Steve Miller Band - The Joker FLAC album

Though concerts had been getting larger since the late 60's, this album was ushered in when arena rock was becoming the only way to go for most artists. They could make alot of money quickly, one show, in and out of town. It became more of an event rather then an opportunity to develope a rapport with the artists, and the type of music they were putting out in many ways began to reflect this distracing themselfves from their audiences.

While there are four outstanding numbers on this record, 'Lovin' Cup, The Joker, Shu Ba Du Ma Ma [which is probably the most original and fresh pieces on the album] and Sugar Baby. I dig these songs and all of them put a smile on my face, but I'm left with the empty feeling that Steve Miller is showing us nothing new here at all.

'The Joker' has a great beat, but relys on Steves past jokes regarding being a Space Cowboy or a Gangster Of Love, it leaves little to the imagination, an off the cuff riff, nicely done, but nothing special.

'Sugar Baby' is just the same, a great song, but he's pullling from his past successful hits and probably needs a vacation.

'Shu Ba...' hits the nail on the head again. Here Steve sees a piece of his past and is able to tap into that stream of originality, both in phrasing, beat, and music.

It's rather a flat album, mixed well, but with no real suprises. The songs I didn't mention could have been left off and he would have still had a million seller EP. Steve's voice is strong, he and is band are crisp and clean, playing effortlessly. You can keep this one around for the time line and the bopping numbers but don't hold it out as anthing to hang your hat on, or to say 'This is what Steve Miller is all about.'

Saw Steve Miller on Saturday [June '07] ... As I was standing at the gate [I went by myself, as Rob just had a foot operation] decked out in my cowgirl hat, boots, a beautiful huge silver conch belt [like Jim Morrison used to wear] and a white mussel shirt, the guy says, ‘Nice belt, you wanna’ go down on the grass, I said, ‘You mean right in front of the stage?’ He says, ‘Ya,’ I say ‘Sure,’ he gives me a wrist band and off I go. Now once I’m down there, with about 200 other people, this guy comes around with a camera and asks if I’d like to go back to the club house after the show and meet the band, well that took a second to say ‘Yes’ and I got yet another wrist band. The show was to support MS, and it seems many of the big donors and their families didn’t show up and they were looking for interesting people to fill out the room.

I walked away happy, but I will say that Steve has to stop trying to do some of his material like he was a young man and develop a more mature bluesy slow feel for it. Dylan understood that his voice didn’t age with any grace, but he reconstructed his work to suit the power he has. I spent alot of the show feeling that he was trying, actually verbally, to tell us what a great time we were having. And if he’d let go of his standards it would have been an amazing show.

He dipped deeply into historic blues, covering the song ‘Crossroads’ and shifting in work by The Electric Flag, and Otis Rush, all of which took me back to the 60’s and put a nice smile on my face. Now I understand that his greatest hits has never been off the top one hundred, and he’s expected to play his signature pieces, but they just seemed light weight to me, as if he was walking through, or putting to much emphasis and effort into them

After, we’re in the club house for chili and burgers etc. and I’m just listening. Did you ever go to one of those restaurants where if you come in with a neck tie on they come up behind the person and cut the bottom of it off and hang it on the wall? Well, such was my initiation. It was a real family affair in the back, kids, wives, mothers and all; the acoustic guitars were out, just winding down and eating.

Now, I’ve got a bowl of chili on one knee and holding a glass of coke in my other hand as I finally summon the courage and ask, ‘I have to hear it right from you. Who is Maurice and what is the pompatus [sp?] of love? The room got quiet and people started to quietly laugh. The drummer walks over hands me his sticks from his back pocket, which means I now have a bowl of chili in one hand, the coke and his sticks in the other, and without realizing it, he takes out a black sharpie and writes 1000 on the knee of my jeans. Then everyone breaks up laughing. I say ‘Hey’ not knowing what’s up, till they explain that I’m now a member of the ‘1000+ Club.’ Which basically means that I’m one of thousands who’ve asked that question, and have now been marked and identified as one. Better then an autograph for me! Steve said he’s answered that question in print four or five ways, and that any of them may or may not be true, the truth is that sometimes you just eat a bowl of Texas hot just for the flavor. So I kept my mouth shut and just smiled for the rest of the evening.

Later that evening he explained it all to me. Steve claims "it doesn't mean anything, it's just “jive talk.”

Post Script...

You could also believe that Maurice was the sound engineer for both Steve Miller and the Jefferson Airplane, that he was Japanese, his name was unpronounceable, and shortened to Maurice, or...

You can go back to ‘A Journey From Eden’ and hear “My dearest darling, come closer to Maurice, so I can whisper sweet words of epismethology [or ‘Pizmotality’ as Vernon Green would have spelled it] in your ear and speak to you of the pompatus of love.” Of course, if one is from California, one would just have to assume that ‘Pizmotality’ is the scientific name for the study of Pismo Beach. Which is exactly what a member of the audience yelled, when another member of the audience asked Vernon Green, who sang with the Medallions, and originally coined the phrase, during a concert. Vernon went on to say that ‘Pompatus’ actually ‘Puppetutes,’ was a private word he had for a paper doll cut out who would sexually do his every bidding and never get pregnant. Now hearing that from Vernon Green doubled the value of the ticket for that night. Ya, everything that goes around, comes around. But it was nice to hear it from the source, even if Steve wasn’t going to admit it.

Post Post Script...

Steve has some nifty references to characters and elements in his songs, referring to real people or their musical work, sometimes even to himself ... sort of an homage, and I’ve been having a terrific dialog with my RYM friend ‘Snowkatt.’

“Some people call me the Space Cowboy, yeah ...
Some call me the Gangster of Love ...
Some people call me Maurice ...
Cause I speak of the pompitous of love ...”

Now ‘Gangster of Love’ can be traced back to his song ‘Cry Cry Cry,’ where he says ... ‘I’m gonna’ sing you the blues cause I know you’re a gangster of love,’ and repeats the phrase in the song ‘Space Cowboy.’ Anyway the whole ‘Gangster’ deal can be traced back to Johnny Guitar Watson, who put out an album entitled ‘Gangster Of Love’ and a single by the same name in 1957.

Matter of fact the song was originally produced about 1953, and having been recorded in the early 50’s, with the influx of cowboy movies and TV shows, there were a lot of references to the west and the cowboy image.

Watson developed [yes, listen to me here] the attacking, pickles guitar style and was the first to use reverb, delay, and feedback extensively. His influence was profound, including such legends as Surf Music with Dick Dale, Les Paul, but most famously by Jimi Hendrix ... of course I have to include Steve Miller among those. This style of playing was coined as ‘Space Guitar' by Watson. See, or should I say, hear where I’m going?

“Some people call me the Space Cowboy, some call me the Gangster of Love...”

Now, if this has perked your interest, you can hear and see Johnny Watson on ‘You Tube’ performing ‘Gangster Of Love.’ During the lead into the song, Watson references writing this song and mentions that Steve Miller covered it. The ‘Clovers’ song ‘Lovey Dovey' is on ‘You Tube,’ the words ‘Lovey Dovey’ were also used by Mr. Miller.

Also on a repeat of XM’s, King Biscuit Flower Hour, you may catch the broadcast of early 70’s performances where Johnny Watson has a line that goes ... ‘Sheriff says is you Johnny Guitar Watson?’ ... which by the time Steve Miller records it, goes ... ‘Sheriff says, you Stevie Guitar Miller? I said, yes sir, you better shutup, I got your wife in the back seat.’

Plagarism is one thing, but please ... it's just too much of a coincidence that Vernon Green, the Clovers, and Johnny Guitar Watson all came from about the same 1953 through 1957 time frame. But when you consider that Steve came from a very musically connected family, with Bluesmen like T-Bone Walker stopping by their house and Les Paul is his godfather. [Now that's a family I wouldn't mind being part of!] According to his on-line bio he started his first band at 12, which would be 1955, right around that time. So the references in the Joker and elsewhere are meant as a sly homage to his earliest musical likes and influences. Way to go Steve! The man found a way to keep the musical history alive and well for us to track down.

Question it if you like, but let me close by laying on you the first verse of the 1953 song "Lovey Dovey" by the Clovers:

“Well, you're the cutest thing that I did ever see
I really love your peaches, want to shake your tree.
Lovey dovey , lovey dovey all the time
Lovey dovey, I can't get you out of my mind.”

Review by Jenell Kesler