Customer Reviews

Number 5

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This album is, as others have said, not the top-40-mid-seventies Miller that most folks are use to hearing. That being said, it's a terrific album and one of my top-five favorites. From the firey, fuzzy cover art to the long-distance reverb guitar, this album really puts me in the mood of days gone by. It has special meaning for me because it was originally given to me by an old girlfriend who snatched it from her brother's record collection back in the seventies because at that time it was out of print! It's certainly not "Swingtown" so don't expect that, but if you like melodic, clever, spacey music, this album will suit you just fine.

The harp, which IS quite remarkable, is played by country session legend Charlie McCoy.

Now for the album, this is one of Steve's better albums and I find myself returning to it more than his "popular" albums (along with Recall the Beginning, a vastly ignored gem). I knock it down to 4 stars only because drummer Tim Davis' two contributions are pretty awful. At least on the vinyl version they programmed these two dogs (Hot Chili and Tokins) at the end of Side 1.

The rest of the album is uniformly excellent. The trio of acoustic based songs that open the album are lovely. Side two (or the latter half of the CD) has several outstanding rockers (Going to Mexico, Industrial Military Complex Hex, and Jackson-Kent Blues) with great guitar playing (yes, Seattle, that IS Steve on guitar!!!). A highlight of the LP is the hilariously dumb liner notes from Steve (Peace, brothers and sisters...). I hope they included this in the CD packaging.

Seriously, this is a good album and if your idea of Steve Miller is a mid-seventies lightweight weenie popster, you should check this out (actually all of the SMB's first five albums are quite excellent...check them out).

Steve Miller, the first master of the old echo unit, the Echoplex, lets it shine here. With his producer, Glyn Johns, they set out to create a trippy, countrified psychedelia landscape. Listen to Matthew Sweet's album "Girlfriend" from 1992 and you'll see where he got all his ideas from. The sound quality and studio production is incredible; very hard to believe the album was put together in bits and pieces during a tour of the south. All of the songs are masterpieces and full of commentary about the times. Perhaps on this album, Miller makes his boldest political statements to date, especially on songs entitled "Jackson - Kent Blues" and "Industrial - Military Complex Hex." Both tracks are lyrically powerful and are Miller's take on the shooting of students by national guardsmen and the connection between the industry of war and the economy. Miller lets it open up a couple of times with fresh and upbeat perspectives on tracks like "Goin' to the Country", "Good Morning" and "Tokin's." Studio tape manipulation abound due to the genius of Glyn Johns who provides some incredible sounds that may have been inspired by Hendrix's "Electric Ladyland." As a whole, the album is solid. If you have headphones or really good speakers, you'll have fun listening to this album front to back.

This album is really great-the last one with Tim Davis-the drummer and sometime's lead singer from the original band-this album ranks right up there with the previous 4 albums-non commercial rock n roll-this is where Steve Miller is at his best-after this album he kind of went commercial-not as deep feeling music like on this and the previous 4 albums--I saw him at the Fillmore thru out the first 5 albums on many occasions-Get this one and previous ones and you will appreciate the real STEVE MILLER BAND-ROCK and BLUES at his best--In addition Tim Davis has two albums he made right after this-on LP only-it is definitely worth it to try to find these-sounds like the Miller Band-good lyrics and guitar-he had a good band-one of the albums is called Pipe Dream. He was a great singer and drummer--its a shame he is not living anymore-I think he died around 1978.

What a delight to find this album on CD. I had seached for the CD version of this Classic and gave up looking, as only Steve's Top 40 type songs seemed to be available. This album or should I say CD, is just full of magic and memories. Yes, Steve Miller's popular air play songs are great, but you are missing a real gem if you haven't heard this one. This is one of those few albums where you just look at one of it's song titles (Good Morning To You, Good Morning To You ..) and the music begins to play in your head. Take a musical trip back, smile and remember the times and the world in 1970.

This is my favorite album of all the SM creations. I was introduced to it upon its release and listened many times over during the summer of 1970. As a big fan of all types of music, I've observed that most of the best recorded musical performances are rarely given air time. This is no exception, and should therefore be a choice for the collector.

I remember freaking-out to Jackson Kent State Blues when WMMR (Philly) played it late-night when it first came-out. Funny that I never caught the name of the song, the album or the group, and it blew me away to love that song so much and I could never catch the song's ID. When I FINALLY found out, I RAN to the record store. To my extreme delight, the whole album ROCKED! Each song delivers its own flavor, its own sense of being, its own response in the way the listener feels during and after listening to it. I just wish they could have ended on a lighter, less melancholy note than "Never Kill Another Man", but I love that song too, so much! I remember tripping to this album on weekend jaunts to Ocean City, listening to "Midnight Tango", while sitting on a jetty at night, with the waves crashing, and the warm seawater coming up to wet the sand under my bare feet, and the electric boardwalk lights, behind, illuminating the waves, and the peace sign hung on leather around my neck, all with such intricate subtle patterns of colors.
(In case you're getting the idea that I'm just an old hippie, well, I was anyway, but let me just tell you that this old hippie was and still is a percussionist. I've played in several groups, concert bands, orchestras, even marching bands. My group even played for a McGovern presidntial campaign rally in '72 at Lafeyette college. I've known music. A lot. I've just changed who I play for - I play for my church now. For free. I just can't charge God for my services. Look where He brought me from!)

Steve played my absolute favorite Jackson Kent State Blues (yes, that's the REAL name) for an encore at a college concert somewhere in New York. Steve came out and said "We're going to sing one final song for you tonight, and it's going to be..." my buddy hollered it out, "Jackson Kent State Blues!!!" as loud as he could (we were only about 50 feet away from Steve), and Steve turned and looked right at us when he agreeably announced "...Jackson Kent State Blues", and he quickly started into the song. That was by far the best concert experience ever! Let's see, that was about 36 years ago in '72. See what I mean by "lasts a lifetime"? Do you think that I will ever forget these things?? I wore out a couple albums of this, and an 8-track... This is a classic, to me, more than any other.

Steve Miller certainly had more commercial success later in his career, but if you like his music, check out this CD. The first five tracks alone make this album irresistable and the balance pulls you in further.
Not a bad track on the album.

When I first put together my SMB collection many years ago, each of his early albums was a surprise, but perhaps none more than this one. Looking back, it seems he went boldly into territory usually associated with Michael Nesmith and the later Byrds albums. Side 1 on the LP was especially pleasant to my ears: "Good Morning", "I Love You", "Going To The Country", "Hot Chili" (who let that mariachi band in here?) and the perfect song for driving down the highway, "Tokin's" (DIG that BANJO playing!). Quirky, stylish, fun, and in spots downright magnificent: this one has something for everybody.

Steve Miller at his best, also one of the best of it's time, nothing more to say