Drummer reacts to "Open Country Joy" by Mahavishnu Orchestra

[@peteharper2687]

A childhood friend introduced me to Birds of Fire by the Mahavishnu Orchestra, I loved the intensity, density, complexity and all round feel of the music. That was close to 50 years ago, I still listen to it, to this day.

[@williamdalzell1553]

We are kindred spirits from different generations. Back in the 70's I was into prog rock. Jethro Tull, Yes, Renaissance. Then I got into Fusion with Return to Forever and Mahavishnu. Great music never dies. It just finds new ears to appreciate the greatness. Carry on with your journey!

[@tcdknowlton]

I read somewhere that Yes did go to see Larry Coryell's 11th House.Just like Coryell being one to take jazz over the top, groups like Yes and Tull took Rock into other levels.

[@realbser1956]

Clay, thanks in advance for getting us back to some more MO. Always love listening to the legends. 🔥

[@rodneygriffin7666]

Great Album!

[@-R.Gray-]

For Billy Cobham's big drum solo on the album - hear "One Word". For a nice acoustic song - "Thousand Island Park". The song "Celestial Terrestrial Commuters" is a typical high energy piece. See the documentary "The Drummers of Frank Zappa", where Ruth and others mention their 1973 tour with Mahavishnu, and having to follow Cobham's "One Word" solo. Frank had J.L.Ponty and McLaughlin had Goodman, but the stand out musicians for me were Ruth Underwood and Billy Cobham.

[@L33Reacts]

ok i will add that one to my list to do. thank you for the suggestion. i love billy.

[@-R.Gray-]

@@L33Reacts He reminded me of the deftness of a Buddy Rich on the snare, combined with the power of a Bonham. Best to stick with the album cut. There are some poor quality videos of "One Word", but better are "Rush Hour" with George Duke, and "Hurricane" with a Herbie Hancock jazz trio. The fact that Jan Hammer was working on his mini-moog style of bending notes like a guitar, made the part of "One Word" where they trade licks faster and faster interesting. He got better at it later on Jeff Beck and Al DiMeola albums - and Miami Vice music.

[@alldayadventures5418]

Billy Cobham had a wonderful solo career. He is off the hook with the first 6 albums he made. TOTAL ECLIPSE, he totally eclipses all other drummers. CROSS WINDS, he actually plays a THUNDERSTORM.

[@jjo154]

Saw them live right after the album came out. Billy must have broke at least a half dozen sticks on his "One Word" solo alone, just tossing them behind him and grabbing another without missing a beat. I agree with you on the other songs you mentioned. Just a fantastic album.

[@sharondavid-melly1498]

Fabulous 💥

[@chitownlee]

Jerry Goodman was in a Chicago band in the 60's called The Flock. The last few year's survivors from three Chicago bands formed a band and do a few concerts a year and Jerry is one of the members. They opened for Steely Dan a couple years ago.

[@rodneygriffin7666]

Flock!! Great band! No one remembers The Flock! Good on you, sir.

[@chitownlee]

@rodneygriffin7666 the other two bands of the three are The Mauds and 4 Days and a Night/Aura.

[@jamdfig7878]

@@rodneygriffin7666 I used to play the Dinosaur Swamps 8-track in my Ford Maverick while in High School. It caused me to get in an accident one time.

[@jacobheaney3836]

Great song, my favourite band of all time.

[@music-is-the-best4295]

Jerry Goodman, from the Flock ❤

[@Coquinagirl]

Real nice, carried along a wild soundscape… twice… That you notice you’ve gotten better is a good thing. Thank you, Clay and Lee!

[@markdrechsler5660]

My favorite song from this classic album.

[@pierretoureille7359]

Thanks so much for this!! I saw this band eight times in 1972 and 1973 -- astonishing stuff

[@suesmith7968]

I can never listen to MO while driving. I hafta close my eyes and go with the flow…….☮️💜

[@whaleoilbeefhooked62]

I'm glad I'm not the only one...

[@VereinPlatzhirschamHirschenpla]

ONE WORD!

[@L33Reacts]

i added it to my suggestion list. it might come up ;)

[@tcdknowlton]

Cobhams brush work sounds like the flapping of birds wings. I wonder if that was what he was going for.

[@JamosHeat]

The first two Mahavishnu albums, Birds of Fire and Inner Mountain Flame, are my favourite albums of all time. They where also a band that would of been insane live. You can really hear how loud and fast they went on the live album they did called unreleased tracks from between nothing and eternity. One Word is the fan favourite, but I love pretty much everything from inner mountain flame and Birds of Fire

[@julianbarber4708]

Jan Hammer wrote the theme tune for the Miami Vice tv programme. Jerry Goodman was with Flock earlier, and you could do worse than give their album, Dinosaur Swamps a listen!

[@alejandrobojorquez6181]

BILL CONTI - " Overture " performed by BILL's SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA mix of PROG ROCK/CLASSICAL/ JAZZ/SOUL/ORCHESTRAL ROCK JAM 🎸 🎹 🎺🎺 🎻🔥🎶 The Intro is EPIC!! a Masterpiece in the Making from the 1980s GEMS

[@bradsense7431]

Got introduced to Mahavishnu Orchestra at age 15 in 1973. This was the album I bought then.

[@Richard2003]

I bought that album in the early 70s. Still listen to it.

[@L33Reacts]

i need to get me a copy of this album. it's a beautiful cover too.

[@julianbarber4708]

For some reason, I've always loved this album cover.

[@mattreynolds612]

Diving deep into real music now... Go!!! Takes a subtle pallet. Lot going on....lol. enjoy

[@L33Reacts]

yeah we have been doing mahavishnu for a while now. just very spread out lol you know, you know from last year was one of my favorite videos i did from that era of my channel lol

[@mattreynolds612]

@@L33Reacts Well done! You pick good music from a very good era! It's fun to watch you experience for the first time, what I've loved for years. Keep it Rockin' now

[@charlyhrs]

Billy Cobham is awesome on this entire album. Changed the way I played drums and changed the way I heard music. You got to love the Mahavishnu Orchestra! AND if you liked that audio jump you should have seen what it did to the audience members at their concerts. Let's just say butts came out of seats......

[@corawheeler9355]

I really enjoyed that. And then I was thinking ..... and you did it !!

[@jjo154]

Speaking of Jan Hammer, there's a rather obscure album "David Earle Johnson with Jan Hammer - Hip Address" where he plays all keyboards and drums, with Johnson playing all the other percussion. If you can find the tracks "Siete Parati" and "Green and Black", they are great to listen to.

[@alldayadventures5418]

Album called "BIRDS OF FIRE" for a reason. These birds are on FIRE...! All their early albums are great. Watch Out for BRAIN MELT if you play too many tunes together.

[@L33Reacts]

yeah you have to take them in small doses or you might go mad lol but whoever wanted to be sane anyway...

[@chrisamundson8653]

Thanks Lee, that was really nice

[@L33Reacts]

glad you enjoyed chris! i love these guys!

[@jamespaivapaiva4460]

Namaste ❤

[@RalphSpoiledsport]

Check out WFMU, completely listener supported radio. They have been broadcasting for over 50 years. DJs program their own music. It's the place that current, and classic, bands get airplay and often perform live. It's the hippest of the hip, man.

[@thescrewfly]

I sometimes wonder what jazzrock or fusion or whatever you want to call it might have become if Tony Williams' Lifetime, John's previous band with Tony Williams and Larry Young (and later Jack Bruce too), had been successful and got the heavy investment Columbia were keen to put into this Miles-related niche area of music after the unexpected huge success of Bitches Brew. The Mahavishnu Orchestra had some major marketing muscle behind them (as did Weather Report). Lifetime was a seriously wild and experimental band at the time but perhaps not "rock" enough for Columbia's taste.

[@jonathanwobesky9507]

I think not "rock" enough, Lifetime wasn't pretty with virtuosity on display. Larry Young was a genius for sure as well as Tony, but it was eclectic stuff.

[@tcdknowlton]

Check out (if not already) Lingus by Snarky Puppy.

[@sandstronaut]

Would love to see you do some Shakti, a very different flavor of John McLaughlin. I think you'd be blown away by the percussionist in a group, a legendary tabla player named Zakir Hussain.

[@genegarrett3372]

so this is the start of jazz-rock fusion in the 70s. Reviews say their recordings didn't match up to their live performances. I don't remember this all that much although my first roommate was a jazz trombonist who was always playing fusion to us.

[@L33Reacts]

the live show i saw of them was totally on point. but that was only one show so who knows lol it was the first video i ever did for them i think.

[@SteveBurkitt-rg4nj]

Isn't Bill the one,if not,in the top fantastic people on earth!

[@L33Reacts]

he really is man such a talented drummer.

[@neilwoodley530]

Hi kiddo. I think that this may be a controversial comment. These people didn't do it for me. Mr Dylan wrote a song called "Too much of nothing ". That's what I'm hearing. Take care young man 😊

[@glenndespres5317]

Yup. Grammys have always been pretty whacked when it comes to categorizing music.

[@alejandrobojorquez6181]

DAN FONTAINE - " The Girl From Ipanema " performed by DAN'S SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA. LONG VERSION from the Original 1960's Classic Very different than this Cool JAM you're playing, still very cool creative and longer running time Covered from the 60s shorter version 🎹 🎻 🎷🎸 🔥

[@Richard2003]

Saw them on the same bill with Frank Zappa.

[@L33Reacts]

that must have been a helluva show...

[@Richard2003]

I was mesmerized by Billy Cobham's drumming. Never saw anything like that before or since.

[@ChasBeauregarde]

I haven't heard this track in forty some odd years. Listening to it today, the intro chords (before the funk parts) sound like The Byrds - Chestnut Mare era. What do you think?

[@thescrewfly]

Pop Instrumental is a rather narrow category to start with...