I bought Emergency! In late 1969. I had seen and met Gene Krupa, Jimi 5x by then, Cream in 1967, Jeff Beck many times, Led Zep 5x. Buddy Rich Big Band, etc...But. When I saw TWL,with Jack on bass, it changed everything. They were at Ungano's in NY. I sat on the floor @ 5 feet fromn Tony's hi hat so I could see everything. That was it. He is still my favorite drummer , even though I have seen Billy with MO July 1972, Vinnie, Narada 1975. I love all those drummers. But Tony had the impact the connection the Emerency! Exactly! The Urgency.

I read a Jack Dejohnette interview where he explained he had jammed with McLaughlin and (I believe) John Surman in England while on a Charles Lloyd tour, informally recorded it. Tony had asked Sonny Sharrock to join Lifetime but Sonny thought the band was going to be 'too inside'. Upon hearing the Dejohnette jam tape he called John. When J.M. arrived in New York and immediately started rehearsing during the day with Larry and Tony, Tony had a couple weeks left with Miles performing in NYC, which is how John met Miles leading to his being asked to the In a Silent Way sessions. In a Silent Way recordings occurred just a couple weeks after Emergency was cut. Suffice to say it was a history-changing crossing of paths for everyone involved. What if Sonny Sharrock had said yes?

You are so right on this all you comments on Tony Williams. I'm so impressed on your knowledge about this release. Tony was also tired that Musicians came and steals the musicians that was in his band and this happened all the time. Tony died poor. A great drummer of all time.

I purchased a copy of Once in a Lifetime in my 16th year, because I had heard Tony Williams on Jazz after Hours, a late night show on the local jazz radio station, most likely a Miles tune with a Tony Williams solo. So I went to seek out some Tony records and started reading the liner notes on the back, and because of my Rock upbringing I bought it, not knowing what it contained. It was not at all what I expected. It was psychedelic. Noisy, raw and brutal. It took many years for me to truly understand and appreciate this Masterpiece. Around the same time I had purchased Bright size life and Black Market, and Visit with hee great Spirit by Bob Moses, all inseparable albums in my collection. These along with Three of a perfect Pair, which I received two years prior, all contained a vast expanse of drumming prowess which I drew from immensely. Great topic, and video Andy.

The track that astonished me with Tony Williams rhythmic yet inventive drive was on the Miles' album Water Babies. Especially on Two Faced.

This channel is such an achievement

No doubt emergency is groundbreaking but for listenability it’s his album with Alan Holdsworth titled believe it. That is the album that I continue to play with some regularity 50 years later it blew my mind then and still blows my mind.

I saw the Lifetime at Slugs in the Far East in NY, and after having heard McLaughlin's rather sedate takes on In a Silent Way was astounded by his speed. The band's volume was by itself unremarkable; after all, even bad musicians can play loudly. But the supervening point is that these were great musicians playing loudly - a kind of brandishing of their talents, a you-can't-touch-this arrogation of the music.

Great video Andy ! Lifetime was a favorite of a much younger me.

I got it when it was new and I was 13 and it scared the hell out of this little drummer.

I saw them in 1970. They were backing up the byrds.

Got emergency in a charity shop when I was 18. Never looked back since

Shout out to my Newark NJ boy Khalid Yasin. What can I say about Lifetime that hasn't been said here already... I just loved how T Williams took this aggressive kind of playing into his acoustic jazz bands.. especially live, Jazz drumming purists be going like tf??. Love the turn It Over Redux by B Laswell.

Nice. I heard it when I was really young and wasn’t ready for it. Enjoying going through the lifetime discography

Listening to Lifetime this evening with new ears. Thank you. Young is fantastic. Williams fantastic. McLaughlin comes as expected from his Extrapolation album but louder. Thank you.

I thoroughly enjoyed this video so much. It took me back to my teens. I remember sitting 10 feet away from John McLaughlin and Jack Bruce in the Maryland, Glasgow on 9th November 1970. Gawd it was loud! I was in musical nirvanna! Some time later I had the same close-up view of Mr McLaughlin again when he played with Mahavishnu, Larry Goodman (ex Flock) was there too. (Kelvin Hall, Glasgow 18th June 1973). Both these bands were like nothing I'd ever heard before, or since. Incredible music of a still unmatched level and maturity from such young musicians. I feel blessed to have witnessed these bands in the flesh. Love your views on the bands and the albums. Keep on rockin' man!

I have the original German pressing lps on Polydor. Volume 1 and 2. Two separate albums. But.... both sound really fantastic. Brutal agressive in your face live in the studio sound and especially the way McLaughlin plays blows your mind.

Love the joy of flying and wilderness as well

It was great for a return to this group. It was needed.

The closest anyone comes to the fury of Vuelta Abajo is the performance with Jack Bruce, John Medeski, Cindy Blackman, and Vernon Reid.

Andy, Lifetime did influence other musicians, especially in the UK. For example, Brian Davison of the Nice saw Lifetime live and was stunned/gobsmacked by Williams' playing. He immediately went home and practiced more, and you can hear a change in Davison's playing, especially on the Nice's cover of Country Pie. A drummer friend of mine remarked that Davison sounded like a he had three hands. This could have signaled a more sophisticated rhythmic approach in the Nice's music has ELP never formed. Williams and Young/Yasin were universally admired. One note about the MC 5; in addition to doing fairly limited material, they also-like NRBQ-covered Sun Ra and were associated with John Sinclair, who was also connected with the free jazz community (usually but not always). Free Jazz and rock around 1968-1970 (starting as early as 1966 or so) were sometimes collaborating with each other. Gary Burton was one of the pioneers (with Coryell) of fusion, but his band was much quieter. By the way, Soft Machine was deafeningly loud, like Williams. They just sounded quieter because of the lack of guitar. I had a brief online exchange with Fred Frith about how gloriously dirty the early Tony Williams Lifetime's albums were. Frith loved that aspect of the band!

shts nostalgic aff. it's actually hard for me to listen to it bc it makes me.. idk howto explain it but it's one of those albums you come across in your life that wher eu cant listen to it too much cos it's so repcious

Thank you for all the fantastic information.

Bought the very good Bernie Worrell album, Blacktronic Science ( after I saw it on your YT channel) Tony Williams plays there very good.

Thanks Andy!… you just planned out my next hour or two on THAT album!! ✌️

Great job Andy, first time I've really heard intelligent and insightful commentary on this pioneering band. 1) Definitely some of the most dark, brutal, violent early psychedelic fusion ever committed to tape. Change was in the air on a personal and societal level when this daring experiment launched. To hell with the Stanley Crouches and others of his ilk, these guys were bringing risk taking back in a very loud way. 2) Tony actually turned down a request from Miles for Lifetime to be his backup band. 3) Organist Larry Young was like no other B-3 player before or since, some called him the Coltrane of organ. The huge and sometimes terrifying sounds he coaxed out of a cranked up B-3 were such an important part of the band's sound. 4) I too found the singing VERY problematic and off-putting. Thankfully there weren't many vocal tracks. 5) Despite the subpar production, my favorite tracks in no order of preference: Sangria For Three Emergency Spectrum Big Nick A Famous Blues

One of the most fascinating band projects never realized was the Quartet with Tony Williams, Miles Davis, Jimi Hendrix and Paul Mc Cartney. There must have been a message to Paul's management (was it 1969?) that the three black American musicians were going into the studio and wanted Paul to join them. It never happened. The intriguing question behind this is why three black musicians not particular fond of let’s say Obladi Oblada Melodies and permanent tambourine beatnikism were so desperate to play with a leading white pop Englishman (it sure wasn’t the money (alone)). It is possible that Jimi Hendrix as well as Miles Davis and certainly Tony Williams made the experience early on that Europeans approached them with much more respect. Even though England had a rough history of colonialism, there was a deep respect for the electric blues. Possibly young Englishmen themselves had the experience of seeing a liberation in music in a still-industrial England - people fled from the provinces with their lack of biographical possibilities into liberal and vibrant London. At the same time, it is gratifying to see Billy Preston join the Beatles during the recording of Let it Be, and suddenly the white reception of African-American music since John Mayall is totally lifted by the addition of a true Afro-American musician. The same is true of the Jimi Hendrix Experience. It's a phenomenon of transfer culture, of real diversity and emancipation following an universal goal. The combination of classical courtly romanticism (Hendrix Jackets reminiscent of Händel, Lord Brouncker and Lord Byron), electricity and blues, and impressionistic harmony is, after all, the founding mixture of Lifetime. Lifetime IS the unrealized mentioned quartet mark II: A Yorkshireman (Lord-Sir John McLaughlin, later followed by other Yorkshiremen saying „IOU“ to lifetime) a Scottish man (Jack Bruce) from the provinces meet two Black American Musicians from NYC and Chicago (Larry Young and Tony Williams). They finally realize what has a been a brief idea in the first place. It for sure was a genuine transatlantic and diverse mission, as loud and fast and new as the Concorde.

Got a promo of "Emergency" and yes, it sounds as if the production & mix isn't quite the best but the effort and intentions are there.

Maybe Tony just kept time on In Silent Way because that's what Miles asked him to do for that album?

Great video. Great topic. Thanks.

this is perfect - thanks for doing this video

Vuelta Abajo is brilliant. Great job, Andy.

The often overlooked key to understanding the first two The Tony Williams Lifetime albums is in the artwork of (Turn It On), which is an exact copy of The Velvet Underground's White Light/White Heat album. It's jazz fused with proto-punk rock, not progressive rock, and even Tony's way of singing mimics Lou Reed's iconic heroin-snarl.

Did you see, they finally put a video out on Lifetime with Jack Bruce from the Beat Club (almost 10 min), perhaps more will follow.

In 1975 I owned 99 albums and one of them was Lifetime's Emergency. I also owned Bitch's Brew and In a Silent Way. Emergency was a bit of a specific flavor and groove (which Tony always played in) that I rarely listened to. It filled a very specific gap in music that begged to be transcended. Billy Cobham stepped up quite nicely.

Loved the Herbie Hancock quote. Andy, you should deep dive into Ren. I came across you both at a similar time. The guy is seriously impressive and because their isn't an 'overt' route between you, the dichotomy and juxtaposition between the both of you could lend itself to a 'reaction vid' that could help your channel, which I'd love to see. He meets your 'English Aesthetic' requirements as well. He's artistically impeccable. Game that algorithm ...'Prog head reacts to Ren' ...'Jazzer reacts to Ren' etc etc The guy is 'deservedly' blowin up. I've seen channels ride his wave who just haven't got the insight that you have. Could be a disaster but I'd expect a match made in heaven

Great insights. I haven’t listened to much Lifetime recently. I was into them back in the seventies but like you said I was also coming from a Mahavishnu perspective

Lifetime is the Black Sabbath of jazz

Looking forward

Very well analyzed, Andy 👍 Anyway, nice haircut mate 👍😊

Yup.

Viewing both sides of the progressive Rock music coin; Lifetime was to Jazz Rock what ITCOTCK was to Symphonic Rock; both exploding onto the progressive Rock music scene in 1969. IIRC Emergency! was released before Bitches Brew and was certainly much more progressive Rock than BB

Andy since you are big on theory, what if Jack Bruce had been the bass player for the "Emergency" album? Better still what if Dave Holland or Ron Carter had been chosen? My choice would have been Billy Rich, bass player from John's Devotion album who had also recorded with Jimi Hendrix. Tony liked working with Jack so I guess he would have been the one.

I got into Miles in '70 when I bought Bitches Brew. Then I saw an article in Newsweek (my parents had a subscription) about Tony Williams. The description of the music--the volume, the feedback, the drum pyrotechnics--caused me to head to the record store and order a copy of Emergency (of course they didn't have itin stock in the store). Williams said in the article that he ws wanting to see how much the wudience could take. He meanst that in terms of creativity and openness to new sounds. That's great art but bad marketing. Anyway, Emergency was the only album I listened to for months, really revelatory. And Turn It Over has the most aggressive rock drumming anywhere. The whole album is more aggressive than Emergency, maybe in part because McLaughlin got hooked up with an actual electric guitar wherea on Emergency he was playing an acoustic Gibson Hummingbird fixed up with a a pickup. So I didn't come to Lifetime from a Mahavishnu frame of reference, I was listening to it before there was a Mahavishnu. And while I got into the incredible virtuosity of Mahavishnu, it hasn't held up for me musically while Lifetime is vital every time I listen to it.

The title's origin literally just came up on your vid as I commented lol you may well still love the Heads of course

As a poor to middling drummer, if i could I would be a rabid hybrid mix of the following - snare, cymbals and bass drum Tony, toms Billy Cobham, theatrical interpretation of Narada MW, musical application of Ringo, and arrangement capability of Buddy Rich 😂, oh if only!

John Mcloflin again😂!!!!

A tribute to LIfetime is the album Saudades by Scofield, Larry Goldings, and Jack Dejohnette. They do a good version of "Big Nick". Thanks, Andy!

Looks good. Collins once called him the greatest drummer alive I believe.

Soft Machine " Third" is also an interesting case.

Yeah!

Thanks so much for discussing this very important band, Andy. Unfortunately they did have a troubled existence - poorly recorded, mismanaged, misunderstood. You mentioned Bill Laswell's remix of Turn It Over. I think Laswell's Last Exit is one band that maybe did - later - pick up the gauntlet first thrown down by Tony Williams Lifetime, and brought that kind of revolutionary aggression to electrified, improvised music.

This, to me, at least, is the seminal fusion album. I loved MO, but but they were far more slick than Lifetime. I saw both live (TWL with Bruce and McLaughlin). Few could hear on record how unique Young/Yasin was on organ. Most Organists could not successfully copy him because he was doing something completely unprecedented. Both great bands, but Tony was just, to me, beyond anything that preceded it or came after it. Soft Machine Volume 2 and 3rd had a similar approach, that is often overlooked. About Stanley Crouch (and Marsalis) had problems with "free jazz" because neither could cut it in that field. Crouch was, for a time, a free jazz drummer who played out of Sam Rivers' Rivbea. It is alleged that Wynton Marsalis didn't pass an audition with Sun Ra, which must have been a blow to his ego. So they both turned on free jazz and ANY new changes. McLaughlin had a really low grade guitar when he played with Lifetime; he modified his playing style to be more consistent with rock expectations. McLaughlin's playing seems to change when he is paired with Larry Coryell on Spaces. I think a great many people overlook Coryell's influence on McLaughlin's development. By the way, McLaughlin wasn't the only person Miles brought from the UK-he also brought over the incredible Dave Holland, one of the most amazing bass players I have ever seen live. Only Cecil McBee and Dave Izenson could match Holland. You're absolutely right; this album deserves a reevaluation. I would recommend reevaluation of the Soft Machine 2-4 as breakthrough albums. Also, the third Lifetime album, Ego, didn't have McLaughlin, but that means Young takes the helm as the main soloist. It's much more like a progressive rock album of the time and much better recorded and produced. Worth a listen, IMHO.

Great albums in spite of the poor production on 'Emergency'. Interesting factoid - Before recruiting McLaughlin Tony originally offered Sonny Sharrock the guitar chair. Sharrock declined saying he 'didn't want to play rock' n 'roll' .

I've got the original double album if you'd like to buy it

Back when the band played in 1969-1970, people said that band scared everybody. So you're correct, peoples reference point is Mahavishnu then they sort of skip over Lifetime and look at the Miles Davis's first two fusion albums. In retrospect, Tony should have signed with CBS (the same record company Miles was with at the time). I think one of the issues of the LP "Once in a Lifetime" is that it doesn't include the track "Right On" (Turn it Over), which is in my opinion the greatest thing that they ever did on record, everybody is on fire. It's short but here it is: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/aNx_mpWfxryWYp8.html

Maybe they were angry? And raging against ‘the machine’?

I dunno who the actual best drummer is, but Tony Williams is in that group

Can't help but think the title might be referencing 'The Talking Heads' track. I would expect you to find that track musically and lyrically brilliant, (could well be projection on my part).

I found Turn It Over on vinyl in college (circa 2000) and I couldn't believe what I was hearing. It was jazz turning into metal. The Turn It Over remix album was pretty disappointing to me, and I always wish Emergency sounded better.

Very good introduction. There is a Joe Chambers admission that it drove Tony Williams crazy thatcthe industry wasn't pushing him the way it was pushing McLaughlin. Chambers refers to the fact that the industry and the critics could not do anything with a drummer as a leader.

Thanks for all your vids but how about John zorn?

Who is John Magofflin ?

Andy, do you like Gryphon and Renaissance?

Miles was accessible and fresh. Tony Williams was recycling tired done by many tunes.

the japanese versions of *emergency* sound better and even crazier 🙂

Listened to Emergency! recently and found the vocals to be a lot less cringe than previously.

Why do you think Lifetime’s Emergency album was so-badly managed and promoted Andy?

Emergency was horribly remixed in 1991 on CD ... I heard Laswell had the multi tracks for that album but for some reason he either did it or not but he didn't release it for some reason ... The 1991 CD sounds different and the engineer who should no;t of done it explained all the problems of the recording the worse part was funny enough the bass drum is distorted on every song ... But for some reason the mix wasn't tame it was just muddy worse then the original 69 mix ... I wish to God Laswell or someone in 2023 could do it right ... The first album that I heard was in fact a sealed copy of Once in a lifetime does it sound better then the original maybe in the mastering I don' t think it was remixed like the 1991 one.... Some complain about the mix for Turn It over and what's the complaint... lol the bass drum because it sounds nothing like it does on the original mix... Laswell added something to it to make it smoother or something but I remember sort of agreeing with that statement but hell it;s awesome no matter what... I wish they would put out that unreleased album from 1974 so far it's a bootleg ....