and can't wait to finally hear how they sounded live during that era).

[@guitarlaurence]

That performance at the end was absolute 🔥 Elitism at its finest, why would I want to listen to anything less. Great vid as always.

[@NiceGuyJK]

"It took me bloody ages." I'm stealing that line.

[@madmaf6011]

Thanks Andy, loved it. Best wishes.

[@mvjonsson]

A part 2 featuring the bootlegs of the Mahavishnu Orchestra mark 2 would be nice. 😊

[@zengjerry3824]

I'd absolutely love that too. These are what I've found: Montreux jazz festival 1974 (with footages, but it's very scattered in multiple videos on youtube) Sapphire Bullets in Antibes, France 1974 (With footages, but Jean-Luc Ponty's violin is very low in some of the songs) Wichita KS 1974 (order of songs are wrong for some reason) Boston Music Hall, MA 1975 (Face-melting version of Lila's Dance and Eternity's Breath) These are all very nice recordings imo, but none of them are really definitive and representative, I would say. They are all flawed in some ways.

[@mvjonsson]

@@zengjerry3824 Also you have live at Kulturhuset, Stockholm, april 1975 with Jean Luc Ponty but without Gayle Moran.

[@brianshive362]

john and billy saved me. thanks for another smoking life saver performance

[@nkkado]

I'm so looking forward to this!

[@marknovak6498]

Love your take. I like hearing material great but not overplayed.

[@aminahmed2220]

What a fantastic video have you a great Andy weekend ❤😊

[@nkkado]

Feb 1973 was the beginning of BOF tour (check out King Biscuit Flower Hour) I saw BST in February at Franklin and Marshall college --nearly lost my cookies when it was announced MO would play F&M a month later. Finally, the band I'd been obsessed on for a year was playing walking distance from my home--admission was $2.50. and suddenly everybody was talking about them🎉

[@eightrodway]

I saw the MO on October 19th of '73. It was the third time I saw them, and the best concert I've ever seen. "Cohesion," alright!. Like one mind.

[@aliensporebomb]

Another recording I HIGHLY recommend is the "Inamorata" speed corrected version of the Santana and McLaughlin Chicago 1973 concert that is also here on youtube. Listed as "Santana & McLaughlin, Chicago (1973 - Speed Corrected)" - it's an FM radio broadcast of that show and it's the best sound quality (and probably playing too if you think about it) of all of the boots from that tour I've collected and probably better than Andy's CD of that show. It's got some unexpected moments: Check out the whole band getting quieter and quieter as Khalid Yasin's (Larry Young) organ solo takes the band into a rare meditative quiet section about an hour and 24 minutes into the concert before it explodes again during the middle section of "Flame Sky". Another two and a half hours well spent listening. Cobham is on fire here and having Armando Peraza on percussion just spurs him on further.

[@steveunderwood3683]

My introduction to the Mahavishnu Orchestra was a concert televised by BBC2 in the early 70s. It spanned 2 or 3 long programs, so it may have been from more than one concert. Probably the French TV recordings. I was most impressed.

[@billphelps5611]

Face melting complete! Thanks for the tips, I have the Whiskey on cd and I just picked up the Mar Y Sol record (minty too) at a record fair last Sunday ( I set up and sell too) You were right it is awesome! Actually, that entire record is awesome.

[@williambent9636]

thanks, will check it all.

[@tylerboley1786]

Fav vid stuff on youtube- Syracuse ‘72, poor quality but great energy. IMF era, pre moog, pre plexi double kick set. Jan has a B3 with his piano. They kick butt. B&W. ABC full concert, killer, Billy loses a stick his first insane fill. Brings the audience to their feet in his solo. Someone yells “play all night!” Hell yes! BBC live, excellent, opening vid here I think

[@jerrypotente872]

Yeah bro., Right on I saw that video and I loved it. Excellent choice!

[@brianjomansenstinesmith5132]

thanks

[@RobertVeasquez]

Any discussion of John McLaughlin by a super fan, as I am as well, is welcome. I always felt that Kai Eckhardt’s bass was anemic on the album, Live A The Royal Albert Hall with the John McLaughlin trio. So I’ve done my own remix breaking the stereo track into individual stems. Your remix is killer…..Too bad the record companies never thought of this!

[@elkeulu1623]

Hi Andy, thank you for this Video. I just noticed the new releases on Spotify and thought: „Well, what would Andy have to say about these?“ Regarding „I wonder“, I heard this one first, because I just listened to the Like Children Album. I also recognized Layla in John‘s Solo. About the Oh boy record: I also bought it some time in the 90s and it was my first opportunity to hear that live, which really broadened my understanding for this music. I f found Syracuse as the black and white KZbin Video you were mentioning, but to me, it‘s not the same. Yes, it‘s the same Setlist, as is the France concert by the way, but especially in Jerry‘s Solo in You Know You Know, my favorite phrase is missing. I have heard it a hundred times since I always thought it might be some citation, but I didn’t get behind it. Although Jerry played similar phrases in Syracuse, it‘s not the same. But with all these recordings, we can continue the search.

[@jedtulman46]

Yale is the best i concur Andy

[@zengjerry3824]

Trilogy in Yale University is amazing, the band really took their time to settle the atmosphere, Jan Hammer did a wonderful job mimicking birds' chirping. This the why Jam Hammer is GOD. Btw Andy, I think I Wonder is a Jerry Goodman composition rather than Jan Hammer.

[@davestephens6421]

This will be interesting 😊

[@markparee99]

Heard JM quote Layla at a Central Park concert with MOv2. The crowd went nuts!

[@johndrx165]

Wolfgang's Vault is a great resource and I got a few really great live recordings of different bands there.

[@Hartlor_Tayley]

My Deadhead friend had recorded them when the opened for Garcia band in 72. It was a pretty great recording. Rumor was Jerry Goodman and JerryGarcia were jamming and hanging out a lot which maybe caused some tension in the Maha camp. Garcia was starting a new band and loved fiddle players. Jerry went with Vasser Clemens but it’s interesting how much is based on circumstances. I hope my friends tape made it to KZbin or somewhere.

[@ESP77769]

The "Wild Strings" live bootleg is also incredible!! Bad audio, though...

[@shirleymental4189]

A.I. certainly is going to be a very interesting development for all old live recordings. One issue I can predict though, is not only the sound being cleaned up and better mixed but the use of auto tune to deal with that out of tune guitar/singer and bum notes and sometimes musicians re-recording bits they're not happy with. Will we end up with audio, ship of Theseus (Triggers broom), recordings?

[@daveduane2699]

My first concert ever was MO at Princeton University fall 1973. I've never seen a recording listed. Anyone?

[@tylerboley1786]

Thanks for this, your remix sounds great. Somewhat insignificant question- I’ve always wondered why Jan took the top off the electric piano and I’ve been around this stuff for decades. Anyone know?

[@neilloughran4437]

Mainly aesthetic I think... Corea, Jarrett and Zawinul were doing the same.. you could also mute the tonebars with your palm for different sounds.. (have owned 3 Rhodes since 1980s)

[@tylerboley1786]

@@neilloughran4437 thanks!

[@jurgenkoslowski2097]

Great stuff, very informative! Indeed, I have collected a fair number of MO concerts from the net; unfortunately many audience recordings sound atrocious. What do you think of the August 17, 1972 concert in Munich recorded by German TV? The idea of using of AI for improving old bootlegs sounds interesting, if done by experts. I don't think anybody could do that. (Cream at the Grande Ballroom in Detroit 1967 would be a nice candidate ;-) What we probably don't want are AI _recreations_ of those recordings. Somebody who seems to specialize in cleaning up and remixing existing old recordings is Prof Stoned, a retired sound engineer. Check out his web-page, and maybe even get in touch.

[@markdrechsler5660]

Nicely done.

[@tookmyjob]

I learned years ago that listening to Mahavishnu Orchestra bootlegs at work was a bad idea. What felt like an hour passing was actually 10 minutes.

[@johnsegelke4385]

Hi Andy, S U N Y Binghampton stands for State University of New York at Binghampton, which is a flagship school in the state university system.

[@docbobster]

Unfortunately, some of these are already gone from Spotify today.

[@smythharris2635]

Andy, have you read Colin Harper's enormous tome on John McLaughlin, "Bathed in Lightning"?

[@AndyEdwardsDrummer]

Yes...and picked Colin's brains too

[@RobertVeasquez]

Incredible read! It sits on my CD case.

[@RobertVeasquez]

⁠@@AndyEdwardsDrummerUGH! sounds messy!

[@eximusic]

Do the bootlegs have lots of notes?

[@ConorHanley]

If only Jan Hammer hadn't discovered the Moog, a hideously limited irritant that only sounds the worse as time marches on. Could have stuck to a Fender Rhodes or even a mellotron though I suppose that wouldn't play fast.

[@AndyEdwardsDrummer]

My favourite sound in music is Jan Hammer playing a Moog

[@ConorHanley]

@@AndyEdwardsDrummer Oh dear, we can't all have the same taste, thank god. I was never a fan from the beginning of its entrance into popular culture but, for me, synthetisers soon improved beyond recognition or even before the Moog but I have to admit it wasn't all bad. Perhaps, because I was into avant-garde electronic and electroacoustic musics at the time, I did like/value The Mahavishnu Orchestra, the Moog to me was too simplistic even played by Jan Hammer. Sorry.

[@fennelleastman8816]

disappointing