First posted on Mark Is Cranky:
The other day I'm getting my hair cut. Me and Amy The Hairdresser are tossing back and forth what's been up with each of us over the past five weeks (enough time for my hair to grow out from the quarter inch cut length to a less respectable sorta-mess complete with disturbing Eddie Munster widow's peak thingie).
I've been to a wedding down in Newport (torture for me, but that's another story). She's been camping. I've been to see Southside Johnny (she doesn't know who that is, but what the hey, she's only 23). She saw the Steve Miller Band.
The Steve Miller Band?
Oh yea, he's still around. In fact, I think I mighta read an article (Boston Globe, maybe?) about him right around the time Amy went to that show. Miller was talking about his nearly complete lack of celebrity despite years of being in the business. He said that he could probably march into Tower Records, plunk down the Steve Miller box set, paying for it with his Steve Miller credit card...and nobody would notice. He seems happy as all hell and, from what I heard, still puts on one helluva show.
Anyhow, one thing that sorta struck me was that Amy and her husband went to the show with Amy's parents, big fans of Miller. Dang, I'm the same age as her parents. I'm actually old enough to have a 23 year old kid. How the hell did that happen?! (Yea, yea...don't remind me, I can do the math. Hey, I went to college & stuff.)
Well, since it's one of those days where I don't mind celebrating my old-fartdom, why not dust off an old classic. Here it is. Miller's Book Of Dreams got an awful lot of time on my record player way back when. And, for this morning anyway, it's gonna get a bunch more.
Pass the Geritol. What? You don't know what Geritol is? It's this vita....aw, forget it!
Article comments
1 - Shark
A few comments:
During the sixties, I probably saw Miller dozens of times; he used to play a lot of free gigs in Dallas' Lee Park.
My favorite from Miller is 1968's "Children of the Future" -- which was actually a pretty unique album at the time. Great cover art, too!
Mark, I still don't understand why you don't title these things like... "The Friday Morning Listen: Book of Dreams" -- etc.
Or maybe you think folks are attracted out of sheer curiosity?
Just curious...
PS: You used to write a lot more about the music on your album of the day; lately, it seems the albums are just getting mentioned by name and that's it.
Too busy or what?
xxoo
S
2 - Chris Kent
I had forgotten Shark is from the great era of the 60's hippie days in Dallas' Lee Park. I ran across a thread recently in which some of those same hippies were waxing poetic about a "riot" in 1970 in which police tried to break up some skinny dipping in nearby Turtle Creek - a few cars ended up turned over.
By that time, Mr. Miller was hanging in San Fran flying like an eagle towards 70s rock album glory. By that time, Steve Miller had played the Monterey Pop Festival - which astounds me, as that was one hell of a long time ago.
There's not much rock history in Dallas, but what there is Shark knows.....and Mr. Miller is a part of....Of course, we could also include Boz Scaggs, Leadbelly, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Ray Charles, the New Bohemians, Robert Johnson and even Sly Stone (he was from nearby Denton) in that mix.....
As for Mr. Miller - well hell, he may not be Bob Dylan but God dammnit he put out a few great albums.....rock on....
3 - Mark Saleski
You used to write a lot more about the music on your album of the day
it's just how things strike me man. sometimes i the idea about a record because of something that happened to me during the week. other times, i get a hankerin' to hear a particular chunk of music...which is when i suppose i'd tend to be talking more about the musical happenings.
4 - Shark
Chris, ah memories...
BTW: There was also some good music over in Cowtown every Sunday in Trinity Park; mostly local bands, but we also had our own little mini-riot;
(I believe at the time, it was required that we accost the "pigs" at least once every other month or so; they were required by law to accost US every alternate month, so it works out...)
My bro-in-law came away from one of those disturbances with a cop's hat -- which was sorta like returning from WWII in Germany with a nazi helmet.
Those were the days.
I can't remember too much about who else played at Lee Park, but I seem to remember there were some relatively big name bands.
"...don't bogart that Choline, my friend..."
5 - DJRadiohead
I used to DJ at a classic rock station in college and would lead off each night's 'show' with "Abracadabra."
SMB is a guilty pleasure of mine.