Listen to Steve Miller Band’s Live Reggae Version of ‘The Joker’ From 1977
by Best Classic Bands Staff
In 2021, Steve Miller once again dug deep into his archives and found a never-before-heard-or-seen, full-length concert recording from 1977. Steve Miller Band Live! Breaking Ground: August 3, 1977, featuring such classic rock staples as “The Joker” and “Rock’n Me,” arrived via Sailor/Capitol/UMe. Listen to these performances and several other tracks including “Jet Airliner” below.
Of the performance, the guitarist, multi-platinum-selling singer-songwriter, bandleader, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee, and Songwriters Hall of Fame member says, “This show at the Cap Center in Landover, Maryland, captures the band right at the peak after The Joker, and in the middle of Fly Like an Eagle and Book of Dreams, a stream of hit [album]s… We decided to call it Breaking Ground because that’s exactly what we were doing.”
Watch the official trailer including live footage from the performance
Steve Miller Band Live! Breaking Ground: August 3, 1977 includes original liner notes by music journalist David Fricke who says – “Breaking Ground captures the Steve Miller Band on stage in one of their biggest years, 1977. They were at a perfect crossroads of psychedelic zeal and progressive, popcraft while staying true to Miller’s first love, the blues.”
Miller’s “The Joker” became his first (of three) #1 singles, when it reached the top of the Hot 100 on Jan. 12, 1974. He released an expanded 50th anniversary edition of The Joker album in 2023 on 2-CDs or 3-LPs + 7”.
Listen to the reggae-styled performance of “The Joker”
The recording captures Miller’s legendary 1977 lineup at the beginning of the band’s turn from playing ballrooms and theaters to arenas and football stadiums. The band members:
Steve Miller – Guitar, Harmonica and Lead Vocals
Norton Buffalo – Harmonica and Background Vocals
Lonnie Turner – Bass
Gary Mallaber – Drums
David Denny – Guitar and Background Vocals
Greg Douglass – Guitar
Byron Allred – Keyboards
Listen to “Jet Airliner” and “Rock’n Me” from the recording
The album was recorded on multi-track tape and newly mixed and mastered by Miller and his veteran audio engineer Kent Hertz. Miller was born on October 5, 1943, and was thus 33 years-old at the time. The live album is available to order in the U.S. here and the U.K. here.
Related: Our concert review of the Steve Miller Band in 2019
When Miller tours, tickets are available here and here.
Listen to “Shu Ba Da Du Ma Ma Ma Ma” from the album
Steve Miller Band Live! Breaking Ground: August 3, 1977 Track Listing
Living In the U.S.A.
Space Cowboy
Shu Ba Da Du Ma Ma Ma Ma
Come On in My Kitchen
Wild Mountain Honey
The Window/Winter Time
The Stake
Mercury Blues
Serenade
Take the Money and Run
Jet Airliner
Space Intro
Fly Like an Eagle
Rock’n Me
The Joker
Seasons
So Long Blues
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1 Comment so far
Jump into a conversationGreat concert from the vaults – Steve Miller/Steve Miller Band at their powerful live zenith.
Had this collection been released back when it was recorded (August, 1977), IMO, it would have been right up their with Peter Frampton’s “Frampton Comes Alive”, Bob Seger’s/Silver Bullet Band’s “Live Bullet”, Foghat’s “Foghat Live” L.P., The J. Geils Band’s “Blow Your Face Out”, or The Band’s “The Last Waltz”, with regards to their respective notoriety of the time.
Support (especially local) Live Music.