Mahavishnu Orchestra - Earliest Live Recording

Ted, you must have this entire radio broadcast:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jK5dzv4Wq28

I do have the boot of that show Keith. However, I actually have that one beat - I have the very first set of the very first show the M.O. ever played which was at the Gaslight in the Village - NYC 7/21/71 .

I am sorry but before anyone asks, I am not at liberty to share it .

However , I will pose this trivia question to see who really knows their stuff. What was the very first song the M.O. played live [which was at this show ] AND the very last song they ever played [ which was DEC. 31, 1973 ] ?

Post your aswers and I will give the answer in a few days.

Walter, you're not allowed to answer here, as I know you know the answer ! LOL

Peace, TED

Ted, I hope you're not confusing the audio with the video as the audio is from April 11, 1971 predating the Gaslight.

Keith I'm not confused at all. Actually the Jabberwocky club gig was November 4,1971 and not the date the you tube clip put out.

Here is the link for every known Mahavishnu gig . http://label.abstractlogix.com/?page_id=79

I was one of the ones who helped assemble this list , and this list was checked against the original itineraries which are still in possession of Elliot Sears, their road manager .

We did a lot of checking to try and get it right - using ticket stubs, advertisements in newpapers, the dates on bootleg releases, The Dawson archives etc. and we believe it to be highly accurate.


If you read page 67 of Power , Passion & Beauty , Steve Khan recalls being at the Gaslight for the first shows and mentions what he recalls as the first song they played, though he says " he could be wrong" - Meeting of the Spirits. It was not the first song they played, though it later became their usual opening song for the first year or more of their gigs.

Since no one has guessed, or cares enough to guess, the first tune they ever played on stage as a band was Vital Transformation . The last tune ever was One Word.





Peace, TED

Ted, I'm picking you up tomorrow morning at 9am. We're gonna find that youtuber, tie him to a chair and make him listen to the Bay City Rollers or worse for 24 hours straight.

Or we could force him to listen to Jazzstream instead !


Peace, TED

Aerosmith definitely did not play the Woolsey hall concert, 1/19/'73. MO was alone. Save for all the *disciples* passing out books and literature in the lobby. Sheesh. McGlaughlin was really into that stuff. I was 19. Took a book, literature. They were right up on people as they entered the building. I'll never forget it.

How might someone think Aerosmith played with the group that night?

Sorry, just went to the itinerary list and saw that.

Then you did see that Aerosmith's appearance was in question, right ? Perhaps they had been scheduled to play with them that night and cancelled. Aerosmith did perform several shows with the M.O.



Peace, TED

I did see the question mark, yes.

I cannot imagine Aerosmith on the same bill. Assuming they were headliners, who on earth would want to follow MO? ELP I can see. Aerosmith? Not so much.

aerosmith were actually big fans of the M.O. which Steve Tyler talks about in their book. But it's fair to say that most of the acts who appeared with the M.O. were blown off the stage, with the exception of RTF , Jeff Beck or Frank Zappa.

Realize that these bookings were created by the record companies or the promoters and not the band. Some of them were in the context of a festival where you will have a number of bands of different styles giving the consumer a sampling of many for a good price. Sort of like when Jimi Hendrix opened for the Monkees for a couple of shows before they dismissed him from the tour ! LOL

The only other act I saw appear with the M.O. was Leo Kottke, the guitarist. But he opened !



Peace, TED

Ahahaha. The kids in the audience must have been dumfounded to see Hendrix open for the Monkees. Talk about a smorgasbord.

I remember seeing Billy's band in New Haven at a club there, I forget the name. Mid 70's In guess. It was so much more powerful being that close to him as he played. The power was ridiculous. I kept thinking he must go through heads and cymbals like Kleenex. He was getting into sound effects and sequencers and stuff. He had problems with some of it that night during his solo. Good concert though.