Inner Mounting Flame was recorded August 1971 and released in November. My drumming / music journey started the Summer of Love in 1967, at the age of 17. In those 5 years I had my most memorable music and personal experiences. I played nightclubs in Florida, Atlanta, Key West, Orlando, Little Rock, New York and Biloxi, Mississippi.
Still young, wild and crazy in my early 20s, in 1971, I migrated back to Central Florida to seek steady drumming gigs. I’d been on the road and experienced several moderately lengthy house gigs. In Orlando, I had a couple old musician friends I’d played with during that memorable period of 1967-1969.
By 1971 and into 1972, my musicianship had changed and improved. That was also a commercial top 40 music liability. Most bands and especially bandleaders just wanted a simple groove 4/4 drummer that looked good on stage, and obeyed their dominance. I failed several of those requirements, on different occasions found my drums off stage, before the nights downbeat. Another more obedient, commercial warm body to take my place on drums. I usually had comrades fired also.
I can trace my questionable attitude to those early 70s. I believe it was my continuous seeking of something new and challenging.
I learned to play the required 4/4 beats and grooves fairly well from age 17 on. I was solid, loud and resembled the classic Rock drummer of the period. I was never fired or dismissed from a gig or band because (I didn’t play good enough)
My opinions and attitude towards BS music and lame musicianship from my band mates got me in trouble. Way back then, I didn’t care, I just wanted to be the best drummer I could be, no matter what. I still have that attitude, but it’s different.
I’m still an outsider in Central Florida, I’ll always be an outsider. (I’ve evolved to wear it as a badge of honor)
My favorite musicians and bands are non conforming outsiders.
Coltrane, Monk, Captain Beefheart, Frank Zappa, Ornette Coleman, Phillip Glass, Stockhausen, John Cage.
But, I grew up listening to, and love traditional music, Hank Williams, The Beatles, Stones, Who, Jimi, Zeppelin, The Doors, Old School Blues/ Wolf-Muddy etc….
When I first heard the record Inner Mounting Flame by Mahavishnu Orchestra, it further damaged my ability to conform and be a regular commercial drummer / musician. That record, heard from my friends turntable - and eight track car tape player “blew me away”
In early 1971, I’d discovered the first Dreams record with Billy Cobham playing drums. It was very sophisticated and beyond my technical ability. He had a touch, I would have to “get in the shed” if I ever wanted to play like that.
Outside of Bill Bruford, Keith Moon, and John Bonham there weren’t that many drummers playing anything different.
I heard Inner Mounting Flame in the same period of time I started taking formal lesson from a skilled percussionist. He played some Don Ellis for me. It had interesting time signatures. (Ralph Humphrey played drums)
Orlando drumming legend Bobby Caldwell had also released his first record with Captain Beyond. He was playing odd meters and multiple percussion orchestration. Those multiple records, bands, further inspired me to get my act together.
This post was triggered by my recent purchase of the songbook by John McLaughlin and The Mahavishnu Orchestra. I’ve been revisiting those first two records and looking at the printed scores. It makes more sense as I can read the music.
I’ve never met or spoken to Billy Cobham. I’ve had opportunities. I’ve seen him with Mahavishnu Orchestra and in more accessible drum clinics on several occasions.
Billy’s playing on the first album (inner mounting flame) is still fantastic, I think, maybe his best. His drumset was still single bass drum. I didn’t know till decades later that his gig before Dreams was with Horace Silver. There’s a YouTube video with Billy (?) 1968, he’s playing a 4 piece kit and killing it.
The first time I heard the Mahavishnu tune, Vital Transformation, from Inner Mounting Flame, I was mesmerized trying to count and figure out the time signature. The interplay between Billy and JM is spiritual in a way. That bands sound was original and unique.
It also came at a time when transitioning hippies like myself were seeking some sort of higher ground. Some spiritual identity. There were many options in that period, Jesus Freak, Maharishi, as semi validated by The Beatles, Transcendental Meditation and more.
When I was gigging in the Clearwater area in 1971-1972, the L Ron Hubbard / Scientology organization was infiltrating the downtown area. I’d heard about it, maybe I was given a pamphlet from a believer, my memory isn’t what it use to be. But I definitely remember them being some sort of newbie spiritual organization.
I dabbled in a few of those meditative options and eventually found “old time religion” was good enough for me.
My revisiting the first two MO records, Inner Mounting Flame and Birds of Fire have also triggered my thoughts pertaining to the creation, sound, concept of music in 2024.
Can a “musician” prompt their favorite ai program to make them something that sounds like MO ?
The thing with ai is this, it can imitate the sound of popular music because popular music doesn’t include real musicians playing instruments. There are exceptions. But in general, it’s samples, loops, etc. It’s all created with a robot click track that the producer recommends because that bpm is popular now. Some popular artist - - has a hit out, copy the bpm. All very formulated, which is nothing new.
Mahavishnu Orchestra was not formulated, it wasn’t popular music, they didn’t record with a click track, no plug n play allowed. There may be overdubs, I don’t hear them. Seems everything was recorded as a band in the studio. It was still 1971.
Seeing and reading through the music MO notation book, I don’t know what their rehearsal schedule was. How they put it all together…..When I saw them play live, there was zero music on a stand. Maybe JM had things written out for them to learn...memorize or play by rote.
The notation in the book is very good. It’s great to see and read the time signatures and see the forms of the tunes. It was and still is extremely difficult. Fast tempos with lots of notes, lots and lots of notes.
The tightness of BC and JM with their machine gun rhythmic drums and guitar is still fantastic. Coltrane and Elvin had duets like that on occasion.
I’ve seen many of Billy Cobham’s recent videos. He’s several years older than me and playing quite well. I don’t see him playing in the style he did with Mahavishnu Orchestra. He usually plays his music from the solo records he recorded in the 70s. I bought all of those records. As a drummer, it was inspirational to see another drummer, as a composer, producer and independent artist. Though he was on a major record label and, for what I know, successful for himself and the record company.
I’ve also been curious to follow Billy’s experiments, playing with 4 sticks.
After I authored my book, Quadragrip in 1980, Tommy Thomas introduced me to Louie Bellson. Louie was very encouraging about the concept. He immediately started working on the hand, finger, grip technique. It wasn’t long before Louie had worked up a solo routine utilizing the concept. He never used it in playing music with his band mates, only in his solo. Louie got very good with it, playing snare drum.
I’ve heard Billy Cobham talk about Louie showing him the concept. But, Billy doesn’t play it with the grip I notated. (he uses what is known as the Burton grip) My method is based on the Claire Musser grip, which Tommy Thomas enlightened me with. Tommy was friends with Claire in Chicago. (1930s-1960s) It’s interesting to see Billy’s YouTube comments from those observing the 4 stick excerpts, many like it, some don’t.
I’ve seen a few John McLaughlin videos where he plays compressed arrangements of those MO tunes. He doesn’t sound like he’s lost any speed and dexterity in his guitar playing. There is a physical difference playing an instrument, pertaining to the utilization of muscles and tendons. You can look it up, but there is an advantage to not being a muscle player. When you get old, that goes away and you can’t do what you did, when you could do it, dig? Pertaining to muscle strength.
I’ve been aware of that and have consciously changed my mental and physical playing of the drumset in preparation that my muscle strength would decrease. I currently play with less arm motion, more hands and fingers. Bababoom
I can see the deterioration of drummers as they get older. Now in 2024, there are many very popular drummers approaching and entering year 70. I haven’t seen Roy Haynes recently, but he did quite well into 80+.
I studied with Elvin Jones in 1984, and saw him again in 2002. He was 75 at the time. He still had most of his muscle strength. The ability to swing has zero to do with muscles or tendons.
I’m currently the age of Tommy Thomas when I met him, give or take a year. I never heard him play a drum, ever, all of our music lessons were verbal.
Though, he would play beats and patterns sitting in a chair, playing with his hands on his lap and knees, tapping his feet on the floor. Those mambo, swing, Charleston type Bo - Diddly patterns were deep and solid. Chick Webb, Baby Dodds, Gene Krupa, Big Sid Catlett and Tommy created that feel, it was their ‘birthright’ as Tommy would say.
In the 60s, 70s and 80s I always had something new on my listening playlist. This revisit to the Mahavishnu Orchestra records has been a refreshing journey back to that period.
I loved Mahavishnu Orchestra and John McLaughlin. I'm pretty sure I loved Zappa before I heard MO. Then I started listening to Chick Corea and Stanley Clarke...Good memories. The music is still fun to listen to. As a guitarist (-ish) I wouldn't attempt to play any of this stuff. As Lou Reed said "One chord is fine. Two chords is pushing it. Three chords and you're into jazz." Love that.
The first time I heard Birds of Fire was in 1971. I was returning to L.A. from a C&W gig in Great Falls, MT. and stopped for the night in Salt Lake City. I was in a motel, sitting in the bathtub with the radio on when BOF came on. I was stunned and sat there in the tub until lthe piece ended and the water was cold.