Band of Gypsys Drummer Buddy Miles Dies

Buddy Miles, who played drums for Jimi Hendrix's Band of Gypsys, died at his home in Austin, Texas yesterday. He was sixty. In addition to Hendrix, Miles worked with the likes of Carlos Santana, John McLaughlin, Stevie Wonder, Muddy Waters and David Bowie over a four-decade career. But his biggest contribution was to Band of Gypsys, a band that, along with bassist Billy Cox, was immortalized after performing four nights at the Fillmore East in NYC around New Year's 1970. Later in his career, Miles' contributed vocals to the California Raisins' version of "I Heard It Through the Grapevine," and was most recently plotting a Band of Gyspys reunion with Cox and other guitarists. In a statement yesterday, longtime friend Cox called Miles "an unsung musical genius."

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Song Stories

“(We're Not) The Jet Set”

George Jones and Tammy Wynette | 1973

George Jones and Tammy Wynette were still married when they recorded the tongue-in-cheek "(We're Not) The Jet Set." The lyrics, written by Nashville songwriter Bobby Braddock, who also penned Wynette's "D-I-V-O-R-C-E" and Jones' "He Stopped Loving Her Today," make fun of the good life by declaring, "We're not the Jet Set/We're the old Chevrolet set." Braddock recalled that while writing the song, he needed the name of a city that evened out the rhyme he had with "Riviera" and "Missourah." “I got out a Rand McNally atlas," he said. "In the first part are the maps. The last part is an alphabetical listing of cities. I wanted a rustic, small-time sound. I went to the listing for Missouri. And I found 'Festus.' I loved the sound of it."

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