In 1965, after moving to Chicago to play the
blues, Steve Miller and keyboardist
Barry Goldberg founded the Goldberg-Miller Blues Band along with bassist Roy Ruby, rhythm guitarist Craymore Stevens, and drummer Maurice McKinley. The band contracted to
Epic Records and recorded a single, "The Mother Song", which they performed on
Hullabaloo, before Miller left the group and moved to San Francisco. In November 1966, Miller formed the Steve Miller Blues Band, consisting of Miller and a trio of Wisconsin transplants: guitarist James "Curley" Cooke, drummer
Tim Davis, and bassist Rich Personett; in January 1967, Lonnie Turner replaced Personett, who had been drafted. The band performed regularly in the San Francisco area, and in June they appeared at the
Magic Mountain Festival (held June 10/11, 1967). Tim Davis' former college roommate, Jim Peterman, then joined on Hammond B3 organ in time for the band's appearance at the
Monterey Pop Festival the following week (the festival was held June 16/17/18, 1967). Later that same month, the group backed
Chuck Berry at a gig at the
Fillmore Auditorium that was released as the live album,
Live at Fillmore Auditorium. In September, guitarist/vocalist
Boz Scaggs (who had played in various bands with Steve in the early '60s in Texas) replaced Curley Cooke, who had taken ill. In November 1967, the Steve Miller Blues Band signed with
Capitol Records. Harvey Kornspan, Miller's lawyer and managing partner, wrote and negotiated the contract ($860,000 over five years as well as $25,000 of promotion money that was to be spent at the band's discretion) with the label's then-president
Alan Livingston, who had first approached Miller after seeing the band play at the Monterey Pop Festival in June. Shortly after, the band's name was shortened to the Steve Miller Band at the recommendation of
George Martin, in order to broaden its appeal. In January 1968, the band went to London, England to record their debut album,
Children of the Future at Olympic studios, with
Glyn Johns as engineer/producer. The album did not score among the Top 100 album chart. The visit itself got off to a poor start also as the group and their entourage were arrested for 'importing drugs and possession of a dangerous firearm'. Kornspan's wife had called Johns asking if he would appear as a character witness in the magistrate's court the day after the arrest and, hopefully, stand bail for them. Johns agreed and the group was released on condition that Johns would 'stand surety for their good behavior' for the rest of their time in England. Both accusations were dropped. The 'dangerous firearm' turned out to be a non-working flare gun that was being used as a wall decoration in the house where the group was staying. The 'imported drugs' happened to be some hash that was buried in the middle of a large fruitcake that had been sent to the group by a stateside friend, unbeknownst to anyone in the group. The second album
Sailor appeared in October 1968 and climbed the
Billboard chart to . Successes included the single "Living in the USA".
Brave New World (, 1969) featured the songs "Space Cowboy" and "My Dark Hour".
Paul McCartney, credited as "Paul Ramon", played drums, bass and sang backing vocals on "My Dark Hour". This was followed by
Your Saving Grace (, 1969) and
Number 5 (, 1970). In 1971, Capitol Records released the album
Rock Love, featuring unreleased live performances and studio material. This is one of two Steve Miller Band albums not to be reissued on CD until 2022, the other being
Recall the Beginning...A Journey from Eden from 1972. Later in 1972, the double album compilation
Anthology was released, containing 16 songs from five of the band's first seven albums. The style and personnel of the band changed radically with
The Joker (, 1973), concentrating on straightforward rock and leaving the psychedelic blues side of the band behind. The title track, "
The Joker", became a single and was certified 7× platinum, reaching over seven million sales. It was awarded a
gold disc by the
RIAA on January 11, 1974. Three years later, the band returned with the album
Fly Like an Eagle, which charted at . Three singles were released from the album: "
Take the Money and Run" (), "
Fly Like an Eagle" () and their second success, "
Rock'n Me". Miller credits the guitar introduction to "Rock'n Me" as a tribute to the
Free song, "
All Right Now".
Book of Dreams (, 1977) also included three successes: "
Jet Airliner" (), "
Jungle Love" (), and "
Swingtown" (). on July 20, 2009 Released in 1978, ''The Steve Miller Band's Greatest Hits 1974–78'' has sold over 15 million copies. 1982's
Abracadabra album gave Steve Miller his third success with
the title track. Miller's hit pushed
Chicago's "
Hard to Say I'm Sorry" out of the spot, just as his "Rock'n Me" had knocked Chicago's "
If You Leave Me Now" out of the spot in 1976. Founding member Tim Davis died from complications due to diabetes on September 20, 1988, at the age of 44. Long-time band member
Norton Buffalo died from
lung cancer on October 30, 2009. John King (drummer during "The Joker" era) died after a short bout with
kidney cancer on October 26, 2010. James Cooke died from cancer on 16 May 2011. Original bassist Lonnie Turner died from lung cancer on April 28, 2013. His time with the band led to songs such as Jet Airliner, Swingtown, Take the Money And Run, Jungle Love and many more. Blues guitarist Jacob Petersen officially joined the band before the Spring 2011 tour. Following Petersen joining the band, longtime guitarist Kenny Lee Lewis switched instruments to become the band's full-time bassist. In 2014, Steve Miller Band toured with fellow San Francisco rock band
Journey. When it was announced that Steve Miller would be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a solo artist without his band, Miller told
Rolling Stone, "It wasn't my decision, and I didn't have any input into any of it. If they had asked me what do, I think I would have said, 'Here's a list of everyone that was ever in my band. They all ought to be here.'" == Musical style and influences ==