Frankie Miller

• Name — Frankie Miller • Birth Name — Francis John Miller • Born — 2 November 1949 Bridgeton, Lanarkshire, Scotland • Instrument — * Vocals • guitar • harmonica • Genre — * Rock • hard rock • folk rock • blues rock • blue-eyed soul • soul • Occupation — Singer-songwriter • Years Active — 1966–1994 • Label — * Chrysalis • Capitol • Mercury • Website — Frankie Miller.net

Miller was born in Bridgeton, Glasgow, Scotland in 1949.

Miller began singing professionally as a teenager with a Glasgow band called 'The Stoics'. In mid 1970, he moved to London to further his career. He performed with the band 'Howl' at the 1970 Isle of Wight Festival. He soon joined up with guitarist Robin Trower, ex-Stone the Crows bassist/singer James Dewar, and former Jethro Tull drummer Clive Bunker to form the short-lived group 'Jude'. This outfit did not record and soon split.

Later in 1972, Miller signed a solo recording contract 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 pub rock band Brinsley Schwarz. Miller received consistently good reviews, although his singles and albums were not chart hits, Chrysalis continued to invest in his talent. In 1974 Miller sang "Still in Love with You", as a duet with Phil Lynott; the song appeared on the Thin Lizzy album, Nightlife. Miller's second album High Life, was produced and partly written by Allen Toussaint and recorded in Atlanta, Georgia during 1974. Although two album tracks, "Shoo Rah, Shoo Rah" and "Play Something Sweet (Brickyard Blues)", subsequently provided hits for Betty Wright and Three Dog Night respectively, the album was not a commercial success.

Miller's next album The Rock (1975) was recorded in San Francisco using the producer Elliot Mazer, who had co-produced Harvest for Neil Young. The next album Full House (1977), was produced by Chris Thomas. The lead off track "Be Good to Yourself" became Miller's first UK top 40 hit, peaking at No. 27 in the UK Singles Chart during June that year. In 1978 Miller hit the UK top 10 with the song "Darlin'", which peaked at No. 6 on 14 October 1978. "Darlin'" also made the Billboard "Bubbling Under" chart in the US, peaking at No. 103. The next single penned by Miller "When I'm Away From You" rose to No. 42 in UK, but failed to chart in US. During 1979, Miller wrote the opening and closing songs on the film A Sense of Freedom, as well as performing on them. He diversified into acting. During 1979 Miller starred in Peter McDougall's TV film, Just a Boys' Game, directed by John Mackenzie.

In 1980, Miller released his seventh album, Easy Money. The lead single, "Why Don't You Spend the Night", was a minor hit in Australia. Miller later re-recorded the album's closing track, "Tears", as a duet with Bonnie Tyler on her album Faster Than the Speed of Night (1983). Miller moved to Capitol Records for his next album, Standing on the Edge. It was noted by Newsday as a departure from the R&B influences on his earlier releases, sounding more like the music of rock bands Foreigner and Bad Company. In 1986, Miller released his final studio album, Dancing in the Rain. It was produced by John Jansen, and like its predecessor, the album was noted for its rock influences. Mark Deming of AllMusic compared it to Robert Palmer's single "Addicted to Love" and said that the album sounds more "dated" than his earlier work. It peaked at No. 39 on the Swedish Albums chart. In 1991, Miller recorded an excerpt of "Caledonia" for a Tennent's lager television advert. After a surge of requests from viewers, Miller recorded and released a full-length version as a single in 1992. It peaked at No. 45 on the UK Singles Chart. Later that same year, Miller recorded a second duet with Bonnie Tyler, titled "Save Your Love", for her album Angel Heart. In 1993, Miller recorded "Why Don't You Try Me" with Sarah Bettens for the Belgian film Ad Fundum. The track was produced by Ry Cooder and peaked at No. 6 on the Belgian Flanders chart. "Where Do the Guilty Go?", which also featured in the film, later peaked at No. 46.

• Year — Title — Chart positions • UK United Kingdom — US United States — AUS Australia — NL Netherlands — NOR Norway — SWE Sweden • 1973 — Once in a Blue Moon — — — — — — — — — — — — • 1974 — Frankie Miller's High Life — — — — — — — — — — — — • 1975 — The Rock [as the Frankie Miller Band] — — — — — — — — — — — — • 1977 — Full House — — — 124 — 89 — 18 — — — 46 • 1978 — Double Trouble — — — 177 — — — — — — — — • 1979 — Falling in Love [released as A Perfect Fit in US] — 54 — — — 89 — — — 8 — — • 1980 — Easy Money — — — — — 100 — — — — — 41 • 1982 — Standing on the Edge — — — — — — — — — — — — • 1986 — Dancing in the Rain — — — — — — — — — — — 39 • 2006 — Long Way Home — — — — — — — — — — — — • 2016 — Frankie Miller's Double Take — 100 — — — — — — — — — — • "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that territory.

• BBC Radio 1 Live in Concert (1977/1978/1979 [1994]) • Live at Rockpalast (1976/1979/1982 [2013]) 3-CD set

• Year — Title — Chart positions • NOR Norway • 1978 — Frankie Who? Frankie Fucking Miller That's Who — 5 • 1980 — I'm Only Serious — — • 1993 — The Very Best of Frankie Miller — — • 2004 — Angels with Dirty Faces — — • 2011 — Frankie Miller...That's Who! The Complete Chrysalis Recordings (1973-1980) [7-CD] — — • 2014 — Frankie Miller – Original Album Series [5-CD] — — • "—" denotes releases that did not chart.

• Year — Title — Chart positions • UK United Kingdom — US United States — AUS Australia — AUT Austria — BEL Belgium (Flanders) — NL Netherlands — NZ New Zealand — NOR Norway • 1977 — "Be Good to Yourself" — 27 — — — — — — — — — — — — — — • "The Doodle Song" — — — 71 — — — — — — — — — — — — • 1978 — "Love Letters" — — — — — 79 — — — 16 — 11 — — — — • "Darlin'" — 6 — — — 8 — 3 — 28 — — — 7 — 1 • 1979 — "When I'm Away from You" — 42 — — — — — — — — — — — — — — • 1980 — "Why Don't You Spend the Night" — — — — — 94 — — — — — — — — — — • 1982 — "To Dream the Dream" — — — 62 — — — — — — — — — — — — • 1992 — "Caledonia" — 45 — — — — — — — — — — — — — — • 1993 — "Why Don't You Try Me" — — — — — — — — — 6 — — — — — — • "Where Do the Guilty Go" — — — — — — — — — 46 — — — — — — • "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that territory.

Frankie Miller is recorded as singer, composer, songwriter, singer-songwriter and guitarist.