Session details: Columbia Studio E (June 1, 1972)

Miles Ahead session details

June 1, 1972 (17 items; TT = 76:33)

Columbia Studio E, New York NY

Commercial for Columbia

Miles Davis (tpt); Dave Liebman (ss); Chick Corea (synth); Herbie Hancock (el-p); Harold I. Williams (eorg); John McLaughlin (g); Collin Walcott (sitar); Paul Buckmaster (cello); Michael Henderson (el-b); Jack De Johnette (d); Jabali Billy Hart (d, perc, bgo); Charles Don Alias (cga, perc); James Mtume Forman (cga, perc); Badal Roy (tabla)

1	On the Corner (take 1) (M. Davis)	7:23
2	On the Corner (take 2A) (M. Davis)	4:54
3	On the Corner (take 2B) (M. Davis)	2:49
4	On the Corner (take 2C) (M. Davis)	2:03
5	On the Corner (composite take) (M. Davis)	13:54
6	On the Corner (take 3) (M. Davis)	19:57
	Edited (19:55) on Columbia KC 31906 and equivalents. "Vote for Miles" edited and issued in two parts (2:59, 2:31) on Columbia 45822
7	On the Corner (take 4) (M. Davis)	5:58
8	On the Corner (Radio Spot 1) (M. Davis)	1:00
9	On the Corner (Radio Spot 2) (M. Davis)	0:58
10	On the Corner (Radio Spot 3) (M. Davis)	0:56
11	On the Corner (Radio Spot 4) (M. Davis)	1:08
12	On the Corner (Radio Spot 5A) (M. Davis)	1:21
13	On the Corner (Radio Spot 5B) (M. Davis)	0:35
14	Untitled Original 720601 (M. Davis)	3:38
15	Black Satin (take 1) (M. Davis)	3:00
16	Black Satin (take 8 (rehearsal)) (M. Davis)	1:44
17	Black Satin (issued take) (M. Davis)	5:15
	Issued in two parts, "Molester, part 1" (3:03) and "Molester, part 2" (2:09) on Columbia 45709 and CBS 450472


6 On the Corner (take 3) 45 rpm: Columbia 4-45822 12" LP: Columbia KC 31906, Music on Vinyl MOV LP518, Columbia C5X 45000, CBS/Sony SOPN 100, CBS/Sony SOPL 125, CBS/Sony 20AP 1408, Vinyl Me, Please A017 CD: Columbia Legacy C4K 45000, Columbia Legacy C4K 86569, Columbia CK 53579, Columbia Legacy CK 63980, Columbia Legacy C6K 06239, Mobile Fidelity Sound Laboratory UDSACD 2171, CBS/Sony 32DP 716, Sony SRCS 5721, CBS/Sony 80DP 5430/3, Sony SICP 5037/40, Sony SRCS 9125, Sony SRCS 9719, Sony SRGS 4539, Sony SICP 840, Sony SICP 1227, Sony SICP 10091, Sony SICP 20005, Sony SICP 30270, Sony SICJ 30093, Sony SICP 1581/6, Columbia Legacy 86975 24922 [= Columbia (F) 86975 52492] (CD 41)
7 On the Corner (take 4) CD: Columbia Legacy C6K 06239, Sony SICP 1581/6
17 Black Satin (issued take) 45 rpm: Columbia 4-45709 12" LP: Columbia KC 31906, Music on Vinyl MOV LP518, CBS/Sony SOPN 100, CBS/Sony SOPL 125, CBS/Sony 20AP 1408, CBS (F) 450472, Vinyl Me, Please A017 CD: Columbia CK 53579, Columbia Legacy CK 63980, Columbia Legacy C2K 85475, Columbia Legacy C6K 06239, Columbia 69699 89152, Mobile Fidelity Sound Laboratory UDSACD 2171, CBS/Sony 32DP 716, Sony SRCS 5721, Sony SRCS 9125, Sony SRCS 9719, Sony SRCS 2493/4, Sony SRGS 4539, Sony SICP 840, Sony SICP 1227, Sony SICP 10091, Sony SICP 20005, Sony SICP 30270, Sony SICJ 30093, Columbia Legacy 86975 24922 [= Columbia (F) 86975 52492] (CD 41)

The original LP version of "On the Corner" includes a brief beginning and ending passage and additional percussion overdubs. The opening passage includes a fragment (approximately 0:44-1:16 of the unedited master or 1:13-1:45 of the issued version) with saxophone and keyboard tracks turned off. Thanks to Sean Wilkie for alerting me to this.

The four sections identified on the sleeve -- "On the Corner" (2:58) - "New York Girl" (1:29) - "Thinkin' One Thing and Doin' Another" (6:40) - "Vote for Miles" (7:48) -- are variations on a single theme. The "radio spots" were presumably prepared for ads on popular radio, part of Columbia's aggressive advertising campaign to attract young black audiences to this new Miles Davis sound.

Keith Jarrett and Gary Bartz left the Davis Septet in December, and Davis' health problems (hip trouble, gallstone surgery) kept him out of the studio and off the road for much of the first half of 1972. This session was the beginning of another very busy time in Columbia Studios -- at least a dozen sessions from June 1972 until early January 1973.

This was Dave Liebman's first studio session with Davis. He joined the live group in January and remained until late 1974.

Will Smith's two-star review of On the Corner in Down Beat (March 29, 1973) was dismissive:

The title is apt amd maybe a little too close for comfort. In fact, it's almost as though Miles was "on the corner" during much of the recording.

Take some chunka-chunka-chunka rhythm, lots of little background percussion diddle-around sounds, some electronic mutations, add simple tune lines that sound a geat deal alike and play some spacy solos. You've got the "groovin'" formula, and you stick with it interminably to create your "magic." But is it magic or just repetitious boredom?