Let Your Hair Down features the last recordings by harmonica virtuoso Norton Buffalo, Miller’s partner in harmony for thirty-three years. Noted Pink Floyd album cover artist Storm Thorgerson, who also did the wonderfully whimsical cover to BINGO! returns to Let Your Hair Down with one of the great album covers of his career.
Following the success of last year’s number one blues album, BINGO!, which was recently nominated as Blues Rock Album of the Year by the Blues Foundation, The Steve Miller Band return with yet another new offering, Let Your Hair Down, which lands in stores April 19 on Miller’s Space Cowboy Records in partnership with Roadrunner/Loud & Proud Records and shines with some of the finest guitar playing Miller has ever recorded.
According to sources close to Steve Miller, he "Cannot be more proud of the Band and Crew!" Steve was referring to the success of the initial shows of The European Tour 2010. The Tour comes on the heels of US, Canadian, and Newfoundland gigs.
It has been 20 years since The Steve Miller Band has Toured in Europe. The Band has been greeted with a great deal of enthusiasm.
David Gilmour and Jimmy Page (Not Shown) met up with Steve backstage and hung out. The subject of conversation was not released, but speculation is always fun. What do you imagine they talked about?
Photo Credits: Kim Miller
If you don't own The Steve Miller Band Greatest Hits 74-78', you can download the entire album for $5.99 ...... Thought you would want to know!!
Also, if you just need "The Joker" to finish off your collection, iTunes has it for .69.
Cheers!!
Click Here to Buy "Hey Yeah" for $1.29
THE ROAD TO “BINGO”
It all began at the Fillmore Auditorium, where the Steve Miller Band played three sold out shows, epic, rollicking three-hour parties featuring as many as a half dozen guests each night; from prominent associates such as Bonnie Raitt and Joe Satriani to lesser known talents like violinist Carlos Reyes or guitarist Danny Caron.
Miller has played the historic Fillmore more than any other performer, 120 occasions, starting in February 1967 when he was on the bill when B.B. King made his first appearance in front of a white audience and began the second stage of his fabled career. But these latest nights were a special celebration because Miller and his band were going the next day to enter the studio and begin recording a new album.
The orchestral sound stage at George Lucas’ Skywalker Ranch is about the size of a small airplane hangar, one of the last studios of its magnitude in the country, in the middle of the filmmaker’s secluded 4700-acre compound in the woods of northern Marin County. In less than two weeks, Miller and his crew cut 42 songs, culled from 6,000 titles Miller had stored on his computer.
“Bingo” is the album Steve Miller has waited his entire life to make. Reaching back to his apprenticeship as a young man on the Chicago blues scene, Miller and co-producer Andy Johns brought classic rhythm and blues numbers into the 21st century that have been at the foundation of his music throughout his career.
It was also the final album by longtime Steve Miller Band member Norton Buffalo, Miller’s “partner in harmony” for 33 years, who died of cancer in October 2009. And it is the first album by new member Sonny Charles, the rhythm and blues journeyman who spent more than 30 years as lead vocalist of the Checkmates, best known for the 1969 Top 20 hit, “Black Pearl.” For those and many other reasons, “Bingo,” will stand as a landmark in the distinguished career of the man some people call Maurice.
Miller ran across old friend Andy Johns when the veteran British engineer behind some of the most famous records by Led Zeppelin and the Rolling Stones mixed the soundtrack to the 2008 best-selling DVD, “Steve Miller Band Live From Chicago.” His older brother, Glyn Johns, engineer to the Beatles and other British rock elite, recorded the first four albums by the Steve Miller Band and Miller first met his younger brother when Andy was 17 years old. Working with Johns whetted Miller’s appetite to return in earnest to the recording studio.
Drawing from the songbooks of Jimmy Reed, T-Bone Walker, B. B. King, Jimmie Vaughan and others, Miller and Johns transformed the classic rhythm and blues songs into monumental rock performances. They spiced some of the tracks with the Latin percussion battery of conga player Michael Carabello, founding member of Santana, and timbales ace Adrian Areas, son of Carabello’s partner from the original group, Jose “Chepito” Areas. Guitarist Joe Satriani traded solos on a couple of songs with Miller, whose brilliant guitar playing was a major feature of the sessions.
At one point in the recording, as an experiment, Miller linked up every amplifier he owned and plugged in his guitar. The ensuing jet-roar volume was so great, Miller had to leave the room to play. The sessions were conducted with brisk efficiency. The band clocked 140 takes and were gone by the end of the week, leaving Miller and Johns alone to put finishing touches on the basic tracks. With a trunkful of glistening new songs, they repaired to Miller’s own studio to spend endless hours refining, editing, polishing the results.
These songs, in many cases, are numbers Steve Miller has been playing all his life, since he first started his own band at age 12 growing up in Dallas, Texas. He is playing licks T-Bone Walker taught nine-year-old Steve. He remembers most of the original versions from hearing them on the radio when they were first released. By the age of 15, he was backing up Jimmy Reed at local nightclubs. “Bingo” is his musical autobiography.
When Miller finished the University of Wisconsin in 1962, he went directly to Chicago, where he immersed himself in city’s rich blues scene just then reaching critical mass. With bands led by giants such as Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf still working South Side cocktail lounges every week, a new generation of white blues musicians was emerging. The Paul Butterfield Blues Band was making a name at the Near North Side club, Big John’s, that was attracting students from the nearby University of Chicago.
Miller joined forces with keyboard player Barry Goldberg and the Goldberg-Miller Blues Band started working the same clubs. Signed to Epic Records, the group recorded an album in two days and went to New York to play the band’s single on TV’s “Hullabaloo.” The group took over for the ascendant Young Rascals in a residency at a Manhattan nightclub before the single flopped, the band broke up and Miller returned to Chicago, where he found the scene had dried up and blown away. He spent a couple of weeks playing rhythm guitar in Buddy Guy’s band before leaving for the greener pastures of San Francisco in fall 1966. Guy, one of the town’s leading blues guitarists, gave Miller a piece of parting advice; name your band after yourself.
The Steve Miller Blues Band quickly became a headliner at San Francisco acid-rock ballrooms like the Avalon and the Fillmore and appeared at the historic Monterey Pop Festival in June 1967. By the time the group released its debut album the following year, “Children of the Future,” the name had been shortened to the Steve Miller Band.
Miller never left the blues. Every album featured blues material. Every song used the music as a touchstone. His monumental ‘70s hits that followed the No. 1 breakthrough of “The Joker” came to practically define the pop-rock sound of American radio in that era and, subsequently, at the dawning of the ‘90s and the blooming of classic rock radio. But his music never strayed far from the bedrock of the blues.
“Bingo” is the mature work of a master craftsman, a lifetime in the making. It is the product of a seamless collaboration with his road-tested band, the sonic brilliance of the gifted Johns and Miller’s own timeless feeling for this music he loves. “Bingo” is not just another album for Steve Miller. “Bingo” is who he is.
Another Show has been added at the Fox Theater Jan 22nd 2010 to celebrate the Life of Norton Buffalo. The Friday Night Show has been added after such a huge response and almost immediate sellout of the Saturday show.
Musicians and friends are coming together on Saturday, January 23rd, 2010 at The Fox Theater in Oakland to honor and celebrate the life of Norton Buffalo.
Norton Buffalo appeared on more than 180 albums performing with numerous artists over the course of his storied career and spent 33 years as a member of the Steve Miller Band. Join us on January 23rd at the Fox for a benefit concert with many of Norton Buffalo's friends, including The Steve Miller Band, The Doobie Brothers, Bonnie Raitt, Huey Lewis, George Thorogood, Elvin Bishop, Roy Rogers, Charlie Musselwhite and The Knockouts.
100% of net proceeds from this concert benefit the Buffalo family. Tickets are a non-deductible contribution.
Click Here and Enter the word breadbox into the code section to find Tickets
There are some people who pass through this world who are so unique and special they defy description and Norton Buffalo was one of those people. There will never be another Norton. For 34 years Norton was my partner in harmony and a principle soloist in the Steve Miller Band. He gave more than he took and brightened the world whenever he played his harmonica or sang a song. He went out with his boots and spurs jangling', he had a unique and wonderful musical voice and had love in his heart for everyone he met.
Thank you Buffalo for the love and beautiful music and if you don't see me in heaven, I'll be in hell… Put in a good word for me please and be sure to say hi to Les Paul and T Bone Walker from all the guys in the band. So long partner, rest in peace, I love you dearly and hate to see you go.
Steve Miller 
The STEVE MILLER BAND has been added to the line up for the 17th Annual Merritt Mountain Music Festival on Friday, July 10, 2009.
The Steve Miller Band will rock the mountain headlining, Friday, July 10th! The Steve Miller Band emerged from San Francisco’s summer of love with a sound that was distinctively different from its peers, with songs such as "Take the Money and Run," "Rockin' Me," “Jet Airliner,” "The Joker," “Fly Like An Eagle,” "Livin' in the USA" and "Abracadabra". Forty years hence, the band has sold a cumulative 25 million records and is still a mainstay of the summer concert season.
Click Here For Ticket Info
Gibson Chairman and CEO Henry Juszkiewicz presented the Les Paul Award to legendary rock guitarist and songwriter Steve Miller. Miller, whose classics include “The Joker,” “Fly Like an Eagle,” “Rock’n Me,” and “Space Cowboy,” was joined on stage by the bearded Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top.
Named for one of the industry's most revered personalities, the Les Paul Award was created in 1991 to honor individuals or institutions that have set the highest standards of excellence in the creative application of recording technology.
Musician/composer Steve Miller was presented with the prestigious Les Paul Award, sponsored by Gibson Guitar Corp., at the 22nd Annual Technical Excellence & Creativity Awards, to be held Saturday, October 7, at the Hilton San Francisco. Presented by the Mix Foundation for Excellence in Audio, the TEC Awards recognizes outstanding achievement in professional audio production and product design.
Steve Miller's 40-year career since forming the Steve Miller Band at the height of San Francisco's psychedelic ’'60s, boasts a wealth of compositions that have consistently outrun familiar genres with fresh and enduring sounds, becoming the new classics of American popular music. Incorporating jazz and blues styles with riveting pop melodies, Miller has produced a host of Top 40 hits such as The Joker, Fly Like an Eagle, Take the Money and Run, Jet Airliner, Rockin' Me and Abracadabra, as well as a number of Gold and Platinum albums. His innovative stage techniques such as quad sound, rear-screen projection and laser shows became standard practice of large arena concerts in the late '70s. With a ready embrace of a variety of musical traditions and a unique artistic vision, Miller’s work exemplifies the creative application of audio technology honored and celebrated with the Les Paul Award.
“Steve Miller is one of the most recognized and profound musicians of our time,” says Henry Juszkiewicz, chairman and CEO of Gibson Guitar Corp. "We are honored and thrilled that he is the recipient of this year’s Les Paul Award.” For the eighth consecutive year, the Les Paul Award is sponsored by Gibson Guitar Corp. of Nashville.
Steve Miller Interviewed about business.
Guitar, drums and a business plan are now ingredients for success.
Click the link above to read the article from Associated Press on MSNBC's website.
Harmonix and MTV Games announced today the addition of eight new tracks to the Rock Band Music Store, including music from the Steve Miller Band, Godsmack, Belly, Ghost Hounds, Mute Math and Rob Zombie.
They are the usual Rock Band price: $1.99 (160 Microsoft Points for Xbox 360) per track; $5.49 (440 Microsoft Points for Xbox 360) for the Steve Miller Band 3-pack. The new tracks will be available on January 20 for the Xbox and January 22 for the PS3.
The full track list is below:
Steve Miller Band “Space Cowboy”
Steve Miller Band “Take the Money and Run”
Steve Miller Band “The Joker”
Godsmack “I Stand Alone”
Belly “Feed the Tree”
Ghost Hounds “Wind Me Up”
Mute Math “Typical”
Rob Zombie “War Zone”
28th: Maui Arts & Cultural Center- Maui-HI
March 1st: NBC Arena - Honolulu, HI
We are working on adding more dates in Hawaii and the US Mainland tour is coming together.....Stay Tuned!!!
Steve Miller has been a busy man in the years since Martin introduced his beautiful and very popular 00-37KSM and 00-37K2SM Signature Edition guitars. In 2002 came release of "King Biscuit Flower Hour Presents the Steve Miller Band," a double CD set that captures the band and its leader at their 1970s best. In 2003, "Young Hearts: Complete Greatest Hits," a remastered (with lots of personal input) "best of" album spanning his entire career, arrived in record stores. Also in 2003, he wrote the forward to "Martin Guitar Masterpieces," Dick Boak's handsome book on Martin artist editions, limited editions and custom guitars. 2006 brought "Fly Like An Eagle 30th Anniversary" CD/DVD and in 2008 "Live From Chicago" CD/DVD was released. Steve is currently in the studio finalizing a new album.
Along the way, for good measure, he collaborated with Martin on the design of an impressive new Martin guitar: the 000C Steve Miller Pegasus Signature Edition. Pegasus, the winged horse of Greek mythology, is Miller's personal logo and appears on many of his albums and custom instruments.
A Martin devotee with more than 40 years on the rock and blues music scene, Steve Miller appreciates superb sounding, easy playing, understated guitars. Like his previous Signature Editions, the 000C "Pegasus" derives its beauty and tone from spectacular tonewoods, elegant appointments and subtle (and not so subtle) design elements. The 000C Steve Miller Pegasus Signature Edition clearly is a guitar built for comfort. This true 000 features the short 24.9" scale, which lowers string tension and shortens the distance between frets. The rounded Venetian cut-away provides easy access to the entire fingerboard. The OM width fingerboard (1-3/4" at the nut) and low oval neck enhance fretting ease. A chrome strap button and factory-installed non-invasive Fishman Ellipse Blend System electronics contribute to stage or studio-readiness right out of the case. Superb solid tonewoods throughout result in impressive tone. The top of Engelmann spruce, prized for quick response and rich timbre, features Martin's Hybrid scalloped bracing. The back and sides are crafted from solid quilted mahogany with lightly quilted figuring, while the neck is straight-grained genuine mahogany.
Enhancing the beauty of the woods are graceful inlays. A colorful abalone pearl rosette surrounds the soundhole, while fine-pattern herringbone purfling encircles the top. The backstrip features the multi-colored Style 45 mosaic, in this case bordered with fine black fiber lines. Both back and sides are bound with grained ivoroid and accented with black/white/black line inlays. Both the heelcap and end piece showcase matching grained ivoroid, the latter framed with black/white/black line inlays.
The black African ebony fingerboard and headplate are bound with grained ivoroid and inset with black/white fine line inlays. The polished headplate showcases the exquisite "alternative" torch inlay, first used and abandoned in 1902, only to reappear nearly 100 years later on selected Martin Limited and Signature Editions (including Steve's first limited edition models). In keeping with Miller's preference, the fingerboard highlights the wood itself, unsullied by position markers or a signature.
To match the headplate and fingerboard, the belly bridge and bridge pins are all crafted from black ebony, the latter two topped with pearl dots. Also matching is the polished and beveled black pickguard. The nut is genuine bone, while the compensated drop-in through saddle is crafted from Tusq, a synthetic material that imparts crisp, clear tone. The 000C Steve Miller Pegasus Signature Edition is finished with polished gloss lacquer on the body and neck. Vintage toner on the top gives the instrument a touch of "old Martin" patina. Delivered in a special Geib style hardshell case with black interior and black hard-ware, each 000C Steve Miller Pegasus Signature Edition bears an interior label personally signed by Steve Miller, Martin Artist Relations Manager Dick Boak, and Martin Chairman C. F. Martin IV. Each label will be consecutively numbered with the edition total. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of each 000C Steve Miller Pegasus model will support The Snake River Alliance, an Idaho-based community organization working through research, education, and community advocacy for peace and justice, the end of nuclear weapons production activities, and responsible solutions to nuclear waste and contamination.
MODEL 000C Steve Miller
CONSTRUCTION: Mortise/Tenon Neck Joint
BODY SIZE: 000-14 Fret Cutaway
TOP: Solid Engelmann Spruce
ROSETTE: Style 45
TOP BRACING PATTERN: 0001 Hybrid
TOP BRACES: 1 Style/Scalloped
BACK MATERIAL: Solid Quilted Mahogany
BACK PURFLING: Style 45
SIDE MATERIAL: Solid Quilted Mahogany
ENDPIECE: Grained Ivoroid
ENDPIECE INLAY: B/W/B Boltaron®
BINDING: Grained Ivoroid
TOP INLAY STYLE: Fine Herringbone
SIDE INLAY: B/W/B Boltaron
BACK INLAY: B/W/B Boltaron
NECK MATERIAL: Solid Genuine Mahogany
NECK SHAPE: Modified Low Oval
NUT MATERIAL: Bone
HEADSTOCK: Solid/6 String Diamond/Square Taper
HEADPLATE: Solid Black Ebony /Alternate Torch Pattern - Select Pearl
HEELCAP: Grained Ivoroid
FINGERBOARD MATERIAL: Solid Black Ebony
SCALE LENGTH: 24.9"
# OF FRETS CLEAR: 14
# OF FRETS TOTAL: 20
FINGERBOARD WIDTH AT NUT: 1 3/4''
FINGERBOARD WIDTH AT 12TH FRET: 2 1/4''
FINGERBOARD POSITION INLAYS: none
FINGERBOARD BINDING: Grained Ivoroid/Mitered
FINISH BACK & SIDES: Polished Gloss/Dark Mahogany Stain
FINISH TOP: Ploished Gloss w/VintageToner
FINISH NECK: Polished Gloss/ Dark Mahogany Stain/Dark Filler
BRIDGE MATERIAL: Solid Black Ebony
BRIDGE STYLE: Vintage Belly- Drop In Long Saddle
BRIDGE STRING SPACING: 2 1/4''
SADDLE: Long White Tusq
TUNING MACHINES: Gotoh Nickel Open Geared w/ Butterbean Knobs
RECOMMENDED STRINGS: Martin MSP 4100 Light Phosphor Bronze
BRIDGE & END PINS: Ebony w/ Abalone Pearl Dots
PICKGUARD: Black/ Beveled and Polished
CASE: 533 Hardshell
INTERIOR LABEL: 2 Labels- 1 Signed By CFM IV, Steve Miller and Dick Boak, Numbered With Total
ELECTRONICS: Fishman® Ellipse™ Blend
Vinyl records make a return Michael Robinson Chavez / Los Angeles Times
AHEAD OF THE CURVE: Monti Olson and Jeff Bowers launched the vinyl-only Original Recordings Group label in December 2006. It will release 10 albums in 2008 and expects to put out twice that number in 2009. Music on discs, the big, old-time kind, is popular again. Baby boomers and even kids seek it out. The industry responds. By Melinda Newman, Special to The Times August 18, 2008 When the doorbell rings at Monti Olson's Glendale home in the middle of the night, it can mean only one thing: Jeff Bowers, his partner in Original Recordings Group, has brought new album artwork for him to inspect. "I'll come out in my pajamas and look it over," Olson said. "He drives home, and I'll go back to bed." Olson's doorbell is chiming more frequently these days. Since starting vinyl-only label ORG in December 2006 in Olson's kitchen, the label is bursting at the seams. "By the end of the year, we will have gone from making zero money to projecting that we will gross over $1 million," said Olson, who nevertheless has kept his day job as senior vice president of A&R at Universal Music Publishing Group. The label, which primarily licenses material from Universal Music Group, will release 10 vinyl albums in 2008 and expects to put out twice that number in 2009. But ORG isn't the only one reaping the rewards. Many Southern California companies -- large and small -- are benefiting from this sonic boom. According to the Recording Industry Assn., shipments of vinyl soared 36.6% from 2006 to 2007. That amounts to 1.3 million units nationwide. While the numbers are minuscule compared to CD shipments of 511 million for 2007, the news is much-welcomed by a faltering music industry. "This is a little bright star," said Jane Ventom, vice president for Hollywood-based EMI Music Marketing. Next month, Capitol/EMI will launch "From the Capitol Vaults," with the release of 13 titles on vinyl, including Radiohead's "OK Computer" and Steve Miller Band's "Greatest Hits 1974-1978." Baby boomers, many of whom had long tucked away their turntables, began to feel nostalgic for their youth and the warm sound of vinyl. Concurrently, a younger generation, raised on CDs and tinny, compressed MP3 files, traded in their earbuds for a less isolated music experience. Long the provenance of indie record stores, vinyl can now be found at such mass marketers as Best Buy and Costco. "I have family friends whose 10-year-olds are asking for turntables," said Tom "Grover" Biery, Warner Bros. Records' executive vice president of promotion and the Burbank-based label's vinyl guru. Olson and Bowers knew they were on to something when they sold 4,000 copies -- their entire vinyl inventory -- of rock band TV on the Radio's "Return to Cookie Mountain" in 24 hours. "We thought we'd sell 100 a month, and the day the solicitation went out, they were gone," said Bowers. Biery's light bulb moment came three years ago when Neil Young came to Warner Bros. to play his greatest hits album for the staff. "At the end of it," Biery recalled, "he did a whole speech about how sound matters and someone needs to stand up for sound." Inspired, Biery went to his boss about Warner Bros. releasing vinyl made with loving care, "from mastering to pressing to the jacket," he says. In the three years since the initiative started, Biery said Warner Bros. has gone from pressing 2,000 vinyl copies of a title to up to 15,000 copies. "Vinyl is still really a niche thing, but it's a bigger niche to the point where the accounting department is actually asking me about projections now," he said. Similarly, Warner's sister label, Rhino, has ramped up with Rhino Vinyl. In the last quarter of 2007, Burbank-based Rhino released five titles. For the same period this year, the tally will be more than 30 -- many in conjunction with Warner Bros.' 50th anniversary. "Vinyl is no longer an afterthought," said Rhino's Cheryl Pawelski. Like many labels, when Rhino releases a new title such as the "Juno" soundtrack on vinyl, the company either includes a CD version or a code to digitally download the songs. The resurgence is having a snowball effect. At Record Technology Inc., a once-beleaguered pressing plant in Camarillo, owner Don MacInnis said that "business is the best it's been in 20 years." When vinyl started its rebirth, RTI operated on banker's hours -- five days a week, eight hours a day. Now, "we're running 16 hours a day, six days a week," MacInnis said. And he's turning away clients. RTI's average pressing per title over the last few years has doubled to 3,000 units, with orders frequently topping 10,000 copies. While labels expect to make money -- or at least break even -- producing vinyl is, for many, a labor of love. The production cost is easily four times that of pressing a CD and can soar higher when a heavier vinyl weight is used. (A traditional LP is pressed on 120-gram weight vinyl, whereas many labels produce special packages using 180-gram vinyl, which gives a fuller, richer sound.) This summer, ORG will release a four-vinyl-LP, 10th-anniversary edition of Beck's "Odelay." The original CD booklet will be re-created for the 180-gram special package, which will carry a suggested retail list price of $60. Most major labels are releasing a mix of new and vintage titles, but at West Los Angeles retailer Record Surplus, which sells used vinyl, CDs and DVDs, the classics never go out of vogue. "Led Zeppelin doesn't stay for more than two days," said store co-manager Neil Canter, adding that sales of rock vinyl have doubled in the last few years. "Pink Floyd -- as soon as I put it out, it sells." Amoeba Music in Hollywood sells about 2,000 vinyl LPs a day, up as much as 15% compared to a year ago, said store marketing executive Ilene Barg, adding that turntable sales there have risen 10% to 15% compared to last year. Many of those sales are to an audience experiencing vinyl for the first time. "I'm seeing actual young, attractive people at Record Surplus," joked David Gorman, co-owner of L.A. indie label HackTone Records, which will issue its first vinyl release, "Ready for the Flood," from former Jayhawks Mark Olson and Gary Louris this fall.
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