Known for their 12 hour opening numbers and nine day concerts, with albums that involved more vinyl than any known shelf could withstand, it may surprise some around here to know that the Mahavishnu Orchestra made singles. Well, sort of…
There was one commercial single in the UK and US (‘Can’t Stand Your Funk’ / ‘Eternity’s Breath Part 1’, by MO Mk2 in 1975). Before that, both Spain and Japan released commercial singles in pic sleeves of ‘Open Country Joy’ from MO Mk1’s ‘Birds Of Fire’.
But… in the US there was a radio promo single of an exclusive edit of ‘Sister Andrea’, from the live MO1 LP ‘Between Nothingness & Eternity’, in mono on one side and stereo on the other. I was chuffed to pick a copy up for a few dollars on ebay yesterday. And the day before, amazingly, I came across a US mono/stereo radio promo single of ‘Open Country Joy’ and got it for a few dollars as well. I don’t think I was aware of that one before.
Add to that the recent ‘Dawn’ 2LP (white vinyl) bootleg set from a 1973 radio broadcast at Century Theatre, Buffalo, for £14 and I’m feeling rather pleased.
Here’s ‘Sister Andrea’, from a US TV show about a month before the MO Mk1 imploded (yes, yes, yes – just at the end of that gig etc etc)
That’s a tasty single from the emerald beyond crew.
I’m looking forward to hearing the 4:50 minute edit. I admit that’s quite funny: the EDIT is twice as long as most people’s singles…
Congratulations Colin. There are bargains to be had out there for collectors of unusual recordings. That’s the reason I keep crate digging 😉