Steve Miller Band: 'Mercury Blues' - 1976

Been into Steve Miller ever since the very first time I heard
'The Joker' on my Philco made-in-Japan pocket transistor radio in Summer of '73... even if I was too young to understand exactly what he was singing about.

But it was 1976's Fly Like an Eagle that really put the Steve Miller Band on the map. Although lyrical themes range from redistribution to anarchy, Miller's slick, understated slide-guitar sound and hook-laden songwriting have rendered me a lifelong fan. Besides the eponymous single, two others came from this fine album- 'Rock n' Me' and 'Take the Money and Run'... as the LP itself went on to sell forever, now quadruple-Multi-Platinum-- and that's a lot or records.

Didja ever have a tune you just can never get sick of hearing as long as you live? Steve Miller's lesser-known cover of Blues legend K.C. Douglas' 'Mercury Blues' is just that sort for me... been listening to it since I was 15:

Had my money
I tell you - what I'd do 
I would go downtown 
Buy me a Mercury or two 

Cause I'm crazy 'bout a Mercury 
Cruise up and down this road 
Up and down this road 
I'm goin' to buy me a Mercury 
And I'll cruise up and down this road 
Up and down this road 

You know that gal I love 
I stole her from a friend 
Fool got lucky stole her back again 
Because she knowed he had a Mercury 
Cruise up and down this road 
Up and down this road 
Well, she knowed he had a Mercury 
And she cruise up and down this road   

Hey now mama 
Where'd you stay last night 
Your hair's all down 
Your clothes don't fit you right 
Had my money 
I tell you what I'd do 
Go downtown and buy a Mercury or two 
Cause I'm crazy 'bout a Mercury 
And I'll cruise up and down this road 
Up and down this road 

I'm going to buy me a Mercury 
And I'll cruise up and down this road 
Up and down this road