An equal mix of curiosity and anticipation compelled me to go see Steve Miller this early summer day at the Springfield Civic Center, Springfield, MA, USA on May 10, 1974. And it’s safe to say the greatest contributing factors were the presence on the bill of Boz Scaggs and James Cotton. I knew full well that the blues material on the headliner’s surprise hit album of late 1973, The Joker, was not an aberration, but rather a continuation of his history from his days leading a blues band. Still, at this point my own education in the field wasn’t that long or sustained: what I knew was purely second hand, first from listening to covers by The Doors and Cream, then becoming enamored of Johnny Winter through his appearance at Woodstock (plus his first two Columbia records) and, slowly but surely, learning how eternal were those sounds in the hands of contemporary masters like The Allman Brothers Band.
Yet I couldn’t appreciate what a grand expression of generosity and loyalty (in both spiritual and financial terms) was ‘The Space Cowboy’s invitation to his former bandmate Scaggs (who was on the first two SMB albums in the late Sixties, Children of the Future and Sailor) as well as blues icon Cotton (a prominent figure in the blues revival of the times). While such multi-act bills were still prevalent in the concert realm, they were not often always so stylistically logical: I still clearly recalled seeing the Blue Oyster Cult, the Byrds and the Mahavishnu Orchestra in a single evening at University of Vermont’s Patrick Gymnasium.
Unlike that motley offering, this occasion in Springfield turned out to be a course in the evolution of roots music, beginning with great enthusiasm and authority, during James Cotton’s set. Rightly focusing on the bandleader and his bittersweet harp playing, the comparatively abbreviated performance established a foundation upon which those younger kindred spirits of his built their own. His mix of shuffles and slower twelve-bar pieces echoed throughout Scaggs’ and Miller’s detailed variations on those themes.
The former was still a ways from the polished commercial juggernaut of Silk Degrees and instead concentrated on the earthier and less-slick r&b/soul stylings of his second album for Columbia Records, Boz Scaggs & Band. In doing so, the man proffered almost as much lead guitar as deeply-felt vocals, the highlight of which was, not surprisingly, the already-famous “Loan Me A Dime” from his eponymous solo record on Atlantic Records released five years prior: while the now-famous extended solo of Duane Allman distinguished the studio cut, the horn section in tow with Scaggs’ core band provided the appropriate dramatic backdrop for this majestic reading.
In contrast, The Steve Miller Band provided almost comic relief with a selection of commercial tunes like the title song of the previous year’s LP and some blasts from the man’s past like “Living in the USA.” But the inclusion of Robert Johnson’s “Come On In My Kitchen” and “Evil” not only linked this frontman’s popular present with his extended past, but what he had in common with the other artists on the bill. As a result, when Cotton, then Scaggs (with the aforementioned horns) joined ‘The Joker” on stage, the sight and sound of them side-by-side constituted not just a rousing finale, but the most memorable moments of the show.
The audience response there, as for the more familiar chart-topping tunes, was far louder than the somewhat tepid and tentative acclamation for the roots material: it was as if many in the crowd weren’t quite sure when to respond or how much. But leaving this otherwise homogeneous hockey rink, there was every reason to think many in attendance left with an indelible impression, a mix of eagerness and wonder, just like I did when I arrived.
