1:15:00 PM
.
1CD/DIGITAL AND 2LP EDITION FEATURES 22 TOP HITS AND RARITIES;
EXPANDED 2CD/DIGITAL AND 4LP DELUXE EDITION BOASTS 40 ESSENTIAL TRACKS,
INCLUDING EIGHT PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED RECORDINGS
09 AUGUST 2017 (TORONTO, ON) – Music legend Steve Miller has produced and personally directed the curation and creative process for two new, career-spanning Steve Miller Band collections, Ultimate Hits,
out September 15 via Capitol/Ume/Universal Music Canada, the country’s
leading music company. Both versions of the collections, the 1CD/digital standard edition and 2CD/digital deluxe edition, are available now for pre-order, along with the 180-gram vinyl 2LP standard and 4LP deluxe packages, set to release on October 27.The new Ultimate Hits collections launch the recently announced initiative to bring Miller’s entire catalogue of recorded music to Capitol, where he originally began his recording career in 1967. Miller has opened his vault/warehouse of music, footage, photos, memorabilia, artwork, handwritten notes, journals, and more to Capitol/UMe to include in his upcoming releases.
In addition to the stunning cover art designed and photographed by StormStudios in collaboration with Miller, The Ultimate Hits collections feature Steve Miller Band’s biggest worldwide chart-toppers including, “Take The Money And Run”, “Rock’n Me”, Jet Airliner”, “The Joker”, Abracadabra”, “Jungle Love” and “Fly Like An Eagle”. The 1CD/digital edition adds two previously unreleased live recordings, “Living In The USA” and “Space Cowboy”, as well as the Steve Miller solo recording of “Seasons”. The 2CD/digital deluxe edition features those rarities, alongside five additional previously unreleased studio and live recordings including the demo for “Take The Money And Run”.
“Selecting material to include in these two collections and revisiting the creation of these recordings I’m reminded of how I learned to make multi-track recordings from Les Paul and play lead guitar from T Bone Walker,” says Miller. “I’ve been blessed to work with so many wonderful musicians and engineers and friends over the years. Mostly I want to thank you our fans who come out to our shows and listen to our records. I hope you enjoy this as much I did putting this together for you.”
Combinations of virtuosity and song craft run through Miller’s distinctive catalog. His parents were jazz aficionados and close friends of Les Paul and Mary Ford, so as a budding guitarist, Miller absorbed valuable lessons from that musical tradition. When the family moved to Texas, Miller deepened his education in the blues and eventually moved to Chicago, where he played with Muddy Waters, James Cotton, Howlin’ Wolf, Buddy Guy and Paul Butterfield.
As one of the world’s most commercially successful and acclaimed artist/bands in the history of popular music, Steve Miller was a mainstay of the San Francisco music scene that upended American culture in the late ’60s. The Steve Miller Band released two LPs on Capitol Records in 1968, Children of the Future and Sailor, which included the rock radio staple, “Living In The USA”. Next came the band’s third album, Brave New World that featured the hit “Space Cowboy” and “My Dark Hour”, recorded in London with fellow label-mate, Paul McCartney, who is credited as Paul Ramon.
After the band’s next few albums, Your Saving Grace (1969), Rock Love (1971), Recall The Beginning (1972), and Number 5 (1970), Miller made some changes to the band and went to Los Angeles to produce his own record in 19 days. That album was The Joker. The title track became a number one worldwide smash hit. Miller had crafted a brand of pure pop that was polished, exciting and irresistible, that dominated radio in a way that few artists have ever managed. His next two albums, Fly Like an Eagle (1976) and Book of Dreams (1977), both went multiplatinum and the hits they generated are among the most recognizable songs in pop music history. Hit followed hit in what seemed like an endless flow: “Take The Money And Run”, “Rock’n Me”, “Fly Like An Eagle”, “Jet Airliner”, “Jungle Love”, and “Swingtown”, to name a few. In 1978, Capitol released Greatest Hits 1974–78, which has sold more than 17 million copies worldwide. Miller had a worldwide hit with the title track of his 1982 album “Abracadabra”, and in 1986, a #1 Billboard Rock Album Track with “I Want To Make The World Turn Around”. To this day, his songs are instantly recognizable when they come on the radio. Their hooks are the very definition of indelible.
In recent years, Miller has immersed himself in the blues once again. As always, whether he was riding the top of the charts or exploring the blue highways of American music, he continues to play and sing with conviction and precision, passion and eloquence. In 2017 at this stage of his life, Miller feels more fulfilled than ever. He recently moved to New York, where he is on the Board of Jazz at Lincoln Center and on the Board of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Musical Instrument Department. And, of course, he continues to record and is currently on tour.
Follow Steve Miller:
STEVE MILLER BAND: ULTIMATE HITS [1CD, Digital; 2LP]- Harmony Of The Spheres 2
- Steve Miller at age five talking to his Godfather Les Paul
- Take The Money And Run
- Rock’n Me
- The Stake
- Threshold
- Jet Airliner
- The Joker
- Abracadabra
- Jungle Love
- Swingtown
- Dance, Dance, Dance
- Serenade From The Stars
- Space Intro
- Fly Like An Eagle
- Wild Mountain Honey
- Living In The USA (Live – Previously Unreleased)
- Space Cowboy (Live – Previously Unreleased)
- Seasons (Previously Unreleased)
- I Want To Make The World Turn Around
- Winter Time
- The Window
CD 1
- Steve Miller at age five talking to his Godfather Les Paul
- Gangster Of Love (Live – Previously Unreleased)
- The Joker
- Baby’s Callin’ Me Home (Previously Unreleased)
- My Dark Hour
- Little Girl
- Living In The USA (Live – Previously Unreleased)
- Space Cowboy (Live – Previously Unreleased)
- Seasons (Previously Unreleased)
- Journey From Eden
- Shu Ba Da Du Ma Ma Ma Ma
- Going To Mexico
- Kow Kow Calculator (Live – Previously Unreleased)
- Come On In My Kitchen (Live)
- Sugar Babe (Live)
- The Lovin’ Cup (Live)
- Dance, Dance, Dance
- Take The Money And Run
- Rock’n Me
- Space Intro
- Fly Like An Eagle
- Wild Mountain Honey
- The Window
- Take The Money And Run (Demo) (Previously Unreleased)
- In The Midnight Hour (Previously Unreleased)
- Jungle Love
- Threshold
- Jet Airliner
- The Stake
- Swingtown
- Serenade From The Stars
- True Fine Love
- Heart Like A Wheel
- Abracadabra
- I Want To Make The World Turn Around
- Italian X Rays
- Don’t Cha Know
- Cry Cry Cry
- Stranger Blues
- Behind The Barn
