Steve Miller (musician)
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| Steve Miller | |
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 Steve Miller live in 2006
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| Background information | |
| Born | October 5, 1943 Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S. |
| Genre(s) | Blues-rock, Hard rock, Psychedelic rock |
| Instrument(s) | Vocals, Guitar |
| Years active | 1968 - Present |
| Associated acts | Steve Miller Band |
| Website | stevemillerband.com |
Steve Miller (born October 5, 1943 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin) is an American guitarist and singer/songwriter.
Beginning his career in blues and blues rock, Miller's music later changed to a softer, more pop-oriented sound which earned him success with a string of hit singles and successful albums from the mid-1970s through the early 1980s.
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[edit] Biography
Miller was born to Dr George "Sonny" Miller, a pathologist, jazz enthusiast, hat salesman and amateur recording engineer, and Bertha, a jazz-influenced singer. In 1950, the family moved to Dallas, Texas. His first guitar chords were taught to him when he was five years old by his godfather Les Paul, pioneer of the electric guitar and multitrack recording. Les Paul and his wife Mary Ford were regular visitors at the Miller house and Dr Miller's father was best man at their wedding. Les Paul encouraged young Miller to use his prodigious talents, and much of Miller's success has been attributed to Paul's tutelage. Miller still uses some of the techniques taught him at that time. T-Bone Walker also visited the Millers and was recorded by Sonny Miller; Steve has said that he formed a significant influence on his guitar style.
While at St. Mark's School of Texas, Miller formed his first band, The Marksmen. Miller taught classmate Royce Scaggs — better known later by his nickname Boz — guitar chords so that he could join the band. Miller graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School in the Lakewood area of Dallas in 1961 and later, while attending the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Miller formed The Ardells. Scaggs joined the Ardells the next year; and Ben Sidran became the band's keyboardist the year after. Miller was only 16 when he started college[dubious ], and after attending the University of Copenhagen in Denmark for a semester in his senior year, he dropped out six credit hours shy of a literature degree.
Upon his return to the United States, Miller moved to Chicago where he immersed himself in the city's blues scene. During his time there, he worked with harmonica player Paul Butterfield and jammed with blues greats Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf and Buddy Guy, all of whom offered the young guitarist encouragement to pursue a musical career.
In 1965 Miller and keyboardist Barry Goldberg formed the Goldberg-Miller Blues Band and began playing on the Chicago club scene. They signed with Epic Records and released a single, "The Mother Song," and soon began a residency at a New York City blues club.
When Miller returned from New York, he was disappointed by the state of the Chicago blues scene, so he moved to Texas in hopes of studying music at the University of Texas at Austin. He was denied admission there, so he bought a used Volkswagen Microbus and headed to San Francisco. Upon arrival, he used his last $5 to see the Butterfield Blues Band and Jefferson Airplane at the Fillmore Auditorium. Miller fell in love with the vibrant San Francisco music scene and decided to stay.
In 1967, Miller formed the Steve Miller Band (at first called The Steve Miller Blues Band), with Miller also handling vocals, and in 1968 they released an album, Children of the Future, the first in a series of discs rooted solidly in the psychedelic blues style that then dominated the San Francisco scene. Boz Scaggs rejoined Miller for this album and the next one, before starting his solo career.
The group followed the release of their second album, Sailor, with the albums Brave New World, Your Saving Grace and Number 5. These first five albums performed respectably on the album charts but failed to yield a major hit; the highest charted single being "Livin' in the USA" from Sailor. Songs from this period are also featured in a portion of the double album compilation Anthology, which includes a guest appearance on bass guitar, drums and backing vocals by Paul McCartney on the song, "My Dark Hour."
In this first period Miller established his personae of the "Gangster of Love" (from Sailor) and the "Space Cowboy" (from Brave New World), which were reused in later works. In 1972, Miller recorded the album Recall the Beginning, A Journey from Eden, in which a third persona, "Maurice," was introduced in the tune "Enter Maurice."
In 1973, The Joker marked the start of the second phase of Miller's career: less hard-rock oriented and simplistic, the album featured a number one hit in the United States in the title track as well as several other popular tunes. "The Joker" hit No 1 on the UK Singles Chart in September 1990 after it was used on a television commercial.
After a two-year "retirement",[citation needed] Miller followed up The Joker with Fly Like an Eagle in 1976 and Book of Dreams in 1977. This pair of albums represented the peak of Miller's commercial career, both reaching the top echelons of the album charts and spawning a lengthy series of hit singles, including "Fly Like An Eagle", "Rock'n Me", "Take the Money and Run", "Jet Airliner" and "Jungle Love". While some critics were disappointed at Miller for abandoning his more ambitious approach and socially-aware lyrics for softer rock and derivative blues tunes,[citation needed] fans gravitated towards the catchy, melodic songs in great numbers, and the Steve Miller Band co-headlined a major stadium tour with The Eagles in 1977 (with opening act Pablo Cruise).
On the heels of this massive success, Miller took a long hiatus from recording and touring, emerging in 1981 with Circle of Love, an ambitious album possibly intended to appease critics of his new style. Sales were disappointing, however, and in 1982 he returned to the pop formula with another hit album, Abracadabra. This was Miller's last great commercial success; a series of collections, live albums and attempts to find a new style appeared in 1984 (Italian X-Rays), 1986 (Living in the 20th Century and 1988 (Born 2B Blue), but after 1993's effort, Wide River, Miller gave up producing records altogether. He collaborated with Paul McCartney, however, on the former Beatle's 1997 Grammy-nominated album, Flaming Pie.
Although the Steve Miller Band had limited peak commercial success, his ongoing popularity has been impressive. In 1978, Greatest Hits 1974-1978 was released. The album contained all the big hits from his two most popular albums, Fly Like an Eagle and Book of Dreams, which were recorded during the same recording sessions in 1976 and subsequently released one year apart. The greatest hits package has outsold both these albums, and his entire catalogue for that matter (selling 13 million copies in the US alone). This popularity also fueled very successful concert tours throughout the 80s and 90s, often with large numbers of younger people being present at the concerts, many of whom were fans of the big hits and inevitably purchased the greatest hits album. Miller would often headline shows with other classic rock acts and played a variety of his music including a good selection of his blues work dating from the late 60s.
Prior to the start of his 2007 tour it has been revealed that a new studio album titled Loose Tether is being recorded. The track "Truth About The Lies" was co-written with Bruce Hornsby. Other song titles are "Oh, It's Just Me Again", and "Short Sleeves, Clip-On Tie (Used Car)".
[edit] Discography
[edit] Steve Miller Band
- Children of the Future (May 1968)
- Sailor (October 1968)Reissued as Living In The U.S.A. in 1973.
- Brave New World (June 1969)
- Your Saving Grace (November 1969)
- Number 5 (November 1970)
- Rock Love (September 1971)
- Recall the Beginning...A Journey From Eden (March 1972)
- Anthology (October 1972)
- The Joker (September 1973)
- Living in the U.S.A. (1973)
- Fly Like an Eagle (May 1976)
- Book of Dreams (May 1977)
- Greatest Hits (1974-1978) (1978)
- Circle of Love (September 1981)
- Abracadabra (June 1982)
- Steve Miller Band Live! (1983)
- Italian X-Rays (October 1984)
- Living in the 20th Century (October 1986)
- The Very Best of the Steve Miller Band (1991)
- Wide River (June 1993)
- Young Hearts (2003)
- Fly Like an Eagle: 30th Anniversary Edition (2006)
- Loose Tether (2008)
[edit] SINGLES
- 1 - The Joker (1973)
- 1 - Rock'n Me (1976)
- 1 - Abracadabra (1982)
- 2 - Fly Like An Eagle (1976)
- 8 - Jet Airliner (1977)
- 17 - Swingtown (1977)
- 23 - Jungle Love (1977)
- 24 - Heart Like A Wheel (1981)
- 49 - Living In The U.S.A. (1968)
- 51 - Your Cash Ain't Nothin' But Trash (1974)
- 55 - Circle Of Love (1982)
- 57 - Cool Magic (1982)
- 57 - Shangri-La (1984)
- 60 - Give It Up (1982)
- 64 - Wide River (1993)
- 69 - Going To The Country (1970)
- 84 - Bongo Bongo (1985)
- 97 - I Want To Make The World Turn Around (1986)
[edit] Solo recordings
- Born 2B Blue (September 1988)
[edit] External links
- Steve Miller Band Official Site
- Steve Miller at Allmusic
- "The Joker" by Steve Miller: lyrics and biography, about the pompatus of love
- In Steve Miller's "The Joker," what is "the pompatus of love"?
- Five audio interview segments with Steve Miller from 1986
- Audio clips from 2007 interview in which he recalls making "Fly Like an Eagle," hating the Who at Monterey Pop
