Let My Spirit Carry Me: Steve Miller Band Is “Breaking Ground” On Previously Unreleased 1977 Concert Release

March 29, 2021 By Joe Marchese — 10 Comments
Steve Miller Band Live Breaking Ground
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Following the 2019 box set Welcome to the Vault, Steve Miller has dipped into his archives once again for a new release.  On Friday, May 14, Sailor/Capitol/UMe will release Steve Miller Band Live! Breaking Ground: August 3, 1977, a seventeen-song set, on CD, double vinyl, and digital formats.  The accompanying video of the full performance will stream on Amazon Prime Video’s The Coda Collection, a channel dedicated to music documentaries and concert films.

Breaking Ground chronicles The Steve Miller Band as they transitioned from playing small venues such as theatres and ballrooms to arenas and stadiums.  1973’s The Joker yielded the chart-topping title track while the band took their music to the next level with 1976’s Fly Like an Eagle.  The quadruple-platinum LP boasted the hit title track (No. 2 on the Hot 100) as well as “Rock’n Me” (No. 1) and “Take the Money and Run” (No. 11).  The SMB’s most recent album at the time of the concert, May 1977’s Book of Dreams, continued the winning streak with “Jet Airliner,” “Swingtown,” and “Jungle Love.”  Audiences were growing bigger with each successive album, and so was the sound of the band.

The concert was recorded at Landover, Maryland’s Capital Centre (built in 1973, demolished in 2002) on multi-track tape and newly mixed and mastered for this release by Miller and his longtime collaborator, engineer Kent Hertz.  The concert featured Miller on guitar, harmonica and lead vocals supported by Norton Buffalo on harmonica and background vocals, Lonnie Turner on bass, Gary Mallaber on drums, David Denny on guitar and background vocals, Greg Douglass on guitar, and Byron Allred on keyboards.

“This show from August of 1977 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 hits,” Miller commented in the press release.  “We decided to call it Breaking Ground because that’s exactly what we were doing.”  The CD and LP offer new liner notes by David Fricke who writes, “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.”

Look for Steve Miller Band Live! Breaking Ground: August 3, 1977 on May 14 from Sailor/Capitol/UMe.  You’ll find the track listing and pre-order links below.

Steve Miller Band Live! Breaking Ground: August 3, 1977 (Sailor/Capitol/UMe, 2021)

CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada

  1. Living In The U.S.A.
  2. Space Cowboy
  3. Shu Ba Da Du Ma Ma Ma Ma
  4. Come On In My Kitchen
  5. Wild Mountain Honey
  6. The Window/Winter Time
  7. The Stake
  8. Mercury Blues
  9. Serenade
  10. Take The Money And Run
  11. Jet Airliner
  12. Space Intro
  13. Fly Like An Eagle
  14. Rock’n Me
  15. The Joker
  16. Seasons
  17. So Long Blues
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Joe Marchese
Joe Marchese

JOE MARCHESE (Editor) joined The Second Disc shortly after its launch in early 2010, and has since penned daily news and reviews about classic music of all genres. In 2015, Joe formed the Second Disc Records label. Celebrating the great songwriters, producers and artists who created the sound of American popular song and beyond, Second Disc Records, in conjunction with labels including Real Gone Music and Cherry Red Records, has released newly-curated collections produced and annotated by Joe from iconic artists such as Dionne Warwick, Diana Ross and The Supremes, Smokey Robinson and The Miracles, The Spinners, Johnny Mathis, Bobby Darin, Meat Loaf, Laura Nyro, Melissa Manchester, Liza Minnelli, Darlene Love, Al Stewart, Michael Nesmith, and many others.

Joe has written liner notes, produced, or contributed to over 200 reissues from a diverse array of artists, among them America, JD Souther, Nat "King" Cole, Paul Williams, Lesley Gore, Dusty Springfield, BJ Thomas, The 5th Dimension, Burt Bacharach, The Mamas and the Papas, Carpenters, Perry Como, Rod McKuen, Doris Day, Jackie DeShannon, Petula Clark, Robert Goulet, and Andy Williams.

Over the past two decades, Joe has also worked in a variety of capacities on and off Broadway as well as at some of the premier theatres in the U.S., including Lincoln Center Theater, George Street Playhouse, Paper Mill Playhouse, Long Wharf Theatre, and the York Theatre Company. He has felt privileged to work on productions alongside artists such as the late Jack Klugman, Eli Wallach, Arthur Laurents, Betty Comden and Adolph Green. In 2009, Joe began contributing theatre and music reviews to the print publication The Sondheim Review, and in 2012, he joined the staff of The Digital Bits as a regular contributor writing about film and television on DVD and Blu-ray.

Joe currently resides in the suburbs of New York City.

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10 thoughts on “Let My Spirit Carry Me: Steve Miller Band Is “Breaking Ground” On Previously Unreleased 1977 Concert Release”

  1. zubb

    should be a great live collection. But what is with that terrible cover art? Looks very low budget. Like a title you would see in the $5 dump bin at Walmart or at Big Lots.

    Reply
  3. zally

    i never got steve miller. his first 4 lps were spotty but with number 5 he hit bottom. from then on he became so middle of the road he made bachman turner overdrive sound like rock gods.

    Reply
  4. Kara Bridgman

    Love Steve Miller. His music has been a huge part of my life. I will definitely buy this set.
    I recently saw him in Lake Tahoe and Sacramento he is still rocking.

    Reply
  6. Joe

    Sailor was one of the strongest, strangest records made in the 60s. (It’s like he created ambient music with Song for Our Ancestors.) Miller is a great guitarist and songwriter who doesn’t always get the respect he deserves. Saw his last tour with Frampton and it was great. I look forward to this release.

    Reply
  7. Joe

    This concert had a much different setlist:
    Swingtown
    True Fine Love
    Jungle Love
    Living in the U.S.A.
    Gangster of Love
    Shu Ba Da Du Ma Ma Ma Ma
    Come On in My Kitchen
    Wild Mountain Honey
    The Window
    Winter Time
    (Byron Allred Synthesizer Jam)
    The Stake
    Mercury Blues
    Serenade
    Take the Money and Run
    Jet Airliner

    Encore
    Fly Like an Eagle
    Rock’n Me

    Encore2
    The Joker
    Seasons
    So Long Blues
    Mercury Blues

    Reply

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