Flight of the Eagle

With every listen, the beauty and immediacy of Steve Miller's work, in both its playful and its more serious incarnations, are palpable. As always, whether he was topping the charts or cruising the endless blue highways of American music, you could hear him playing and singing with conviction and precision, passion and eloquence, creating music that is at once immediately accessible, thrilling and alive in the present, respectful of the past, and more than able to stand the test of time.

(Anthony DeCurtis)

I never felt the urge to become a rock star, I always thought I'd become a professional musician.

(Steve Miller)

Born in Milwaukee

Among the most populous hubs of the Midwest, Milwaukee is a city steeped in ethnic and cultural diversity. Integration, however, remains a mirage, broken at the outset in the early 20th century, crushed by the discriminatory policies of so-called redlining. On the shores of Lake Michigan, Milwaukee is home to a large German community, complete with the pale lager that has been brewed since 1855 at the historic Miller plants. More than a decade earlier, the city's first musical company, the Milwaukee Beethoven Society, had already been founded.

It's 1949 when guitarist Lester William Polsfuss, better known as Les Paul, marries country-western singer Iris Colleen Summers, later known on stage in the city as Mary Ford. Alongside pianist Liberace, of Italian-Polish descent, Les Paul is among the most famous musicians in Milwaukee, thanks to his versions of the jazz standards "How High The Moon" and "Bye Bye Blues". When he launches his The Les Paul Show in the NBC radio studios, Steven Haworth Miller has just turned seven: he was born on October 5, 1943, to Bertha and George Miller. From his mother he has already developed a passion for jazz, later calling her "a remarkable singer". His father, George "Sonny", studied physics and works as a pathologist, and is likewise a great jazz lover, dabbling as an amateur in sound engineering techniques. The Millers are close friends with Les Paul and his wife Mary Ford, so much so that George asked the guitarist to become godfather to his son Steven. It is Les himself who is the first to notice the young Miller's innate talent, upon hearing a rudimentary guitar part recorded by his father on magnetic tape when the boy is just six years old. "Maybe one day he'll amount to something," Les tells George, encouraging the family to support him in the years to come.

It's 1950. The Miller family decides to move to Dallas, Texas, into a large apartment where George sets up a proper recording studio. For young Steven it's a unique opportunity for musical growth, since musicians like T-Bone Walker and Charles Mingus pass directly through his house. It seems it's Walker himself who teaches him to play guitar behind his back, even with his teeth. Enrolled at the private boys' school St. Mark's School of Texas, he forges his first teenage friendships, in particular with William Royce Scaggs, nicknamed Boz, who is almost the same age. Originally from Canton, Ohio, William started playing cello at the age of nine, earning a scholarship to attend St. Mark's after moving to Dallas from Oklahoma.

Already at fifteen, Steven — Steve to everyone — has very clear ideas: he wants to found his first band, The Marksmen. He has in fact already given bass lessons to his older brother, Buddy, and then continued with his friend Boz, who will handle vocals and second guitar. With Baron Cass on drums, the group offers up a raw mix of jazz, blues and rock'n'roll, playing for hours across Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana. They hit their peak on the stage of the Zodiac Room, a club very popular among Texan teenagers, earning their first few dozen dollars. The set list includes Steve's first great influences, from Jimmy Reed to B.B. King and Muddy Waters. The Marksmen is essentially a typical teenage band — though it does offer a few primitive blues compositions like "Rockin' Rs" and "Mr. K" — but the sound of Steve's first Gretsch breaks down the wall separating him from glory.

Between one show and the next, there's little time to study, certainly not enough by the strict standards of a private school like St. Mark's. Steve therefore enrolls at the more manageable Woodrow Wilson High School, in the East Dallas area, where he manages to get his hard-earned diploma in 1961. His time in Texas ends there, because the following year he returns to his home state, enrolling at the University of Wisconsin, in the heart of the capital, Madison. Steve finds lodging in a boarding house, joining a typical college fraternity, Chi Psi, based on Langdon St. It is here that he teaches fellow student Jos Davidson the rudiments of bass and rhythm guitar, with the aim of forming a new band called Steve Miller and the Ardells. They try out several shuffle-blues numbers in the classic Texas style, a sound virtually unknown in the Midwest states. A sixteen-year-old pianist, Brian Friedman, joins the lineup, followed by drummer Ron Boyer, who by day works at a branch of the Kelly's Hamburger fast-food chain.

The Ardells immediately focus on the college-party circuit, before taking the stage at some venues in downtown Madison and then at the Dane County Fairgrounds. Having lost Davidson, Steve takes a break, flying to Europe, to Denmark, where he takes some comparative literature courses at the University of Copenhagen, for a semester that also counts back in the United States. By the time he returns home he has already decided to give up his studies for good and announces to his family that his future will be music and nothing else. His big dream is to move to Chicago, the mecca of electric blues, to get close to the greats, from Muddy Waters to Howlin' Wolf. Following the advice of old friend Les Paul, Bertha and George don't object, backing Steve's ambitions.

His beginnings in the Windy City see the Ardells' activities immediately pick back up, with Steve on lead guitar, Boz Scaggs on rhythm, Michael Krusing and Denny Berg on bass, Ron Boyer on drums and Ben Sidran on keyboards. The group plays various venues in Old Town, plunging headfirst into the city's vibrant blues scene starting in 1963, with a repertoire packed with Texas blues, rhythm & blues and rock'n'roll.

From the Windy City to the West Coast

Having realized his dream of living in Chicago, Steve Miller immerses himself in the Windy City's blues scene, occasionally collaborating with harmonica player Paul Butterfield and, above all, crossing paths on stage with his great idols, from Muddy Waters to Buddy Guy. But his most decisive encounter is with twenty-three-year-old Barry Joseph Goldberg, who on July 25, 1965 took the stage at the Newport Folk Festival to amplify, with the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Bob Dylan's controversial electric conversion. A talented keyboardist, Goldberg joins forces with Miller to found the Goldberg-Miller Blues Band, formed together with bassist Roy Ruby, rhythm guitarist Craymore Stevens and drummer Maurice McKinley. The group is signed by Epic Records, before releasing the single "The Mother Song", a danceable uptempo beat number in the frenetic style of Bob Dylan himself after the electric turn on "Bringing It All Back Home". The song leads the band to play various venues in Chicago and then settle in New York. Miller's time in the Big Apple is short-lived, as the need for money pushes him back to Chicago, where he starts working at a downtown night-club. The venue, however, is riddled with rampant corruption, from mob connections to the police force itself, which shows up regularly to collect bribes. Suddenly, for Miller, the long-dreamed-of Windy City turns into a nightmare, light years away from the colors and sounds coming from the West Coast, from a city in the midst of cultural and artistic ferment: San Francisco.

Before arriving in California, Steve moves for a short period to Austin, with the goal of completing his studies at the University of Texas. But the highly politicized atmosphere of the Texan university disgusts him, so he decides to get behind the wheel of his Volkswagen Transporter — a gift from his father — and settle in San Francisco toward the end of 1965. When he arrives in the city of the Golden Gate, he spends his last dollars to go to the legendary Fillmore, where the Paul Butterfield Blues Band and Jefferson Airplane are on the bill. San Francisco's electrifying atmosphere captivates him, so he decides to find a way to stay as long as possible. As socio-cultural preparations for the so-called Summer of Love are underway, Miller taps into that same energy to put together a new band on the West Coast. His new friend, bassist Lonnie Turner, is on board, along with Jim Peterman on keyboards and Tim Davis on drums. A second guitarist, Jim "Curley" Cooke, also joins the lineup, freeing up more space for Steve to sing and play harmonica.

The first incarnation of the Steve Miller Blues Band is immediately placed in the capable hands of manager Harvey Kornspan, who personally drafts a contract worth over $850,000 to negotiate with Capitol/EMI Records boss Alan Livingston. An American of Jewish descent, Livingston comes from the world of advertising, having moved to California after World War II to work as a writer and producer in the film industry. From children's music projects to relaunching Frank Sinatra's career, he became the true creative engine of Capitol, turning the label into a company with over $100 million in revenue. After the extraordinary success of the Beatles single "I Want To Hold Your Hand" (1963) — the Liverpool quartet's first singles had initially been rejected as lacking appeal for the US market — Capitol Records now wants to dive headlong into rock. It's in this context that Kornspan steps in, securing a contract for his new band along with an additional $25,000 budget to spend on promotion. The band is heard in person by George Martin, who advises the manager to shorten the name for greater success in the States. The Steve Miller Band is thus ready to make the leap to the live stage, backing rock'n'roll legend Chuck Berry on stage at the Fillmore Auditorium.

Released in September 1967, the album "Live At The Fillmore Auditorium" catches the attention of Rolling Stone magazine, which finds particular interest in the passages where Berry's ringing guitar crosses paths with the Chicago-blues approach of Steve Miller's band.

With the addition of old friend Boz Scaggs — who will replace Cooke on second guitar — the band performs at two prestigious festivals in the summer of 1967, first the Magic Mountain Music Festival on the southern slopes of Mount Tamalpais (Marin County), then the Monterey Pop Festival from June 16 to 18. The excellent audience response convinces Kornspan: Capitol will need to use its European affiliate EMI to bring the group to the UK and record a debut album.

Children of the Future

Winter 1968. The Steve Miller Band has landed in the UK for a series of live dates, but above all to record their eagerly awaited debut album: Children Of The Future. Set for release the following spring, the record is entrusted by Capitol to trusted producer Glyn Johns, who has already worked with top-tier bands like the Rolling Stones, Kinks and Who. Recorded at Olympic Studios in London, the album is plagued from the outset by an annoying legal matter involving the entire crew that came over from the States. They were all arrested for drug importation and unauthorized possession of firearms, prompting Kornspan's wife to call Johns himself and beg him to appear before the court to secure their release on bail. The London judge orders the producer to keep an eye on the band, who are later fully cleared. The firearm in question turns out to be nothing more than a simple flare gun, while a modest amount of hashish had reportedly been found inside a fruit basket given to the band members by a mysterious friend.

With the little run-in with local justice resolved, the Steve Miller Band locks itself in the studio and brings to light the record marking their official debut. A work split exactly down the middle between a deep passion for the blues and new psychedelic trends, effectively a first attempt at storming the charts and beginning the climb toward worldwide success. The album perfectly sums up Miller's own journey from the Chicago scene to the West Coast, built on lyrics and chord progressions Steve had already tried out in the past while working as a cleaner in a Texas recording studio.

Children Of The Future is simply divided into two acts, one per side. The first is inspired by the Beatles' work on "Sgt. Pepper", in a musical continuum that opens with the title track, launched by an instrumental explosion blurring the cries of seagulls into a tender, typically Californian folk sound.

Two short interludes, "Pushed Me To It" and "You've Got The Power", dance between vocal harmonies and Hammond textures, leading into the more than seven minutes of "In My First Mind". Poised between Pink Floyd and Procol Harum, with a delicate progressive shading, the track again puts Peterman's keyboards center stage and unfolds like a slow march carried by Miller's warm voice. The hallucinogenic sensation is always kept in check by the bluesy architecture, as in the Chicago-style chords that almost whisper through the ambient effects of "The Beauty Of Time Is That It's Snowing (Psychedelic B.B.)", later whipped by wind and closed out by a mantra-like chorus.

The second side of the record abandons the psychedelic architecture to show off the band's more conventional skills, starting with the crystalline melody of "Baby's Callin' Me Home", written by Boz Scaggs in an acoustic version to craft an evocative slice of Californian pop. The calm gives way to the hard-blues of "Steppin' Stone", which detonates with wah-wah guitar, while the unstoppable bassline of "Roll With It" ramps things up into an almost funky register. Miller's solos run wild, from the soul-rock of "Junior Saw It Happen" (Jim Pulte) to a version of Buster Brown's "Fannie Mae" (1959) that blends blues and rock'n'roll. The closer is the standard "Key To The Highway" (Charlie Segar/Big Bill Broonzy), rendered in a slow, pained take where the harmonica leaves little room for showmanship, conjuring a moonlit atmosphere bordering on country.

When it's released by Capitol in the spring of 1968, Children Of The Future earns flattering reviews — Crawdaddy! magazine, for instance, calls it "a threefold moment of experience, knowledge and inspiration". Despite landing in a favorable musical climate, the album fails to even crack the Top 100, making the Steve Miller Band's first attempt a miserable flop. But the group has won over one exceptional fan, Paul McCartney, who encourages Miller's ideas and talent, pushing him toward an immediate follow-up.

Sailor comes out just over five months later, in October 1968, recorded again with Glyn Johns at Capitol Studios in Los Angeles. Miller is clear-eyed about the fact that the psychedelic hippie fad is fleeting, while the English approach to blues, and partly to progressive rock, is set to dominate the charts in the years to come. He thus gives more room to Scaggs' compositional talent, while also drawing Tim Davis and Jim Peterman further into the process. The early ideas found on Children Of The Future are developed further on the second album, starting with the opening "Song For Our Ancestors", introduced by distant acoustic sea sounds before building into a crescendo of solemn keyboards and ethereal guitars. The track is the perfect synthesis of Miller's take on UK-style psychedelia, anticipating by a few years work by Pink Floyd such as "Echoes".

The slow "Dear Mary" incorporates elements of operetta, like a baroque waltz beneath Steve's whispered vocal, while "My Friend" picks up the beat tempo over ringing riffs. The roar of engines kicks off the harmonica on "Living In The U.S.A.", which unleashes a wild soul-blues with hammering keyboards and choral breaks. It's the band's most aggressive, rock'n'roll side, once again proving able to shift gears with ease, as on the following "Quicksilver Girl", a return to Californian pop with a psych twist. "Lucky Man", for example, opens with a country-jazz-tinged ditty before veering into a dark bed of keyboards over which the bluesy vocal unfolds.

After the schizoid interlude "Gangster Of Love" (Johnny "Guitar" Watson), the album offers up another cover, the classic twelve-bar blues "You're So Fine" (Jimmy Reed). The finale is given over entirely to Scaggs' fresh songwriting, which blends Bob Dylan and Bo Diddley on the exotic "Overdrive" and nods to the Stones' "Jumpin' Jack Flash" on the raw, explosive groove of "Dime-A-Dance Romance".

I'm a Space Cowboy

Released in the fall of 1968, Sailor climbs the Billboard chart all the way to number 24, boosting sales in Canada as well. Sensing the momentum, Steve calls on his old friend and former bandmate from the Ardells, keyboardist Ben Sidran. A gifted composer, Sidran co-writes several tracks with Miller and becomes a permanent member of the group.

Between Hollywood's Sound Recorders and Olympic Studios in London, recording sessions for the new album are still being overseen by Glyn Johns, who has scheduled an exceptional session with the Beatles. While John and Ringo don't show up at all, George and Paul are particularly impressed with the band's work. And when Harrison has to leave the studio for an unexpected commitment, McCartney helps close out Brave New World under the fictitious name Paul Ramon.

Released in June 1969, the band's third album marks a shift toward a more pronounced rock sound, leaving psychedelic shores behind. From the explosive, baroque-tinged opening of the title track, the album quickly veers into vibrant pulsations, like those driven by the bassline of "Celebration Song". Written by drummer Tim Davis, "Can't You Hear Your Daddy's Heartbeat" unleashes a Hendrix-like verve, while the following "Got Love 'Cause You Need It" blends a more bluesy approach with the atmospheres of "Are You Experienced". Closing out side one is the gem "Kow Kow Calqulator", an oblique, crescendo-driven electro-acoustic weave, inlaid in its choral finale by the piano of new recruit Nicky Hopkins.

While "Seasons" slows the pace with a hypnotic folk-tinged ballad, "Space Cowboy" unleashes a soul-blues groove framed by irresistible pop backing vocals, before launching into one of the solos that would become the band's trademark. Miller begins experimenting with slide guitar over the dobro echo of the radiant "LT's Midnight Dream", ahead of a grand finale entrusted to the rubbery electricity of "My Dark Hour", featuring a contribution from Paul "Ramon" McCartney. The Beatles-esque touch is evident in a sturdy rock-blues number that effectively pushes the Steve Miller Band toward new commercial appeal.

Brave New World improves on Sailor's chart position, reaching number 22 on the Billboard 200. The band changes skin with the permanent addition of Nicky Hopkins and Ben Sidran on keyboards, while Boz Scaggs has left the group due to artistic and partly personal differences with Miller himself. Part of his guitar work is covered by producer Glyn Johns, who takes a much more active role in the recording sessions at Wally Heider Studios in San Francisco in mid-1969.

It's a period of intense recording activity for the band, who in November release yet another album, Your Saving Grace. Unlike the three previous works, this record is more a collection of songs, with faint psychedelic echoes and new jazzy brushstrokes. It opens with the vibrant, catchy funk of "Little Girl", followed closely by the fusion flavor of "Just A Passin' Fancy In A Midnite Dream", carried by Lonnie Turner's sumptuous bass. The band ranges between boogie-blues and gospel on the brief uptempo "Don't Let Nobody Turn You Around", while the nearly nine minutes of "Baby's House" open with Nicky Hopkins' solemn organ before winding through acoustic folk and soul-rock atmospheres.

Setting aside a slow and uninspired version of the traditional gospel-blues "Motherless Children", the second half of the record lets Miller's slide guitar shine on the cryptic "The Last Wombat In Mecca", another Lonnie Turner composition steeped in the Delta. Hopkins' contribution has already become essential to the band's inner workings, engaging in a divine dialogue with Miller's intense blues guitar on the poignant "Feel So Glad". Closing things out, the title track brings back the sunnier moods of Californian folk-rock, among the last psychedelic roars before the turn into the looming new decade.

After bringing in new bassist Bobby Winkelmann, Steve Miller decides to broaden his musical horizons by moving to Nashville to record his fifth album in just two years. Released in the summer of 1970, Number 5 is produced solely by the guitarist after four records made alongside Glyn Johns. At Cinderella Sound Studios, various session musicians are brought in to range across folk and frontier country, with the addition of instruments like violin, trumpet and banjo. It's Winkelmann himself who opens the album with his own "Good Morning", a folk-pop watercolor with echoes of classical baroque and psychedelia.

Charlie McCoy's harmonica cuts through the silence to introduce the tender "I Love You", another meeting of folk and blues in a purely acoustic vein. Co-written with Sidran, the following "Going To The Country" dances to a rustic violin rhythm somewhere between dusty Mexico and alluring Ireland. Miller's guitar closing is masterful, and he switches to bass on "Hot Chili", the first real foray toward Latin America, built on the plucked acoustic guitar of Curley Cooke. Not a particularly original track, on an album that generally suffers from flat moments due to production stretched too thin over too little time.

"Tokin's" has fun with an uptempo country-surf number driven by banjo, while "Going To Mexico" is a classic road song, reviving the now-broken collaboration with Boz Scaggs. "Steve Miller's Midnight Tango" features a sensual organ evoking Argentine atmospheres, set against the martial boogie rhythm of "Industrial Military Complex Hex". Miller starts low-key on the epic "Jackson-Kent Blues", before detonating a rock-solid funk-blues rhythm amid wah-wah effects, railing against the US National Guard and the killing of several students on the grounds of Kent State University during an anti-Vietnam War protest. Closing the album is the tender ballad "Never Kill Another Man", which for the first time features an orchestral layer over an acoustic-folk base.

Forced break

Released in the summer of 1970, Number 5 climbs the US charts up to number 23 on the Billboard chart. The Steve Miller Band is on a commercial upswing, driven by a prolific run of releases in just a few years. But Steve is forced to stop in early 1971, when he breaks his neck in a serious car accident. He's hospitalized and later diagnosed with a form of hepatitis, which forces him to a halt right at his peak. The pause, however, proves useful for reflecting on the band's next musical direction, while he also oversees production of the album Rock Love, due out in September 1971. Capitol Records intends to piece together recordings from live shows along with unreleased material already cut by the band, which underwent a deep overhaul after Number 5. Bobby Winkelman (who moved to rhythm guitar) brought along some members of his former band, the Frumious Bandersnatch. Ross Valory settled in on bass, while Jack King took over on drums, with the addition of a second guitarist, David Denny, who guested at some shows between Hollywood and Pasadena.

Side one of the record opens with "The Gangster Is Back", built on a blues base laced with jazz and funk. Miller introduces the sinuous "Blues Without Blame" in a slower key, gradually attacking the most classic scales with intensity and technical skill. "Love Shock" is a nearly 12-minute marathon built around a wah-wah jam with the usual drum interlude.

Accused by critics of trading in bland white-blues filler, Rock Love continues on side two with studio tracks, from the funky groove of "Let Me Serve You" to the pop-folk strains of the title track. Capitol's assembly job is indeed slapdash, little more than an attempt to get another album onto the charts following Miller's neck injury. "Harbor Lights" is a psych-folk ballad worth noting, while the nine minutes of "Deliverance" race along at a jazzy pace, showing off considerable skill in an acoustic format, though scarcely backed by creative ideas.

After the band's recent commercial results, Capitol Records' operation turns out to be a commercial flop, since Rock Love only reaches number 82 on the Billboard national chart. Now recovered from the accident, Miller decides to relaunch his band at the start of 1972, offering Ben Sidran the role of producer alongside veteran sound engineer Bruce Botnick. The lineup is overhauled once again, starting with new bassist Gerald Johnson, with Dick Thompson on keyboards following the departure of the nimble-fingered Hopkins. Several session drummers rotate through, from Jim Keltner to Gary Mallaber.

Dedicated to the memory of Mahalia Jackson and Junior Parker — both recently deceased — Recall The Beginning… A Journey From Eden rediscovers an electric verve in a sparkling mix of genres and styles. Opened by the brief, wild soul-blues fanfare "Welcome", side one of the album introduces another of Miller's alter-ego characters, set to the typically fifties doo-wop rhythm of "Enter Maurice". The seductive "High On You Mama" returns to acoustic folk-and-blues atmospheres, while "Heal Your Heart" is an irresistible street funk number. The band plays with radiant pop on "The Sun Is Going Down", before veering into the R&B rhythm of "Somebody Somewhere Help Me", which revisits the opening theme.

The second half of the album is studded with brilliant acoustic folk gems like “Love’s Riddle”, while “Fandango” quickens the pulse with a gorgeous central solo. The Sidran-Botnick pairing is undoubtedly a winning card for achieving a clean, airy sound, as on “Nothing Lasts”, which blends psych-folk with vocal harmonies and never-overbearing orchestral arrangements. A grand finale comes with “Journey From Eden”, a brief near-seven-minute gallop in a western vein, between skeletal sounds and a desert-epic string section.

The joker, the eagle and the winged horse

At the end of 1972 Capitol decided to release the band's first greatest hits, as if to take stock after six albums recorded in just four years of activity. Anthology does justice to the sound forged by the Steve Miller Band, even though it leaves out material from their debut, Children Of The Future. With new drummer John King now a permanent fixture, Miller booked the Capitol Studios in the Hollywood area to work on the new album at the start of 1973.

Self-produced, The Joker is a watershed record, marking the definitive farewell to the sound built on psychedelia, jazz and folk in favor of a sharp swerve towards a more radio-friendly approach. The rock-blues framework is extensively rebuilt into something smoother and more melodic, resulting in a relaxed, playful record aimed at a new young audience of party-goers fuelled on beer and marijuana. The sturdy guitar that opens the sunny “Sugar Babe” quickly gives way to beach-pop harmonies, in a sort of pop-rock-blues slathered in suntan lotion. This newfound catchiness constantly teeters between rhythmic lightheartedness, as on the cover “Mary Lou” (Jessie/Ling), and gleeful sonic nonsense (“Shu Ba Da Du Ma Ma Ma Ma”). Longtime fans are left as stunned as if the car had yanked the handbrake mid-drive.

If “Your Cash Ain't Nothin' but Trash” (Chuck Calhoun) picks up a funky sarabande rhythm, the title track is the real shock that splits Miller's career in two. Starting from the R&B hit “Lovey Dovey” — taken into the charts by The Clovers in 1954, co-written by Eddie Curtis and Ahmet Ertegun — “The Joker” retraces Miller's various incarnations, from the space cowboy to the gangster of love. In a performance that has drawn comparisons to Van Morrison, the song is the quintessence of the band's new direction, with a loose, tropical groove tailor-made to devour radio airwaves. Released as a single in October 1973, “The Joker” shot straight to the top of the US Billboard Hot 100, becoming Miller's first hit outside the States, in Australia, Canada and the Netherlands.

After this mainstream explosion, the album continues down the more traditional path of the blues, on “The Lovin' Cup” and, live at the Tower Theater in Philadelphia, with an acoustic cover of the legendary Robert Johnson's “Come On In My Kitchen”. From the stage of the Aquarius Theatre in Boston comes the aching soul ballad “Evil”, followed by the pop lullaby “Something To Believe In”.

Propelled by the title single — which sold over 5 million copies from early 1974 onwards — The Joker lands the Steve Miller Band's big commercial breakthrough, reaching number two on the Billboard 200 and going platinum. Riding the wave of heavy rotation on every American radio station, the band ramped up its live activity, even getting a request from Pink Floyd to open one of their shows at Knebworth. Miller turned down the offer, since in the meantime he had once again disbanded his group and was fully focused on a new studio record, again self-produced, at CBS studios in San Francisco. Unlike in the past, he decided to take all the time he needed to work on the new material, with Lonnie Turner back on bass and Gary Mallaber brought in on drums.

With the help of sound engineer Mike Fusaro, Miller aimed to redraw the boundaries of the blues with a space-rock approach, while still keeping the radio-friendly appeal that had already proven so successful with The Joker.

Released in the spring of 1976, Fly Like An Eagle is an instant classic in Miller's discography, starting with its cover art featuring the Fender Stratocaster ordered by Jimi Hendrix and later bought by Steve himself after the Seattle guitarist's death. The album's first cornerstone track is the title track, a synth-funk experiment laced with psychedelic rock flourishes framing irresistible vocal harmonies. The synthesized Eastern textures of the following “Wild Mountain Honey” mark a further shift of direction for Miller, who picks up the sitar to craft an enchanting cosmic lullaby. From these mystical atmospheres we move abruptly to the frontier Latin rhythm of “Serenade”, while “Dance, Dance, Dance” travels upriver to deliver a bouncing swamp-country number, featuring the dobro of future Doobie Brothers member John McAfee. The mini-journey through American idioms continues with the rural blues of “Mercury Blues” (K.C. Douglas), updated in its arrangement to give listeners a touch of R&B.

The masterstroke arrives at the start of side two, with the road song “Take The Money And Run”, which tells in just under three minutes the rollicking story of a young outlaw couple on the run from a detective. The driving drum rhythm steers an explosive, unforgettable riff, turning the old “Space Cowboy” into a hilarious new radio smash. It is effectively the song that places the Steve Miller Band among the greats of American classic rock, while also earning them another incredible hit on the Billboard singles chart.

But Miller manages to outdo himself just one track later, with the killer swamp-rock of “Rock'n Me”, which spends a full week at number one on the charts with its lethal midtempo groove that sounds like a fusion of Beach Boys, Eagles and Free. Despite an opening perhaps a bit too close to the hit “All Right Now”, “Rock'n Me” is the definitive anthem that launches Miller into the stratosphere of the international music business. While the smooth soul of “You Send Me” (Sam Cooke) suddenly softens the more aggressive tones, the aching harmonica that opens “Sweet Maree” brings hearts back to the acoustic desolation of Delta blues. Closing things out is the intense vocal performance on “The Window”, another bittersweet soul-pop ballad.

Praised by critics, Fly Like An Eagle reached number three on the Billboard chart, eleventh in the UK, for a total of four platinum certifications from the RIAA. The new singles were played on every American rock radio station, hugely expanding the fanbase of the guitarist from Milwaukee. The moment had thus come to maximize profits in terms of popularity, with another change to the line-up. David Denny on guitar and Greg Douglass on guitars, Byron Allred on keyboards, thus joined Turner and Mallaber, all quickly summoned to CBS Studios to work with new producer John Palladino. Miller wanted to push forward and further expand the sound, broadening his cosmic persona with elements bordering on progressive rock.

Book Of Dreams was released in the spring of 1977, following the blueprint of the previous album, from the brief electronic instrumental intro (“Threshold”) to the new hit “Jet Airliner”, a supersonic boogie-pop number from the mind of American guitarist Paul Pena. On “Winter Time”, delicate sitar textures return, enriching a melancholy ballad that sits somewhere between ghostly country and Californian pop. Another chart hit, “Swingtown” starts from a viral bass/drum riff, over which Miller builds guitar flourishes in an architecture halfway between rock'n'roll and more commercial progressive rock. Bolan-esque in spirit, “True Fine Love” is an irresistibly rhythmic boogie-and-roll number, while “Wish Upon A Star” conjures psychedelic vibrations with its martial gait dotted with synthesizer textures.

Miller is by now a riff-churning machine: he pushes his boogie to the edges of hard rock on “Jungle Love”, slows down with the refined cosmic number “Sacrifice” before returning to the most hypnotic blues on “The Stake”. Closing out another excellent album are the atmospheric pop ballad “My Own Space” and the unusual medieval-folk-style instrumental “Babes In The Wood”.

Abracadabra

Book Of Dreams marks another huge commercial success for Steve Miller, who is brought on as co-headliner for a massive stadium tour organized by the Eagles' management. At the end of 1978, Capitol releases the compilation Greatest Hits 1974-78, which features the most recent hits and sells over 15 million copies, drawing in a much younger audience for the band. However, the enormous popularity gained ends up backfiring: after nine albums of original material in ten years, Miller decides to take a break, temporarily stepping away from recording studios and concerts. He only returns to work at the start of the new decade, to record Circle Of Love with Byron Allred (keyboards), Gerald Johnson (bass) and Gary Mallaber (drums). Released in late October 1981, the new record turns out to be a commercial flop, even though it still sells 500,000 copies in the United States. Nothing comparable to the acclaim of the previous two albums, as if the temporary disappearance from the scene had cost him his magic touch.

It opens with the modest countrybilly of "Heart Like A Wheel", followed by a faded synth-pop version of the traditional "Get On Home". The revival of retro styles continues with the danceable gospel-soul of "Baby Wanna Dance", while the tenderness of "Circle Of Love" is entirely captured in a folk tune with churchy vocal harmonies. The only real spark is the eighteen-plus-minute marathon "Macho City", which boldly takes up the entire second side of the album, moving between funk rhythms and cosmic-blues flourishes.

To make up for the flop of Circle Of Love, Miller gets back together with his musicians at the Capitol studios in late 1981, going through various demo versions brought in by drummer Gary Mallaber. Mallaber also plays in Tracker, alongside other members of Miller's band, including new guitarist John Massaro and keyboardist Byron Allred. When he plays his songs for Steve, Mallaber has no idea that nearly all of them will end up being used for the new album, Abracadabra. Released in mid-June 1982, the album marks Miller's return to success, reaching number three on the US charts and selling over a million copies.

Preceded by the synth-pop "Keeps Me Wondering Why", the new single that shakes up the record industry is the brilliant title track, driven by Miller's soulful vocals over a gorgeous bed of electronic pop. "Abracadabra" is initially rejected by Capitol, who see no potential in such an odd track, prompting Steve to strike a deal with Phonogram for the single's distribution in Europe. When it hits number one in dozens of countries across the Old Continent, Miller is furious with his record label and decides to cancel the entire US tour, where the song failed to chart. Capitol admits its mistake and releases it in the US too, with obvious success.

Packed with new-wave-inflected arrangements, the record rolls out catchy songs like "Something Special" and "Give It Up", which also work well for fans of the AOR genre. From the acoustic strumming of "Never Say No" to the harder riff of "Young Girl's Heart", the album is perhaps the most unabashedly melodic in Steve Miller's discography, as he bets everything on catchiness to return to the spotlight. Even more traditional numbers like the country-surf of "Goodbye Love" are arranged to sound radio-friendly, even evoking the Beatles sound on "Cool Magic".

In 1983 the band's first live album, Steve Miller Band Live!, is released, recorded at the Pine Knob Amphitheater in Clarkston, Michigan on September 25, 1982. With Kenny Lee Lewis on guitar and Norton Buffalo on harmonica, the band performs for over two hours, running through the best of their recent repertoire. The live setting is perfect for showcasing the full extent of the group's talent, as they stretch out several tracks, from the killer version of "Get On Home" to the wild harmonica that opens "Living In The U.S.A.". Unfortunately, the record trims the long jams from the concert down to the bone, considerably reducing its overall impact and failing to do justice to a memorable show.

Living in the Eighties

The success of Abracadabra seems to herald an even brighter future built around a new synth-pop sound. Starting with the following album, Italian X Rays — which sees the return of original drummer Tim Davis, who has since been diagnosed with diabetes — Miller tries to find his footing as the decade continues, searching for new ideas that, unfortunately, are in short supply. The title track on the new record has an obsessive, flat electronic beat, while the following "Daybreak" attempts a cinematic vision bordering on Eastern mysticism.

The new hit is "Shangri-La", with decidedly modest results, buried under plasticky arrangements. Better is the soul-pop ballad "Who Do You Love?", while the other single, "Bongo Bongo", is nothing more than a handclapping divertissement of little consequence.

Two years later comes Living In The 20th Century, which attempts a return to a more rock-oriented sound starting with the opener "Nobody But You Baby", carrying a vague boogie echo. Again with poor commercial results, the new single is a decent pop-rock number, "I Want To Make The World Turn Around", featuring Kenny G on sax. The blues-jazz backbone of "Slinky" is followed by a certain ethnic flavor on the title track, with its funky, Africa-leaning groove.

While "Maelstrom" toys with acoustic guitars in an old-fashioned folk style, "I Wanna Be Loved (But By Only You)" (Jimmy Reed) is an anemic rehash of Fifties-style rock-blues. The impression is that Miller has run out of ideas, as he leans on the old classic "My Babe" (Willie Dixon) and once again on Jimmy Reed's catalog with "Big Boss Man" and the other blues standard "Ain't That Lovin' You Baby". The musicianship is certainly not in question, nor is the energy the band puts out, but after a flop like Italian X Rays, one would expect something more.

In 1988 Steve Miller decides to release his first solo album, working with Billy Peterson on bass and Gordy Knudtson on drums, but above all once again with Ben Sidran on keyboards. Born 2 B Blue is a project that moves completely away from the Steve Miller Band sound, limiting itself to reworking some jazz classics in a contemporary style. From the smooth approach of "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah" to the funkier rhythms of "Ya Ya", the record is a pure exercise in style, a heartfelt tribute from Miller to a genre he loves.

Although it features interesting material, such as "God Bless The Child" (Billie Holiday) and "Mary Ann" (Ray Charles), the album drags along tediously, ultimately disappointing both fans of his space-blues and jazz enthusiasts alike. The record is his last for Capitol, which ends the contract after twenty years of fruitful collaboration.

The band doesn't return to the record market until Wide River, in 1993, thanks to a deal with Polydor. Written with Chris McCarty, the title track timidly cracks the charts with a fresh rock-pop beat, foreshadowing a general return to more rootsy sounds. On an unusually long record, "Midnight Train" refreshes the boogie rhythm, while "Blue Eyes" offers solid guitar textures after the flatness of the Eighties. "Lost in Your Eyes" runs with a Latin flavor, while "Perfect World" dusts off a taste for riffs. From the cadenced funk of "Circle Of Fire" to the Clapton-esque "Cry Cry Cry", the record won't amount to a triumphant comeback after several years away, but it does at least hold a few good ideas. And an excellent version of Elmore James's "Stranger Blues".

Back to the blues

After the release of Wide River, Steve Miller decides to take a very long break, returning with a new album only in 2010, following a year of recording at George Lucas's Skywalker Studios. After many years, a big-name producer returns to the fold, English producer Andy Johns, who had already worked with the Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin in the 1970s. Bingo! is dedicated to the memory of Norton Buffalo, who tragically died in 2009 from cancer, deliberately honored with a festive, carefree spirit. Miller himself admits to the press that it's a "fraternity" record, harking back to the frat parties he attended as a young man.

Released on the Roadrunner label, the album is essentially a collection of covers from the R&B universe, starting with the Texas-style boogie of "Hey Yeah" (Jimmie Vaughan), with Miller's wah-wah guitar immediately taking center stage. On "Who's Been Talkin'?" (Howlin' Wolf) and "Don't Cha Know" the band returns to the typical twelve-bar sound, with a carefree, pub-party rhythm. From B.B. King's catalog comes the robust "Rock Me Baby", while the bouncy "Sweet Soul Vibe" pays tribute to the flair of Nile Rodgers.

Miller also revives the tribalism of Otis Rush on "All Your Love (I Miss Loving)," in a version that's admittedly more anemic than the one recorded by Mayall with the Bluesbreakers. In the end it's "You Got Me Dizzy" (Jimmy Reed) that embodies the album's ultimate spirit, simply a dispassionate aside celebrating the more festive, disenchanted side of rock'n'roll.

Essentially recorded during the same sessions as Bingo!, Let Your Hair Down is released a year later, another collection of covers straddling blues and R&B. From "Snatch It Back And Hold It" (Buddy Guy) to "Sweet Home Chicago" (Robert Johnson), Miller completes his journey back to the roots of African-American music. The result is another honest record, dominated by the harmonica of the late Norton Buffalo, on energetic tracks like "Just A Little Bit" (Rosco Gordon), "Pretty Thing" (Willie Dixon) and "Can't Be Satisfied" (Muddy Waters).

After the release of Let Your Hair Down, Miller enrolled at the USC Thornton School of Music, where for a full academic year he taught the theory and practice of popular music, with several modules on running a record business. His activity as a rock star was limited to the live circuit, having once again overhauled the line-up following the deaths of drummer John King and longtime bassist Lonnie Turner.

In 2014 he embarked on an American tour with Journey, and was subsequently inducted into the Rock'n'roll Hall of Fame. Theoretically a point of pride, his induction into the famous Cleveland museum sparked several controversies, first and foremost over his nomination as a solo artist. Miller defended himself by saying it wasn't his decision, then went on to accuse the American foundation itself of a lack of inclusiveness and respect for the work of the artists it honors.

In the years that followed, with no new material forthcoming, Capitol released a hefty three-disc retrospective titled Welcome To The Vault. For fans of the band it's a unique chance to hear unreleased gems, alternate versions of old songs and live recordings. From the blazing live version of "Crossroads" to alternate, southern-flavored takes on the hit "Rock'n Me," more than fifty tracks intelligently trace over fifty years of the band's career.

Two years later came Live! Breaking Ground: August 3, 1977, recorded during the summer tour at the Capital Centre in Landover, Maryland. After the disappointing results of the previous Steve Miller Band Live!, this album does justice to a band at the peak of its success, in dazzling form. Taking advantage of the excellent audio quality, the raw, muscular sound can finally take flight, from "Living In The U.S.A." to "Space Cowboy." Seventeen tight, fun tracks, pure sonic entertainment courtesy of a band ready to burn up the stage before slowly fading out.

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