The Steve Miller Band hit their commercial and artistic peak with a string of three smash albums in the mid-1970s. Book of Dreams rounded out that unofficial trilogy in 1977, and it plays almost like a greatest hits album, so accomplished and consistent are its contents.
Miller not only proved to be a convincing and eloquent rocker during that stretch of time, but he displayed a savvy knack for knowing what best served his career. Check the history of the album, and you’ll see that his ability to strategize and select the best songs helped make Book of Dreams a juggernaut.
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Miller’s Time
Steve Miller and the rotating collective of musicians that made up the Steve Miller Band had been plugging away since the late ‘60s to much critical acclaim and middling sales. Their expansive psychedelic rock was a tough fit on AM radio, keeping Miller in the “cult artist” shadows. But that all changed when a song called “The Joker” came along.
Miller had plotted on the 1973 album of the same name to rein in some of the more ambitious tendencies of previous records to bring in a wider audience. It’s hard to say if he expected “The Joker” to fast-track that process in the way it did as a No. 1 single, but, in any case, Miller suddenly found himself in star territory.
The impulse for most artists in that situation would be to strike while the iron was hot, hustling out new albums and touring avidly while the popularity was rampant. But Miller had the foresight to play the long game. He decided to hold off on both touring and his next release until the material was just right.
Miller took time not only writing material, but also selecting songs written by others. The fruits of his labor were borne out by the success of his 1976 album Fly Like an Eagle. Even with the three-year wait period between records, his momentum didn’t dip at all, in part because he had an album with the goods.
The other benefit of all that time gathering material is he had more than enough to roll right into Book of Dreams, which was released hot on the heels of Fly Like an Eagle. If anything, Book of Dreams contained even more goodness than its predecessor, in large part because Miller had his antennae out for the best songs, regardless of their origin.
An Open Book
Steve Miller is listed as writer or co-writer for seven of the dozen songs on Book of Dreams, and two of those were brief instrumentals. But the songs he chose to cover fit well his artistic personality, that of a kind of rambling everyman with a bit of twinkle in his eye and a lascivious smirk.
For example, “Jet Airliner” was written by Paul Pena with a great deal of bitterness to how he’d been jerked around by the music industry. Miller gave it a shiny synthesizer intro called “Threshold” and softened the lyrics. Suddenly, the homesick lament sounded quite fun. Meanwhile, his band members Lonnie Turner and Gregg Douglass were going to give away “Jungle Love,” but Miller pounced when he heard its good-time rocker vibes.
But Miller was up for more than uptempo rockers. He proves his knack for contemplative slow ones throughout Book of Dreams, most notably on the haunting, self-penned “Winter Time.” And we haven’t even mentioned other winners on the record like the chugging “Swingtown,” the throwback “True Fine Love,” and the bluesy “The Stake.”
On top of all that, his use of spacey musical interludes provides a connective tissue that makes the album flow quite well. Book of Dreams kept the ball rolling for the Steve Miller Band, in large part thanks to the rocker’s willingness to get it right instead of getting it out fast.
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