Customer Reviews

Children of the Future

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

No doubt about it, it is Steve Miller's mid-1970s music that remains the most popular & well-known, thanks to it being replayed over & over on classic rock radio stations. So naturally, it's hard to believe that before he became a purveyor of almost-perfect AM radio pop, Miller was a psychedelic blues-rocker with just as much credibility as pioneers of the form like Cream & Vanilla Fudge. Nevertheless, Miller's long road to pop music legend began with 1968's CHILDREN OF THE FUTURE.

While it's almost certain that a great deal of the psychedelic music created in the late 1960s was by people who were high on hallucinogens more often than not, Steve Miller doesn't strike me as a person who was into that stuff. So it's even more of a wonder if music like that on CHILDREN OF THE FUTURE was created with almost no LSD or the like involved. It is high quality acid rock that was just as worthy of the best of its kind, even if commercially it was ignored by most of the marketplace.

The trippiest stuff is most certainly found on the first half of the album with songs like the folk-rocking title track (the harmonies are to die for), the epic soundscape "In My First Mind" (could have been from Syd Barrett-era Pink Floyd) & "The Beauty Of Time Is That It's Snowing" (basically a continuation of the sound of "In My First Mind" with instrumental improvisation). One doesn't need to have been around in the Summer of Love to get the feeling of free love & peace that surrounded the making of music like this. "Pushed Me To It" & "You've Got The Power" (later used as the base for an epic jam in concert) are less-than-a-minute long sound bites that should be heard as part of the seamless suite that makes up the first half.

The second half of FUTURE is more raw & down-to-earth with songs that feature Steve & his band (he's had more revolving members than a banana republic) having some fun. Early member Boz Scaggs contributes two songs that are quite different from the polished soul-pop that would make up his solo work. "Baby's Callin' Me Home" is a precious piece of folk-pop that literally typifies the San Francisco scene; "Steppin' Stone" is a louder slice of blues-rock that shows Boz can sing Black almost like no other White singer. He would go solo after the next album, but these two songs show Boz was just as equal to his childhood friend Steve Miller in talent & songcraft.

Steve's "Roll With It" is definitely the most traditional entry of his on the album with a laid-back excursion into country rock about a year before it was "officially" invented by Gram Parsons & the Flying Burrito Brothers. The album then closes out with three covers, one obscure & two semi-famous. The obscure one is "Junior Saw It Happen", originally recorded by forgotten '60s rockers The Disciples, and is a jumpy little number given a barnburning performance by the band (almost like hearing the Blues Brothers a decade earlier). Buster Brown's early-rock standard "Fanny Mae" is given a similar treatment, while Big Bill Broonzy's "Key To The Highway" is much more sedate, the country blues pedigree of it being articulated perfectly. "Highway" is certainly a good way to wind down after a half-hour of unabashedly trippy psychedelia.

While the low sales of this album may have belied the commercial dominance of his 1970s work, CHILDREN OF THE FUTURE showed that Steve Miller was an equal contender in the psychedelic rock sweepstakes who was unfortunately looked over by the music-buying public. Perhaps it was too trippy or bluesy for AM radio (FM was still coming into its own at the time), but CHILDREN OF THE FUTURE is an album that should be right up there Cream's DISRAELI GEARS or Vanilla Fudge's self-titled debut as a classic of the very heady & experimental decade of 1960s pop music.

Children of the Future (1968) is divided into two "halves" including: (1) the (nearly) 18-minute "Children of the Future" suite; and (2) six songs.

The Children of the Future suite is presented as a five-part song cycle/multi-movement suite hybrid (with the opening theme restated at the end) and is a superb example of proto-progressive rock. Although I enjoyed the entire piece (including the first five minutes of psychedelic pop), as a huge prog rock fan I was especially delighted with the spacey Hammond organ and mellotron playing on the haunting, achingly beautiful, and classically-influenced fourth part, "In my First Mind" (7'38") (as a side note, the fourth part was co-written by Steve Miller and keyboardist Jim Peterman, who obviously contributed the proto-prog aspects). The mellotron with the string setting is featured prominently throughout "In my First Mind" (to an even greater extent than the Moody Blues), and anticipates similar use of the instrument by British proggers King Crimson on their 1969 debut. This is but one example (of maybe five or less) where an American band actually used the mellotron. The fifth and final part of the piece, "The Beauty of Time is that it's Snowing" displays use of the avant-garde "found sound" technique that other experimental bands were exploring at the time. For example, atop a soft organ drone there is the sound of calling gulls, a subway, a conversation, a human voice shouting, a door sliding shut, a "radio" playing blues music, and the howling wind. In summation, Parts 4 and 5 collectively span 13 minutes and are simply excellent.

The second "half" of the CD is situated 180 degrees away from the experimental material of Children of the Future and features six, simpler songs. The songs range from the pastoral, psychedelic, and slightly jazzy blues of Boz Scaggs "Baby's Calling me Home" (which features just a harpsichord and acoustic guitar), to the heavy, "Cream-like" blues rock of "Stepping Stone", to the traditional (straight) blues pieces "Fanny Mae" and "Key to the Highway", which feature the harmonica as a solo instrument.

This recording is a great example of how late 1960's proto-progressive rock bands mixed disparate styles into what was (at the time) heralded as the new music that would "change the world". Ultimately this "third stream" style morphed into the prog rock of the 1970's. Chances are that if you liked this recording, you may also like two recordings by the English proto-prog band Procul Harum: "Shine on Brightly" (1968), which also features a lengthy multi-movement suite, and "A Salty Dog" (1969), which has a similar mixture of blues and psychedelic pieces.

This is the first Steve Miller Band recording, when they were known in the Bay Area as The Steve Miller Blues Band. It's what was then known as a "concept" album, i.e., there are no clear cuts between songs--it segues from one selection to the next. If you can get past this rather dated affectation, the music is very good. It bubbles along, one song up, the next slow blues. It has been unfairly ignored for lack of a Top 40 cut, but that made it all the more endearing in its day because it was played almost entirely on what were then referred to as "underground" FM radio stations, most notably KSAN and KMPX in San Francisco. The lineup included Steve Miller, Boz Skaggs, Lonnie Turner, Jim Peterman and Tim Davis, all fine musicians who were more bluesmen than rockers at that point in their recording careers. If you like your blues with a psychedelic twist, you'll enjoy this one.

Recently I was going through some old LPs I had sitting around and listened to this on a skipping vinyl copy and thought,"What a fun little psychedelic album. I'll have to buy it on CD."

So,at a local store I saw this album on CD and grabbed a copy.

Well,first off let me just say that there was no expense wasted on the booklet,....I mean NO money was used to print this! Ha! The cover is cut off ,meaning the artwork that used to read "Children of the Future" when you opened the album cover up completely now just says "The Future" because the back cover was ruined for the CD issue(small gripe ,right?).Next open the booklet and what's there.....NOTHING! No words no artwork ....a big NOTHING!

SECOND,take the CD out and listen. Since I'd just listened to the LP I was shocked when I played this....the bass guitar was EQ'ed right out of the sound! This was an LP not too unlike the sound of a CREAM LP....with bass in-your-face. Now the album is crystal fragile with ,like another reviewer put it,"no presence",....and what is a psychedelic album without presence? Ruined,that's what it is. So,another tin-eared mastering job kills what used to be a fun experiment in sound for Steve Miller and his Band.

This IS a good album,but you can't tell by listening to this ham-fisted re-issue. I have to go and buy a used LP of it somewhere,....and wait for some well mastered CD of this album to come out in the future.

Children Of The Future joined engineer/producer Glyn Johns with the SMB, a partnership that would last for their next four albums. From one of the best debut albums of all-time, side two is one of the best album sides of all-time. It begins with Boz Scaggs' two fine contributions to the LP. "Baby's Callin' Me Home" is a mellow tune with Ben Sidran's filling in with jazzy harpsichord figures. It remained one of Boz' staples in his live shows for years. A raw, blending segue follows into the rockin' "Steppin Stone", with one of Steve Miller's great guitar solos and a seamless transition into "Roll With It", which features Beach Boy harmonies and another great solo from Steve. Then you hear footsteps and a door slam in the intro of "Junior Saw It Happen". It contains drummer Tim Davis' vocal and yet one more short, concise solo from Steve. "Fanny Mae" has been called a tip of the hat to the Paul Butterfield Blues Band and that sounds right with the late Davis on vocals again and Steve on harmonica. Side two ends by tucking you into bed with the slowest, most subdued version of "Key to the Highway" I have ever heard. I became a big SMB fan based on my initial exposure to this LP, only releasing my addiction when the Joker emerged. It might be considered strange that when SMB finally unlocked the key to commercial success, I dismissed Miller as a has-been. Alas, the public at large and I have disagreed on many counts. Nevertheless, IMHO this album is a masterpiece, merging blues with psychedelia. It remains a classic and still holds up with great guitar work, excellent vocals, interesting compositions and stellar production value.

What do you get when you cross a seasoned Texas and Chicago musician with an incredible backing band and toss in the attitude of the 60's Bay Area and innocence of "anything goes"? The answer is this unreal first album from Steve Miller. The entire first side of the vinyl album predates "The Wall" in its concept approach of one continuous track, seguing from song to song. With Glyn Johns as producer, Miller put together an album that blasts off with a solid wall of fuzzed out guitar, Hammond B-3 and dissonant bass and drums. After it quiets down, it fades to seagulls, waves and a heartbeat. Sounds completely whacked out, but it fits very well. The end of side one (on the album) ends with "The Beauty of Time is that it's Snowing" A full tilt Jimmy Reed shuffle that, through it's silly title, thumbs its nose at all of those Bay Area bands that simply couldn't play their instruments. Miller obviously gets the last laugh. The remaining songs are blues and R+B based with Boz Scaggs sharing vocal duties, and, if listened to closely enough, lead guitar as well. This proved to me that Boz was more than just a voice with a pretty face, he could certainly play. This album marks the start of an incredible journey from concept albums to total pop records that Steve Miller has put out since his official start in 1968. A must for all SMB fans.

"Children of the Future" is Steve Miller's best album, and judging from the limited reviews here, it is the all-time sleeper album. As Miller's first album, it has little musical resemblance to what will become his more commercially-successful though less-satisfying music, such as "The Joker" and "Fly Like an Eagle". Boz Scaggs ("Lido Shuffle") is credited with two of the better cuts, but truthfully, I can't pick a favorite.

If your collection does not include this CD, then you are missing some great stuff. It will make you say "whoa, baby!" as you cycle it through the CD player again and again.

Released just after the 1st big Pop Fest. in Monterey,Cal.,this is a recording that has stood up well in the fast changing pop music world. Only the "psychedelic" cover and the title track give the listner a clue that this is not a record of the 90's. A pre-Joker Steve Miller shows some raw and moving guitar and even harmonica chops. Steve's guitar licks and vocal arrangements are unique to this one album.Also featuring an unknown Boz Scagg,the song selection and talented presentation will keep you from ever being bored. Or suspecting... this is a really good and well disguised blues band by talent that has proved itself for +/- 30yrs

When this album was released there were very, very few artists in the rock/psy category (there weren't so many categories back then) that did anything near this quality of musical depth.

SMB is the first "progrsseive" band. The whole side of the Children of the Future song is steeped in mellow/sweet, spacey background and blessed harmonies remeniscent of the Beach Boys. It also features soothing ocean-side sounds which today would be called "new age". This of course means that SMB was also the original "new age" band!

The song is uplifting, full of pathos, beauty and grace. I loved it from the first chordal entries when I first heard the album as a teenager in '68. The whole side is a dreamy, orchestral reflection on life and love as viewed in that era. Still totally original and unscathed by nearly 40 years of imitations and so-called musical progress.

The other side is a meat & potatoes rocky-bluesy-folky delight.
Simplicity and fun at it's best. Catchy tunes with some touches of humour and bluesy sorrow. Good guitar playing. Lots of life and charisma, joy and laughter.

"Children of the Future" and "Sailor" are still, IMO, SMB's greatest, most avant-garde albums and have nothing to crave from any modern imitations.

"Somebody gimme a cheese burger!"

I was there. Steve Miller was the unlikely Blues hero, son of a doctor from Milwaukee, WI, but in the music scene with some of the right people (Boz Scaggs, Ben Sidran). This was the authentic sound track to 1968. A Tour de Force of a number of musical styles--blues to psychedelic, and lost forever to most people!

Try to find a copy anywhere else!

Later, The STeve Miller sound became pop-compromised, but this was it in its formative time---sit back and listen--or go for your favorite drive and tune it in...

Scott P.