Supergroup which never was

[Gob]

It could have been a meeting of musical minds... but Sir Paul McCartney was on holiday.

Jimi Hendrix and Miles Davis sent the singer a telegram in 1969 asking him to recording session. But the invitation was declined because Paul McCartney was on holiday at the family farm in Scotland. Fans of the late trumpet and guitar masters have long known that Miles Davis and Jimi Hendrix had been making plans to record together in the year before Hendrix's sudden death in 1970.





But less attention has been paid to the bass player they were trying to recruit.

This tantalizing detail about the super group that never was - jazz standout Tony Williams would have been on drums - is contained in an oft-overlooked telegram that Hendrix sent to McCartney at The Beatles' Apple Records in London on Oct. 21, 1969. 'We are recording and LP together this weekend,' it says, complete with a typographical error. 'How about coming in to play bass stop call Alan Douglas 212-5812212. Peace Jimi Hendrix Miles Davis Tony Williams.'

The telegram, advising McCartney to contact producer Douglas if he could make the session, has been part of the Hard Rock Cafe memorabilia collection since it was purchased at auction in 1995. Still it has only generated attention in recent months with the successful release of 'People, Hell & Angels,' expected to be the last CD of Hendrix's studio recordings.

[dales]

Indeed.

[Joe Guy]

Purple haze yeah yeah yeah!!

[oldr_n_wsr]

A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away.

[Sue U]

God, I'm glad THAT never happened. Paul McCartney would have been a terrible choice for that line-up. Much better would have been Jack Bruce, or maybe Greg Ridley. Even (maybe) John Entwistle. Pickings were slim at the time, but not that slim; this had to be some marketing guy's idea.

[Gob]

I agree Sue.

[Joe Guy]

Paul would have an excellent choice, in my opinion. He is one of the best & most versatile bass players ever.

Not to mention skilled guitarist, drummer & piano player.

[Sue U]

I have no doubt that McCartney is a competent musician, but "one of the best & most versatile bass players ever" is going a bit far, especially when you consider that (electric) bass playing didn't really come into its own until the 1970s. I highly doubt he is better or more versatile than any of a dozen of bass players I could name off the top of my head -- from his contemporaries Bruce, Ridley and Entwistle to Jaco Pastorius and Stanley Clarke to Marcus Miller and Victor Wooten to Steve Bailey to Esperanza Spaulding to Tal Wilkenfeld to Lincoln Goines to Flea. (Give me a minute and I might think of a dozen more.) But even in 1969, Bruce, Ridley and Entwistle were head and shoulders above every other electric bass player I can think of from that era, and stylistically so much more suited to an early jazz-rock fusion sound that might have been created with Jimi and Miles.

[Joe Guy]

I haven't time to write much, but when a bass player is as talented as McCartney, he can play well in any style. All of those you've named are fantastic.

He is too.

[Sean]

IMO MCCartney is a decent bassist but players like Jack Bruce, Noel Redding and Gerry McEvoy are on a whole different level. There is a huge difference between playing nice little arpeggios underneath Lennon & Harrison's guitars and the kind of virtuoso bass work required to fill the melodic soundscape behind a single guitarist.

[Joe Guy]

Okay, then.

Imagine if Peter Tork had joined Jimi & Miles...

[Rick]

God, I'm glad THAT never happened. Paul McCartney would have been a terrible choice for that line-up. Much better would have been Jack Bruce, or maybe Greg Ridley. Even (maybe) John Entwistle. Pickings were slim at the time, but not that slim; this had to be some marketing guy's idea.

They were prolly needing someone that could actually sing...