THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
1,845) Buddy Miles — “That’s the Way Life Is”
Ah, Buddy Miles (see #112, 221, 366, 629, 853, 1,483) As Jamie Ludwig says, he was a “force of nature as a drummer, vocalist, and bandleader. ” (https://chicagoreader.com/music/buddy-miles-wrings-every-drop-of-emotion-from-the-segment/) He moves my soul. This “[s]tone cold rumination” (In Viscera Veritas, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pgs76Fq3lEk), the final track on Buddy’s ’71 album Message to the People is “beautiful” (Swampland.com, http://swampland.com/posts/view/title:buddy_miles_dies_at_home_in_texas), “rank[ing] among Miles’ best songs and performances” but unfortunately is “over just as [it’s] barely begun”. (Victor W. Valdivia, https://www.allmusic.com/album/a-message-to-the-people-mw0000861638) If it was twice as long, it would be too short. “Life Is” sets such a wonderfully haunting, contemplative and spiritual spell that a number of rappers have used the song to set exactly such a mood on their numbers. (https://www.whosampled.com/Buddy-Miles/That%27s-the-Way-Life-Is/sampled/)
As to A Message to the People, Victor W. Valdivia says:
In the league of funk-rock albums, A Message to the People is top-notch. Buddy Miles was easily one the better bandleaders of the early ’70s, and his ability to unite a group of talented players around well-crafted songs definitely makes this one of his best albums. . . . [T]he album is so good, it’s mystifying why it barely clocks in at a meager half-hour. . . . Why Miles felt the need to edit the material so severely is bizarre, since the album could easily have been twice as long and still hit its mark. It’s a testament to Buddy Miles’ talent that, as first-rate as the album is, it will leave any listener wanting more. Still, A Message to the People is every bit a funk classic.
https://www.allmusic.com/album/a-message-to-the-people-mw0000861638
Steve Huey tells Miles’ tale:
Best known as the drummer in Jimi Hendrix’s [see #1,577, 1,776] Band of Gypsys, Buddy Miles also had a lengthy solo career that drew from rock, blues, soul, and funk in varying combinations. Born George Miles in Omaha, Nebraska . . . he started playing the drums at age nine, and joined his father’s jazz band the Bebops at a mere 12 years old. As a teenager, he went on to play with several jazz and R&B outfits, most prominently backing vocal groups like . . . the Ink Spots, and the Delfonics. In 1966, he joined Wilson Pickett’s [see #1,397] touring revue, where he was spotted by blues-rock guitarist Mike Bloomfield. Bloomfield had left the Paul Butterfield Blues Band earlier in 1967 and was putting together a new group, the Electric Flag, which was slated to be an ambitious fusion of rock, soul, blues, psychedelia, and jazz. Bloomfield invited Miles to join, and the band made its debut at the Monterey Pop Festival; unfortunately, the original lineup splintered in 1968. . . . Miles briefly took over leadership of the band on its second studio album, which failed to reignite the public’s interest. With [the] horn section in tow, Miles split to form his own group, the similarly eclectic Buddy Miles Express. Signed to Mercury, the group issued its debut album, Expressway to Your Skull, in 1968, with . . . Hendrix in the producer’s chair. In turn, Miles played on . . . Electric Ladyland . . . . Hendrix also produced the Miles Express’ follow-up, 1969’s Electric Church . . . . Hendrix, Miles, and bassist Billy Cox formed Band of Gypsys, one of the first all-Black rock bands. Bluesier and funkier than Hendrix’s previous work, Band of Gypsys didn’t last long in its original incarnation; Miles departed in 1970 . . . but not before his powerhouse work was showcased on the group’s lone album, the live Band of Gypsys. . . . Miles . . . recorded his most popular album, Them Changes, in 1971; it stayed on the charts for more than a year, and the title cut became Miles’ signature song. From December 1971 to April 1972, Miles toured with Carlos Santana . . . . Miles cut a few more albums for CBS . . . [and] then moved to Casablanca in 1975 for a pair of LPs. . . . Miles kept a low profile over the next decade, partly to battle personal problems. Miles returned in 1986 as the lead voice in a TV ad campaign that featured clay-animated raisins singing “I Heard It Through the Grapevine”; the ads proved so popular that a kid-friendly musical franchise was spun off, and thus Miles became the lead singer of the California Raisins, performing on two albums (mostly R&B covers) and a Christmas special.
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/buddy-miles-mn0000943936#biography
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