Miller, Frankie

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Frankie Miller

Singer, songwriter, guitar player

Although never recognizing the level of success in America that he earned in the United Kingdom, Scottish singer and songwriter Frankie Miller is highly regarded on both sides of the Atlantic for his vocal style, which is performed in a manner reminiscent of American rhythm and blues performers Otis Redding, Sam Cooke, Ray Charles, and Bobby "Blue" Bland. He has also been compared to Rod Stewart, Joe Cocker, Snips (of Sharks and the Baker Gurvitz Army), and Paul Rogers. He garnered critical admiration for his ability to assemble first-rate musicians for his albums and live performances, including songwriter and producer Allen Toussaint, members of Brinsley Schwarz; guitarists Robin Trower, Henry McCullouch, and Joe Walsh; pianist Nicky Hopkins; singer and keyboardist Paul Carrack; bassist, producer, singer, and songwriter Nick Lowe; drummer Simon Kirke; and singer and songwriter Paul Rogers. In addition, Miller has recorded songs that he wrote as well as songs written by others that subsequently became hits for artists including Ray Charles, Bob Seger, Bonnie Tyler, Lou Ann Barton, Cliff Richard, and Betty Wright.

Miller began performing while still a student. He fronted bands with such names as the Deljacks, West Farm Cottage, and Sock It To 'Em JB. His band the Stoics toured as an opening act for the rock-blues boogie outfit Ten Years After in 1970. The band changed its name to Howl and appeared at the Isle of Wight Festival, rubbing elbows with the rock cognoscenti of the era. Miller was enlisted as the singer in a band featuring guitarist Robin Trower, former Jethro Tull drummer Clive Bunker, and Jimmy Dewar, who had been in Sock It To 'Em JB with Miller. Despite media hype, the band fell apart prior to recording an album. Miller signed a solo contract with the Chrysalis label in 1972. His debut solo album, Once in a Blue Moon, was a low-key affair, featuring backup musical support by members of the band Brinsley Schwarz. The album featured the Miller composition "I Can't Change It," which was covered by Ray Charles.

After relying on Chrysalis staff to manage his career for the first 18 months—with few results—Miller enlisted Procol Harem lyricist Keith Reid as manager. His views on Chrysalis's handling of his career were dismissive. He remarked to Sounds music reporter Peter Silverton: "How can a guy who's at his desk all day and goin' out tae see bands at night spend any time on me? I need someone to push me and Keith's done that. It's great. He's put me where I should be—out on the road."

For his second album, 1975's High Life, Miller traveled to New Orleans to work with legendary producer Allen Toussaint. "Allen Toussaint did a great job," Miller recalled to Silverton. "Then Johnny Taylor's producer, Don Davis, remixed it and put echo on it and I hate echo. But Toussaint was great." Despite the critical acclaim the album and its predecessor received, Miller still lacked commercial success. "I dinnae want a hit single for the sake of it," he told Silverton. "I used to get sent songs that I knew'd be hit singles. But I wouldnae do 'em. There's certain things I wouldnae put out as a single."

For 1975's The Rock, Miller hired a crackling group of musicians, who captured the American rhythm and blues vibe that fit perfectly with Miller's songs and vocals, including guitarist Henry McCullough, keyboardist Mick Weaver, bassist Chrissy Stewart, and drummer Stu Perry—collectively known as the Frankie Miller Band. Recorded in San Francisco, the album's title track refers to the isolation and homesickness felt by Miller. Miller also employed the gospel-soul vocal group the Edwin Hawkins Singers for support on "A Fool in Love." Phonograph Record critic Bud Scoppa wrote about the album: "Miller's got better equipment and better moves than any rock vocalist to emerge in the last year—all this forceful, intelligent young writer/singer lacks is an audience. The Rock is about to take care of that."

The Frankie Miller band disintegrated upon return to the United Kingdom, however, and Miller once again relied on his contacts in the music industry to assemble another band, Full House, featuring guitarist Ray Minhinnett, keyboardist Jim Hall, bassist Chrissie Stewart, and drummer Graham Deacon. Full House recorded the self-titled album in 1977, which was produced by Chris Thomas (who performed similar duties for The Pretenders, Pete Townshend, and many others), and featured guest musicians Chris Spedding, Gary Brooker, Rabbit Bundrick, and the Memphis Horns. The album featured the songs "This Love of Mine," which was co-written by Miller and former Jude band-mate Robin Trower, and a rendition of John Lennon's "Jealous Guy."

Full House folded after touring for the album, and Miller returned to the studio to record the 1978 release Double Trouble, which was produced by Aerosmith and Graham Parker production alumnus Jack Douglas. Douglas recruited Aerosmith singer Steven Tyler for backup vocal duties on an album that yielded a surprise hit single with "Be Good to Yourself." His introduction to the British Top 30 charts was followed by an even bigger hit, "Darlin'," which he didn't write, but which helped commercial sales of his 1979 album Falling in Love. Miller traveled to Nashville to record 1980's Easy Money, and recorded portions of Standing on the Edge at the Muscle Shoals studio in Alabama.

For the Record …

Born on November 2, 1949, in Glasgow, Scotland.

Member of bands The Deljacks, West Farm Cottage, and Sock It to 'Em JB, late 1960s; joined The Stoics and toured Germany as support act to Ten Years After, 1970; appeared with band Howl at Isle of Wight Festival, 1970; formed Jude with Robin Trower and Jethro Tull drummer Clive Bunker, 1971; signed solo contract with Chrysalis Records, 1972; released debut solo effort Once in a Blue Moon with backing band Brinsely Schwarz, 1973; worked with New Orleans producer and songwriter Allen Toussint on sophomore effort Highlife, 1975; suffered brain hemorrhage and subsequent five-month coma, 1994; subject of BBC documentary Stubborn Kind of Fella, 1999; subject of triple-CD tribute album, 2002.

Addresses: Record company—Jerkin' Crocus, P.O. Box 3345, Brighton, East Sussex, BN1 7JZ, United Kingdom. Website—Frankie Miller Official Website: http://www.frankiemiller.net.

Miller has been admired for his steady string of critically appreciated and tastefully recorded and performed albums throughout the 1970s and early 1980s. He recorded his final studio album, Dancing in the Rain, in 1986. In 1994, however, while recording with guitarist Joe Walsh and pianist Nicky Hopkins, Miller suffered a brain hemorrhage and lapsed into a five-month coma. His rehabilitative efforts were documented in the 1999 BBC film, Stubborn Kind of Fella. In the late 1990s Bonnie Tyler, Paul Carrack, and Jools Holland performed a new song co-written by Miller and Will Jennings, "The Sun Goes Up, the Sun Comes Down." Previously, Cliff Richard had scored a hit with Miller's "I'll Take a Melody" and Betty Wright had done the same with Miller's "Shoo-Rah! Shoo-rah!." Celebrity admirers, including Lulu and Rod Stewart, banded together to record a three-CD set of Miller's compositions in 2002, and British record label Eagle Records reissued all of his albums on compact disc with bonus tracks. Midway through 2006 an album of unreleased Miller material, Long Way Home, surfaced on the Jerkin' Crocus label, featuring songs recorded in the mid-1990s with Walsh and Hopkins.

Selected discography

Once in a Blue Moon, Chrysalis, 1973.
Highlife, Chrysalis, 1975.
The Rock, Chrysalis, 1975.
Full House, Chrysalis, 1972.
Double Trouble, Chrysalis, 1978.
Falling in Love, Chrysalis 1979.
Easy Money, Chrysalis, 1980.
Standing on the Edge, Capitol, 1982.
Dancing in the Rain, Mercury, 1986.
The Very Best of Frankie Miller, Capitol, 1994.
BBC Live in Concert, Windsong, 1994.
Long Way Home, Jerkin' Crocus, 2006.