Steve Miller Band
Biography
Steve Miller's career has encompassed two distinct stages: one of the top San Francisco blues-rockers during the late '60s and early '70s, and one of the top-selling pop/rock acts of the mid- to late '70s and early '80s with hits like "The Joker," "Fly Like an Eagle," "Rock'n Me," and "Abracadabra." Miller was turned on to music by his father, who worked as a pathologist but knew stars like Charles Mingus and Les Paul, whom he brought home as guests; Paul taught the young Miller some guitar chords and let him sit in on a session. Miller formed a blues band, the Marksmen Combo, at age 12 with friend Boz Scaggs; the two teamed up again at the University of Wisconsin in a group called the Ardells, later the Fabulous Night Trains. Miller moved to Chicago in 1964 to get involved in the local blues scene, teaming with Barry Goldberg for two years.
He then moved to San Francisco and formed the first incarnation of the Steve Miller Blues Band, featuring guitarist James "Curly" Cooke, bassist Lonnie Turner, and drummer Tim Davis. The band built a local following through a series of free concerts and backed Chuck Berry in 1967 at a Fillmore date later released as a live album. Scaggs moved to San Francisco later that year and replaced Cooke in time to play the Monterey Pop Festival; it was the first of many personnel changes. Capitol signed the group as the Steve Miller Band following the festival.
The band flew to London to record Children of the Future, which was praised by critics and received some airplay on FM radio. It established Miller's early style as a blues-rocker influenced but not overpowered by psychedelia. The follow-up, Sailor, has been hailed as perhaps Miller's best early effort; it reached number 24 on the Billboard album charts and consolidated Miller's fan base. A series of high-quality albums with similar chart placements followed; while Miller remained a popular artist, pop radio failed to pick up on any of his material at this time, even though tracks like "Space Cowboy" and "Brave New World" had become FM rock staples. Released in 1971, Rock Love broke Miller's streak with a weak band lineup and poor material, and Miller followed it with the spotty Recall the Beginning: A Journey from Eden. Things began to look even worse for Miller when he broke his neck in a car accident and subsequently developed hepatitis, which put him out of commission for most of 1972 and early 1973.
Miller spent his recuperation time reinventing himself as a blues-influenced pop/rocker, writing compact, melodic, catchy songs. This approach was introduced on his 1973 LP, The Joker, and was an instant success, with the album going platinum and the title track hitting number one on the pop charts. Now an established star, Miller elected to take three years off. He purchased a farm and built his own recording studio, at which he crafted the wildly successful albums Fly Like an Eagle and Book of Dreams at approximately the same time. Fly Like an Eagle was released in 1976 and eclipsed its predecessor in terms of quality and sales (over four million copies) in spite of the long downtime in between. It also gave Miller his second number one hit with "Rock'n Me," plus several other singles. Book of Dreams was almost as successful, selling over three million copies and producing several hits as well. All of the hits from Miller's first three pop-oriented albums were collected on Greatest Hits 1974-1978, which to date has sold over six million copies and remains a popular catalog item.
Miller again took some time off, not returning again until late 1981 with the disappointing Circle of Love. Just six months later, Miller rebounded with Abracadabra; the title track gave him his third number one single. The remaining albums released in the '80s -- Italian X Rays,1984; Living in the 20th Century, 1986; and Born 2B Blue, 1988 -- weren't consistent enough to be critically or commercially successful. The early '90s saw Miller return to form with Wide River (the title track becoming a Top 40 chart entry) and the release of a retrospective box set compiled by the artist himself. Miller continued to headline shows into the 2000s, sharing the bill with classic rock acts such as 2008 tourmate Joe Cocker. He also announced the impending release of a new studio album of R&B covers. ~ Steve Huey & Al Campbell, All Music Guide
Selected Discography

Young Hearts: Complete Greatest Hits
2003

The Best Of 1968-1973
1990

Abracadabra
1982

Greatest Hits 1974-78
1978

Book of Dreams
1977

Sailor
1968

Children Of The Future
1968
Why don't you mention or even show Miller's excellent "Italian X-Rays" We think it is the coup-de-gras of all his music. Love it when they play his music on the radio, but the same songs are always featured, not nearly saluting his vast repetiore ! Now he's playing blues I guess ? Saw him once live at an outdoor venue in-of all places! Lampe, MO. Fabuloso !!
|
||
I have never met anyone who doesn't like Steve Miller's music. And yes, the early stuff was the best.
|
||
To truly understand the excellence of this dynamic group study the work between 68'-73', will give you a new perspective on how brilliant they were before they became a little more commercializ e d .
|
||
woohoo see in him tonight at interlochen michigan oh yeh should be fun. then its def leopard on friday. i sure know how to blow my graduation money!!!!!
|
||
As a Dj, you cant go wrong with steve miller. Sometimes you just have to change the music from house, techno, hiphop,ect, to good ol rock&roll. Steves songs seem to have a certain style that needs no introduction .
|
||
i'm a joker, i'm a smoker i'm a midnight toker..haha we're so on the same page chick latteral,,,, G o o d stuff!!!
|
||
"ireally luv ur peaches, wanna shake ur tree" the one and only MIDNITE TOKER!well him and Joe Walsh
|
||
steve miller band plays with the big boys top shelf stuff cleveland ohio
|
||
The best light show I ever saw and I have seen hundreds. He was great live in 1978. The show was so tight and solid. I loved the old stuff with Livin in the U.S.A. , Your Saving Grace, and Space Cowboys and especially the first album. But Steve Miller has so much to offer it is almost sacrilege to not include the later stuff. He is one of the greatest American guitarists ever, bar none.
|
||
yep,1977,Cam p Lejune NC. wandering 'round in my gilley suit singing "fly like an eagle"
|
||
The SMB is still rockin' the house - saw a concert on PBS recently & it amazes me that his voice is still awesome. This music will always be part of the soundtrack to some of my favorite memories... long live Steve!!
|
||
I like how he says something about "funky s**t going down in the city" in the airliner song and it makes it onto the radio
|
||
I like a lot of his stuff -Joker!- but some of it just bugs me and is a bit repetative. Overall pretty good though!
|
||
His lyrics don't hardly even seem to flow, coincide with his songs, or even better make any sense at all. Good music though just lyrically wise not his strong point clearly.
|
||
Steve Miller was just plain amazing. His band alone was probably the best psychodelic band ever.
|
||
I thought Abra was a nice sounding song. There ain't too many Steve Miller songs I don't like.
|
||
I remember rollerskatin g to this. Jungle Love...also reminds me of Everybody loves Raymond.
|
||
This is the real " Stevie Wonder " ! Chair dancing starts with the begining of every masterpiece. "Provacative " !
|
||
A.1 - finally got a chance to ax steve about his vocal/amp set-up...... . . y o u ' r e not gonna believe this........ h e tole me to tell you that anyone as good with THE SHOVEL as you should not have to ax.......and he would love to share....... b u t then he would have to kill you.......AN D ME! didn't press any further..... . s o r r y .
|
||
Okay, I give up.
What is the special effect, or piece of equipment, that Miller's vocals are run through in order to give them that lightly metallic sound? Did they do this to cover-up his voice, or what? For those who've seen them live, do they also apply this effect in concert? Just wondering. |
||
Just saw Steve last night at Red Rocks in Denver and he rocked. Just amazing that he's still going strong in 2008. If you've never seen him in concert, splurge and do yourself a favor.
|
||
he rocks better than 25 years ago...if you can see Steve in concert, he's great!!
|
||
What about his "Born to be Blue" album? Red top, weeping willow, and god bless the child.
|
| report abuse |





