Frankie Miller

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Frankie Miller
Birth name Francis John Miller
Born November 2, 1949 (1949-11-02) (age 58)
Bridgeton, Glasgow, Scotland
Genre(s) Rock, AOR, folk rock
Occupation(s) Singer-songwriter
Instrument(s) Guitar, vocals
Years active 1966–present
Label(s) Chrysalis

Frankie Miller (born Francis John Miller, 2 November 1949) is a Scottish rock singer-songwriter[1], who had success in the 1970s with a gritty voice similar to Rod Stewart or Joe Cocker. Bob Seger has remarked Miller was a huge influence on him, in an article published in 1978, in Rolling Stone magazine.

Miller was raised at 38 Colvend Street, Bridgeton, Glasgow with his parents, Kathy and Frank, and elder sisters Letty and Anne. He attended Sacred Heart Primary school then Sacred Heart Secondary school known locally as Pirn Street School. He was an altar boy in Sacred Heart Chapel. He also played football for the school team and Harmony Row Boys Club.

He first became aware of the power of Rock and R&B through his mother’s record collection. She had a fondness for Ray Charles while his sisters introduced him to Little Richard and Elvis Presley. He identified instinctively with Little Richard’s flamboyant aggression; The music was alive, exciting, I loved it. I realised later that I could get my own aggression out through music. R&B and Soul Music, I just knew was what I really loved. He started writing songs at the age of nine after being given a guitar by his parents. "I Can't Change It" written when he was just twelve years old was later recorded by Ray Charles.

Contents

[edit] Career overview

Miller began singing professionally as a teenager with a Glasgow band called The Stoics.[2] Towards the end of the 1960s, he moved to London to further his career.

In 1971, he was 'discovered' by the guitarist Robin Trower, who had just left Procol Harum and was looking to put together a new band. Miller introduced fellow Glaswegian bassist and vocalist James Dewar to Trower and the three of them, along with ex Jethro Tull drummer Clive Bunker, formed the short-lived band Jude in July 1971. However, the band (which received significant coverage in the British music press) broke up in April 1972, without ever having entered the recording studio. The Miller/Trower composition "I Can't Wait Much Longer" later appeared on Trower's first solo album, Twice Removed from Yesterday.

Later in 1972, Miller signed a solo deal with Chrysalis Records, and recorded his first LP Once In A Blue Moon, with record producer, Dave Robinson. The album was an early example of pub rock, and featured backing by the pioneer pub rock band, Brinsley Schwarz.

Miller was now receiving consistenly good reviews, although his singles and albums were not chart hits. However, Chrysalis was willing to spend some money in matching up Miller with hitmaking talent, and accordingly Miller's second album, 1974's High Life was written and produced by Allen Toussaint and recorded in New Orleans. The 1975 follow-up The Rock was cut in San Francisco with producer Elliot Mazer, who also co-produced Harvest for Neil Young.

A breakthrough of sorts came with 1977's Full House, produced by Chris Thomas: the lead off track, "Be Good To Yourself" became Miller's first UK Top 40 hit, peaking at #27 in the UK Singles Chart in June. The following year, Miller hit the UK Top 10 with the song "Darlin'", which peaked at number six on the 14 October 1978. "Darlin'" also made the "Bubbling Under" charts in the U.S., peaking at #103. The follow-up single, "When I'm Away From You", stalled at #42 UK, and did not chart in the U.S.

Although Miller's recording career continued, he was not a chart act in either the U.S. or the UK in the 1980s. However, he diversified into acting and, in 1979, starred in Peter McDougall's TV film Just a Boy's Game, which was directed by John Mackenzie to critical acclaim. Miller was inundated with offers of acting roles but declined to focus on songwriting.

In 1992, after a long absence from the charts, Miller scored a number one hit in his native Scotland with the track "Caledonia". The same year he also co-wrote the award winning song "Burn One Down" with Clint Black. Throughout the late 1980s and early 1990s Miller concentrated on songwriting, his songs have been covered by the likes of Johnny Cash, Ray Charles, Rod Stewart,The Bellamy Brothers, Kim Carnes, Waylon Jennings, Bob Seger, Bonnie Tyler, Roy Orbison, Etta James, Joe Walsh,The Eagles and many others.

Miller suffered a massive brain haemorrhage in New York on 25 August 1994, while writing material for a new band he and Joe Walsh from The Eagles had formed with the now late Nicky Hopkins. Miller spent five months in a coma. He then entered rehabilitation, re-learning how to walk and talk.[1] A 1999 BBC Television special, Stubborn Kinda Fella, was made to show how far he had progressed with massive support from his wife Annette. In the BBC documentary Rod Stewart stated Miller "was the only white singer to have brought a tear to his eye - he was that good".

Miller rehabilitated himself enough to begin writing songs again; at a late 1990s Disabled Charity concert in Edinburgh, Miller's new collaboration with Will Jennings, "The Sun Goes Up, the Sun Comes Down," was performed by Bonnie Tyler, Paul Carrack, and Jools Holland.

[edit] Albums

  • Once In A Blue Moon (1972)
  • High Life (1974)
  • The Rock (1975)
  • Full House (1977)
  • Double Trouble (1978)
  • Falling In Love (1979) (issued in the U.S. as A Perfect Fit)
  • Easy Money (1980)
  • Standing on the Edge (1982)
  • Dancing in the Rain (1986)
  • The Very Best Of Frankie Miller (1994)
  • BBC Radio 1 Live in Concert (1994)
  • Long Way Home (2006)

[edit] Trivia

 Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines.
The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.
  • Miller wrote the score and sang the opening and closing tracks on the 1979 film, Sense of Freedom.
  • Miller sang the opening and closing tracks on the 1986 Act of Vengeance movie, starring Charles Bronson.
  • "I Can't Change It", from Miller's Once In A Blue Moon album, replaced "Wild Horses" by The Rolling Stones, during an emotional scene in episode four of British television drama, Life on Mars, in the DVD release of the first season. "I Can't Change It" also appeared in another UK TV drama series, Cracker. Plus, the same song was recorded by Ray Charles.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll - Page 371, Summit Books, 1983, ISBN 0671434578
  2. ^ Phil Hardy, Dave Laing, Encyclopedia of Rock - Page 297, Schirmer Books, 1988, ISBN 0029195624

[edit] External links

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