Buddy Miles :: Them Changes
Back in the day I used to dig for fun. There was a deep bin in the back of a record store called Flat Back and Circular (East Lansing, MI) that was one of my closest friends for a while. His name was Dolla Bin. One afternoon, Dolla and I were hangin’ out and he looked to me and said “Hey, you like Hendrix?”. I of course said yeah and he proceeded to hand me a copy of Buddy Miles Expressway to Your Skull. Seeing that Dolla wasn’t always the most reliable source for good music, I probably went home and put the album in a milk crate for a good couple of months. When I finally got to it, I had a big surprise. I loved it. I mean I really loved it.
It’s been almost 15 years since those days and old Dolla Bin has moved on to younger more vibrant friends. I also lost track of that album…until recently. The other day I found a copy of my old favorite and boy did it kick in some memories. It also reminded me of another song that Buddy did with Hendrix and the Band of Gypsys. Them Changes. Buddy went on to record this song outside of the Band of Gypsys and I think this version is my favorite. He cries, screams and those horns are just so sweet.
Them Changes is a song that would later dictate Buddy’s life of crime, sickness and suffering. There were times he lived in halfway houses, prisons and god knows where else. He never fully established the success he had in the late 60’s and early 70’s but he sure did try. Buddy died early this year and from what I can gather, it wasn’t the best of the times for the guy. I wouldn’t like to think of him in this manner but rather as a crazy bulldog of a drummer and one amazing singer. I know Dolla Bin would like it that way.
Them Changes (4.6MB MP3)
Buddy Miles (homepage)
vj said on friday, october 10th, 2008
jc said on wednesday, december 03rd, 2008
i think i picked up the band of gypsys when i was 16 years old in a gas station. yes, this would be one of those 3.99 tapes. i was young, dug Experience already and thought i was cool. but this tape was so different, it wasn’t really Jimi, at least not how i knew him. i remember Them Changes, it was the first track on that tape, and i loved it. i loved Buddy’s singing. now this was way before the innerweb and immediate information, so i didn’t know who the hell Buddy Miles was or that the Band of Gypsys was Hendrix’s new band that he wouldn’t live long enough to cut a real record with.
i still like that song. a lot. i do not -of course-still have my old tape. and now, if i were to go to a record shop it would either be a very special “imported” CD (as if all the rest come from here) and cost 35$ rather than 3.99.
if you come across that album though, grab it, there are a couple other Miles gems on it.
good call!!!