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Miles: The Autobiography

by Miles Davis , Quincy Troupe

4.16 of 5 stars 4.16 · rating details · 7,342 ratings · 384 reviews

For more than forty years Miles Davis has been in the front rank of American music. Universally acclaimed as a musical genius, Miles is one of the most important and influential musicians in the world. The subject of several biographies, now Miles speaks out himself about his extraordinary life.

Miles: The Autobiography, like Miles himself, holds nothing back. For the first

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Paperback , 448 pages

Published September 15th 1990 by Simon & Schuster (first published 1989)

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Community Reviews

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Mar 03, 2008 Books Ring Mah Bell rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: the-arts

****Bad words ahead!!! stop reading now if you get your panties in a bunch around "naughty words". ****
If foul language offends you, DO NOT pick up this book.
If you could give a shit, pick it up and enjoy!

one motherfucking good read!

-read it with a glass of wine and some miles playing in the background-
it will blow your mind, motherfucker!

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Feb 21, 2009 Ethan Miller rated it 5 of 5 stars

An absolute must for musicians and fans. I would think this autobiography would be interesting for anyone just based on the insight into such a magnificent cultural era(s) in our country but I am biased because I love Miles and his work. The narrative really reads like you are being spoken to in Davis' tone, cadence and patois. And he seems to hold little back including a lot of recollections and ideas that you wish were not part of someone's heart and mind that you so greatly admire. But that i An absolute must for musicians and fans. I would think this autobiography would be interesting for anyone just based on the insight into such a magnificent cultural era(s) in our country but I am biased because I love Miles and his work. The narrative really reads like you are being spoken to in Davis' tone, cadence and patois. And he seems to hold little back including a lot of recollections and ideas that you wish were not part of someone's heart and mind that you so greatly admire. But that is really the essence of this man's character. A deep and often dark duality between cruel impulse and deep thought, obsession and passion, clean, sharp beauty and addicted squalor, anger and transcendence.
Miles Davis is truly one the great artists of the 20th century and was at the peak of multiple sea changes in the history of music. He seemed to always have the ability to understand the historical moment and his role in it and the gravity of the event and having completed his role for the moment he always moved forward to face new moments. This is something very few artists or people are capable of and Davis speaks about these great eras, moments, events, albums in an unsentimental way but without downplaying them. He was an artist that spent his life on a journey always moving forward and almost always doing so before the critics, the fans and even the musicians around him were ready to move forward or understood where and why he was going. There is much to laugh at in these pages, much to cringe at, much to be in awe of and much to learn, and often all in the same line.

"One of the reasons I like playing with a lot of young musicians today is because I find that a lot of old jazz musicians are lazy motherfuckers, resisting change and holding on to the old ways because they are too lazy to try something different. They listen to the critics, who tell them to stay where they are because that's what they like. The critics are lazy too. They don't want to try to understand music that's different. The old musicians stay where they are and become like museum pieces under glass, safe, easy to understand, playing that tired old shit over and over again. Then they run around talking about electronic instruments and electronic musical voicing fucking up the music and tradition. Well, I'm not like that and neither was Bird or Trane or Sonny Rollins or Duke or anybody who wanted to keep on creating. Bebop was about change, about evolution. It wasn't about standing still and becoming safe. If anybody wants to keep creating they have to be about change. Living is an adventure and a challenge. When people come up to me and ask me to play something like "My Funny Valentine," some old thing that I might have done when they were fucking this special girl and the music might have made them both feel good, I can understand that. But I tell them to go buy the record. I'm not there in that place any longer and I have to live for what is best for me and not what's best for them."
---Miles. ...more

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Jun 09, 2009 Ben Loory rated it 5 of 5 stars

i won't say this is the absolute best book i've ever read, but it sure is a motherfucker, as miles would probably say if he were here. though actually he'd probably just punch me in the face for saying that and tell me to come up with my own shit to say, instead of copying him and trying to look hip when i'm not. and he'd be right about that as he is about pretty much everything else, except maybe on the question of whether or not one should beat women, but hey, everybody's got their blind side. i won't say this is the absolute best book i've ever read, but it sure is a motherfucker, as miles would probably say if he were here. though actually he'd probably just punch me in the face for saying that and tell me to come up with my own shit to say, instead of copying him and trying to look hip when i'm not. and he'd be right about that as he is about pretty much everything else, except maybe on the question of whether or not one should beat women, but hey, everybody's got their blind side...

i don't even know where to start talking about how awesome this book is. maybe it helps to be into jazz, because there's a certain amount of joy that comes with going through 40 years of jazz history and meeting all the greats as you go, and playing with them (or feeling like you're playing with them, anyway, cuz he is)... so many great portraits of so many amazing talents... bird, diz, monk, trane, coleman hawkins, dexter gordon, max roach, philly joe jones, tony williams, jackie maclean, bud powell, gil evans (gil evans! i love gil evans now!), mingus, wayne shorter... even the (very few) people you can tell miles didn't like (even though he acts like he was cool with them), like ornette coleman, you still get a real sense of who they were, or at least who they were to miles davis, which certainly counts for something... or should...

so that's all great.

but really the book is just about getting inside the head of a true artistic genius, looking at himself, revealing himself to himself, out loud. and miles isn't a literary artist, so there's nothing stylistic or formal or precious about it. he's not worried about the words. everyone and everything is a motherfucker, and motherfucker means something different every time he says it. it's sloppy and self-contradictory and i'm sure self-serving at times-- though honestly i can't tell how he could paint himself in a worse light than he does most of the time, and 99% of the time he's putting all the honors on his friends and other musicians and styling himself as just the guy who got them in the room-- but as a whole the book just gives you this intense mad rush of life, what it's like! what it's like! what it's like to play MUSIC! there's so much hunger and sorrow and anger and love and hate on every page, and it's all just inseparably balled up in this guy's head and heart and music, and he can't say or do a thing without expressing it all... either he's playing as hard as he can or he's fighting with someone or falling madly in love (again!) or doing every drug on the planet and driving 180 miles an hour in his lamborghini... OR HE'S DOING IT ALL AT ONCE... it's sad and scary and hopeless and wonderful and makes you want to kill yourself and live and go dancing... miles davis didn't dance, by the way... never danced... didn't talk much about the whys and wherefores of that... but he didn't... very strange... he was very hung up on being cool, though... which i can understand... me and miles davis, we're pretty similar in some respects... :D

but anyway... this book was just on fire and i loved every minute of it. you should read it. unless you don't like the word "motherfucker," or reading about some bitches gettin' themselves slapped sometimes when they get all up in a man's face while he's trying to do his business... ...more

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Sep 12, 2015 Nate rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorites , owned , music

A long, rambling epic that careens between stuff like Miles breaking down in surprising depth the multiple jazz zeitgeists he was involved in and Miles uncomfortably sitting in the back of a car with Charlie "Bird" Parker and a prostitute while Bird simultaneously gets his dick sucked and eats chicken. So much fucking dirt on the musical idols of every jazz nerd... according to Miles Mingus was an intensely racist rageaholic, Armstrong was an Uncle Tom, Coltrane was a nose-picker and Billie Holl A long, rambling epic that careens between stuff like Miles breaking down in surprising depth the multiple jazz zeitgeists he was involved in and Miles uncomfortably sitting in the back of a car with Charlie "Bird" Parker and a prostitute while Bird simultaneously gets his dick sucked and eats chicken. So much fucking dirt on the musical idols of every jazz nerd... according to Miles Mingus was an intensely racist rageaholic, Armstrong was an Uncle Tom, Coltrane was a nose-picker and Billie Holliday sexually preferred short, stocky guys...and of course literally fucking everyone was on heroin, except for Monk and he didn't need it 'cause he was kind of a weird dude. Honestly I think the only human being that comes out looking decent in this book is Duke Ellington (go figure.) So much fucking dirt it threatens to mask the story of Miles' life and all the fascinating firsthand experience he has of the era(s)...but never does.

Also precious is the insight into why he was constantly trying out new genres and inventing new ones when he got bored. Any jazz fan is gonna wonder how a guy goes from Birth of the Cool to Kind of Blue to E.S.P. to Bitches Brew to Agharta to fucking....I don't even wanna mention the 80s stuff but we all know that it happened and it wasn't anything close to his pre-hiatus records. I don't think it's a spoiler to say that the reason he could and did try so many things was because Miles frankly gave very little of a shit about others' opinion and this is made abundantly clear on every page. I'm pretty sure there's a co-author listed on this book, but ghostwriting fears should be put to rest because it sounds like Miles just fucking rambled for hours and hours and some other dude put it into a decent literary structure. No one else says "motherfucker" that much, it's definitely Miles' voice. Even his spoken language has a music and rhythm to it that you can definitely hear. Unfortunately you can't actually hear his famous rasp-whisper but you still know who's talking.

I just can't imagine a jazz biography being any better than this. You get the rather mundane biographical stuff, the academic stuff, the contextual history stuff and the pure fucking mud on what the jazz scene really was like, at least for a dude who was in the thick of things for fucking five or whatever decades. Of course, Miles isn't afraid to shine that light on himself and there's some certainly painful and ugly stuff for him, mostly dealing with his epic decades-long struggle with drugs. Years on I still remember the story of his heroin addiction in the 40s and subsequent horrible withdrawal at his parents' house. Unfortunately Miles kind of swapped the heroin addiction out for a cocaine addiction and some gnarly shit goes down, like Miles slapping some random lady because he thought she was in his car with him (they were in an elevator.) Miles is nothing but upfront and honest throughout the entire book. He doesn't come out looking good very often and honestly could be a total fucking dick. But it's inarguable that if genius exists he was one. A must for jazz fans, Miles fans and/or people who just like intense life stories. ...more

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Jan 17, 2015 Andre rated it 5 of 5 stars

What a treat. I waited far too long to read this book, but I finally did and have been richly rewarded. I now have this book as the 2nd best biography I have ever read. For those who are interested in the first, it is Arthur Ashe. But Miles came damn close to challenging for that number one spot. He was extremely genuine and forthright about his life, even admitting to slapping and abusing women, which is brave, only because it isn't mandatory to reveal such scurrilous behavior.

The honesty abou What a treat. I waited far too long to read this book, but I finally did and have been richly rewarded. I now have this book as the 2nd best biography I have ever read. For those who are interested in the first, it is Arthur Ashe. But Miles came damn close to challenging for that number one spot. He was extremely genuine and forthright about his life, even admitting to slapping and abusing women, which is brave, only because it isn't mandatory to reveal such scurrilous behavior.

The honesty about life long drug abuse and his feelings about America in general and white people specifically makes this a must read for those who are interested in how one's life can be impacted by race. He takes us through the jazz world and not only informs the reader but also educates about the music known as jazz, that frequently Miles refers to simply as black music. Great job exposing how critics can and do influence opinions about music and the artists who produce it.

It was good to hear Miles in his own voice clear up some of the headline grabbing incidents that he was involved in. The supposed fights and violent arguments, many of which didn't happen the way they were initially reported. His take on jazz and the major players and how he tried to evolve with the times, despite getting killed critically is priceless to one's understanding of Miles' music and the evolution of jazz.

There are some laugh out loud moments in this book, Miles at a white house dinner, simply hilarious. Quincy Troupe who is the actual writer on this project, does an excellent job of letting Miles' voice come through authentically. From the afterword, "Miles is not the kind of person who concerns himself with sanitizing his image. He prefers to say what he has to say, to tell his true feelings, even when what he has to say hurts him and others."

So that type of honesty makes for a great book. I can't imagine what was left out, but according to Quincy there was even "some of what he said was so explosive, we ultimately had to edit it out of the book for legal reasons." To that i simply say, wow. I can tell you this, what is included qualifies this book as 5 stars. ...more

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Mar 27, 2011 Allan MacDonell rated it 5 of 5 stars

Miles Davis's autobiography takes no pains whatsoever to varnish the author's reputation as a kind and loving human being. By far, the word that appears more often than any other in Miles: The Autobiography , written in partnership with Quincy Troupe, is that 12-letter, four-syllable all-purpose standby for a person who engages in sexual relations with his own mother. In whip-quick conversational prose that moves with the deft, percussive rhythms of truth when it riffs out hesitation free, Davis ...more

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Mar 31, 2015 Ian Agadada-Davida rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: muse-ik

"Some kind of happiness is measured out in Miles."

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Oct 28, 2010 tim rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

One bad*ss motherf*cker.

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Dec 25, 2014 Columbus rated it 5 of 5 stars

Quite simply, this is one of the best autobiographies you will ever read. It's just a real honest look at a musical genius who gives it all to you Straight, No Chaser (referencing Thelonious Monk) with all of the warts and flaws included.

If you thought you knew everything about Miles Davis you might want to read this book to find out otherwise. He is brutally honest about everything here including: racism, drugs, women, physical abuse, music, family issues etc...This book is written in a very co Quite simply, this is one of the best autobiographies you will ever read. It's just a real honest look at a musical genius who gives it all to you Straight, No Chaser (referencing Thelonious Monk) with all of the warts and flaws included.

If you thought you knew everything about Miles Davis you might want to read this book to find out otherwise. He is brutally honest about everything here including: racism, drugs, women, physical abuse, music, family issues etc...This book is written in a very comfortable style as if Miles is sitting across from you on a couch, legs crossed smoking a cigarette and frequently sipping on cognac or scotch (or both) from a side table. He is known to be quite shy around strangers and he has an economy of words and the book reads as such. It's extremely well written (with Quincy Troupe) and there's just no filler pages in this book at all.

Miles goes into detail about his early years arriving in NYC from East St Louis and being mentored by Dizzy and Yardbird. He goes into detail at times about jazz riffs, styles, players and if you're not a fan of jazz or have an appreciation for it in some way then your attention may waver a bit. But not for long, because he has a way to make even that interesting before you realize it.

True jazz fans/aficionados will eat up all the details about two of the best quintets of all time: Miles with John Coltrane , Red Garland, Paul Chambers, and Philly Joe Jones. The second consisted of Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter, and Tony Williams. Miles greatest gift and legacy may be as a band leader and instructor and its a testament to this and his musical prowess that all of these players (and others) became leaders in their own right. Amazing!

Miles other associations with artists and movie elite are mentioned here as well. Of course, his marriages to Cicely Tyson and Betty Davis (nee Mabry) and also his friendships with James Baldwin and Bill Cosby among others are added.

I can't fail to mention, however, the most uncomfortable part of this book is his frequent physical and mental abuse of his wives and mates. He's very upfront about it but he's also a little more casual about it than one would or might expect. It's truly an ugly part of his legacy that can't be overlooked.

This is an incredible autobiography about a true jazz icon!

...more

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Aug 23, 2009 Julene rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: creativity

I love this book. It is in Miles own words from interviews and he says it like it is, lays out his life, his music and many personal aspects of relationships with family and women, as well as his health. A brilliant musician he was a master at mentoring musicians. If you want to learn about the creative process this book provides an amazing study.

Some quotes:
"A musician's attitude is the music he plays."
"Things take time, you know, you just don't learn something new and do it overnight. It has ...more

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Jan 15, 2009 Adam rated it 5 of 5 stars

As usual, it took me no time at all to finish this one since it has to do with a subject I'm obsessed with. There couldn't be a more mind-boggling character of the Black Jazz community of the 20th century than this man.(maybe Archie Shepp)[where's his book?:] It reads so well, giving you the sense that he's just sitting there lighting cigarette after cigarette, pouring brandy after brandy. Each time you pick it back up, he's wearing a new pair of sunglasses, or a new fucked up hat. It also made ...more

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Feb 13, 2012 Ben Winch rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: music

This is one of the most inspiring musician biographies I've ever read, and I'm not a rabid Miles fan. It's good in the same way the recent Keith Richards autobiography is good - because it's a book about music by a guy who loves music, has played a lot of music and knows a lot about music. Also, unlike the comparable Ray Charles autobiography it doesn't wind down halfway through when it becomes clear its protagonist is an incurable man of habit and a control freak. Nah, that ain't Miles. Miles i ...more

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Dec 31, 2012 Jodi rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012-audiobooks , audiobook , ll12

This is a very honest autobiography. Davis thought (for good reason) that he was a wonderful musician and didn't let anyone dissuade him. At the same time, in many respects this book is a name dropping list of great musicians Davis worked with and for and lauched. I was turned off by the language even though I knew that it was absolutely Davis's voice. I also didn't think he explained the politics of Black Power well enough. I understood his point of view but he tried to stay apolitical while ha ...more

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Jul 30, 2008 Andy rated it 5 of 5 stars

Recommends it for: Jazz lovers

Shelves: jazznbeats

When Miles played his trumpet he's a crowd pleaser, and this book does just that. There's some great anecdotes in this book, like Miles telling us one of the biggest influences on his trumpet playing was Orson Welles' soothing radio voice(!). He tells us John Coltrane used to pick his boogers and eat them (!). Whether he's telling Thelonious Monk to fuck off or fight a drug habit, Miles has served a real page-turner. You won't get bored with this one!

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Mar 14, 2015 Sentimental Surrealist rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: biography , memoir , music , high-school , miles-davis , good-but-nothing-special , 1989 , 1980s , not-written-by-white-male , high-rating , collection

Over the course of these four hundred pages, Miles switches between electrifying discussions of his and others' creative processes and insults directed at the musicians he worked with. Take it as you will, I guess, but the music-talk is as wonderful as one would expect. And treat yourself to a shot of the liquor of your choice every time he calls someone or something a motherfucker.

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Aug 20, 2008 Seth rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

tips for being a great artist:

1) never doubt yourself
2) never repeat yourself
3) never admit that you were wrong
4) do drugs

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May 20, 2014 Michael Anderson rated it 5 of 5 stars

When I drove from SC to CA roughly a thousand years ago, it was in an old Ford Pinto station wagon with a radio and an 8-track tape player. It wasn't until I was passing through Texas and radio coverage became limited to cowboy country music and low wattage repent-or-get-fucked-to-hell tele-preachers, that I realized I had no music in the car. I looked around and, under the passenger seat, found a copy of Miles Davis's Live-Evil. I looped that tape nonstop all the way to LA and ended up developi ...more

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Feb 16, 2013 Andy rated it 4 of 5 stars

this is a re-read for me, one of those i read in grad school for my cw project and wanted to come back b/c a new audio book version had come out. a previous audio had come out years ago with LeVar Burton dropping Miles f*bombs and motherf*bombs, but since it was abridged, it had the feel of a history book, with "I played on this date with these musicians" and "I played on that date" peppering the latter stages of the material. Plus while Burton stretched himself to read the book, you never truly ...more

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Feb 12, 2015 Dan rated it 4 of 5 stars

the book has an amazing beginning, but unfortunately really goes down hill as soon as Miles establishes himself as a solo musician. Mirroring the book's decline, Miles also completely changes around this time. Starting with an upperclass and educated background, Miles quickly turns into a hate-filled, drug addict, racist megalomaniac. Maybe his personality became so unattractive that it detracted from my enjoyment of the book. There really isn't that much information about the music once you rea ...more

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Nov 10, 2013 Blaine rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: music

As Miles might whisper, this is a motherfucker of an autobiography. Chock full of juicy anecdotes from the world of jazz, Miles tells the truth in his own words from the depths of heroin addiction to the heights of the great quintet sessions. All along the way he tells his story from his perspective, both dishing out the dirt on everyone from Charlie Parker to Billie Holiday to singing their praises. Mostly follows his life chronologically revealing more about the man that will make you either l ...more

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Nov 29, 2012 Andrew G rated it 4 of 5 stars

Like hearing one of his albums, his thirst for constant upheaval and innovation dominates the book. It's full of fascinating stories entertainingly told, and a lot of it is fucking hilarious. He doesn't gloss over his past drug addictions, domestic abuses or madness and he can be a frightening figure sometimes, but his raw honesty is one of the books strong points.
His racism becomes distracting at times, but for someone growing up in the mid west during the 30's I guess it's expected. Dark, fun ...more

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Apr 10, 2015 Shannon rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: qbr-100-essential-black-books-1999 , best-books-ever , own , books-by-black-men

This was one heck of an autobiography. I've never seen anyone write something about themselves that was so transparent. I have a thing for people that just don't give a damn what other people think. It takes courage to live your life on your own terms. And Miles Davis was clearly one of those types of people.

If interested, I wrote a thorough review over on the blog: http://readinghaspurpose.blogspot.com...

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Mar 04, 2013 Fraser rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Still one of the best books about music, musicianship and an incredible life I have had the fortune to read.

You can just imagine Miles telling this story to you in his gravel like voice, direct and unflinching.

I loved listening to Miles, and this just completed the picture as to why he was one (if not THE) foremost musician of the 20th century. A true great.

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Jan 30, 2015 Karen Newberry rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: book-challenge-2015 , read-2015

I didn't love Miles Davis after reading this but I do think it was an honest and accurate biography. Tons of detail about his life and the evolution of Jazz from the 1940's-1980's.

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Feb 05, 2014 Helgi Ásgeirsson rated it 5 of 5 stars

Loved every word of it. Miles is a cat that was very much a part of everything going on in America from 1944-1989. Historically, individually and artistically this book will touch you in an honest way. From Sartre to Hendrix Davis will make you laugh, cry and relate. I even enjoyed the nerdy musical refrences.

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Jan 30, 2015 Alex rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is a fascinating read. I bought this when I was a jazz student in school and only got to reading it now. I'm sort of glad I didn't read it then because he is very tough on women and white musicians and I was of a wimpier mindset back then. But I also sort of wish I did read it back then because it connected a lot of the dots for me about different musicians playing with one another and also gave me a better timeline in my mind of his musical progression.

On a larger scale, this book is an im ...more

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Aug 30, 2014 Alex Pyatetsky rated it 4 of 5 stars

The word "Autobiography" in the title isn't accidental as this book could have easily been called, "Setting the Record Straight, Motherfuckers."

Like Mike Tyson's incredible autobiography, Miles leaves no room for speculation with his brutally forthcoming depiction of addiction, neuroticism, failure as a parent and even domestic violence.

This book documents the process that was Miles Davis. Like Steve Jobs, Miles gives you no room to romanticize the person behind the creation. It forces you to wr The word "Autobiography" in the title isn't accidental as this book could have easily been called, "Setting the Record Straight, Motherfuckers."

Like Mike Tyson's incredible autobiography, Miles leaves no room for speculation with his brutally forthcoming depiction of addiction, neuroticism, failure as a parent and even domestic violence.

This book documents the process that was Miles Davis. Like Steve Jobs, Miles gives you no room to romanticize the person behind the creation. It forces you to wrestle with the uncomfortable truth that some of the greatest minds have been the most troubled. With that said, Miles tells the story of a multigenerational, passionate, confrontational, deeply opinionated creative life of unwavering integrity.

In addition to his own story, Miles tells the story of being black in 20th century America. His bitterness towards generations of "white bullshit" is a constant motif throughout his life. Reading about the slaughter of black people in Saint Louis around World War I seems particularly pertinent given the recent events in Ferguson, Missouri.

There are so many more things I can say about this book, but I'll say this - if you think Miles Davis was a big deal, you probably have no idea. Miles was like the black Kevin Bacon. Reading this book is like going on a journey of every noteworthy intellect of the 20th century. From drinking coffee with Jean Paul Sartre in Paris to playing with Dizzy Gillespie, John Coltrane and Herbie Hancock, to collaboration talks with Jimmy Hendrix and Prince to friendships with Richard Pryor, Bill Cosby and Quincy Jones - it is not an exaggeration to say Miles Davis was one of the most important people of the 20th century - a beacon and hub of cultural achievement.

If you love music, jazz, culture, history, human achievement - this book has something for you.

Special note - I listened to this book as audiobook, where its read in a raspy voice, very similar to the one Miles was famous for. It's a beautiful and artful reading that made me feel like Miles was telling me the stories himself. Recommended. ...more

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Jan 23, 2009 Amanda rated it 3 of 5 stars

Recommends it for: jazz fans,

Recommended to Amanda by: lb

Shelves: read-in-2009

Unlike other co-written autobiographies I've read ( Three Cups comes to mind first), there was no third person aftertaste about Miles . This book is his story, in his voice, with his words- though Quincy Troupe could have done Miles (and the rest of us) a favor and edited a little more closely to refrain from repeating things several times. But I have the highest regard for Quincy's ability to step back and rearrange the story without diminishing Miles' voice.

Miles himself is so angry, so talented ...more

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Jan 24, 2015 Harley rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: audio , non-fiction , read-2013 , memoir , music

The first and only Miles Davis album that I ever bought was Bitches Brew in 1970. I later used the music on the album to jar students in a training class to think creativity, but have not listened to the album in years. So I did not know what to expect when I decided to listen to the autobiography of Miles Davis. The original book came out in 1989. The audio recording that I listened to came out in 2012. I have since listened to the Kind of Blue which many consider his magnum opus. I loved it.

Mi The first and only Miles Davis album that I ever bought was Bitches Brew in 1970. I later used the music on the album to jar students in a training class to think creativity, but have not listened to the album in years. So I did not know what to expect when I decided to listen to the autobiography of Miles Davis. The original book came out in 1989. The audio recording that I listened to came out in 2012. I have since listened to the Kind of Blue which many consider his magnum opus. I loved it.

Miles Davis was born in southern Illinois in 1926 the year after my father was born in central Illinois. They grew up in two very different worlds. He died a year after my father in 1991. So he was clearly of my father's generation. Miles was the son of a dentist and even considered going into medicine himself, but soon found that jazz was his true love. My father was the son of a farmer and spent his life building houses for people.

Miles Davis tells his story in his own words and in his own way. Quincy Troupe interviewed and recorded Miles and transcribed and organized the powerful story. I must warn anyone who is offended by swear words not to even consider reading the book. Almost every paragraph has language that will be offensive to some.

Miles began playing with some of the great jazz players when he was seventeen. He played with Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker and was a member of Parker's band for several years. He enrolled in Juilliard but later dropped out. One of the things that surprised me was how often musicians moved in and out of bands. Bands did not stay together very long and would substitute players. John Coltrane played in Miles band from 1955 - 1960. Later in the 1960s, Herbie Hancock was a member of his band. Miles mentored and influenced many younger musicians.

Miles Davis was continually changing and innovating his music. He did not sit still and play the same songs. He was always on the cutting edge, looking for something new. He was a creative genius, adapting and changing with the times. Once he finished with one style of music, he did not like to go back and play it again. In the late 60's he was influenced and inspired by the music of Jimi Hendrix, James Brown and Sly Stone, which led to Davis using electric instruments in his band. Davis and Hendrix wanted to record an album together but Hendrix's death derailed the idea. Davis in the 1980's was inspired by the music of Prince.

Like Charlie Parker and other musicians, Davis became addicted to heroin. He was eventually able to kick the habit, but found other drugs like cocaine and sex to take its place.

In 1955, Davis had an operation to remove polyps from his larynx. He was not supposed to speak for 10 days but had an argument with someone and permanently damaged his voice, resulting in a raspy, whispery tone to his voice. The actor, Dion Graham, who read the book for the recording, did a phenomenal job imitating Miles' whispery voice. I had the feeling that I was actually listening to Miles Davis tell his story.

This book is not for everyone. You will need an open mind and a willingness to listen to a the opinions of a creative genius. You will need to be willing to step into his world view and if you do you will be richly rewarded. I would recommend the book to jazz lovers and those interested in understanding the world of music. I also recommend that you listen to the Dion Graham recording rather than reading the book. I think you will find it a lot more entertaining. ...more

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Sep 02, 2012 Paul rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: auto-biography

It's easy to hear Miles' raspy voice when reading this book, which is based on interviews or oral histories. Which means that it has an immediacy and redundancy of that sort of approach. His account reads like an index or Who's Who to American jazz in light of those he learned from, grew up with, played alongside and then empowered in this own bands. (The book would have benefited from a discography to refer to.) I've renewed my acquaintance with his recordings during this reading. Miles doesn't ...more

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About Miles Davis

Miles Dewey Davis III was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, and composer.

Widely considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Davis was at the forefront of almost every major development in jazz from World War II to the 1990s. He played on various early bebop records and recorded one of the first cool jazz records. He was partially responsible for the development of m ...more

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