The Steve Miller Band - Greatest Hits 1974-78 (1978)

This mega-selling compilation (15x platinum and counting) features the title track from 1973's The Joker plus 6 tracks taken from Fly Like an Eagle (1976) and 7 taken from Book of Dreams (1977). All but one track came from their last two albums even though they had released eleven studio albums to date. There's a lot of music on this album and that fact, along with Miller's popularity, prompted Capitol to add an extra dollar to the usual $7.98 suggested list price ($8.98 is about $41 in 2023 dollars, adjusted for inflation). 

Released in late 1978, just in time for your Christmas shopping. Also released that season were greatest hits packages from Barry Manilow, Wings, Barbra Streisand, Commodores, Steely Dan, and Earth, Wind & Fire - strong competition for your gift-giving dollar.

Press of the time:

• Billboard: "Miller's guitar lines, vocals and lyrics maintain a punchy, hookish and often humorous pace as his players support him with the kind of stuff it takes to make hits out of the ordinary."
• CashBox: "one of the premier rock'n'roll bands in the world"
• Record World: "gives a pretty good indication of Miller's talent and commercial success"
• High Fidelity: "worthwhile"
• Robert Christgau (A-): "This music may recycle blues riffs, but its spirit is pure escapist pop"
• Plus a retrospective "HoF" review from Rolling Stone:
  

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard Top 200: #18
• CashBox album chart: #19
• Rolling Stone: #24

Tracks:

Song	Album	Hot 100
Swingtown	Book Of Dreams	17
Jungle Love	Book Of Dreams	23
Take The Money And Run	Fly Like An Eagle	11
Rock'n Me	Fly Like An Eagle	1
Serenade	Fly Like An Eagle
True Fine Love	Book Of Dreams
The Stake	Book Of Dreams
The Joker	The Joker	1
Fly Like An Eagle	Fly Like An Eagle	2
Threshold	Book Of Dreams
Jet Airliner	Book Of Dreams	8
Dance, Dance, Dance	Fly Like An Eagle
Winter Time	Book Of Dreams
Wild Mountain Honey	Fly Like An Eagle

Bonus points for not including a new/previously unreleased track. I dig most all of it - the first eleven tracks are solid. I'm not wild about Dance(x3) or Winter Time, but the compilation bounces back nicely with the dreamy Wild Mountain Honey.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD:  Even though it was released in November, this is one of my favorite summertime discs. When I find myself longing for the hot, arid summers of my youth in West Texas, these tunes certainly transport me there. Throw in some Boston and Fleetwood Mac and that's quite a stew you got goin'. No wonder they call it "dad rock." Or by now maybe we've moved on to calling it "granddad rock," hmmm...

When I played keyboards in a praise group about 15 years ago, band members were handed a lead sheet and the leader simply said "We're gonna groove this one like Steve Miller's Joker" and counted us in. We old guys immediately started with that recognizable feel while the young hotshots in the group had no idea what we were talking about. They eventually picked it up, but it made think that there's really not many tunes that have that particular feel on the intro and verse.

Previously revisited for the blog:
Born 2 B Blue (1988)
Fly Like An Eagle (1976)