The story of The Steve Miller Band presents a group that was always willing to move forward - from their blues roots in the late-'60s, to their slew of smash rock hits in the '70s, to their explorations into pop and other forms in the decades since. Now, more than 50 years since the band's inception, The Steve Miller Band have announced an expansive 3-CD/DVD box set of rarities due October 11 entitled Welcome To The Vault.
Welcome To The Vault is the first-ever Steve Miller Band rarities collection and features 52 songs that span Miller's career, including 38 previously unreleased recordings and 5 never-before-heard songs. With demos, rehearsal takes, newly unearthed compositions, classic concert recordings, and more, Miller has dived into the vaults with a celebratory collection that's bound to please any fan. There are alternate takes of classics like "Rock'n Me," "Fly Like An Eagle," "Jet Airliner," and "Space Cowboy," alongside gems from their early lineup. Among them are a 10-minute cover of Little Walter's "Blues With a Feeling" from San Francisco's Fillmore West and "Super Shuffle," recorded at the band's appearance at the Monterey Pop Festival. The set also includes a new, big band version of "Take The Money and Run," recorded with blues guitarist Jimmie Vaughan as part of the Jazz at Lincoln Center series. Blues tunes also abound, including covers of Otis Rush, Robert Johnson, and Willie Dixon. In an unexpected twist, the blues ace T-Bone Walker is also featured performing his hit "Lollie Lou" in Miller's living room in 1952. Rounding out the music is Miller's own rendition of that tune, recorded at his T-Bone Walker: A Bridge from Blues To Jazz tribute concert.
The DVD is also a veritable treasure trove of rarities, featuring 21 performances. There's rare footage from Monterey Pop, a concert appearance at Fillmore West from 1970, and a 43-minute concert broadcast from New York's Palace Theater in 1973. There's a collaboration with James Cotton from their 1974 appearance on ABC In Concert, a live rendition of "Abracadabra: from 1982, excerpts from the band's Austin City Limits appearance in 2011, and footage of Steve Miller performing with his godfather Les Paul in 1990.
The discs are housed in a deluxe box accompanied by a 100-page book that includes photos from Miller's extensive archive and a 9,000-word essay by David Fricke. Miller has also thrown in guitar picks featuring his iconic Pegasus logo, and even an authentic backstage pass from the vault!
All told, Welcome To The Vault looks to be a must for Steve Miller Band fans with a wealth of unheard and hard-to-find material alongside a few trusty hits. You can buy your copy in stores on October 11, or pre-order the set from the links below. To whet your appetite, we've included a trailer for the box set and the new single, an alternate take of "Rock'n Me" - check it all out below!
Steve Miller Band, Welcome To The Vault (Sailor/Capitol/UMe, 2019) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)
* denotes previously unreleased track
CD 1:
1. Blues with a Feeling (Live)* (1969) (10:41)
2. Don't Let Nobody Turn You Around - Alternate Version* (1969) (4:08)
3. Super Shuffle (Live)* (1967) (8:59)
4. It Hurts Me Too (Feat. Steve Miller Band) (Live) (1967) (4:53)
5. Industrial Military Complex Hex - Alternate Version* (1970) (4:54)
6. Living in the USA (1968) (4:04)
7. Kow Kow Calculator - Alternate Version* (1973) (4:05)
8. Going to Mexico - Alternate Version* (1966) (2:54)
9. Quicksilver Girl - Alternate Version* (1968) (2:50)
10. Jackson-kent Blues - Alternate Version* (1970) (8:32)
11. Crossroads (Live)* (1973) (7:22)
12. Hesitation Blues* (1972) (1:57)
13. Seasons - Alternate Version* (1973) (2:42)
14. Say Wow! * (1973) (4:27)
15. Never Kill Another Man - Alternate Version (Live)* (1971) (2:10)
CD 2:
1. The Gangster Is Back (Live) (1971) (2:30)
2. Space Cowboy - Instrumental Version* (1969) (1:22)
3. Space Cowboy - Alternate Version (Live)* (1973) (3:40)
4. The Joker (1973) (4:26)
5. The Lovin' Cup (1973) (2:12)
6. Killing Floor* (1975) (3:06)
7. Evil (Live) (1973) (4:37)
8. Echoplex Blues* (1973) (2:39)
9. Rock'n Me - Alternate Version 1* (1976) (3:13)
10. Rock'n Me - Alternate Version 2* (1976) (2:49)
11. Tain't It the Truth* (1976) (3:29)
12. Freight Train Blues* (1976) (2:50)
13. True Fine Love - Alternate Version* (1975) (3:02)
14. The Stake - Alternate Version* (1976) (4:28)
15. My Babe - Alternate Version* (1982) (3:07)
16. That's the Way It's Got to Be* (1974) (5:41)
17. Double Trouble* (1992) (5:18)
18. Love Is Strange* (1974) (3:45)
19. All Your Love (I Miss Loving) - Alternate Version* (1992) (3:44)
CD 3:
1. I Wanna Be Loved (Live)* (1990) (5:49)
2. Fly like an Eagle - Alternate Version* (1974) (6:31)
3. Space Intro (1976) (1:10)
4. Fly like an Eagle (1976) (4:45)
5. The Window - Alternate Version* (1974) (6:09)
6. Mercury Blues - Alternate Version* (1975) (4:43)
7. Jet Airliner - Alternate Version* (1976) (4:23)
8. Take the Money and Run (1976) (2:50)
9. Dance, Dance, Dance (1976) (2:18)
10. Swingtown - Alternate Version* (1976) (3:27)
11. Winter Time (1977) (3:13)
12. Who Do You Love? (1984) (2:57)
13. Abracadabra (1982) (5:09)
14. Macho City - Short Version (1981) (3:25)
15. Take the Money and Run - Alternate Version (Live)* (2016) (4:30)
16. Bizzy's Blue Tango* (2004) (4:42)
17. Lollie Lou (T-Bone Walker) (Live)* (1951) (3:05)
18. Lollie Lou (Steve Miller) (Live)* (2016) (6:37)
DVD:
Monterey International Pop Festival - 1967
"Mercury Blues"
"Super Shuffle"
The Fillmore West - Dutch TV Show El Dorado (Pik-in) - 1970
"Kow Kow Calculator"
"Space Cowboy"
Don Kirshner's Rock Concert - 1973
"Star Spangled Banner"
"Living in the USA"
"Space Cowboy"
"Mary Lou"
"Shu Ba Da Du Ma Ma Ma Ma"
"The Gangster Is Back
"The Joker"
"Come on in My Kitchen"
"Seasons"
"Fly like an Eagle"
"Living in the USA" (Reprise)
ABC In Concert w/ James Cotton - 1974
"Just a Little Bit"
Pine Knob, Michigan - 1982
"Abracadabra"
Steve Miller and Les Paul at Fat Tuesdays - 1990
"I Wanna Be Loved"
"CC Rider"
Live from Austin City Limits - 2011
"Fly like an Eagle"
"Living in the USA"
Zubb says
Bravo to Steve for making this a CD release!
Phil Cohen says
Both video clips have been withdrawn.
Sam Stone says
Try these direct links:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YotRuzAL0Zw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h83NkbVqg94
Fletch says
I read somewhere a long time ago that Rock'N'Me and (I think) Take The Money And Run each had each other's melody? Like he swapped the words from both songs with the melody of the other at the last moment. Not sure how true it is.
Brian Stanley says
See if you can track down the bonus disc from the 30th anniversary release of Fly Like an Eagle. They’re both on there.
Johnathan J Wilson says
I have every album of Steve Miller Band