In a new interview with AXS TV, Steve Miller shared the deal he agreed to do with Chuck Berry for his live album.
Miller and his band gained recognition in San Francisco, catching the attention of concert promoter Bill Graham. They were chosen to support Berry at the Fillmore venue. The performance was recorded and later released as a live album in 1967. Apparently, the band loved Berry so much that they agreed on a deal for only a dollar. Miller explained:
“Chuck was coming out of retirement, and they were bringing him up to the Filmore Auditorium. Bill Graham came to me and said, ‘We want your band to back up Chuck Berry,’ and I said, ‘Okay but, Chuck Berry has to come and rehearse. If he’ll do two days of rehearsal, I’ll do the show with him.’ Chuck said, ‘Yep.’ He came out and we hung out together for two days. We rehearsed everything he does.”
Agreeing on the deal, both parties enjoyed the rehearsal, and so did the record company:
“It got so good that Mercury Records immediately said, ‘Oh this is great, we gotta make a live album.’ So we negotiated the deal and the night of the first show, where we agreed to do the Chuck Berry ‘Live at the Fillmore Auditorium’ with the Steve Miller Band album for a dollar because it was Chuck Berry and we loved him so much.”
Berry Was Almost Fired From Tour
After their live album was released in 1967, the relationship between Miller and Berry continued both as friends and professional musicians. The two parties made around 40 shows together, but they had their ups and downs. In another interview, Miller recalled the days of touring with his friend and explained how he almost fired Berry:
“We did a lot of shows like this, and it eventually got to where he was kind of cranky with the band. He’d stop everything, and it got to be a problem. One night at the Carousel Ballroom, he embarrassed the band on stage. We had two shows to do that night. I walked off the stage and said, ‘If you ever (expletive) do that to me again, Chuck, you can (expletive) get your own band and your own equipment and start carrying your own amp, because I’m not going to ever go on stage with you again if that happens.’ Once I had the showdown with him backstage, from that time on, he was just great, and it never happened again.”
You can watch the interview below.
