Steve Miller Band

The Steve Miller Band is an American rock band formed in San Francisco, California, in 1966. The band is led by Steve Miller on guitar and lead vocals. The group had a string of mid- to late-1970s hit singles that are staples of classic rock radio, as well as several earlier psychedelic rock albums. Miller left his first band to move to San Francisco and form the Steve Miller Blues Band.^[3] Shortly after Harvey Kornspan negotiated the band's contract with Capitol Records in 1967, the band shortened its name to the Steve Miller Band. In February 1968, the band recorded its debut album, Children of the Future. It went on to produce the albums Sailor, Brave New World, Your Saving Grace, Number 5, The Joker, Fly Like an Eagle, and Book of Dreams, among others. The band's album Greatest Hits 1974–78, released in 1978, has sold over 13 million copies. In 2016, Steve Miller was inducted as a solo artist into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

In 1965, after moving to Chicago to play the blues, Steve Miller and keyboardist Barry Goldberg founded the Goldberg-Miller Blues Band along with bassist Roy Ruby, rhythm guitarist Craymore Stevens, and drummer Maurice McKinley. The band contracted to Epic Records and recorded a single, "The Mother Song", which they performed on Hullabaloo, before Miller left the group and moved to San Francisco.^[4][5]

In November 1966, Miller formed the Steve Miller Blues Band, consisting of Miller and a trio of Wisconsin transplants: guitarist James "Curley" Cooke, drummer Tim Davis, and bassist Rich Personett; in January 1967, Lonnie Turner replaced Personett, who had been drafted. The band performed regularly in the San Francisco area, and in June they appeared at the Magic Mountain Festival (held June 10/11, 1967). Tim Davis' former college roommate, Jim Peterman, then joined on Hammond B3 organ in time for the band's appearance at the Monterey Pop Festival the following week (the festival was held June 16/17/18, 1967). Later that same month, the group backed Chuck Berry at a gig at the Fillmore Auditorium that was released as the live album, Live at Fillmore Auditorium.^[6] In September, guitarist/vocalist Boz Scaggs, who had played in various bands with Steve in the early 1960s in Texas, replaced Curley Cooke, who had taken ill.^[7]

In November 1967, the Steve Miller Blues Band signed with Capitol Records. Harvey Kornspan, Miller's lawyer and managing partner, wrote and negotiated the contract ($860,000 over five years as well as $25,000 of promotion money that was to be spent at the band's discretion) with the label's then-president Alan Livingston, who had first approached Miller after seeing the band play at the Monterey Pop Festival in June. Shortly after, the band's name was shortened to the Steve Miller Band at the recommendation of George Martin, in order to broaden its appeal.

En enero de 1968, la banda viajó a Londres, Inglaterra, para grabar su álbum debut, Children of the Future, en los estudios Olympic, con Glyn Johns como ingeniero y productor. El álbum no logró entrar en la lista de los 100 más vendidos. La visita también tuvo un mal comienzo, ya que el grupo y su séquito fueron arrestados por "importación de drogas y posesión de un arma de fuego peligrosa". La esposa de Kornspan llamó a Johns para preguntarle si comparecería como testigo de buena conducta ante el juez al día siguiente del arresto y, con suerte, pagaría la fianza por ellos. Johns aceptó y el grupo fue liberado con la condición de que Johns "garantizara su buen comportamiento" durante el resto de su estancia en Inglaterra. Ambas acusaciones fueron retiradas. El "arma de fuego peligrosa" resultó ser una pistola de bengalas inservible que se usaba como decoración en la casa donde se alojaba el grupo. Las "drogas importadas" resultaron ser hachís que estaba enterrado en el centro de un gran pastel de frutas que un amigo estadounidense había enviado al grupo, sin que nadie en el grupo lo supiera. ^{[ 8 ]}

El segundo álbum, Sailor, apareció en octubre de 1968 y alcanzó el puesto número 24 en la lista Billboard . Entre sus éxitos se incluyó el sencillo "Living in the USA". Brave New World ( número 22 , 1969) incluyó las canciones "Space Cowboy" y "My Dark Hour". Paul McCartney , acreditado como "Paul Ramon", tocó la batería, el bajo y cantó los coros en "My Dark Hour". A este le siguieron Your Saving Grace ( número 38 , 1969) y Number 5 ( número 23 , 1970). En 1971, Capitol Records lanzó el álbum Rock Love , que incluía actuaciones en directo inéditas y material de estudio. Este es uno de los dos álbumes de Steve Miller Band que no se reeditaron en CD hasta 2022; el otro es Recall the Beginning...A Journey from Eden , de 1972. Más tarde, en 1972, se publicó el álbum doble recopilatorio Anthology , que contenía 16 canciones de cinco de los primeros siete álbumes de la banda.

El estilo y la formación de la banda cambiaron radicalmente con The Joker ( n.º 2 , 1973), centrándose en el rock directo y dejando atrás su faceta de blues psicodélico. El tema principal, « The Joker », se convirtió en un sencillo número 1 y obtuvo siete discos de platino, alcanzando más de siete millones de ventas. La RIAA le otorgó un disco de oro el 11 de enero de 1974. ^{[ 9 ]}

Tres años después, la banda regresó con el álbum Fly Like an Eagle , que alcanzó el puesto número 3 en las listas . Se lanzaron tres sencillos del álbum: " Take the Money and Run " ( número 11 ), " Fly Like an Eagle " ( número 2 ) y su segundo éxito número 1 , " Rock'n Me ". Miller atribuye la introducción de guitarra de "Rock'n Me" a un homenaje a la canción de Free , " All Right Now ". ^{[ 10 ]}

Book of Dreams ( n.º 2 , 1977) también incluyó tres éxitos: " Jet Airliner " ( n.º 8 ), " Jungle Love " ( n.º 23 ) y " Swingtown " ( n.º 17 ).

Publicado en 1978, el álbum Greatest Hits 1974–78 de The Steve Miller Band ha vendido más de 15 millones de copias. ^{[ 11 ]}

El álbum Abracadabra de 1982 le dio a Steve Miller su tercer éxito número 1 con la canción que le da título . El éxito de Miller desbancó a " Hard to Say I'm Sorry " de Chicago del primer puesto, tal como su "Rock'n Me" había desbancado a " If You Leave Me Now " de Chicago del primer puesto en 1976. ^{[ 10 ]}

Bingo!, un álbum de versiones de blues y R&B , se lanzó el 15 de junio de 2010. Let Your Hair Down , un lanzamiento complementario de Bingo!, se lanzó 10 meses después, el 18 de abril de 2011. ^{[ 12 ]}

Founding member Tim Davis died from complications due to diabetes on September 20, 1988, at the age of 44. Long-time band member Norton Buffalo died from lung cancer on October 30, 2009. John King (drummer during "The Joker" era) died after a short bout with kidney cancer on October 26, 2010. James Cooke died from cancer on 16 May 2011. Original bassist Lonnie Turner died from lung cancer on April 28, 2013. His time with the band led to songs such as Jet Airliner, Swingtown, Take the Money And Run, Jungle Love and many more. Blues guitarist Jacob Petersen officially joined the band before the Spring 2011 tour. Following Petersen joining the band, longtime guitarist Kenny Lee Lewis switched instruments to become the band's full-time bassist. In 2014, Steve Miller Band toured with fellow San Francisco rock band Journey.^[13]

When it was announced that Steve Miller would be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a solo artist without his band, Miller told Rolling Stone, "It wasn't my decision, and I didn't have any input into any of it. If they had asked me what do, I think I would have said, 'Here's a list of everyone that was ever in my band. They all ought to be here.'"^[14]

The Steve Miller Band's early material was blues rock that was influenced by psychedelic music. The band played pop rock in their later output. The songwriting has a strong emphasis on melody. Miller experimented with new wave music in the 1980s before reverting back to his initial style with the band.^[15]

Current members

• Steve Miller – lead vocals, guitar, harmonica, keyboards (1966–present)
• Kenny Lee Lewis – bass (1983–1987, 2011–present), guitar (1982–1983, 1987–1988, 1994–2011), backing vocals (1982–1988, 1994–present)
• Joseph Wooten – keyboards, backing vocals (1993–present)
• Jacob Petersen – guitar, backing vocals (2011–present)
• Ron Wikso – drums (2021–present)

Former members

• Lance Haas - drummer (1965)
• Lonnie Turner – bass, guitar, backing vocals (1966–1970, 1975–1978; died 2013)
• Boz Scaggs – guitar, lead and backing vocals (1967–1968)
• Jim Peterman – keyboards, backing vocals (1966–1968)
• Tim Davis – drums, backing vocals (1966–1970; died 1988)
• James "Curley" Cooke – guitar (1967; died 2011)
• Ben Sidran – keyboards (1968, 1969, 1970, 1972, 1987–1991)
• Nicky Hopkins – keyboards (1969, 1970; died 1994)
• Bobby Winkelman – bass, guitar, vocals (1969–1970; died 2023)
• Ross Valory – bajo, coros (1970–1971)
• Jack King – batería (1970–1972)
• Gary Mallaber – batería, teclados, coros (1972, 1975–1987)
• Roger Allen Clark – batería (1972; falleció en 2018)
• Dick Thompson – teclados (1972–1974)
• Gerald Johnson – bajo, coros (1972–1974, 1981–1983)
• John King – batería (1972–1974; falleció en 2010)
• Les Dudek – guitarra (1975)
• Doug Clifford – batería (1975)
• David Denny – guitarra, coros (1975–1978)
• Norton Buffalo – armónica, guitarra, coros (1975–1978, 1982–1987, 1989–2009; falleció en 2009)
• Greg Douglass – guitarra slide, coros (1976–1978)
• Byron Allred – teclados (1976–1987, 1990; falleció en 2021)
• John Massaro – guitarra, coros (1982–1983)
• Billy Peterson – bajo, coros (1987–2011)
• Bob Mallach – saxofón (1987–1996)
• Paul Peterson – guitarra (1988, 1991–1992)
• Ricky Peterson – teclados (1988, 1991)
• Keith Allen – guitarra, coros (1989–1990)
• Sonny Charles – coros (2008–2011)
• Gordy Knudtson – batería (1987–2021)

Cronología

álbumes de estudio

El grupo lleva publicando álbumes y sencillos desde 1968 y actualmente ha publicado 18 álbumes de estudio , seis álbumes en directo , siete álbumes recopilatorios (oficiales) y al menos 29 sencillos .

• Los niños del futuro (1968)
• Marinero (1968)
• Un mundo feliz (1969)
• Tu gracia salvadora (1969)
• Número 5 (1970)
• Amor rock (1971)
• Recordando el comienzo... Un viaje desde el Edén (1972)
• El Joker (1973)
• Vuela como un águila (1976)
• El libro de los sueños (1977)
• Círculo de amor (1981)
• Abracadabra (1982)
• Radiografías italianas (1984)
• Vivir en el siglo XX (1986)
• Río ancho (1993)
• ¡Bingo! (2010)
• Suelta tu cabello (2011)

• Premio ASCAP Golden Note, 2008. ^{[ 16 ]}
• Estrella por "Grabación" en el Paseo de la Fama de Hollywood en 1750 Vine Street . ^{[ 17 ] [ 18 ]}
• Steve Miller fue incorporado al Salón de la Fama del Rock and Roll en 2016 ^{[ 19 ].}

• Lista de bandas del Área de la Bahía de San Francisco
• Steve Miller Band en Rockpalast 1983

• Official website
• Steve Miller Band discography at Discogs
• Steve Miller Band at IMDb