Steve Miller (musician)

Steve Miller Band
Steve Miller Band live, 2007
General information
Genre (s)	Rock - and Blues
founding	1967
Website	stevemillerband.com
Current occupation
Vocals , electric guitar	Steve Miller
Electric guitar	Kenny Lee Lewis
Drums	Gordy Knudtson
Electric bass	Billy Peterson
Keyboard	Joseph Wooten
harmonica	Norton Buffalo († 2009)

Steve Miller (born October 5, 1943 in Milwaukee , Wisconsin ) is an American singer, rock and blues guitarist . He is known for his Steve Miller Band , whose best-known hits include The Joker , Rock'n Me , Abracadabra and Fly Like an Eagle .

Career

Miller was born in Milwaukee to doctor George "Sonny" Miller, a jazz enthusiast and amateur producer, and his wife Bertha, a jazz-influenced singer. In 1950 the family moved to Texas. Miller learned his first guitar chords at the age of five from Les Paul , who was a regular visitor to the Millers' house with his wife Mary Ford; George Miller was her best man.

Miller formed his first band called Marksmen at St. Mark's School in Texas. Miller showed his classmate Royce Scaggs (better known by his nickname Boz) some guitar chords so that he could join the band. Miller graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School, near Lakewood , in 1961 . During the 1960s he attended the University of Wisconsin – Madison , where he formed the band Ardells. The following year Scaggs joined this formation. Another year later, Ben Sidran joined the band as a keyboardist. Miller was only sixteen when he went to college, where he deliberately failed his literature exam. Les Paul encouraged the young Miller to use his musical talent.

Before founding the Steve Miller Band, Miller was with Barry Goldberg in a band called the Goldberg-Miller Blues Band, which formed in 1965 and released a single before Miller left the band. More songs from this formation were released afterwards, of which only three were sung by Miller (meanwhile also on CD, now probably out of stock).

In 1967 Miller founded the Steve Miller Band, performed with them at the Monterey Pop Festival and contributed three songs to the soundtrack for the hippie film Revolution (as did Quicksilver Messenger Service ). For these songs he did the singing himself. In 1968 the album Children of the Future was released , the first in a series of albums that were deeply rooted in the psychedelic blues style that dominated the San Francisco scene at the time. Sailor , Brave New World , Your Saving Grace and Number Five followed. This first period in Miller's musical history is largely summarized in the 1972 double-album compilation Anthology . Boz Scaggs was an important member of the band in the early stages, but only for the first two albums before embarking on his own solo career.

In 1970 Steve Miller recorded some tracks for Neil Merryweather's "all-star album" Word of Mouth with musicians such as Dave Mason ( Traffic ) . There was also a short-term interaction with John Lee Hooker : Steve Miller recorded the album Endless Boogie (1970) with him . The recordings were made on November 10, 11 and 12, 1970. Producers were Bill Szymczyk and Ed Michel . Steve Miller plays electric piano and guitar on some tracks.

The album The Joker in 1973 marked the beginning of a second phase in Miller's career: although still inspired by precursors, it brought the band a number one hit in the form of the title song in the USA, and several other popular tracks ( Sugar Babe , Shu Ba Da Du Ma Ma Ma , Something to Believe In ). The Joker was re-recorded in 1990 and stayed longer at the top of the English singles charts in this version after it was used as a TV advertising jingle for the jeans company Levis .

Miller followed up with Fly Like an Eagle in 1976 and Book of Dreams in 1977 . These two albums were the high point of his career. Both reached top positions in the album charts and made for bigger hit singles, including Rock'n Me , Take the Money and Run , Jet Airliner and Jungle Love . The Steve Miller Band was the opening act for a major stadium tour with the Eagles that same year .

At the height of his success, Miller withdrew from recording and touring life, but reappeared in 1981 with the album Circle of Love (hits: Heart Like a Wheel , Circle of Love ). The entire second side of the album consisted of a more than 18-minute piece, a kind of experimental rap song with which Miller directed against the US politics of the time. However, the sales figures were rather disappointing. So he returned to his pop formula in 1982 with another hit album: Abracadabra . The single of the same name was No. 1 in America, Japan and Europe at the same time. Goodbye Love , Keeps Me Wondering Why and Give It Up , as well as Abracadabra's B-side , Never Say No , were smaller hits in some European countries. It was Miller's last major commercial success, however; a number of best-of albums, live compilations and attempts to establish a "new" band style adapted to the digital age (Italian X-Rays, 1984) followed sporadically.

solo

In 1988 their first solo album was released : Born to Be Blue . Steve Miller wanted to prove - so he put it at the time, for example. E.g. in a television interview with Annette Hopfenmüller - that a blues guitar can be played over standard jazz songs. The single Ya Ya , a cover version by Lee Dorsey , flopped.

Another attempt at comeback in 1993 with the album Wide River failed, despite reasonable sales figures, presumably because of the choice of single releases and the unthinkable smooth production compared to earlier releases. In the same year he also played for the Muddy Waters tribute album ( Muddy Water Blues ) by ex Free singer Paul Rodgers , which also featured other guitar legends such as Jeff Beck , Neil Schon, Richie Sambora , Trevor Rabin , Gary Moore , Slash , Brian Setzer , David Gilmour , Brian May and Buddy Guy were allowed to let off steam, the guitar for the blues classic I'm Your Hoochie Coochie Man . Steve Miller has not recorded a studio album since then - according to his own statements because of his clouded relationship with the music industry. However, in the meantime he worked with Paul McCartney on his 1997 Grammy nominated album Flaming Pie . There he can be heard on a song in lead vocals and on guitar, a late musical thanks to McCartney in memory of his jam session with Miller at the time of My Dark Hour (1969).

While Steve Miller had in the meantime almost completely withdrawn from the field of record production, he seems to have led a rather lively touring life since 1993, with small interruptions, which was, however, almost exclusively limited to concerts in the USA and Canada.

2006 was released on Capitol Records , Miller's original parent label, a CD-DVD coupling of the album Fly Like an Eagle , for the 30th anniversary of the record. The bonus material included includes a concert film recording from 2005 with guest stars such as George Thorogood and Joe Satriani . Also on the 2005 Les Paul tribute album, Les Paul & Friends , is Steve (along with other celebrities such as Eric Clapton , Sting , Sam Cooke , Buddy Guy , Keith Richards , Peter Frampton , Billy Gibbons , Edgar Winter , Rick Derringer , Neil Already, Richie Sambora, Joe Perry and Jeff Beck) with a re-recording of his socially critical rock classic Fly Like an Eagle , whose cult status was reinforced in early 1997 by the black singer Seal with a reinterpretation and renewed hit status.

After a long break from the studio, in June 2010 Bingo! released a new album, which immediately hit No. 1 on the American Billboard Blues Album Charts . In August 2010 a major tour through Canada, the USA and Europe began.

In 2016, Miller was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame .

Discography

Albums

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks / months, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks / months, awards, notes)					Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US
1968	Children of the Future	-	-	-	-	US134 (18 weeks) US
	Sailor	-	-	-	-	US24 gold (17 weeks)US	Published in 1973 as Living in the USA
1969	Brave New World	-	-	-	-	US22 (26 weeks) US
1970	Your Saving Grace	-	-	-	-	US38 (14 weeks) US
	Number 5	-	-	-	-	US23 (26 weeks) US
1971	Rock love	-	-	-	-	US82 (9 weeks) US
1972	Recall the Beginning… A Journey from Eden	-	-	-	-	US109 (10 weeks) US
1973	The Joker	-	-	-	-	US2 platinum (38 weeks)US
1976	Fly Like an Eagle	DE20 (4½ months) DE	-	-	UK11 gold (17 weeks)UK	US3 × 4 Quadruple platinum (97 weeks)US	Number 450 of the Rolling Stone 500
1977	Book of Dreams	DE13 (4½ months) DE	-	-	UK12 silver (14 weeks)UK	US2 × 3 Triple platinum (11 weeks)US
1981	Circle of Love	-	-	-	-	US26th gold (17 weeks)US
1982	Abracadabra	DE1 (22 weeks) DE	AT8 (3 months) AT	-	UK10 silver (16 weeks)UK	US3 platinum (33 weeks)US
1983	Steve Miller Band… Live!	DE65 (1 week) DE	-	-	UK79 (2 weeks) UK	US125 (7 weeks) US
1984	Italian X Rays	-	-	-	-	US101 (10 weeks) US
1987	Living in the 20th Century	-	-	-	-	US65 (23 weeks) US
1988	Born 2B Blue	-	-	-	-	US108 (11 weeks) US	as Steve Miller
1993	Wide River	DE81 (6 weeks) DE	-	-	-	US85 (15 weeks) US
2010	Bingo!	DE68 (2 weeks) DE	-	-	-	US37 (2 weeks) US
2011	Let your hair down	-	-	-	-	US180 (1 week) US

gray hatching : no chart data available for this year

More albums

• 1967: Live at the Fillmore Auditorium - San Francisco ( Chuck Berry with The Miller Band)
• 2002: King Biscuit Flower Hour Presents (2 CDs)
• 2003: Extended Versions
• 2007: Live
• 2008: Live from Chicago (2 DVDs + CD)
• 2013: Shake Your Tree (2 LPs, vinyl only )
• 2015: The Joker Live in Concert

Compilations

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)					Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US
1973	Anthology	-	-	-	-	US56 gold (39 weeks)US
1979	Greatest Hits 1974-78	-	-	-	-	US18th × 4 Diamond + quadruple platinum (34 weeks)US
1990	The Best of 1968-1973	-	-	-	UK34 (3 weeks) UK	US- gold US
1991	The very best of	DE28 (18 weeks) DE	AT11 (2 weeks) AT	-	-	-
1998	Greatest hits	-	-	-	UK58 (1 week) UK	-
2003	Young Hearts: Complete Greatest Hits	-	-	-	-	US37 gold (13 weeks)US

gray hatching : no chart data available for this year

More compilations

• 1970: The Best of the Steve Miller Band
• 1972: St. Louie to Frisco to Memphis ( Chuck Berry with The Steve Miller Band)
• 1973: The Legend
• 1979: The Best of Steve Miller 1968–1973
• 1981: The Best of the Steve Miller Band
• 1983: Masters of Rock
• 1987: Greatest Hits 1976–1986
• 1990: Living in the USA
• 1994: Steve Miller Band Box Set (box with 3 CDs)
• 1998: Greatest Hits
• 1999: The Steve Miller Band
• 2003: Young Hearts: Complete Greatest Hits
• 2013: Complete Greatest Hits
• 2017: Ultimate Hits

Singles

year	Title album	Top ranking, total weeks / months, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks / months, awards, notes)					Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US
1968	Living in the USA Sailor	-	-	-	-	US49 (9 weeks) US
1970	Going to the Country Number 5	-	-	-	-	US69 (6 weeks) US
1973	The Joker The Joker	DE7 (25 weeks) DE	AT5 (5 months) AT	CH5 (19 weeks) CH	UK1 silver (13 weeks)UK	US1 gold (20 weeks)US
1974	Your Cash Ain't Nothin 'but Trash The Joker	-	-	-	-	US51 (7 weeks) US
1976	Take the Money and Run Fly Like an Eagle	-	-	-	-	US11 (15 weeks) US
	Rock'n Me Fly Like an Eagle	DE28 (8 weeks) DE	AT25 (1 month) AT	-	UK11 (9 weeks) UK	US1 (18 weeks) US
	Fly Like an Eagle Fly Like an Eagle	-	-	-	-	US2 (20 weeks) US
1977	Jet Airliner Book of Dreams	-	-	-	-	US8 (18 weeks) US
	Jungle Love Book of Dreams	-	-	-	-	US23 (14 weeks) US
	Swingtown Book of Dreams	-	-	-	-	US17 (15 weeks) US
1981	Heart Like a Wheel Circle of Love	-	-	-	-	US24 (14 weeks) US
1982	Circle of Love Circle of Love	-	-	-	-	US55 (7 weeks) US
	Abracadabra Abracadabra	DE2 (23 weeks) DE	AT1 (3 months) AT	CH1 (11 weeks) CH	UK2 silver (11 weeks)UK	US1 gold (25 weeks)US
	Keeps Me Wondering Why Abracadabra	-	-	-	UK52 (3 weeks) UK	-
	Cool Magic Abracadabra	-	-	-	-	US57 (8 weeks) US
	Give It Up Abracadabra	-	-	-	-	US60 (9 weeks) US
1984	Shangri-La Italian X Rays	-	-	-	-	US57 (6 weeks) US
1985	Bongo Bongo Italian X Rays	-	-	-	-	US84 (3 weeks) US
1986	Want to Make the World Turn Around Living in the 20th Century	-	-	-	-	US97 (3 weeks) US
1993	Wide River Wide River	-	-	-	-	US64 (8 weeks) US

More singles

• 1968: Sittin 'in Circles
• 1968: My Dark Hour
• 1971: Rock Love
• 1971: Steve Miller's Midnight Tango
• 1972: Fandango
• 1976: Serenade
• 1976: Shu Ba Da Du Ma Ma Ma Ma
• 1977: Dance, Dance, Dance
• 1981: Get On Home
• 1981: Macho City
• 1982: Goodbye Love
• 1983: Live
• 1984: Italian X Rays
• 1986: Nobody but You Baby
• 1986: I Wanna Be Loved
• 1988: Ya Ya
• 1993: Cry Cry Cry
• 1993: Midnight Train
• 1993: Blue Eyes
• 1994: Rock It
• 2006: Abracadabra (Round 'n' Round) (Steve Miller Band vs. Gauzz)
• 2011: Sweet Home Chicago

EPs

• 1969: The Steve Miller Band
• 1977: Star Trax

Video albums

• 1983: Live!
• 1991: volume
• 1992: Blues in the 20th Century
• 2006: Fly Like an Eagle: 30th Anniversary (US:gold)
• 2007: Live from Chicago (US:gold)

Awards for music sales

Golden record  Canada 1977: for the album Book of Dreams 1982: for the album Circle of Love 2008: for the video album Live from Chicago  New Zealand 2003: for the album Young Hearts: Complete Greatest Hits  Sweden 1990: for the single The Joker

Platinum record  Canada 1982: for the album Abracadabra 1982: for the single Abracadabra 2 × platinum record  Canada 1977: for the album Fly Like an Eagle Diamond record  Canada 2003: for the album Greatest Hits 1974-78

Note: Awards in countries from the chart tables or chart boxes can be found in these.

Country / Region	silver	gold	platinum	diamond	Sales	swell
Awards for music sales (country / region, awards, sales, sources)
Canada (MC)	-	3 × gold3	4 × platinum4th	diamond1	1,505,000	musiccanada.com
New Zealand (RMNZ)	-	gold1	-	-	7,500	nztop40.co.nz
Sweden (IFPI)	-	gold1	-	-	25,000	sverigetopplistan.se
United States (RIAA)	-	9 × gold9	13 × platinum13	diamond1	27,600,000	riaa.com
United Kingdom (BPI)	4 × silver4th	gold1	-	-	620,000	bpi.co.uk
All in all	4 × silver4th	15 × gold15th	17 × platinum17th	2 × diamond2

literature

• Stambler, Irwin: The Encyclopedia Of Pop, Rock And Soul . 3rd revised edition, New York City, New York: St. Martin's Press, 1989, pp. 465f - ISBN 0-312-02573-4 .

swell

1. ^ Entry by Steve Miller on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame website, accessed December 14, 2017.
2. ↑ ^{a b c} Chart sources: Singles Albums US2
3. ↑ ^{a b} The Billboard album by Joel Whitburn , 6th Edition, Record Research 2006, ISBN 0-89820-166-7 .

Web links

• Website of the Steve Miller Band (English)
• Steve Miller at Discogs (English)
• Steve Miller Band at Discogs (English)
• WDR-Rockpalast: Steve Miller Band, live 1983 - concert recording, photos, background report and specials