Steve Miller Band - Fly Like an Eagle

Back in the day it seemed like all the cool kids had a copy of the Steve Miller Band's Greatest Hits 1974–78. The band had been pumping out albums since 1968, but the label figured the keys to success were to be found by only taking songs from the holy trinity of albums released between (stop reading if you know where this is going) 1974 and 1978. Although to be fair (did you add the extra 'to be fair' in your head?) the band didn't release anything new in '78 but the hits album came out ... I'm guessing on the assumption that it would be a hit before it was.

The only thing I ever had as a kid by the band was a 45 of "Take the Money and Run" that I played a lot, and I always wanted to get more, but never did. Not even the legendary greatest hits record. Of course over the years I would end up with an awful lot of his stuff.  There was a lot of good stuff out there by Steve Miller, but it was the hits I wanted to hear. I didn't mind his blues stuff, but it wasn't what brought me in as a fan. Fly Like an Eagle is an odd album that balanced the trippy with straight ahead rockers and then threw in the blues and country because, well, he could.

Now, if you thought (like me) those golden (platinum) records were all killer you'd be in for a surprise. Oh the killers were there, "Fly Like and Eagle" and "Take the Money and Run" along with "Rock'n Me" are worth the price of admission. It's the other deeper cuts that are often a surprise to the casual listener. Which is what I was when I was a kid. Listening to this for the first time as a seasoned adult (I'm old now. Not old old, but old. I actually just made the cut to count as "boomer" old, not Gen X old) The surprises are generally good, but there are moments like the incredibly loud voice over on the Sam Cooke classic "You Send Me" that just seem out of place - and I don't think Mister Miller could have cared less. However, it's songs like "Mercury Blues" that seem to be the most interesting. It's almost like the pop songs were used as a means to introduce people to the blues. After all Steve Miller at heart seemed to be firmly rooted in the blues tradition. It is an album that is showing it's age, but not necessarily in a bad way.

Let's run through this and see where things fall in the ledger. That's right time for a song by song breakdown.

The album opens with the title track that is generally paired with the instrumental opening "Space Intro" and it was trippy. I'll be honest, this isn't one of the songs I liked a lot at first. Now of course it's a certified classic. One would think that with the hook set, Steve would get to the business at hand, and start reeling the listener in ... nah, instead he spools out a shitload of line and follows up with a song I still can't quite process: "Wild Mountain Honey" I'm not sure what this was, or is ... it's a weird, good weird that still perplexes me and I love it. 

Steve seems content to let things meander but not so much he loses you. He puts a little tension back on the line with "Serenade" a song that featured the quack and jangle of his Stratocastor. It's a decent song, and one that was apparently released as a late single from the album. I can see why, as it was in the same vein more or less stylistically as "Take the Money and Run" and "Rock 'N Me" but it really doesn't have the same shimmer and shine. Decent album track, but frankly it feels like filler.

"Dance, Dance, Dance" is just odd. I actually love how rough this one is. The double tracked vocals are out of sync more than they're aligned, but the bluegrass infused song is actually pretty infectious, and the dobro solo by John McFee is awesome.

The band settled into a head bobbin' shuffle with "Mercury Blues" that closes out the first side. the half dozen songs on side one were an eclectic bunch that were cohesive but didn't sound the same. For me it was an interesting experience as the version of "Mercury Blues" I was most familiar with was by David Lindley from 1981. The Steve Miller Band was anchored by the Gary Mallaber on drums and Lonnie Turner on bass and the boys sure did seem to be having a good time. 

The second side opens with "Take the Money and Run" and this was a song I always liked and when I started playing guitar this was a song I loved to play along with. It was easier than trying to do the handclaps (until I figured out how to clap with on hand into other instead of trying to clap both hands in time. Yeah, tell me you're a rhythmically challenged white guy without telling me ...).

"Rock 'N Me" is vintage Steve Miller. Hearing it right after "Take the Money and Run" is really cool as the two songs are bookends musically and the jangle from side one's "Serenade" feels more fleshed out. Sadly the curse of the '70s fade seems to suck the life out of the song. 

Of course they can't all be winners, "You Send Me" is a clunker of the highest order. Let's just move on.

At this point we get another short trippy instrumental "Blue Odyssey" that cross fades into "Sweet Maree" that is a raw blues track that features James Cotton on harmonica and it's for the most part an instrumental.

The album closes out with "The Window" a song I could take or leave, but Steve must have liked it as be borrowed some of the vocal structure for "Abracadabra" that would come out in '82. The song isn't one of my favourites but it dovetails nicely with the title track so in that sense it works as an album cut.

Steve Miller was a lot more than the radio hits. Fly Like an Eagle is a classic album.