Nine to go. The website at "123HelpMe.com" gives a fascinating insight into how extraordinary Miller's success from the late 1960s onwards really was. Even I, when researching this, wasn't aware that he had almost died before any of his mainstream hits were made. Taken from a "free essay" submitted to the site anonymously, the writer shows a comprehensive knowledge of his subject. Miller starts to plan a musical direction from about 1966:
"He recruited James Cook, Tim Davis, and Lonnie Turner to be in the band, and 'Steve Miller's Blues Band' was born. They played with names such as 'The Doors', 'Buffalo Springfield', and Chuck Berry. James Cook eventually left the band and Jim Peterman took his place. ... He [then] called on friend Boz Scaggs to join the band. In an effort to simplify the name and make it more recognizable, they changed their name to the 'Steve Miller Band'.
"The band contributed tracks to the soundtrack for the movie 'Revolution', and in an article by Jann Wenner, the starter of 'Rolling Stone' magazine, he called Steve Miller's work 'the best stuff on the album'. This caught the eye of 'Capitol Records', and they signed an unprecedented deal with an advance of $50,000 and complete artistic control and ownership of publishing. They soon went to England to complete their first 'Capitol' album called 'Children of the Future'.
"They returned to the States, and started working on 'Sailor', which reached No. 24 on the charts in 1969. Later that year, they came out with 'Brave New World', which rose to No. 22 on the charts. In an effort to complete the five albums that they had promised, they recorded 'Your Saving Grace' and 'Number Five', which went to No. 38 and No. 23 [respectively] on the Billboard Chart.
"An unfortunate car accident would bring Steve Miller's run to a halt when a hairline fracture in his neck was discovered and he contracted hepatitis. Miller recuperated at his family's home in Dallas for eight months. In this time, his views changed, and he decided to take a new approach to his music. This is evident with the release of 'The Joker' in 1974 which eventually reached No. 1.
"Steve spent the next two years working from his home on twenty-four tracks which included [featured Jam] 'Rock'n Me', one of his biggest singles [it made No. 11 in the UK]. In 1976, he released 'Fly Like an Eagle' which rose to No. 2 and stayed on the charts for 97 weeks. This album included hits 'Take the Money and Run', 'Jet Airliner', and 'Fly Like an Eagle'. The album 'Book of Dreams' followed in 1977 and reached No. 2 also.
"With huge success, the 'Steve Miller Band' went back on tour, in which they had crowds of up to 100,000 people. At these concerts, Miller introduced innovations such as rear screen projection, quad sound, and laser sculptures, which [later] became a standard at rock concerts. Miller's success in the Seventies elevated him to a status that only few in the business ever achieve.
"Since the Seventies, he has continued to draw fan support while coming out with new hits like 'Abracadabra', in which the title cut went to the top of the charts. 'The Joker' eventually went platinum along with 'Fly Like an Eagle', which went platinum four times. The 'Greatest Hits' album, which was released in 1978, has gone platinum a total of thirteen times." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock%27n_Me
15 Comments (since 7 Sep 2015)
leejohnson
Nine to go. The website at "123HelpMe.com" gives a fascinating insight into how extraordinary Miller's success from the late 1960s onwards really was. Even I, when researching this, wasn't aware that he had almost died before any of his mainstream hits were made. Taken from a "free essay" submitted to the site anonymously, the writer shows a comprehensive knowledge of his subject. Miller starts to plan a musical direction from about 1966:
leejohnson
"He recruited James Cook, Tim Davis, and Lonnie Turner to be in the band, and 'Steve Miller's Blues Band' was born. They played with names such as 'The Doors', 'Buffalo Springfield', and Chuck Berry. James Cook eventually left the band and Jim Peterman took his place. ... He [then] called on friend Boz Scaggs to join the band. In an effort to simplify the name and make it more recognizable, they changed their name to the 'Steve Miller Band'.
leejohnson
"The band contributed tracks to the soundtrack for the movie 'Revolution', and in an article by Jann Wenner, the starter of 'Rolling Stone' magazine, he called Steve Miller's work 'the best stuff on the album'. This caught the eye of 'Capitol Records', and they signed an unprecedented deal with an advance of $50,000 and complete artistic control and ownership of publishing. They soon went to England to complete their first 'Capitol' album called 'Children of the Future'.
leejohnson
"They returned to the States, and started working on 'Sailor', which reached No. 24 on the charts in 1969. Later that year, they came out with 'Brave New World', which rose to No. 22 on the charts. In an effort to complete the five albums that they had promised, they recorded 'Your Saving Grace' and 'Number Five', which went to No. 38 and No. 23 [respectively] on the Billboard Chart.
leejohnson
"An unfortunate car accident would bring Steve Miller's run to a halt when a hairline fracture in his neck was discovered and he contracted hepatitis. Miller recuperated at his family's home in Dallas for eight months. In this time, his views changed, and he decided to take a new approach to his music. This is evident with the release of 'The Joker' in 1974 which eventually reached No. 1.
leejohnson
"Steve spent the next two years working from his home on twenty-four tracks which included [featured Jam] 'Rock'n Me', one of his biggest singles [it made No. 11 in the UK]. In 1976, he released 'Fly Like an Eagle' which rose to No. 2 and stayed on the charts for 97 weeks. This album included hits 'Take the Money and Run', 'Jet Airliner', and 'Fly Like an Eagle'. The album 'Book of Dreams' followed in 1977 and reached No. 2 also.
leejohnson
"With huge success, the 'Steve Miller Band' went back on tour, in which they had crowds of up to 100,000 people. At these concerts, Miller introduced innovations such as rear screen projection, quad sound, and laser sculptures, which [later] became a standard at rock concerts. Miller's success in the Seventies elevated him to a status that only few in the business ever achieve.
leejohnson
"Since the Seventies, he has continued to draw fan support while coming out with new hits like 'Abracadabra', in which the title cut went to the top of the charts. 'The Joker' eventually went platinum along with 'Fly Like an Eagle', which went platinum four times. The 'Greatest Hits' album, which was released in 1978, has gone platinum a total of thirteen times." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock%27n_Me
andypritchard
Great jam. Love this and a while since I heard it.
christineb
Great song by them, this and Fly like an Eagle are my favorites...
ErnieBilko
All right now...
debutch
@christineb cor Chrissy, you're everywhere on TIMJ tonight!!...don't you have any pizzas to cook? ;-D
christineb
@debutch No.. first day off in six days (again...) and just hanging out on TIMJ...I did cook a taco soup and clean house whoooo hoooooo. .
Sid_Bonkers
Love Steve Miller, great jam.
paulgdaly
That Greatest Hits album is one catchy, fun, singalong song after another.