They had just returned from an extensive tour, performing before some of their largest audiences to date, as they rode the crest of success of The Joker. This remarkable Steve Miller Band performance, recorded at San Francisco's Winterland, was a homecoming for the band. This new approach caught the attention of radio and gave Miller his first solid commercial success, due in no small part to the extensive radio play of the title track. Past influences, the blues in particular, were still part of the group's flavor, but Miller was now playing more acoustic guitar, and the songs were often paired down to essential elements. Gone were the psychedelic explorations and lengthy blues jams of the past, and in their place was a more melodic, smooth rock sound. Following numerous personnel and stylistic changes between 19, Steve Miller finally hit big in 1973 with his eighth album, The Joker, which marked yet another significant change for the group. Like many of the San Francisco bands, they were initially a young blues band that developed into one of the pioneers of the psychedelic rock scene, releasing increasingly adventurous albums and becoming a favorite at Fillmores East and West as well as rock clubs throughout America. Few groups that established themselves in the 1960s survived the transition into the 1970s better than the Steve Miller Band.
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