RIP Buddy Miles

Buddy Miles passed away on Feb. 28th.

Buddy Miles was most known as the drummer for the Band of Gypsys, a trio including Jimi Hendrix and Billy Cox. Miles original band, Electric Flag, played at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967.

One of my favorite CDs in college was the self-titled release called The Band of Gypsys. It was recorded at their 1969 New Year's Eve show at The Fillmore in NYC. One of the songs included Them Changes. After Hendrix died, Miles' band recorded the song that became a hit.

In the 1980s, Miles was one of the voices in the California Raisins, a fictional group in a claymation commercial. It caught on and became one of those odd wonders of 1980s pop culture.

I saw Buddy Miles with Phish at MSG in 1996. He came out with Merl Saunders for the encore at the 10.22.96 show. They played Along the Watchtower. Amazing show with an amazing encore. I went to the show with my buddy Senor. I remember telling him how cool it was that Phish had played with musicians that played with Jerry Garcia and Jimi Hendrix.

Check out Them Changes from 12.31.69...


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