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One of the premiere fusion groups, the Mahavishnu Orchestra were considered by most observers during their prime to be a rock band, but their sophisticated improvisations actually put their high-powered music between rock and jazz. Founder and leader John McLaughlin had recently played with Miles Davis and Tony Williams' Lifetime. The original lineup of the group was McLaughlin on electric guitar, violinist Jerry Goodman, keyboardist Jan Hammer, electric bassist Rick Laird, and drummer Billy Cobham. They recorded three intense albums for Columbia during 1971-1973 and then the personnel changed completely for the second version of the group. In 1974, the band consisted of violinist Jean-Luc Ponty, Gayle Moran on keyboards and vocals, electric bassist Ralphe Armstrong, and drummer Narada Michael Walden; by 1975 Stu Goldberg had replaced Moran and Ponty had left. John McLaughlin's dual interests in Eastern religion and playing acoustic guitar resulted in the band breaking up in 1975. Surprisingly, an attempt to revive the Mahavishnu Orchestra in 1984 (using Cobham, saxophonist Bill Evans, keyboardist Mitchell Forman, electric bassist Jonas Hellborg, and percussionist Danny Gottlieb) was unsuccessful; one Warner Bros. album resulted. However, when one thinks of the Mahavishnu Orchestra, it is of the original lineup, which was very influential throughout the 1970s. ~ Scott Yanow, Rovi
You Know, You Know by Mahavishnu Orchestra on The Inner Mounting Flame - This is Hendrix dabbling in jazz on the night shift. No if, ands or buts about it. The man is alive. (Cee Rex)
IMF was rehearsed live in front of an audience for 3 weeks, then recorded in _one day_. _One Day_. Almost entirely on the first take. _First Take_. It boggles the mind.
jclarkproductions
hit up You Know You know on youtube and you'll know what's up.
To have witnessed each iteration of this band was a highlight of my old concert days. I've seen John several times recently and he is in fact one of the great ones on guitar....
love the orchestra, mahavishnu takes me for a ride in my mind when there is no where else to go
timtatum6
I saw Between Nothingness & Eternity show in Memphis. 1973 or 1974. The album remains my favorite!
riossilvestre
I wasnt even born yet when Maha came out. when i turned 18 my guitarist introduced me to them and Weather report. after listening to them every day my drumming got so much better. My other friends or other people my age thought i was crazy for listening to this kind of music. i went and saw Mr. Cobham at the baked potato. AMAZING!! anyway i still play drums and Spectrum and Jaco just changed the whole way i approach music and jamming ; )
surfinrick
Saw them @ SUNY Stonybrook circa 1974. I remember the dork sitting next to me asking, Do these guys do vocals? That still cracks me up. One of the greatest groups of superb musicians I've ever heard and seen.
The most wonderful sounding musicians seem to gravitate to John. No wonder why. Then spin off as eddies and ripples as delightful as the sounds of the Mahavishnu Orchestra.
flipperxlr
Like all geniuses; overqualifeid and under appreciated. IMF doesn't have a bad cut on it. Wire to wire albumns are ultra rare.
tribalsurf
Heard them first out in Sou Cal and got to see them in 1974 at the San Diego Civic Theater. Lineup was McLaughlin, Cobham, Moran, Ponty, etc. My head exploded that night and I haven't been the same since. Saw Cobham later open for Average White Band. He put on a drum clinic that was astounding. Fave album of the group's though is Visions of the Emerald Beyond, with Walden on drums. Just listen to his playing throughout; fills every space perfectly.
Greatest Band Ever in all of History, and in my opinion, this is the best Fusion Album ever. Love Narada Michael Walden. And Johnny is GOD, the greatest musician ever.
and another thing they couldnt make a cd with all good songs to save their a** nowadays thats a fact, you buy a cd to get maybe 1,2,3 songs off of it, if all the guys from the seventies started now they would be billionaires................
the best music came from the 70's zappa,trower,dave mason,floyd,zepplin,jeff beck blow by blow,roy buchannan,johnny winter still alive and well, these guys blow the musicians away nowadays because they played music naturally from their souls.Hendrix and the rest of these guys will allways live on because you can reproduce their souls you can copy but thats it..........play the good stuff till you die
I was in the record business for 15 years, saw thousands of bands it seems, but I never saw any band that seemed to play as one other than Mahavishnu Orchestra. Blessed to see them twice once in Chicago at Ravinia and once in Munich in Circus Krone. A spectacular feat of human endeavor the Mahavishnu Orchestra was.
poppa_bear49
Just heard "The Inner Mounting Flame LP"; brought back sooooo many good memories I almost cried. This is when music was music. Keep up the great sounds.....you guys ROCK!!!
I didn't know what I was seeing live in front of me when I saw these guys together at the Century Theater in Buffalo, NY sometime during or prior to 1973. The experience was burned into my brain with some kind of cosmic branding iron though.
Saw these guys in '72 as part of a local Battle of the Bands, in a high school gym no less! As you might guess, no battle, and changed my listening habits forever.
My mom got to see them live a couple of times! I'm super Jealous. I am 19 and this is my favorite band. I wish more people my age could see how totally rad this music is. Mclaughlin will probably always be my favorite guitarist and I hope that the spirit of this kind of music lives on.(I'm doing my best as a guitarist)
I've been listening to this stuff since 85'. There is little out there I've heard that keeps up. Their can't be enough of this searching experimentation in a culture. Its a human herald of the potential of diversity for the gene pool and can produce these good sheets and sheets of sound.
for it's time, this was far beyond comprehension to most musicians and listeners. Billy Cobham's single-stroke mastery on the solo; along with the shear prog-ness of the whole album....sorry, but it still sounds gtreat today!
equivalent and above= dream theater, but they are heavier
kjkingrey
Wow, I was really hoping to stir up me up some rankor with those posts, but nobody's biting... I'll have to move on to some other fusion artist who has a following of true believers
kjkingrey
And later in the 70's, Hammer and Walton formed the Jan Hammer group. I wasn't wild about it, but it was some great music. I liked the stuff they did with Jeff Beck. But seriously, if you haven't checked out Dixie Dregs, your missing out on a great band who started out basing their sound in MO and taking it to another level. And the Derek Trucks band. Derek's Hindu style slide playing (well, ALL his slide playing)is not of this world.
kjkingrey
Gimme a break Dave. There are many musicians and bands in the past 40 odd years since this album came out that equal and surpass it on many levels. But your question is really in the apples vs oranges category. If you like it and think nothing could surpass it, then I guess that's true for you, and that, in the words of self help guru Stuart Smalley, who is now running for congress, is ok. But how about the Dixie Dregs for starters?
The original lineup was amazing. Saw them in Boulder CO (1973?); they played non-stop, stringing several pieces together, for about 45 minutes. Their energy was so intense I was exhausted by then, and was surprised at the elapsed time; felt like it'd been about twice as long. The rest of the set was no less incredible.
mgateley
A small misspelling here. The drummer that replaced Cobham was Narada Michael Walden.
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