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Steve Miller Band — Your Saving Grace
Album: Your Saving Grace
Avg rating:
6.9

Your rating:
Total ratings: 1381









Released: 1969
Length: 4:45
Plays (last 30 days): 4
Winter's people watching
As I sail from season's four
To join some crazy ladies
In a game upon the shore
None of them with broken wings
But still refuse to fly
So with sweetness on my lips
I smile a last goodbye

And now I spend my life
On the velvet side of hell
Aimlessly here searching
For what I cannot tell
The quietness is terrible
It's more than I can stand
But thousands now stand cheering
As my blood flows in the sand

Spoken: You're not the child
You thought you were
You wake up in the night
And know you're blind
And yet they keep on pushing
Trying the insides of your mind
Forever, forever arresting to control
Until the emptiness of heaven welcomes your weary soul


Rise up with the new dawn's early morning
Feel the sunshine warm upon your face
Tomorrow's come a long, long way to help you
Yes, it's your saving grace

Every day, every way
Tomorrow, it's your saving grace
Well, now got no time to worry
Cause I've got no time to hurry
Baby, it's your saving grace
Now don't you lay those blames on me
Don't you play those games on me
Cause baby it's your saving grace
You got to need a little lovin'
Now baby it's your saving grace
Hey, I feel alright
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Your saving grace
Ah, hey, hey, hey
Your saving grace
La la la la la la la la....
Oh baby, it's your saving grace
Comments (139)add comment
 bimmerfan739 wrote:


Extra points fro the Spridget!



See ya, and raise ya one 1960 Sunbeam Alpine (with the tailfins, pre-Maxwell Smart). Someone had breathed on the engine, and it rocked.
During the winter of 1977-1978, I lived in Idaho Falls and was in a group of four or five guys who skied almost every weekend.  (Grand Targhee, Kelly Canyon, Jackson Hole, Soldier Mountain)  Our "chauffeur" had a cassette deck in his Camaro, but only had Steve Miller tapes ... so that' s all we listened to as we blasted down snow-covered highways with smoke billowing out the windows.

Thanks for getting me excited about next month's trip to Breckenridge!  Peaks 6 and 10, baby!
 tonyinnj wrote:

FWIW, I've got a yard sale copy of "Sounds of the Drags" with the "and the winner,
Lefty Mudersbach" that ends Miller's "Livin' in the USA"... 'Course I also have my
ol' Bugeye Sprite with a fire-breathin' 1275cc engine...;-)

Tony in NJ
W.A.S.T.E.


Extra points fro the Spridget!
 Steve wrote:



State of the art circa 1969!

This used to get a lot more airplay in the 70s on FM radio. I could easily imagine Traffic-era Steve Winwood putting this out instead of Steve Miller. 
Fantastic! Only Radio Paradise has the depth to know this music and the freedom from corporate control to play it!! Long live RP!
'Getting Away With It' by James has got to be on after this, surely? (nope, not this time)
'Daniel's Saving Grace....'
 Madness1954 wrote:

How about playing Song From Our Ancestors from the Sailor album?


That one does get some 'Main Mix' play - listen to RP enough and you'll hear it in a month or three
LLRP
Love his blues music too but this is my favorite era for Miller.
Go to see the band in a seedy place in Chicago back them, first concert with my now wife. Totally lost somewhere on the south side - not the nicest neighborhood and a little scared to be honest.
Brings back many fond memories.
 Baketown wrote:

Until I looked at the name,  I though this was Traffic playing!



same!
 eileenomurphy wrote:

Me too! ...great song! ....except for the "narration with echo"!



State of the art circa 1969!
How about playing Song From Our Ancestors from the Sailor album?
Nam music!
 Hippostar wrote:

Argh!  Flat!  Can't they just learn to tune their guitars or fire the engineer who can't figure out how to calibrate tape speed?


It's astounding that it took this long for someone to notice.
Argh!  Flat!  Can't they just learn to tune their guitars or fire the engineer who can't figure out how to calibrate tape speed?
So, that's not Steve Winwood?
Steve Miller band through and through, you just didn't know...
 reallylost wrote:


I thought it was Dave Mason.



I agree! A lot!
 macadavy wrote:



You're apparently not the only one. See comments below.  Considering both started about the same time (1966/67), shall we just agree this is an example of cosmic R&R synchronicity?  


I thought it was Dave Mason.
 Baketown wrote:

Until I looked at the name,  I though this was Traffic playing!




You're apparently not the only one. See comments below.  Considering both started about the same time (1966/67), shall we just agree this is an example of cosmic R&R synchronicity?  
One of  my early Steve Miller Band favorites.  Released in 1969.  Hard to believe it was his 4th album.  Thanks Bill.  Hey please play "Baby's House" from this LP sometime.  Another facet of Steve.
Interesting looking at all of the I thought it was this band or that band comments having grown up with this music from the beginning.  Just sounds like Steve Miller to me.  I guess I was musically blessed growing up having been exposed to so much music that is still somewhat unknown to many after all of these years but is well known to me.

OTOH ... there is a lot of music from the 90's going forward that I am not all that familiar with and still discovering.  But at least I can figure out many of the influences of the newer stuff.
My fave Steve Miller Band song, and there's a bunch of them!
Im smooth groovin, are you?
 Ihatethissong wrote:
bit curious when Steve Miller Band shifted from this funky/soul/hippy rock sound to the one that gets radio play ad nauseam
 
Per the Wiki, 1973's The Joker, with Fly Like An Eagle just polluting the airwaves of the late 70's.

Looks like I need to find another early SMB to be next to the Sailor album recently purchased, thanks BillG
While Steve Miller was generally included in AOR/MOR conversations, this track and others displayed his feel for R&B if not Soul. Very nicely done.

Well deserved RR Hall of Fame induction.
 Baketown wrote:
Until I looked at the name,  I though this was Traffic playing!
 
Steve Miller was always good at sounding like other acts.
La la la la la la la...
 Baketown wrote:
Until I looked at the name,  I though this was Traffic playing!
 
Me too! ...great song! ....except for the "narration with echo"!
I seriously thought that this was a new Los Lobos song.
 andy.ormsby955 wrote:
It was fine right up to the talking section. There's a simple rule of thumb - unless you're William Shatner, sing, don't talk.

Otherwise, nice tune.
 
FWIW, I've got a yard sale copy of "Sounds of the Drags" with the "and the winner,
Lefty Mudersbach" that ends Miller's "Livin' in the USA"... 'Course I also have my
ol' Bugeye Sprite with a fire-breathin' 1275cc engine...;-)

Tony in NJ
W.A.S.T.E.
 Baketown wrote:
Until I looked at the name,  I though this was Traffic playing!
 
me too
It was fine right up to the talking section. There's a simple rule of thumb - unless you're William Shatner, sing, don't talk.

Otherwise, nice tune.
A million miles from "Jet Airliner," which itself is ok, but this is something else. Great to hear stuff like this on RP.

Definitely has a Traffic vibe.
There's some serious tunes being played here today. .
Bill you are a genius
 Baketown wrote:
Until I looked at the name,  I though this was Traffic playing!
 

I was thinking Gregg Allman.
"Rise up with the new dawn's early morning
Feel the sunshine warm upon your face
Tomorrow's come a long, long way to help you
Yes, it's your saving grace"

What a great way to end a long night of trippin'
Here in Gary, IN, there's a foot of snow on the ground, it's 20 degrees F, and we're getting another foot tonight. By Wednesday, with the wind chill factored in, it will be minus 32 degrees F.  We could use a little saving grace right about now.
 lizardking wrote:

Heck...I not only KNOW this is SMB, I've seen him play it at least once in concert....and I still thought the same thing about it being traffic.  Odd....

and I understand the dislike for SMB in his later years, the FM commercial stuff...although I'm a big fan nonetheless.  I've rated this one an 8 with thoughts of going to 9....Long Live RP!!
 
There was some time travel, eh? He used to be a creative genius but sorta' succumbed to the Skinny Elvis/Fat Elvis thing. I waited at the stage door to say hi to him in upstate New York in the mid 70's, a lifetime ago, and when he got out of the car I spontaneously burst out with "Steve Miller's FAT!" His stage show was spectacular but the pop hits were much less interesting than the older material. I am particularly fond of Sailor and Brave New World. 
Voice like Greg A
Love this song and the whole Anthology Album!
 
In the middle of it, someone decided to emulate a bit o' Hendrix When 6 was 9 Rainy Day Dream Away and such, me thinks. 
 Baketown wrote:
Until I looked at the name,  I though this was Traffic playing!

 
Heck...I not only KNOW this is SMB, I've seen him play it at least once in concert....and I still thought the same thing about it being traffic.  Odd....

and I understand the dislike for SMB in his later years, the FM commercial stuff...although I'm a big fan nonetheless.  I've rated this one an 8 with thoughts of going to 9....Long Live RP!!
 passsion8 wrote:
Check out Steve Miller's next album after this - "Number 5" Album, especially the tracks "Going To Mexico" / "Midnight Tango" / "Tokins" and "Good Morning".

Great from start to finish.

 
The first 5 are awesome Lp's and Number 5 is my favorite.  Good, start to finish.  Rare then and even rarer now.
 Baketown wrote:
Until I looked at the name,  I though this was Traffic playing!

 
I absolutely thought the same thing..
 Baketown wrote:
Until I looked at the name,  I though this was Traffic playing!
 
Yeah it does sound like Dave Mason.
Until I looked at the name,  I though this was Traffic playing!
Yes. Still very much yes.
 coloradojohn wrote:
I dig hearing this on a cold, gray, snowy day. The Jimi Hendrix-style mumbling parts make me grin, and the uplifting atmosphere is nice

 
I'm digging hearing this on a sunny summer Seattle day....reminds me of driving to the Gorge in George WA for my 1st real concert back in 1995, which was probably this time of year too.  My best bud Jake got the tickets (probably $20-40 each) and we drove over the pass separately cuz I was heading to Spokane afterwards.  Anyways, he had the tiks the entire time so I never saw that the Doobie Bros were the opening act, and instead of leaving town around 2pm to get there for both shows, Jake decided we'd try to hook up a bag, which would have been excellent, except no one was holding any, so we went "SOBER" which was a bummer.  (of course later in the night some J's were being passed about and we got to toke a bit which was cool)

I still remember walking in to hear China Groove and it dawned on me that we MISSED almost all of the DB show.  I was so pissed, and I'm sure being sober didn't help my 'tude at that moment. 

The SMB show was awesome, and I for one still enjoy all those top40 hits many here dislike.  Yeah...I've heard them 100s of times, but something about the nostalgia still makes me grin and enjoy hearing them.

Long Live RP!!


 
Jelani wrote:
when this initially started I though it was Steve Winwood.

 
Me too!
 passsion8 wrote:
Check out Steve Miller's next album after this - "Number 5" Album, especially the tracks "Going To Mexico" / "Midnight Tango" / "Tokins" and "Good Morning".

Great from start to finish.

 
Took that one on a round-the-country road trip in 1971. It clicked.
Sweetness: Gospel-style bass vocal on the outro.
Check out Steve Miller's next album after this - "Number 5" Album, especially the tracks "Going To Mexico" / "Midnight Tango" / "Tokins" and "Good Morning".

Great from start to finish.
Now THIS is the Steve Miller that I came to know and love all those years ago!

....seeing him this summer, hopes he works some of this material into the show.... 
 primm wrote:
{#Fever} I could stand a little brave new world, bill if your listening / thanks and keep rocking !

 
OH PLEASE!
Ctrl-F "Stills": 3 hits
I dig hearing this on a cold, gray, snowy day. The Jimi Hendrix-style mumbling parts make me grin, and the uplifting atmosphere is nice
 inbagt wrote:
Classic rock stations made me hate Steve Miller's music, and Radio Paradise has helped changed my opinion!

 
I agree...that's because all the classic rock stations play is his top 40 garbage like The Joker, Abbracadabra, Take the Money and Run, and thast big ole Jetliner bullshit :^ /
when this initially started I though it was Steve Winwood.
{#Bounce}{#Bananajam}{#Guitarist}{#Bananapiano}{#Drummer}
Beautiful!

Brotherhood, Consciousness, Conservation, Peace

awesome band put out excellent music, so great : )
{#Fever} I could stand a little brave new world, bill if your listening / thanks and keep rocking !
I always loved the lyrics to this one  - "tomorrow, my old friend,  here it come, your saving grace. ..."

There I go, being a damn optimist... I need some Radiohead or Gang of Four as an antidote. .. "too much thinking makes me ill; I think I'll have another gin..." 
We seem to be hearing quite a lot of the good Steve Miller material here lately. I appreciate this. It's always worth hearing the early and much more creative work of someone whose reputation has been understood through his later mediocre output.
 inbagt wrote:
Classic rock stations made me hate Steve Miller's music, and Radio Paradise has helped changed my opinion!

 
Having only three 8-tracks in my first car for two years burned in my mind a dislike for almost everything Steve Miller ever did.
Classic rock stations reinforced those lessons.
Radio Paradise managed to play one of the few (2?) songs I can enjoy.
I guess that's why they call it paradise?


 primm wrote:
THIS EARLY EXAMPLE OF MILLERS MUSIC IS OUTSTANDING

 
Amen.
 ScottFromWyoming wrote:
Honestly, I'd rather hear Abracadabra. Just to be clear, though: I do not want to hear Abracadabra ever. At all.

 
{#Cheesygrin}
THIS EARLY EXAMPLE OF MILLERS MUSIC IS OUTSTANDING
Honestly, I'd rather hear Abracadabra. Just to be clear, though: I do not want to hear Abracadabra ever. At all.
I used to think Steve Miller was way ahead of his time, but listening 30+ years later, this has a very definite flavor of the music of its time: Dave Mason, CSNY, and the Hendrix bit in the middle.
Classic rock stations made me hate Steve Miller's music, and Radio Paradise has helped changed my opinion!
'sound' sound and reminds of little stevie winwood before his voice broke {#War}
Man, his early stuff was worth a lifetime... Gotta admit, I liked him well till Book of Dreams got way overplayed as radio slid into decline.
such a great tune ! and some of his best song writing
 coding_to_music wrote:
An amazing original feeling to this song

 
I always thought this was Traffic
Like being transported into Heaven, that spoken interlude.
An amazing original feeling to this song
 Highspirits wrote:
 bstevens1951 wrote:
Loved old school SMB, 1968-1972. Fly Like an Eagle killed it for me.


i'm with you - "we are children of the future"!


 
I kind of think it was The Joker that started the downward slide into Top 40
 bstevens1951 wrote:
Loved old school SMB, 1968-1972. Fly Like an Eagle killed it for me.


i'm with you - "we are children of the future"!

 a2sportsguy wrote:
This was an amazing version of the band: Perhaps Steve's finest. Besides the Joker on guitar, there was Tim Davis on drums (and lead vocals here), the inimitable Nicky Hopkins on keyboards, future jazzbo and longtime Miller friend Ben Sidran also on the keys and Lonnie Turner (one of Steve's primary collaborators on "Fly Like an Eagle) on bass.   

You only have to look at cover versions of this same song to see how well the musicians played and how tightly produced and arranged this was. (Glynis Johns had one of his first credits as producer before making his name with the Who and other rock royalty) It's my fondest wish that  Steve will one day play this in concert again. Sadly, although he is delving more into his pre-Joker back catalogue (he will occasionally play "Kow Kow Calqulator), I don't think this will ever happen.  

Here's one cover version:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4J7qnNe4DU 

 
Thank you a2sportsguy!  kickass piece of music by a fabulous crew
bstevens, I'm with you.
 Typesbad wrote:

And I thought it was Traffic, or at least Steve Winwood singing.  We all thought it was some kind of Steve.  
I've never been that much of a Steve Miller fan.  Maybe I just need to look at his earlier work.

 

that's what I thought.
Loved old school SMB, 1968-1972. Fly Like an Eagle killed it for me.
 Phlegmaticman wrote:
Wow, I thought it was Stephen Stills for a minute.

 
Me too. Totally a new sound connection of Steve Miller music for me.
But it still sounds like a CSN (&Y?) song. 
 Phlegmaticman wrote:
Wow, I thought it was Stephen Stills for a minute.

 
And I thought it was Traffic, or at least Steve Winwood singing.  We all thought it was some kind of Steve.  
I've never been that much of a Steve Miller fan.  Maybe I just need to look at his earlier work.
Wow, I thought it was Stephen Stills for a minute.
 moodfood wrote:
kinda has a Hendrix flavor to it.. {#Cheers}

 
Yes, in the spoken vocals, definitely.
This was an amazing version of the band: Perhaps Steve's finest. Besides the Joker on guitar, there was Tim Davis on drums (and lead vocals here), the inimitable Nicky Hopkins on keyboards, future jazzbo and longtime Miller friend Ben Sidran also on the keys and Lonnie Turner (one of Steve's primary collaborators on "Fly Like an Eagle) on bass.   

You only have to look at cover versions of this same song to see how well the musicians played and how tightly produced and arranged this was. (Glynis Johns had one of his first credits as producer before making his name with the Who and other rock royalty) It's my fondest wish that  Steve will one day play this in concert again. Sadly, although he is delving more into his pre-Joker back catalogue (he will occasionally play "Kow Kow Calqulator), I don't think this will ever happen.  

Here's one cover version:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4J7qnNe4DU 
Sounds like the Neville Brothers

in side side side of your mind mind mind {#Beat}


 {#Bananajam}{#Notworthy}WonderLizard wrote:
Great band.

 


Great band.
Holy s   ! I've never heard it before. I thought, gee, that's a moldy oldie Traffic cut. Time keeps on pushing is right. 
kinda has a Hendrix flavor to it.. {#Cheers}
A lifelong fave.
Beautiful morning, the start of an uplifting day!  Excellent set
 George_Tirebiter wrote:

I have the original album and while not Miller's best work, it brings back a lot of fond San Diego memories.  Upbeat and punchy.  I can't recall if Boz Scaggs was still with the band at this point, I'm thinking not.  {#Bounce}



 

Boz was gone after Sailor.

Digs the chord progression.


 hallogallo wrote:

Steve Miller has a sizable body of work prior to The Joker and already had a 'greatest hits' album Anthology (1972) by then.  Check it out sometime to see what I mean.




 pushing  a guy named  Bozz Skaggs  out front..... worked too.........{#Dance}{#Bounce}





Don't let nobody, turn you around, turn you around! Another of Miller's great songs, an anthem of the civil rights movement, though as a kid, living in a hick town, I had no idea what that song was about, just really liked Steve Miller Band tunes.

Steve Miller has a sizable body of work prior to The Joker and already had a 'greatest hits' album Anthology (1972) by then.  Check it out sometime to see what I mean.



Let's go skiing!  Isn't this great?


See below. Tim Davis, the group's then-drummer, composed and sang the song.Steve does the spoken bridge.  

 
Tana wrote:

That's Steve Miller himself singing, not Boz Scaggs. Boz WAS in the Steve Miller Band at the beginning, however, and both of them are still active, with new albums and touring.
 


God bless Steve Miller, and RP's saving grace  :-)
 SanFranGayMan wrote:
Thanks for the early SMB stuff-classic rock, lyrics and vocals-Boz never sounded better than he did on these early albums. Keep diggin', Bill and Rebecca!

 
That's Steve Miller himself singing, not Boz Scaggs. Boz WAS in the Steve Miller Band at the beginning, however, and both of them are still active, with new albums and touring.
I forgot all about this song!  Thanks for playing it!
 SanFranGayMan wrote:
Thanks for the early SMB stuff-classic rock, lyrics and vocals-Boz never sounded better than he did on these early albums. Keep diggin', Bill and Rebecca!
 
Oh, absolutely. That was a GREAT band, and it's remarkably good to hear them again.
Thanks for the early SMB stuff-classic rock, lyrics and vocals-Boz never sounded better than he did on these early albums. Keep diggin', Bill and Rebecca!
Always liked this song.  I learned something new today when I read the earlier comment that it wasn't Steve on the lead vocal in this one.
Not their best work. Then again, none of their stuff is their best. Don't like this mediocre music.
In answer to some of the other questions/comments: This was the fourth SMB album. And it didn't have either Boz Scaggs or Ben Sidran. Instead, that's the wonderful Nicky Hopkins on the organ, who was a quasi-member of the group at that point. If you liked him on this track (and I really do), try "Kow Kow Calqulator" off the preceding album, in which Hopkins provides an amazing keyboard coda.
 Jazbo wrote:
Always have just loved this. So Trafficy to me.... Peace.. Oh .... And a little Jimi.....
 
Never have heard this anywhere. My all-time favorite song. That's the late great Tim Davis – not Steve – on the vocals. Tim was Steve's drummer on his first five albums, two of which included high school friend Boz Scaggs.
Always have just loved this. So Trafficy to me.... Peace.. Oh .... And a little Jimi.....
I picked up the Anthology album way back when and just loved everything on it. Then came the Joker and it all went to hell. 
Remember having this original album (cassette). Least favorite song on the album.
Play this instead -> Don't Let Nobody Turn You Around

 mrmojorisin wrote:
Too repetitve. Sucko-Barfo. Pull it off and play a good Almond Bros. song instead.
 
Disagree!  Most all music is repetitive to some degree.  Steve Miller's stuff is good blues rock.
But yeah, I really like the Allman Brothers, too!


Great to hear this groovin' Steve Miller Band song!
Looks like he plays it every 3-4 years if you go by the comment dates.

I have the original album and while not Miller's best work, it brings back a lot of fond San Diego memories.  Upbeat and punchy.  I can't recall if Boz Scaggs was still with the band at this point, I'm thinking not.  {#Bounce}


Reminded me that I liked this iteration of the band, with Ben Sidran on keyboards. But boy does it date me - back in my high school days.