Second Clip of Tony Williams Lifetime in 1970
Williams' tune "Two Worlds" is featured on newly released Beat Club footage.
Three weeks ago, the Beat Club YouTube channel posted the first release of live footage of the 1970 edition of the Tony Williams Lifetime. No film by the band from this era had ever been seen.
The video showed Tony Williams, organist Larry Young, guitarist John McLaughlin, and bassist/vocalist Jack Bruce (of Cream) playing a suite of themes composed by Bruce and McLaughlin in a TV studio in Germany, with great shots of all four band members.
This 9-minute clip moved Tony Williams and Lifetime forward in the conversation, garnering over 100K views in just three weeks. The film is a lot of fun and at least hinted at what eyewitnesses have long claimed: Williams and Lifetime were one of the greatest bands of their era.
For me, the video emphasized that Williams’ conception of fusion (a term Tony never embraced, preferring the simpler and more descriptive ‘jazz-rock’) was, at its core, deeply experimental. It was a wild idea, and Tony just went for it.
The elements of Lifetime are so contradictory— jazz musicianship at rock volume, the British Invasion cohabitating with the New Composers of Blue Note, rock songs in odd meters with bebop drumming. Small wonder the compound didn't last long. This version of Lifetime splintered at the end of 1970, and Williams had difficulty keeping bands together throughout the Lifetime era.
Add to that the pressure heaped on Williams:
…the rock musicians don’t really consider us rock. You know, we’re not trying to be rock. They think we’re trying to play up to them1 and we’re not. And I’m not trying to get away from jazz to make money….I’ve got all these things coming down on me2 …Tony Williams to Pat Cox, Downbeat Magazine, May 28, 1970.
All respect for Tony Williams.
Early this week, a second Lifetime video from the same session appeared on Beat Club’s YouTube channel.
Three cheers for Lifetime and Beat Club, an embarrassment of jazz riches in the Internet age!
On this clip, they are playing Williams’ “Two Worlds”. This tune was later released on Ego (Polydor, streaming on all major services), Lifetime’s 1971 LP.
Ego is an undervalued classic. I’ve loved it since Josh Dion played it for me at William Paterson. Compared to Emergency! and Turn It Over, Ego is more psychedelic and almost low-key. Best known for containing the original “There Comes A Time”, Ego also features a few M’Boom-esque percussion ensembles (“Piskow’s Filigree”, “Some Hip Drum Shit”), a fully-arranged Tony Williams rock tune (“Lonesome Wells”) and a great Larry Young feature (“Mom and Dad”).
On Ego, “Two Worlds” closes Side 1 and is sung by an uncredited Jack Bruce3 . It’s an attractive melody, climbing ever higher as the singer heads to dreamland, and shows Tony’s growing skill and confidence as a composer. Alongside Bruce’s vocal is some wild electric bass, a percussion maelstrom, as well as soundscapes and melodies from Larry Young, then known as Khalid Yasin.
The Beat Club footage brings us a more straight-ahead arrangement of “Two Worlds”. I love hearing Tony’s drums ringing and singing at the beginning, and the shots of Tony’s hands tell us much about his technique. Williams always had such a beautiful way of holding and moving the sticks!
Tony stops the band mid-take due to an error; it’s nice to see how functional and professional Lifetime were, no matter how stormy the situation might have been. Williams and McLaughlin get into their thing, and Bruce is an incredible front man. If only the shots of Larry Young— the heart of the band, according to Williams—were a little more clear. Oh well, at least we have more Young on video.
Does Young mouth the word “hello” at 1:51?
Williams and Lifetime did so much to foster the best things about today’s music scene. The openness of today’s musicians, our willingness to hear excellence and creativity regardless of genre— Lifetime helped make this possible, for which they’ve never been properly recognized. These two videos are moving the needle in their favor.
Beyond that, I just love this band and these players. It’s so wonderful to see them. We’re very lucky to have this film.
One musician who’s long centered Tony and understands the specialness of Lifetime is Cindy Blackman Santana. Years ago, I went to the Blue Note to see her with Spectrum Road, the Lifetime project featuring John Medeski on organ, guitarist Vernon Reid, and Jack Bruce.
As exciting as the group was, even next to Jack Bruce, Blackman Santana was the star of the band. Vernon Reid handled the stage announcements, and when he got to her, he smiled and exclaimed “The queen, on her throne!” She was.
Blackman Santana inhabited Tony’s vocabulary and sound, an absurdly difficult task, while retaining her own identity. This, in theory, is impossible. But she did it.
Ask any drummer— Tony’s stuff is relatively easy to figure out, but nearly impossible to pull off in a real-time musical situation. You must have huge confidence, bravado, charisma, and top-level musicianship to even half-play that vocabulary.
Ms. Blackman Santana has all these qualities. This was no imitation, this wasn’t Tony Williams karaoke. This was a tribute and celebration, this was music. I was thrilled to hear those Lifetime tunes played live, and blown away by Blackman Santana’s achievement.
All respect to Cindy Blackman Santana.
Coda: Tony evidently retained some fondness for “Two Worlds”. In 1990, he arranged it for quintet and recorded it with Wallace Roney on trumpet, saxophonist Bill Pierce, pianist Mulgrew Miller, and bassist Robert Hurst on Native Heart (Blue Note). This is a great track from this era, with some seriously swinging Williams.
All respect and gratitude for Tony Williams, the musicians with whom he collaborated, and those who love his music.
I believe by ‘play up to’ Williams means “be better players than”, or “show off our superior musicianship to”. Regardless, in context, the sense is clear: some rock musicians at the time were made uncomfortable by Lifetime, for musical and, probably, racial reasons, and this wasn’t Williams intent.
Thanks to James Issacs for including this quote in his notes to Once In A Lifetime, a 1980 reissue of Emergency!
Ron Carter is on most of Ego, but isn’t that Jack Bruce playing bass on “Two Worlds”? Readers, your opinion?
thanks for sharing! not to take anything away from tony, but the rock-jazz thing was happening a lot come the late 60's and into the 70's.. of course miles davis bitches brew and all those players involved in that project, but interestingly, many of the uk players involvement speaks of the unique musical dynamics taking place in the uk during this same period... of course lifetime with mclaughlin and bruce - the band is half uk and half usa! prog rock might not be the same thing, but there are a lot of connections..
in bill brufords autobiography he mentions how the rock players thought of him as jazz and the jazz players thought of him as rock... you just can't win!! clearly tony was both too! i have felt the same - was born in 56 and have played drums in mostly original groups, or groups emphasizing improvisational music... fusion or jazz rock - its just a name which is trying to include different influences - rock or jazz or whatever you are bringing into the music.. what is this? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-MLQRHfej0 - same general time frame! different drummer - tony oxley...
if you look into the project that john scofield, larry goldings and jack dejohnette did - trio beyond - ( or read the liner notes to the cd/album called saudades) that was a dedication to the influence of tony williams.. again - dejohnette is a player who has embraced something more along the lines of improvisation, as opposed to bebop or straight ahead jazz - although he is capable of it all - as was tony! i think it was a younger generation looking to find their own voice, while acknowledging and honouring those who came before them.. we have a lot to be thankful for musically speaking! thanks for the article..
"Two Worlds" and "One Word" were from a mid-1970 session from this quartet, the MKII if you will. They were both mixed in July 1970 for a 45 release. Ron Carter played Double Bass on Ego, but the touring bass guitarist and band member at the time was the late Juini Booth.
P.S. If you haven't heard it, the unreleased Bill Laswell remix of "Turn it Over" sounds incredible. It's not just a remix - he basically assembled an alternate version of the album including outtake material.