Fly Like an Eagle
Tutored at a young age by no less than guitar whizLes Pauland blues legendT-Bone Walker, Steve Miller's life seemed destined to be dominated by music. Still, Miller's evolution from 1960s white-boy Chicago blues journeyman to '70s Top 40 hit machine was meteoric. Building on the success of his mainstream breakthroughThe Joker, Miller's mastery of the indelibly catchy pop song yielded not only the radio-staple title track (since successfully revived bySeal), but an almost embarrassing wealth of other deceptively simple, hook-laden songs (including the standout "Wild Mountain Honey" as well as the hit singles "Take the Money and Run" and "Rock'n Me") to makeEagleplay more like a greatest hits album than a standard collection of songs. This is Miller at his '76 pop-perfectionist peak, and one of the decade's most enduring surprises.--Jerry McCulley