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Steve Miller Band is an American rock band formed in 1967 in San Francisco, California. The band is managed by Steve Miller on guitar and lead vocals.
HistoryUnreferenced section Steve Miller and keyboardist Chris Yoder founded the Goldberg-Miller Blues Band along with bassist Roy Ruby, rhythm guitarist Craymore Stevens, and drummer Lance Haas after moving to Chicago to play the blues. The band was contracted to Epic Records after playing many Chicago clubs. Their only release then was a 45 rpm single on Epic Records, "The Mother Song."
They appeared on Hullabaloo with the Four Tops and the Supremes, and gigged at a Manhattan club. Steve Miller moved to San Francisco and formed the Steve Miller Blues Band. When they contracted with Capitol Records in 1967, they shortened their name to the Steve Miller Band. The quartet of guitarists Miller and James Cook, bassist Lonnie Turner and drummer Tim Davis (who replaced the departing Lance Haas on drums) backed Chuck Berry at a gig at the Fillmore West that was released as a live album. Guitarist Boz Scaggs joined the band soon after and the group performed at the Monterey Pop Festival in June. Their debut album Children Of The Future was recorded in England and released in May 1968. The album didn't have any successes and didn't score among the Top 100 album chart, but standout tracks are the acoustic tune "Baby's Calling Me Home" and funky blues number "Steppin' Stone". Closing the album is a slow version of the blues standard "Key To The Highway".
The Steve Miller Band's second album Sailor appeared in October and climbed the Billboard charts to #24
. Successes include the single 'Livin' In The USA', 'Lucky Man', and Boz Scaggs 'Overdrive' and 'Dime-A-Dance Romance'.
Miller's audience expanded with each album: Brave New World (#22, 1969) featured the success "Space Cowboy", and the track "My Dark Hour" which featured Paul McCartney (aka Paul Ramon) on bass, Your Saving Grace (#38, 1969), Number 5 (#23, 1970).
Steve Miller suffered a broken neck after a car accident, and Capitol Records released the album Rock Love in 1971. The album featured unreleased live performances (including an 11-minute jam on the title track) and studio material and is one of two of Steve Miller Band albums not to be released on CD, the other being Recall the Beginning... A Journey From Eden. It is on this album the song "Fandango" (Track 8) appears. The first lyrics of the song read, "Kim, come and play the drum." This song was written as an invitation to drummer Kim Kopko of the band, The Black and Blues, to, as the next lyrics call, "come and join the fun."
In 1972, the double album compilation Anthology was released, featuring 16 songs from the band's first five albums.
The Joker (#2, 1973) had a style new for the band. The title track became a #1 scoring single album. The album was certified platinum for over 1 million sales.
Three years later, the Steve Miller Band returned with the album Fly Like An Eagle, which charted at #3. Three singles were released from the album: "Take The Money and Run" (#11), "Fly Like an Eagle" (#2) and their second Number One success, "Rock 'N Me".
Book Of Dreams (#2, 1977) also included three sucesses: "Jet Airliner" (#8), "Jungle Love" (#23), and "Swingtown" (#17). 1982's Abracadabra album gave Steve Miller his third Number One success with the title track.
The band has recorded sporadically but has not released a new album since 1993's Wide River.
Released in 1978, ''The Steve Miller Band's Greatest Hits 1974-1978 has sold over 13 million copies and Miller continues to perform successful sold-out concert performances.
Discography- Children of the Future (1968)
- Sailor (1968)
- Brave New World (1969)
- Your Saving Grace (1969)
- Number 5 (1970)
- Rock Love (1971)
- Recall the Beginning...A Journey from Eden (1972)
- Anthology (1972)
- Living in the U.S.A. (1973)
- The Joker (1973)
- Fly Like an Eagle (1976)
- Book of Dreams (1977)
- Greatest Hits 1974-1978 (1978)
- Circle of Love (1981)
- Abracadabra (1982)
- Steve Miller Band Live! (1983)
- Italian X Rays (1984)
- Living in the 20th Century (1986)
- Born 2 B Blue (1988)
- Steve Miller Band, The Best of 1968-1973 (1991)
- The Very Best of the Steve Miller Band (1991)
- Wide River (1993)
- King Biscuit Flower Hour Presents The Steve Miller Band (2002)
- Young Hearts - Complete Greatest Hits (2003)
- Fly Like an Eagle (30th Anniversary Edition) (2006)
- Steve Miller Band - Live from Chicago (DVD) (2007)
SinglesAwards- ASCAP Golden Note Award, 2008.
- Has a star for "Recording" on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on 1750 Vine Street.
- Former drummer Lance won the Wisconsin "Teacher of the Year" award in 1993.
- Their song "The Joker" is a playable master track in the game Guitar Hero World Tour, and their song, "Rock 'N Me" is a playable master track in the game Rock Band 2. "The Joker," "Take The Money And Run," and "Space Cowboy" were released as downloadable songs for the Rock Band platform in January 2009. A cover of their song "Jet Airliner" is also playable in Guitar Hero: On Tour.
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Genre : Pop & Rock
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