Steve Miller (musician) - Early Years

Early Years

Born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, young Steve received his first exposure to music from his mother, Bertha, whom he described as a remarkable non-professional jazz-influenced singer, and his physician father, George, known as "Sonny" who, in addition to his profession as a pathologist, was a jazz enthusiast and accomplished amateur recording engineer. Moreover, guitar virtuoso Les Paul and his musical partner Mary Ford were regular visitors at the Miller house and Dr. and Mrs. Miller were best man and maid of honor at their December 1949 wedding. Les Paul heard Steve, who was about five, on a wire recording made by Dr. Miller, as the youngster was "banging away" on a guitar given to him by his uncle, Dr. K. Dale Atterbury. Paul encouraged the little musician to continue with his interest in the guitar ... and "perhaps he will be something one day".

In 1950 the family relocated to Texas and Steve, who was nearly seven, began attending Dallas' St. Mark's School, a non-sectarian preparatory day school for boys where, about eight years later, he formed his first band, "The Marksmen". He taught older brother Buddy, the only youngster in the family with a driver's license, to play the bass and also instructed classmate and future musical star, Boz Scaggs, a few guitar chords so that he could join the band. After leaving St. Mark's — "I got kicked out", he recalled with a laugh in a 2004 interview — he then attended a school in the Lakewood area of Dallas, Woodrow Wilson High School, from which he graduated in 1961.

In 1962, Miller returned to Wisconsin, and entered the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where he formed The Ardells. Scaggs joined the Ardells the next year, and Ben Sidran became the band's keyboardist the year after. After attending the University of Copenhagen in Denmark for a semester in his senior year to study comparative literature, he dropped out six credit hours shy of a literature degree, opting to pursue a music career with his mother's encouragement and his father's misgivings:

When you look back over the span of your career, what are the lasting moments, the sweetest highs?

I would have to say my father's relationship with Les Paul and T-Bone Walker when I was young. Growing up in Dallas, being part of that phenomenal music scene. I found a way to do what I really wanted to do, which is so important for a kid. Near the end of college, my parents said, 'Steve, what are you going to do?' I said, 'I want to go to Chicago and play the blues.' My father looked at me like I was insane. But my mom said, 'You should do it now.' So I went to Chicago. And that was a special time. I played with Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf. I got to work with adults and realized music was what I wanted to do, what I loved.

Upon his return to the United States, Miller moved to Chicago where he immersed himself in the city's blues scene. During his time there, he worked with harmonica player Paul Butterfield and jammed with blues greats Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf and Buddy Guy, all of whom offered the young guitarist encouragement to pursue a musical career. In 1965, Miller and keyboardist Barry Goldberg formed the Goldberg-Miller Blues Band and began playing on the Chicago club scene. They signed with Epic Records and released a single, "The Mother Song", and soon began a residency at a New York City blues club.

When Miller returned from New York, he was disappointed by the state of the Chicago blues scene, so he moved to Texas in hopes finishing his education at the University of Texas at Austin. He was disenchanted with academic politics at the University, so he took a Volkswagen Bus his father had given him and headed to San Francisco. Upon arrival, he used his last $5 to see the Butterfield Blues Band and Jefferson Airplane at the Fillmore Auditorium. Miller fell in love with the vibrant San Francisco music scene and decided to stay.