Steve Miller first gained recognition when he broke onto the music scene in the late sixties after teaming up with childhood friend Boz Scaggs, formed The Steve Miller Band in 1968 and were signed to Capitol Records. The band's first album, entitled
Children of the Future was heavily dominated by the psychedelic blues style of their roots, which was becoming very common in mainstream music at the time, particularly on the west coast as well as lyrics focusing on politics, world issues, and revolution. The band released the follow up album entitled
Sailor, released later in the same year, and could be the last album of the Steve Miller Band to have any contributions from Scaggs, as he would later move on to a more well known solo career. The band was on a roll, releasing two more albums the following year in 1969,
Brave New World, and
Your Saving Grace. Both would follow their signature style of heavy blues combined with a psychedelic spin. In the next three years, the gang would release three more albums, Number 5, the commercial bomb
Rock Love, and
Recall the Beginning: A Journey from Eden, respectively. While these three were not as successful as their predecessors, they showed the bands growth and further styles of their traditional sound. By 1973, the band took a change, and it is debatable to say for the better, or for the worse.
Steve Miller Band - The Joker
In the fall of 1973, Steve Miller and his band would release what would be their most commercially successful record, only to be surpassed by their follow up album, 1976's,
Fly Like An Eagle. But The Joker, the band's eight studio album in five years, saw them adapt to a simpler style of music, and show less and less of the psychedelic side, and take more of a pop-orientated approach to it. Some old fans of the band disapproved of this, but many learned to like it, but most of all, the market liked it, and saw Steve Miller as a household name in the business. Most of this was all due to the massively successful single, the title track
The Joker, perhaps the bands most recognizable tune, and deservingly so. The album's duration is short, like the majority of their previous albums, clocking in at a little over thirty minutes, with the average song ranging between three to four minutes, which is a fair amount. Like the song The Joker, the album has a much laid back feel to it, which would later be a key signature for Miller.
The sound quality here is not the greatest, but still fairly good, with the exception of the two live recorded tracks,
Come on in my Kitchen and
Evil. The two are recorded rather poorly but not too terrible or not enough to take away too much from the songs worth. Though there is less of a psychedelic feel to the entire album as I previously mentioned, the heavy use of bluesy guitar lines, whether it be electric or acoustic, is as dominate here as it was with their previous records. Tracks such as the acoustic
Come On In My Kitchen and the album closer
Something To Believe In display these features perfectly, and express some of Miller's best vocal performances on the album as well. In fact Steve's voice alone is a major pro of the album, and he could often hit an array of different notes and heights, making for an appealing listen. As for Steve Miller's band and the instrumental portion, it is done well too. Miller plays guitar here and is as talented as a guitarist as he is singer. His playing fits well within the genre and he provides adequate bluesy guitar lines in almost every song, as well as a good solo in the odd track, his most notable on
Sugar Babe. Gerald Johnson, who played bass on this album (except for
Evil which was played by Lonnie Turner), is a fine bassist that shows that on songs like the title track, even though they most of his lines are quite simple. Drummer John King is an able drummer, but often times overshadowed by the poor sound quality. Still, some of his best work is shown on
Shu Ba Da Du Ma Ma Ma Ma.
Steve Miller's
The Joker may seem like an uneven album in terms of consistency. We have the title track, an obvious standout and one of Miller's best compositions of his career, and then we have some tracks that just aren't up to par, making the album feel somewhat lopsided or irregular. The album starts off promising enough with the rockin' blues of
Sugar Babe. And as overused as the term sounds, it does give an immediate overall feel to what the rest of the album will sound similar to. And that feel being bluesy guitar solos from Steve, combined with his smooth recognizable vocals over a laid back and catchy rock and roll beat. Needless to say, it is one of the better songs on the album as well as one of the heavier ones.
Mary Lou, a Ronnie Hawkins cover, sounds similar to the album opener, with only a very noticeable vocal change from Miller as he sings at times with a higher pitched range than before. Another cover song here is
Come On In My Kitchen, originally composed by Robert Johnson, and I feel it is the lesser of the covers. The song actually is well done though, highlighted by a great acoustic guitar performance and Millers vocal range, but the recording quality brings it down bit, making it the lesser one.
Since the album may feel lopsided or require constancy, it was a smart decision to put the best song right in the middle of the album. The title track,
The Joker is my vote for the best here, and I don?t know too many people who would disagree with me on that one, regardless if they have heard the rest. It is the perfect example of simplicity used to its full potential. A fun yet so simple bass line carries The Joker over the odd guitar lick thrown in here and there. The song has a very upbeat and mellow feel to it, complimented by Miller's easy going voice. It has one of the catchiest and sing-along choruses on the album as well. But lyrically it is one of the best songs too. Miller refers to his alter egos he has mentioned on past albums such as the 'Gangster of Love' and 'The Space Cowboy' and sings some fun(ny) lyrics in the verse such as
"I'm a joker, I'm a smoker, I'm a midnight toker, I sure don't want to hurt no one". The Joker is what makes this album even better, and without it, the album would not be half as good.
The ridiculously titled
Shu Ba Da Du Ma Ma Ma Ma is another very bluesy number, as the title would indicate, but this one adds a bit of a funk feel to it. It remains very upbeat throughout, with keyboards swerving in and out, but the lyrics seem odd and the song tends to drag on a bit at over five minutes. Instrumentally though, its a better track here with a several minute jam session.
The Lovin' Cup is another solid track, but nothing that stands out too much from the rest, aside from the frequent use of the harmonica, played by Miller.
Your Cash Ain't Noting But Trash (which is the third and final cover here) is an impressive song and extremely catchy that will definitely have you tapping your foot. It could also be considered the most experimental here with the odd use of the whistle and solo that sounds like nothing else on here. A real gem here is the album closer,
Something To Believe In, which is a very soft song, filled with deep lyrics and smooth, calm guitar playing with little percussion used, which benefits the guitar and Steve's voice, ending the album on a very good note.
The Steve Miller Band's eighth studio album does not disappoint, but may be bothered by some filler, which is vital since there are only nine songs. If you have only heard the title track, which I'm sure many have, and are a little more curious as to what the SMB has done, I would recommend picking up a greatest hits compilation, namely
Greatest Hits: 1974-1978 or
Young Hearts because they have some great work. For a very strong studio album from the band, listen to
Fly Like An Eagle. While
The Joker may not be the Steve Miller Band's greatest album in the bands long discography, it remains far from worst and remains a popular as well as important one and is good in its own right.
Recommended Tracks:
The Joker
Something To Believe In
Sugar Babe
