Steve Miller Book Of Dreams CD

Personnel: Steve Miller; Les Dudek, Curley Cooke (guitar); Norton Buffalo (harmonica); Jachym Young (piano); Charles Calimise, Bob Globb (bass); Kenny Johnson (drums); David Denny, Greg Douglass, Byron Allred, Lonnie Turner, Gary Mallaber.
Recorded at C.B.S., San Francisco, California.
Personnel: Steve Miller; Les Dudek, Curley Cooke (guitar); Norton Buffalo (harmonica); Jachym Young (piano); Charles Calimise, Bob Globb (bass); Kenny Johnson (drums); David Denny, Greg Douglass, Byron Allred, Lonnie Turner, Gary Mallaber.
Recorded at C.B.S., San Francisco, California.
It is here, on this 1977 blockbuster, that Steve Miller shored up his "Space Cowboy" moniker and cosmic persona: from the winged horse on the album cover to a judicious smattering of synthesizers in the music, Book of Dreams bridged the gap between blues-rock and the indulgences of prog rock. Things do go awry when Renaissance Faire whimsy takes over clunkers like "Wish Upon a Star" and "Babes in the Wood," but luckily the balance of the record offers a satisfying blend of meaty blues and country riffs and tasteful atmospherics. The well-known suspects include "Swingtown," "Winter Time," and "Threshold," with relatively straightforward rock & boogie highlights coming by way of "True Fine Love," "Jet Airliner," and "Jungle Love." The non-hit cuts, "Sacrifice" and "My Own Space," do stand up to these FM favorites but fall short of making the album something the casual fan should consider with Miller's Greatest Hits 1974-1978 in hand (that collection includes seven tracks off of Book of Dreams, plus all the hits from The Joker and Fly Like an Eagle). Still, this is a highlight of the '70s classic rock era and one of Miller's finest releases. ~ Stephen Cook
Steve Miller has been known to take several years between albums to record follow-ups, but one of the few exceptions to this rule was his 1977 release BOOK OF DREAMS. With his previous album from a year earlier, FLY LIKE AN EAGLE, still hovering around the charts, Miller released another set of songs recorded during the same sessions that produced EAGLE.
It proved to be the right move, as BOOK OF DREAMS was a Top Five smash, spawning such hit singles as the melodic "Jet Airliner," the jovial "Jungle Love," as well as "Swingtown." With two albums released so close to each other, Miller took an extended break afterwards, not releasing another until CIRCLE OF LOVE nearly 4 years later.