Steve Miller Band will commemorate the 50th anniversary of his classic album “The Joker” with the “J50: The Evolution of The Joker” box set, which arrives on Sept. 15.
“J50” will be available in two-CD, three-LP (plus bonus 7″) and digital formats. Miller is previewing the collection with “The Joker Suite,” which showcases his musical journey to the album’s chart-topping title track and includes the previously unreleased songs “Lidi” and “Travelin’.”
Miller curated the “J50” box set, which chronologically places the original album alongside 27 previously unreleased recordings, including songwriting tapes made in hotel rooms and at live performances, studio outtakes and rehearsals and audio commentary tracks. It also features exclusive liner notes from Miller and music journalist Anthony DeCurtis.
“The most important rule that every kid out there who wants to make a record should remember is: When you go into the studio, be ready to do the whole performance the first time you do it because that’s going to be the best time you do it,” Miller noted in a press release announcing the set. “The whole thing is to capture the first performance. That’s a lot of what “The Joker’s” about. It was all first takes, and first takes are always better than perfect takes.”
Reflecting on the star-making title track, Miller said, “To make a hit record, I thought it was best to have five hooks. Not one, not two, not three, not four, but five, if you really wanted to deliver a hit. Like if you take ‘The Joker.’ ‘Some people call me the Space Cowboy.’ What the hell was that? Then it continues and it gets your attention again: the slide guitar, the chorus, the harmony, the wolf whistle. It all adds up. All of these things are just elements of writing. You learn those elements, and you’re always playing with them.”
Steve Miller is honouring the 50th anniversary of the chart-topping, RIAA Platinum-certified studio album “‘J50: The Evolution of The Joker’ arrives everywhere September 15th, and available to listen to today is “The Joker Suite,” a collection that shows the development of album’s title track over four songs: “Lidi – Studio,” “Lidi / Travelin’ (Harmonics – Looking for A Chorus For The Joker),” “Travelin’ (Looking for A Chorus For The Joker)” & “The Joker – Album Version.”
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