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Steve Miller (musician)
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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.
er was born to Dr. George "Sonny" Miller, a pathologist, jazz enthusiast, hat salesman and amateur recording engineer, and Bertha, a jazz-influenced singer.
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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.
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. While in Milwaukee, 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 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 to him at that time.
In 1950, the family moved to Dallas, Texas. 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. After leaving St. Mark's — "I got kicked out," he recalled with a laugh in a 2004 interview — Miller graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School in the Lakewood area of Dallas in 1961. T-Bone Walker visited the Millers and was recorded by Sonny Miller; Steve has said that Walker formed a significant influence on his guitar style.
In 1962, Miller returned to Wisconsin, and entered the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he formed The Ardells. Scaggs joined the Ardells the next year, and Ben Sidran became the band's keyboardist the year after. After attending the University of Copenhagen in Denmark for a semester in his senior year to study comparative literature, he dropped out six credit hours shy of a literature degree, opting to pursue a music career with his mother's encouragement and his father's misgivings:
[Interviewer:] When you look back over the span of your career, what are the lasting moments, the sweetest highs?
[Miller:] I would have to say spending time with Les Paul and T-Bone Walker when I was young. Growing up in Dallas, being part of that phenomenal music scene. I found a way to do what I really wanted to do, which is so important for a kid. Near the end of college, my parents said, 'Steve, what are you going to do?' I said, 'I want to go to Chicago and play the blues.' My father looked at me like I was insane. But my mom said, 'You should do it now.' So I went to Chicago. And that was a special time. I played with Muddy Waters and Howlin' Old Wolf. I got to work with adults and realized music was what I wanted to do, what I loved.
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 Type 2 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. Billed as The Miller Band, they backed Chuck Berry on his Live at Fillmore Auditorium album released that year. 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", 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, 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 1978 (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 (plus the title track from the The Joker), 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)".
Discography
Steve Miller Band
U.S. Singles
- Living In The U.S.A. (1968) - #49
- Going To The Country (1970) - #69
- The Joker (1973) - #1
- Your Cash Ain't Nothin' But Trash (1974) - #51
- Rock'n Me (1976) - #1
- Fly Like An Eagle (1976) - #2
- Jet Airliner (1977) - #8
- Swingtown (1977) - #17
- Jungle Love (1977) - #23
- Heart Like A Wheel (1981) - #24
- Abracadabra (1982) - #1
- Circle Of Love (1982) - #55
- Cool Magic (1982) - #57
- Give It Up (1982) - #60
- Shangri-La (1984) - #57
- Bongo Bongo (1985) - #84
- I Want To Make The World Turn Around (1986) - #97
- Wide River (1993) - #64
Solo recordings
See also
External links
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