DAVID'S ROCK SCRAPBOOK: 2013

Frankie Miller was born in Scotland in 1949. He began singing and writing songs at an early age. Robin Trower discovered him performing in a pub in London in the early 70s. Trower had recently left Procol Harum and wanted to form a new band. Together they formed Jude. It included Miller’s friend, James Dewar, from Stone The Crows and Clive Bunker from Jethro Tull. They disbanded before producing any recordings. Robin Trower and James Dewar continued on with great success and Frankie Miller went solo.

On his first album, “Once in a Blue Moon”, he was backed by Brinsley-Schwarz. His second album, “Highlife”, was recorded in New Orleans and was produced by Allen Toussaint, who also wrote seven of the songs.

Miller briefly teamed up with Andy Fraser, from Free, who was looking for a replacement for Paul Rogers. They soon spilt, but co-wrote, “A Fool in Love”, which appeared on his third album, “The Rock”. Paul Kossoff played lead guitar uncredited on “I know why the sun don’t shine”.

“The Rock” included guitarist Henry McCullough from The Grease Band and Paul McCartney’s Wings. Also Mick Weaver, who had recently replaced Steve Winwood in a reformed Traffic, called Wooden Frog. Chris Stewart and Stu Perry played bass and drums.

Frankie Miller continued to record with other musicians. His music became more famous then himself as other artists recorded his songs. Artists such as Ray Charles, Joe Cocker, Rod Stewart, Etta James, The Everly Brothers and more. He also worked as an actor.

In 1994, just as he was starting a new project with Joe Walsh and Nicky Hopkins, he suffered a brain hemorrhage. He survived and has been in recovery since.
Henry McCullough had a massive heart attack on November 5, 2012. He suffered brain damage and is in recovery.

My friends and I saw The Frankie Miller Band perform at the
Keystone in Berkeley, California on October 13, 1975.

To see my photos and read our memoirs

of the concert, go to -
Brit Rock By The Bay

From The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of

Rolling Stone Press.

From Rock Family Tree by Pete Frame.

An article about Wings with Henry McCullough.

Frankie Miller was the opening band for Wings

and was being backed by Brinsley-Schwarz.

Rumors start that McCullough is leaving Wings.

Rumors of Henry McCullough and

Paul Rogers, of Free, forming a band.

Henry debunks the rumors

and talks about his new solo album.

September 15, 1973.

Robin Trower talks

about leaving Procol Harum

and forming Jude.

December 20, 1973.

A promotional piece for "Highlife"

in Circular magazine.

July 15, 1974.

A positive review

of "Highlife"

Rolling Stone

October 10, 1974.

"The Rock" receives

good reviews, too.

Rolling Stone

November 6, 1975.

A flyer from the Keystone

where we saw him perform.

Frankie Miller discusses his

past, present and future.

October 6, 1977.

"Full House" gets

mixed reviews.

Rolling Stone

June 2, 1977.

Another mixed review.

June 1, 1978.

These are some of the albums

in my collection.

The first album released 1972.

The second album released 1974.

This is the same album, but different cover art.

I suspect it is due to copyright infringement

of the Miller Beer logo.

The third album released 1975.

The fourth album released 1977.

The fifth album released 1978.

The sixth album released 1979.

The seventh album released 1980.

The Grease Band with

Henry McCullough. The band started

out as Joe Cocker's backing band.

Henry McCullough's first solo album.

Released 1975 on George Harrison's

Dark Horse label.

Allen Toussaint's solo album

released 1975.

Related links

Frankie Miller Home Page

Henry McCullough Website

Allen Toussaint Website

The Rock - (live clip 1975)

Alvin Lee began his career as a musician while still a teenager in Nottingham, England in the late 1950s. He joined various groups with titles like, Vince Marshall and the Square Caps, Alan Upton and the Jail-Breakers, Atomics, Jaybirds and others. He played small venues from London to Hamburg for many years.

He met drummer, Leo Lyons in 1960. Bassist Ric Lee in 1965 and Keyboardist Chick Churchill in 1966. Ten Years After was formed in 1967.

The name was pulled by Leo Lyons from a magazine advertising a book, “Ten Years After The Suez”, (referring to the Suez Canal). The title’s ambiguousness appealed to the band because it didn’t pin them down to one style or another.

In 1969 they played at Woodstock and their performance of “I’m Going Home” was featured in the film and soundtrack. This catapulted them to superstardom. They broke up in 1975 after failing to reach the same sort of success and not being able to escape the limitations that their fame brought them.

Alvin Lee recorded a somewhat country style album with Mylon LeFevre in 1973. He then formed a new band titled Alvin Lee & Co. in 1974, with ex-members of King Crimson and Stone The Crows. They released a live album, “In Flight”.

He toured once more with Ten Years After in 1975 before branching out into various solo and collaborative ventures. Alvin Lee died March 3, 2013.

My friends and I saw Ten Years After perform at the

Cow Palace, near San Francisco, in 1974.

We also saw Alvin Lee & Co., in 1975,

at Winterland in San Francisco.

To see photos of the Winterland show

and read our memoirs go to -
BRIT ROCK BY THE BAY

My photo of Ten Years After taken at

the Cow Palace June 13, 1974.