STE* - STEve Miller

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Seattle almost matches the STE* requirement - at least it has all the letters. And more. It's my legal home when I'm back in the US of A, but more important to you since you are currently reading this at SMM, is the strength of the city's musical output. I was sure that Steve Miller was from Seattle, but he isn't listed in the Wikipedia link to famous musicians from Seattle. However, the Wikipedia list hasn't got it quite right (your teacher always told you that you shouldn't use Wikipedia as a reliable source). Miller has in fact been associated with/lived in the Seattle area.

The Steve Miller Band was one of my favorites - for some reason up until about the time just after the band turned more commercial (after The Joker/Fly Like an Eagle, both of which I consider decent if not quite like the earlier output)

We have here a cut from 1969's Brave New World, shortly after Boz Scaggs had left. Apparently recorded in a single session in London, the album includes a musician billed as Paul Ramon - doing backing vocals on the track, but also drums and guitar on other tracks on the album. You probably know him better by another name.

Celebration Song

The Future: Fly Like an Eagle

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It's been years since I listened to Steve Miller, but back "then", he was one of my main listens.  Heading into this theme, it was my recollection that the lyrics to Fly Like an Eagle include some kind of a reference to "the future". In fact, a re-listen to the song after maybe 20 years away reveals to me that a major conceit of the lyrics is not just that line, but in general what the future might/could bring.

Time keeps on slipping / Into the future ...  We can't/don't feed the poor now, but in the future .... I can't fly like an eagle now, but I would like to ....

In the various Youtube clips associated with this title, Steve Miller makes remarkably good use of the looping effect - playing on top of the just previously played notes as they loop past - just a thought: the present (if not the future) layered on top of the past.

Tangentially, I ran across an article in Open Culture in which there is an account of Miles Davis' rather dismissive take on Steve Miller. I enjoy them both and see no reason why one should over-ride the other - they're worlds apart.

Bonus: This is a pretty long live version and Joe Satriani joins in at about 5 minutes.

Hand Claps: Take The Money And Run

Steve Miller Band: Take the Money and Run

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I had a couple of ideas for this week, which I will still get to later, but this morning my iPod was on shuffle and all of sudden there they were: The most iconic succession of five hand claps from my early adolescence.

They headed down tooooo old El Paso... clap! clap! clap! clap! clap!

In 1976 I was nine years old. Just old enough to be cognizant of the fact that every older kid in my town, it seemed, knew every word to this song. As far as I could tell it was required curriculum at the Junior and Senior High Schools. I distinctly remember being in our kitchen with one of my older sister's totally hot friends when she sang along with this song and laughed as she clapped those five claps.

Steve Miller was never consistent enough to transcend the 70's in any meaningful way. But his handful of hits were so mercilessly catchy that they have remained on most respectable classic rock rotations, and most people over 40 remember where they were when these songs were being played every 10 minutes on the radio.