| | |  | Books | Home » » Running the Voodoo Down: The Electric Music of Miles Davis | | | | | | | Description: | | This book reassesses Miles Davis' "electric period" and analyzes its continuing influence on contemporary music. While jazz purists often revile this phase - which encompasses the entire second half of his career, from 1967 until his death in 1991 - this book takes a new, appreciative look at this music and shows its importance to Davis' career and to jazz as a whole. The author also reveals surprising connections between Davis, Jimi Hendrix and Sly Stone, particularly the ways they fed each other's creativity. This book will stir up the longtime debate about this important music and give Davis' legions of fans refreshing insights into his work. | | | Product Details: | | | Author:
| Philip Freeman | | Paperback:
| 242 pages | | Publisher:
| Backbeat Books | | Publication Date:
| November 01, 2005 | | Language:
| English | | ISBN:
| 0879308281 | | Product Length:
| 9.32 inches | | Product Width:
| 6.1 inches | | Product Height:
| 0.65 inches | | Product Weight:
| 0.94 pounds | | Package Length:
| 9.1 inches | | Package Width:
| 6.0 inches | | Package Height:
| 0.8 inches | | Package Weight:
| 0.9 pounds | | Average Customer Rating:
|  based on 8 reviews |
| | | | Customer Reviews: | |
Average Customer Review:
 ( 8 customer reviews )
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
14 of 15 found the following review helpful:
 Great Subject but Not the Definitive BookJul 24, 2006
By directions
"neuralbuddhist"
"Running the Voodoo Down" is an interesting exploration into Miles' electric period, its formative years in the late 60's, full blossoming in the 70's and its ultimate wash out in his return from retirement in the 80's. However, it is not as effective as "Miles Beyond" by Paul Tingen which was obviously researched with great detail. For example, "Running the Voodoo Down" states that there were no studio sessions from 1973 while "Miles Beyond" mentions them (even though they have never been released to the general public officially or otherwise) and discusses briefly from an interview with a Miles alumnist what they might have sounded like as well as the interview with Chick Corea that discusses the very first electric concert in 1968. These are minor details but details such as this are what makes a work of musical history. By now, everyone is giving long overdue praise to Miles' electric period but its the detailed facts and unknown stories and descriptions of what was going on beyond the scenes that wets people's appetite for the next Miles archival reissue and lets bands give due for their influences. Also "Miles Beyond" was written like a work of archaeology whereas "Running the Voodoo Down" is filled with overly hyperbolistic rock critic cliches. For the casual listener or the phillistine who puts aside anything from "In a Silent Way" and beyond as derivative of rock and not really jazz, it is essential. For the true jazz fanatic, it is mostly a familiar story.
9 of 9 found the following review helpful:
 Running the Voodoo DownJan 26, 2006
By Gary Mairs
Contentious, provocative and idiosyncratic, Phil Freeman's Running the Voodoo Down is an attempt to come to terms with the most difficult and misunderstood work of Miles Davis' career. He applies his knowledge of hard bop, heavy metal and funk, drawing unlikely connections and making this dense, often impenetrable music accessible. Every page has a risible assertion, and you may find yourself enraged with Freeman even as you pull out Agharta and On the Corner to see if he's actually on to something. He almost always is.
8 of 8 found the following review helpful:
Fresh BrewMar 15, 2006
By Phil Nugent
"Phil Nugent"
The music Miles Davis made in the period this book grapples with was unpredictable, contentious, sometimes maddening, often exciting, and on occasion, the most thrilling thing on Earth. The book itself is a fit match for its subject. Faced with a body of work that's inspired more than one sensible critic to throw up his hands, Freeman just rolls up his sleeves and digs in, addressing the material with just the right balance of scepticism and enthusiasm. Those new to Miles Davis will get their eyes and ears opened wide; old-timers will be reminded what it's like to encounter some much-needed fresh thinking on an old favorite .
9 of 11 found the following review helpful:
 A long overdue, convincing treatise on the value of the later MilesJan 12, 2006
By JT
"ultimato"
In his very first sentence, Philip Freeman establishes that, "Everyone has their own Miles." For many of Davis's most ardent admirers, the only Miles that matters is the earlier, acoustic era that produced such landmark recordings as Kind Of Blue and 'Round About Midnight. Freeman is here to dispute that sentiment and make a convincing case in favor of the latter, more electrically-informed half of Davis's oeuvre, coming to the fore with 1969's massively influential Bitches Brew and lasting until Davis's 1991 death. Running The Voodoo Down wisely avoids posturing itself as yet another Davis bio: Freeman has instead constructed an extended critical essay that dissects the key recordings, the influences on and of the musicians involved and the cultural/societal/artistic spirit in which the work was created. Running The Voodoo Down isn't about the mysterious, mercurial Miles personality, but rather the ever-hungry musical Miles. And although some will never be convinced that even the best of the electric Davis is on a par with Sketches Of Spain or Birth Of The Cool, the book succeeds in provoking the reader to want to revisit and reconsider the value of the often overlooked later period.
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
ESSENTIAL FOR THOSE EXPLORING THIS PERIODDec 30, 2010
By David P. Weber
This is an excellent work. The author deals with Miles' contentious electric period with intelligence and respect.
He also places Miles' work in the context of what else was going on in music at the time.
However, for any reprints, can I suggest a correction to the passage where the author mentions Rolling Stone's 20th anniversary, when the magazine listed the 100 best albums of the previous 20 years...
'Bitches' made the cut, but I'm pretty positive 'Kind Of Blue' didn't. While the latter would certainly made a Top 100 albums of ALL TIME (possibly even number one) it was, after all, released in the 1950s.
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