Before he was 'The Joker,' Steve Miller had exceptional blues education

The Steve Miller Band will play the hits at this year's Carb Day concert, summoning songs from the 1970s that haven't budged from heavy rotation at classic rock radio.

But Miller, 73, had a remarkable career before he got around to writing and recording "The Joker," "Fly Like an Eagle," "Rock'n Me," "Jet Airliner" and "Take the Money and Run."

On a musical journey that began in Dallas, Miller crossed paths with electric-guitar innovator T-Bone Walker, Chicago royalty Howlin' Wolf and Muddy Waters, and blues harmonica master James Cotton.

Because Miller is coming to Indianapolis for Indy 500 weekend, it's a perfect time to note his role in bringing iconic car song "Mercury Blues" to the masses. The song by Mississippi blues musician K.C. Douglas, eventually covered by Alan Jackson, David Lindley and Meat Loaf, has been in Miller's life for nearly 60 years.

Miller told IndyStar about his exceptional blues education during a phone interview: 

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Question: I know you played “Mercury Blues” at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967. Had you been playing it before then?

Answer: “Mercury Blues” was a roadside recording made in, I think, the late ‘40s. I heard it when I was about 11 years old. It was by K.C. Douglas. It’s a song I learned as a kid. I played it all through high school in the ‘50s and the early ‘60s. When I got to San Francisco (in 1966), one of the first gigs I had was at a little club called the Matrix. Before I played the song, I talked about K.C. Douglas and how I heard the song through a roadside recording. When the set was over, K.C. Douglas came up out of the crowd. He lived in Oakland and had come over to hear me play. He introduced himself and thanked me. I was just flabbergasted. It was an amazing and very rare experience.

Q: Did the rediscovery of “Mercury Blues” give K.C. Douglas a career boost in the '60s?

A: Yes. A lot of people got their careers sort of revived when things like that happened, even people like Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf. When I first was playing with them in Chicago in ‘65 and ‘66, their careers were over, and we were basically all competing for the same nightclub gigs. The folk-music revival got people interested in roots music and early American music. It was basically a white college audience that started this, and all of these guys had their careers reignited. It was a really big deal for the Rolling Stones to come to Chess Records and record (in 1964). Then we all went out and toured together. I toured a lot with Junior Wells and Buddy Guy. We probably did 100 concerts with James Cotton and his band. It was a great thing for everybody. Rock ’n’ roll musicians benefited greatly from the blues, and the blues guys benefited, too. Now I’m on the board at Jazz at Lincoln Center putting together the blues pedagogy. It’s been a long, interesting journey.

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Q: We lost James Cotton in March.

A: I know. I played in Austin last year, and James came out and played with me. He was really a great friend to me. We did a lot of recording and a lot of touring together. I was able to talk to James the day before he passed. Jimmy Vaughan called, and he was at James’ room in Austin playing guitar for him while he was in the hospital. So I picked up my guitar and played some music and talked a little bit. He used to open for us, and it was the hardest thing in the world to follow him because he had a 200-foot long microphone cable. He would jump off the stage and go up the center aisle of the Paramount Theatre or wherever we’d be playing. He would go out and play in the audience and get them all excited. Then he would do somersaults down the aisle back to the stage. Then he’d say, "OK, it’s all yours.”

Q: Mid-June is the 50th anniversary of Monterey Pop. I know that event did a lot to spread the word for you. Was it a good experience?

A: It was a phenomenal gathering of musicians. It was an early indicator of what the future was bringing. What was interesting about it was the diversity of acts. You had Laura Nyro and Simon & Garfunkel, the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, the Who and Jimi Hendrix. Otis Redding was there. The feeling was very special because it was three days of amazing music. It was one act after another that you really wanted to see. You could see the world of pop music was really changing. We were always considered an underground progressive rock group. That meant we were in this ghetto and we were never going to be played on AM radio. They didn’t take any of it seriously.

Q: More and more people are suggesting we’re nearing the end of that era. Do you buy that 50 years is about all we’re getting?

A: I don’t think so. Rock ’n’ roll has changed, but the idea of the festival is bigger now than ever. Music changes and culture changes, but the desire for live music is bigger now than it’s ever been. I’m sure the future will be full of music and full of concerts and full of performing musicians.

Q: I also wanted to ask you about Chuck Berry. When you wrote “Rock’n Me,” for instance, was Chuck a direct influence?

A: Chuck was so much of rock ’n’ roll that he had to be. In my case, I knew Chuck’s teacher personally: T-Bone Walker used to come over to the house and play guitar. He taught me how to play lead guitar at 9 years old. So I knew where Chuck got his licks from. But Chuck was a phenomenal writer. Those records were unbelievably exciting. Every one of them. He was just one of my favorite performers. He was so cool. He played such great guitar. His lyrics were brilliant.

Miller Lite Carb Day Concert

>> STARRING: Steve Miller Band, Barenaked Ladies.

>> WHEN: 3:30 p.m. May 26.

>> WHERE: Indianapolis Motor Speedway, 4790 W. 16th St.

>> TICKETS: $30 to $50.

>> INFO: Visit IndianapolisMotorSpeedway.com or call (317) 492-8500.

Call IndyStar reporter David Lindquist at (317) 444-6404. Follow him on Twitter: @317Lindquist.