In 1966, he formed the Steve Miller Band (at first called The Steve Miller Blues Band), with Miller handling vocals. They backed Chuck Berry on his Live at Fillmore Auditorium album released that year. In 1968, they released an album, Children of the Future,[8] the first in a series of discs rooted solidly in the psychedelic blues style that then dominated the San Francisco scene. Writing in Crawdaddy!, Peter Knobler called the album “a triple moment of experience, knowledge, inspiration”.[9] 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 Brave New World, Your Saving Grace, and Number 5. These albums performed respectably on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart but failed to yield a major hit single. The highest single was “Livin’ in the USA” from Sailor. Songs from this period are 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 (as Paul Ramon) on “Celebration” and “My Dark Hour”.
Miller established his persona of the “Gangster of Love” (from Sailor)[8] 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: this work was less hard-rock oriented and simpler in composition. The album received significant radio airplay, which helped the title track reach number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The single hit No 1 on the UK Singles Chart in September 1990 after it was used for a television commercial.[8]
Miller followed up with Fly Like an Eagle in 1976, and Book of Dreams in 1977. (The songs for both had been recorded at the same time, and released over two single albums rather than one double-album.) 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“.[8] The Steve Miller Band co-headlined a major stadium tour with the Eagles in 1978.
The Steve Miller Band’s ongoing popularity has been notable. In 1978, Greatest Hits 1974–78 was released, featuring the big hits from his two most popular albums, Fly Like an Eagle and Book of Dreams along with the title track from The Joker. This popularity also fueled successful concert tours throughout the 1980s and 1990s, 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 selection of his blues work dating from the late 1960s.
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