STEVE MILLER BAND/YOUR SAVING GRACE 1C 062-80277 (-69) GERMANY

To my taste one of the better US bands of the period all the way as they went from melodic blues based psych in the late sixties to a more commercial, clean and robust, style in the seventies. Had most of their albums to and from through the years and though all provide a good feeling always thought they were a little uneven - each with a couple of truly great songs, surrounded by others less captivating. This is no exception, but has remained a favorite due to the side one beginning. The funky, melodic and guitar spangled "Little Girl" followed by the jazzy "Just A Passin' Fancy In A Midnight Dream" and blues gospel "Don't Let Nobody Turn You Around" has to be one of the best album openings ever and to me nine minutes and twentyfive seconds of uninterrupted joy. I dig the title track too but find some of the rest unexciting, e.g. the rather bland version of "Motherless Children". Anyway four greats out of eight isn't bad at all and makes it a keeper for sure. I guess most collectors will go for the US or UK issues, but this German also has things going for it like the exclusive front sleeve design and top audio. Premiere US on Capitol (SKAO-331) and UK (E-ST 331). Also issued and reissued on vinyl, cassette, reel and CD through the years. First German had label as shown here and laminated fold/out cover. (GÖXÄ*)