‘LISTEN. The greatest feeling I ever had in my life – with my clothes on – was when I first heard Diz and Bird back in 1944. I’ve come close to matching the feeling of that night, but I’ve never quite got there. I’m always looking for it, trying to always feel it in and through the music I play . . .’
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. Special Offer until June 30, 2013: Receive an additional £5 promotional Gift Certificate, when you trade-in at least £10 worth of books. Learn more. |
Book Description
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
More About the Authors
Discover books, learn about writers, and more.
Product Description
Review
"San Francisco Chronicle" This is not just any book. As with everything else he has done, Davis's work as writer is likely to raise controversy. The book could well be subtitled "Miles Tells All" for this volume is crammed with juicy gossip about most of the key figures in modern jazz.
Book Description
Miles: The Autobiography, like the man himself, holds nothing back. He talks about his battles against drugs and racism, and discusses the many women in his life. But above all, Miles talks about music and musicians, including the legends he has played with over the years: Bird, Dizzy, Monk, Trane, Mingus and many others. The man who has given us the most exciting music of recent times has now given us a fascinating and compelling insight into his extraordinary life. ‘An engrossing read . . . gives fascinating insights into the cult phenomenon’ Miles Copeland, Weekend Telegraph ‘Magnificently truthful, action packed, raw and bleeding’ Miles Kington, Independent ‘Passionate, opinionated, unfettered . . . What gives this book, and the man, their final weight and strength is that Davis’s driving, almost possessed pursuit of his art. The passion to create is all, and let the world go hang itself’ Herbert Kretzmer, Daily Mail
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Browse and search another edition of this book.
First Sentence
The very first thing I remember in my early childhood is a flame, a blue flame jumping off a gas stove somebody lit. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
The very first thing I remember in my early childhood is a flame, a blue flame jumping off a gas stove somebody lit. Read the first page
Explore More
Concordance
Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
15 of 15 people found the following review helpful
By Earl Hazell
Format:Paperback
Miles Davis, with all his faults, flaws and laughable quirks, was still one of the most important musicians of the twentieth century. It takes a book like this where he leaves no stone unturned to make clear the debt we all owe him and his contemporaries, as well as the restless spirit that lead him beyond what he helped to establish as modern jazz. In many ways he shows himself to be, ironically, the archetypal and sterotypical artist simultaneously. Yet his telling of the profound friendships he had with Max Roach and Coltrane, his deep awe and respect but dispassionate eye for the genius and addictions of Charlie Parker, the loves of his life- and what he put them through, and his brutal, courageous hoonesty in general, gives us a gift of his haunting humanity.
But above all, this about the music. His own telling of his style, the true creators of the form in total and the actual environment where it was produced, and how he created so many styles of his own is enough to make this book worth having.
You will never find another human being who can make curse words sound so beautiful!
If you love jazz, or are a jazz musician, this book will remind you why. And why you love Miles. Everybody does.
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
"Listen. The greatest feeling I ever had in my life - with my clothes on - was when I first hear Diz and Bird together in St. Louis, Missouri, back in 1944". And so begins Miles' account of his remarkable career. In collaboration with Quincy Troupe, Davis guides us through the events and the people in his life that shaped his music. A brilliant piece of work which is distinctly Miles - simultaneously angry and humorous, harsh and reflective. Miles speaks directly about his struggles with drugs, the women in his life, and his experience as an often misunderstood black musician in a white America. Miles also provides us with richly engaging accounts of his music and the musicians he played with over the years. This spirited story is told by Miles in caustic language and he never shies away from controversy. Miles said of his music in his later years "I like playing with young musicians. I want to keep creating, changing. Music isn't about standing still and becoming safe". This book isn't safe and will always be compelling reading. A must read for new and seasoned fans and enthusiasts.
Charlie Saxe
Chicago, Illinois
15 of 16 people found the following review helpful
By conjunction
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I am disappointed so many reviewers seem to regard Miles as a racist. Personally it seems to me he was born into a wealthy black family, son of intelligent and cultured parents, and wasn't prepared, as he often says, to take s--- from anyone particularly if they were white and doing it because he was black. That doesn't make him a racist, it makes him brave.
And contrary to one reviewer's comments, the book is full of stuff about the music, much of which I didn't understand because it was too technical. For anyone who knows anything about music, or who has studied it I should think this book would be fascinating.
For me too it was fascinating as a fine documenting of the history of jazz, and gives good insights into the character of many musicians, especially Parker and Coltrane. It also says a lot about the nature of racism in the USA much of which no doubt still holds.
Davis was an incredibly strong character, had to be to survive so many generations of jazz when so many didn't. He had to be decisive, I don't think this makes him unpleasant in itself although to me his attitudes to women were frankly primitive.
Despite this I found this an inspiring book and probably the best book I have read about jazz.
And contrary to one reviewer's comments, the book is full of stuff about the music, much of which I didn't understand because it was too technical. For anyone who knows anything about music, or who has studied it I should think this book would be fascinating.
For me too it was fascinating as a fine documenting of the history of jazz, and gives good insights into the character of many musicians, especially Parker and Coltrane. It also says a lot about the nature of racism in the USA much of which no doubt still holds.
Davis was an incredibly strong character, had to be to survive so many generations of jazz when so many didn't. He had to be decisive, I don't think this makes him unpleasant in itself although to me his attitudes to women were frankly primitive.
Despite this I found this an inspiring book and probably the best book I have read about jazz.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
By rob crawford
TOP 1000 REVIEWER
Format:Paperback
I had listened to the wonderful music of this man for over 20 years before reading this book. He was my initiation in the endlessly engrossing world of jazz and his strikingly engineered appearence served as a way to distinguish myself from my adolescent peers who preferred rock stars. I own at least half of the albums he made and still find new things in them whenever I listen to them. There is genius in what he created.
Unfortunately, reading his story in his own words took more away than it gave me. Miles Davis is, in short, a horrible person: full of bitterness and hatred, despising women while exploiting them, and narcissistic to his very core. His views are primitive and bigoted, so politically incorrect that it demonstrates why PC is not all bad! He was also wantonly self-destructive and frequently drug addicted, for which he offers neither lessons nor apologies. The lack of care and humility in the way he reveals all of this is truly stunning and crude, written as it is in a ridiculously self-conscious black jive. He literally embodies the notion that there is a destructive side to all creativity.
That being said, the book also offers a fascinating history of jazz, the major movements of which he changed or affected fundamentally at least 4 or 5 times from 1940 to about 1977. It was an amazing career, and a great gift to us all. And in this book, he offers himself up naked and scarred.
Unfortunately, reading his story in his own words took more away than it gave me. Miles Davis is, in short, a horrible person: full of bitterness and hatred, despising women while exploiting them, and narcissistic to his very core. His views are primitive and bigoted, so politically incorrect that it demonstrates why PC is not all bad! He was also wantonly self-destructive and frequently drug addicted, for which he offers neither lessons nor apologies. The lack of care and humility in the way he reveals all of this is truly stunning and crude, written as it is in a ridiculously self-conscious black jive. He literally embodies the notion that there is a destructive side to all creativity.
That being said, the book also offers a fascinating history of jazz, the major movements of which he changed or affected fundamentally at least 4 or 5 times from 1940 to about 1977. It was an amazing career, and a great gift to us all. And in this book, he offers himself up naked and scarred.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
For the very few that felt Miles Davis was a saintly soul, they should be required to read this venomous, but arresting, biography detailing his early history in the clubs to the years of experimentation and critical panning. Miles Davis was arrogant, egotistical, vain, abusive (to himself and others), mainly uncomplimentary of other artists' talents, and foremost, a musical genius of unparalleled comparison. To hear him play was to make one almost forget how undesirable of a personality he was. This book is a must read for lovers of autobiography, for lovers of jazz's unique history, and most importantly, for those who want to find out more about the man behind the horn, regardless of what they may discover. This is a spectacular autobiography, behind only Kinski's "All I Need is Love" for outright pulp content and total audacity.
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
›
Go to Amazon.com to see all 81 reviews
4.4 out of 5 stars
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
BEST AUTO I HAVE EVER READ!!
Okay...So I am biased because Miles is my greatest musician of all time , but......This is without doubt the most honest , brutal and down to earth autobiography I have ever read. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Warren
5.0 out of 5 stars
Very interesting book
I love Miles Davis' music and have done so for years. I thought it was about time I learnt a little more about the man. Read more
Published 8 months ago by A Hayward
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Man With The Attitude
Miles Davis' autobiography, which was written in collaboration with Quincy Troupe and published in 1989 (two years before Miles' death), is a brilliant and uncompromising account... Read more
Published 13 months ago by Keith M
5.0 out of 5 stars
Brilliant Book
The book is brilliant - as it is based around interviews with Miles shortly before he died it is like he is in the room talking to you. Warts and all, he tells it like it was. Read more
Published on 31 Mar 2011 by Mr. J. Brown
5.0 out of 5 stars
the life of a musician warts and all
Reading many of the reviews here for this book I was surprised about how many did not like ti because they turned out not to like Miles Davis as a person. Read more
Published on 26 Jan 2011 by Nik C
5.0 out of 5 stars
Good read
I do recommend this read.
Miles Davis life worths a read.
And I have to say that, for me, as a white woman, it's interesting to read how he thought and how he acted... Read more
Miles Davis life worths a read.
And I have to say that, for me, as a white woman, it's interesting to read how he thought and how he acted... Read more
Published on 8 Dec 2010 by Pau
5.0 out of 5 stars
Miles - A great document of the Jazz era & the Soul of the Man
Miles Davis was never my first choice on horn, but the older I have become - the more I have learnt - his affect and contribution to much of the music I love between 1955 and 69 is... Read more
Published on 2 May 2010 by D. K. Roper
5.0 out of 5 stars
miles autobiography
I bought this as a present and it went down very well - arrived in good condition and delivery was prompt
Published on 20 Jan 2010 by Ms. S. Weir
5.0 out of 5 stars
Miles in his own distinctive voice
Having recently read Ian Carrs in depth biography; which I would certainly recommend for all Davis enthusiasts, this book gives a very personal perspective on a jazz musicians... Read more
Published on 18 Dec 2009 by A. F. Wolff
4.0 out of 5 stars
Not the easiest book....not the easiest man.
I had a great deal of trouble starting this book, the colloquial tone didn't chime well for me (a personal thing, I know), and, as other reviewers have noted Miles Davis was not a... Read more
Published on 19 Sep 2008 by Humpty D
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
|
