Rick Clark's Music I Love Blog - Artist: Steve Miller Band - the early albums
Steve Miller Band - from the Sailor album 1968
When you think of Steve Miller Band, it is easy to remember a string of streamlined mega-platinum later ‘70s - early ‘80s rock radio staples like “The Joker,” “Fly Like An Eagle,” “Jet Airliner” and “Abracadabra.” Long before those hits, there as a much different sounding Steve Miller Band during the late ‘60s that blended blues, atmospheric acoustic gems, psychedelic hard rock, and pianistic ballads. These early albums were beautifully engineered and produced by Glyn Johns, whose credits included The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, The Band, The Who, The Beatles, and The Move. This Steve Miller Band is by far my favorite incarnation, and I wore these albums out.
The first two Steve Miller Band albums, Children Of The Future and Sailor, came out in 1968. This line-up featured Miller, and Boz Scaggs, who carried some of the vital lead singing and guitar work and songwriting. The rest of the band was equally impressive with Tim Davis (vocals, drums, songwriting), Jim Peterman (keyboards, songwriting), and Lonnie Turner (bass and guitar).
Artist: Steve Miller Band - Album: Sailor (1968)
I purchased both of these albums when they came out, and part of what initially lured me to them was the totally great psychedelic album cover art. It was Sailor, where I first learned to play bass guitar. I remember spending hours trying to learn “Living In The U.S.A.,” “Gangster Of Love,” and “Dime-A-Dance Romance.”
At the time, I was deeply into Jimi Hendrix, Pink Floyd, The Moody Blues, and of course, The Beatles. These first Steve Miller albums were similar to my favorite albums by those artists in that they were like otherworldly journeys to me. They were the kind of records that demanded you park yourself between the speakers, turn out the lights, and crank it up.
Artist: Steve Miller Band - Album: Brave New World (1969)
Steve Miller Band’s third album, Brave New World, was a much harder sounding album and every bit as exceptional. The band line-up changed with the departure of Boz Scaggs and Jim Peterman. Filling in Peterman’s role in the band was Ben Sidran (keyboards, vibraphone, and songwriting) and the legendary Nicky Hopkins on guesting on additional keys. Glyn Johns was still at the board engineering and producing. There are some standout tracks on this album, including “My Dark Hour” with features Paul McCartney on bass, drums, and vocals.
“Space Cowboy” became a kind of early underground rock hit, and many longtime fans regard “Seasons” as one of Miller’s most beautiful sounding tracks.
After these first three albums, Steve Miller Band released a couple of more strong albums, which were Your Saving Grace and Number Five. I will probably dive into those at some point because there is some seriously good music on them. I’ve also included some cool live performances, an interview with Steve Miller discussion the early music. I also included a live performance of Badfinger doing “My Dark Hour.” Meanwhile, I hope you enjoy what you discover here. Thanks for listening.
Steve Miller Band - live 1972 television performance of “Living In The USA”