Old Enough to Forget

Book of Dreams from 1977 was essentially the second half of The Steve Miller Band’s Greatest Hits 1974–78 . Steve Miller released one of rock’s great one-two punch combinations: Fly Like an Eagle in 1976 and Book of Dreams in 1977, records that cemented him as one of the defining artists of the ’70s. The bed tracks for these watershed albums were essentially recorded at the same time, which is part of what makes them feel so cohesive. I remember a friend once calling Book of Dreams the best collection of leftover material ever recorded. I’m not sure how much water that comment holds, and I suspect Mister Miller was more concerned with pulling together the songs that best fit together stylistically. Besides, the answer to the question, “What if all the great songs were released as one album?” was already answered in 1978 with Greatest Hits 1974–78 . Does one really need to hear Book of Dreams ? Kind of depends. Here’s my conundrum: I don’t have the greatest hits collection, so ye...

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...

I found this a while back, and what caught my eye aside from the cover, which reminded me of an animation cell from Yellow Submarine ... was the list of artists represented on the back cover. Quite a few I knew and there were quite a few I had never heard of. Thankfully on the inside of the gatefold were thirteen mini bios and pictures which I found really entertaining, and it was cool to see so many names I was not familiar with mixed in with artists that went on to become well known. Now this was a dollar bin find, but the jacket was in great shape, and the record was almost as heavy as the 180 gram stuff that gets the kids excited today. However, it was a bit worn, and after a good clean it plays pretty well but there are spots here and there where it sounds like a warm fire crackling in the background ... but honestly it's not that bad. This is more of a time capsule than it is a cohesive mix tape. With the start of a new decade, Capitol wanted to showcase how in tune they wer...

As a kid who didn't love Steve Miller? His Greatest Hits 1974–78 is essential listening. Although full disclosure, I never owned a copy ... but my friends did. By the time I was able to buy my own records I was busy trying to keep up and didn't have a lot of budget to go back in time. Italian X Rays was the follow up to his platinum 1982 release Abracadabra . It was a goofy song too, and while it was an earworm of the highest order and contained one of the worst (but still oddly cool) guitar solos of all time it was a song I still have a love hate relationship with. Steve Miller returned in '84 with Italian X Rays an album what was supposed to be the next crown in his jewel. Turns out this is the album no one wanted. I do recall seeing, or hearing "Shagri-La" and thought it was ... strange. Of all the Steve Miller albums I've found recently it was a toss up between this one and Abracadabra . I figured this was the one to go with as it seems to the one that m...