Millers later stuff is pop-squawk but his earlier albums I treasure.
Still like "Serenade" alot but must admit that youthful impression with all that electrical wizardry on "Eagle" soon got jaded. Depends what you mean by "early". The earliest thing I know is "The Joker" but know he was around for a long time before that.
Tell me Pan...what did SMB do before The Joker? What years - if you have time.
I don't have the time for my own history of SM. But I have some cut and paste that would give an overview...if anyone is interested...don't want to derail.
Yes, I am interested, and if I have any authority of any kind as the author of the forum I say it's okay because will post another top 3 afterwards.
Thanx in expectation, Panzade.
I've interwoven my recollections and some cut and paste. This is Part 1
Steve Miller was born in 1948 to a father and mother who were vitaly interested in music and musicians. Just after the war Steve's father bought a simple tape recorder and began recording musicians that played the Detroit lounges like Charles Mingus and Les Paul.
In fact Paul and Mary Ford became good friends of the family and at the age of 5, Steve was taking a few lessons from the father of the electric guitar. Soon, blues men like Willie Dixon were recording at his home and the feel of the blues saturated his guitar style for years to come
In 1950 the Miller family moved to Dallas. For Steve, this relocation
marked another next step in his musical awareness.More importantly, Dr. Miller kept inviting musicians over for evenings ofconversation and recording. As a budding guitarist, Steve was
particularly drawn to T-Bone Walker, the father of Texas-style electric blues. Wisely, Steve's father let him stay home from school one day to
watch Walker lay down tracks.
A year later, in 1955, Steve formed his first band, the Marksmen.
Inspired by Ricky Nelson's performance at the end of each weekly
Ozzie and Harriet episode, and especially by the backup wizardry of
guitarist James Burton, he enlisted guitarist Bob Hayden and drummer
Barron Cass, then taught his own older brother Buddy to play bass,
partly to make sure he didn't have to ask his mother to drive them to
gigs
Somehow, between playing gigs and developing precocious business
chops through booking his band, Miller managed to keep his grades up
in school. After graduating from Woodrow Wilson High School he
moved up to Madison to begin working on a comparative literature
degree at the University of Wisconsin. Naturally, as soon as he arrived
in the fall of 1960, he began sniffing around for the top talent in town
for his next band.
Soon he had assembled some solid musicians, including future jazz
keyboard great Ben Sidran, into a group called the Ardells. Miller,
though a new arrival in Madison, once again took over the booking as
well as playing lead guitar and singing. ("Steve was a degenerate guitar
player," Sidran would later joke in a People magazine article. "He
majored in music and fun.") During Christmas break, anxious to bring
his friend Boz Scaggs into the mix, Miller went back to Dallas, showed
him a few new chords on guitar, and persuaded him to come up the
following spring as the band's rhythm guitarist.
Top 3 Steve Miller songs:
Serenade
The Joker
Jungle love
Cheers, Panzade.
just for today, in tribute to Chris Ledoux who passed away yesterday
1. Seventeen
2. Hooked on a 8 second ride
3. Silence on the line
3 more from Le Doux
Whatcha Gonna Do with a Cowboy
Cadillac Cowboy
Cadillac Ranch
Here's a list of SM's first 5 albums with some highlights.
Hope you explore his earlier less radio-friendly songs. He was a fine Rock and Roller.
Children of the Future (1968)
Sailor (1968)-
Song for Our Ancestors
Living in the U.S.A.
Quicksilver Girl
Overdrive
Brave New World (1969)-
Kow Kow (Calqulator)
Seasons
Space Cowboy
My Dark Hour
Your Saving Grace (1969)
Little Girl
Your Saving Grace
Number 5 (1970)-
Going to the Country
Hot Chili
Tokin's
Going to Mexico
Steve Miller's Midnight Tango
Cheers
Cheers for the album details, Panzade.
I'm sure you'll be shocked to know that I could find no trace of any of these albums on the net, not for sale anyway.
The only older stuff for sale was a 68-73 compilation but that was only available on vinyl which I find a serious pain these days.
Oh , and a top 3:
Beware of the flowers - John Otway and Wild Willy Barrett
More than a feeling - Boston
Getting away with it - Electronic
well, my 3 favorite songs of all time have to be:
1. Enter Sandman - Metallica
2. Surfin' USA - Beach Boys and The Magics
AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST:
3. We Will Rock You!
Those are my 3 favorite songs eva
From a quick taste, I like these 3 best:
The space cowboy
My dark hour
Your saving grace or Kow Kow Calqualator
Everybody's talkin - Neilson
Purple Rain - Prince
On my own - Michael McDonald and Patti Labelle
Nice picks...McDonald was wonderful on The Doobie Brothers "Living On The Fault Line" album
