Yeah, I dig the classic '60s Steve Miller Band and yes, Miles could be an ****ole, but it's true - most rock bands are "non-playing m********ers" compared to Miles' 1970 band.
Yeah, he was definitely a "I'm great and I know it" type. A lot of these people probably are, but some are sly enough never to state it publicly.
No criticism of Steve here, his greatest hits was a formative CD the year between 8th grade and freshman year. Seeing him in concert in the summer was a high school tradition. In fact I first sampled the devil’s lettuce at one of his shows!
After his Fillmore East debut in March 1970, Miles opened for the Dead (but was billed above Stone the Crows and Brotherhood of Light) at Fillmore West in April 1970, opened for Laura Nyro at Fillmore East in June, opened for Leon Russell but probably came on after Sea Train at Fillmore West in October, and finally shared a bill with Elvin Bishop and Mandrill (where he's the top name on the poster) at Fillmore West in May 1971. For whatever reason, it seems that the first gig was the only time Graham had him play two sets. Instead, it looks like he started playing one longer set for the Fillmore crowds, usually over an hour.
A lot of the kids from my neighborhood growing up were metal dudes, and at one after school gathering one of them, our host that day, said 'I'm going to put on some hippie music,' and it was Steve Miller, which maybe isn't the textbook definition, since it was that same album which is more like 'mainstream 70s classic rock.' Miles did have good things to say about Garcia in his book. still on 6-8-77, I had to listen to the spacy part of the jam again, there's another 'near Dark Star' there if you want there to be. Maybe the thing was the pairing of Other One>Wharf Rat that started way back in 71, that made Dark Star superfluous to requirements by 76...like in the Electric Kool Aid Acid Test he talks about how when the Pranksters couldn't get LSD they'd just take a bunch of speed and then smoke marijuana, and it was what they had to make do with.
Watch out! Archtop will burst in wielding his T-square. For some reason I'm thinking about near the end of the book when Kesey and pals are trying to trip without acid, and it's not working. I guess then you knew it was time to mothball the bus for a bit.
Yeah, the opening riff of "Fly Like an Eagle" is groovy, but it was even better when it was "My Dark Hour": Featuring Paul McCartney (listen to the backing vocals, drums, bass, and right channel guitar):
If you thought 1970s Steve Miller Band was "hippie" music, you should hear the '60s stuff. But I digress, this is The Grateful Thread, not the Miller Thread... "Brave New World"
I know what you're talking about--Don Johnson cop show with Cheech Marin and some dude who was a cop but dressed like a Deadhead. It was set in San Francisco. Going to imdb.com ... Nash Bridges, 1996-2001. My biggest problem with '77 is Estimated is pre-Screaming Bobby.
I have a copy of his 1974-78 Greatest Hits--it seemed like everybody at college bought it from a record club in the late '80s thru 1991, until Nirvana hit. It's a good collection of catchy tunes, but I'll also say that when I saw the SMB circa 1996-97 it was the most canned, rote jukebox concert I've ever seen. My friends seemed to be satisfied, I thought it was boring. I don't know what they were like on stage in 1970; maybe Steve Miller didn't have his **** going for him then, either. Miles was really mercurial, though. He could say terribly cutting things about someone like Steve Miller, but then he loved The 5th Dimension, and in the '80s he was very generous and friendly with the guys in Toto. Go figure.
I just shake my head at those who are Steve Lukather crazy here, but all those guys could really play. So maybe it was that and Miles had mellowed. Weren't they all studio pros before they were a band?
I search for 'Grateful Dead Reaction' videos on youtube sometimes. I haven't found any new ones of note, but I did find this Egypt video of Bertha. Such a shame they couldn't have put out 'Rocking the Cradle ' in 78, there was plenty of good stuff there, that's a superlative Bertha in that video, another 20 minutes of material like that could have been cobbled, surely.
I'd really love to get to the bottom of this issue. I suspect there is a grain of truth in Bear's insistence that there weren't two shows a night at the Fillmore East, if only in the sense that maybe not every act played the early show. We'll probably never know. Evidently it was a little different at the Fillmore West - two sets a night, not two shows...or so I believe. One ticket? Not a bad night's investment for a few dollars.
I love this sequence of comments from the New Speedway Boogie video: Tom Reynolds6 days ago 93 was awesome and I'm done with people who take 92-95 put it in a box and beat it with a bat...mostly I think it's new fans who are regurgitating sh** one guy who saw them 3 times in 90 said to justify that he saw them in their last peak... Twotontessie3 days ago 1993 > 1991 for sure Tom Reynolds3 days ago @Twotontessie Well now you're talking crazy....
Always loved this bit in Miles' autobio. Has anyone ever asked Steve Miller about it? (and I'm told that some editions of the book omit this quote, which is strange, if true)
A few months ago I was reading the Miles autobiography and I laughed out loud at the Steve Miller quote. I will also say that it really put things in perspective that even Miles said some nice things about Jerry. It really shows that the Grateful Dead were so special that even the jazz cats could see something in them even if they weren’t necessarily fans. Everytime someone says that the Grateful Dead just “noodled” I cringe.
