Frankie Miller – High Life

This is the second album by Scottish R&B vocalist Frankie Miller, this time recorded in Atlanta. The album is a nice mix of songs, half of which were self-penned. A note of interest: Miller's version of "Play Something Sweet" was released a year before Three Dog Night had their hit with the same song.

Blue-eyed soul singer Frankie Miller made his name on the English pub rock circuit of the early '70s, and spent around a decade-and-a-half cutting albums of traditional R&B, rock & roll, and country-rock. In addition to his recorded legacy as an avatar of American roots music, his original material was covered by artists from the worlds of rock, blues, and country, from Bob Seger and Bonnie Tyler to Lou Ann Barton and the Bellamy Brothers. And Miller himself scored a surprise U.K. Top Ten smash in 1978 with "Darlin'," giving his likable, soulful style the popular airing many fans felt it deserved all along…

Scottish whiskey-voiced vocalist Frankie Miller never made much of a splash in the States, despite, or perhaps because of, his fixation on American soul and R&B. Yanks have never been terribly appreciative of the music that originated in their homeland, which might have been a contributing factor to Miller's marginal popularity in the U.S. He was a fairly major star in the U.K., though, big enough for EMI to remaster, repackage, and reissue his catalog (at least for the titles on their Chrysalis imprint) into this generous four-disc box. They even include a few rare singles and, more importantly, the original mix of his second effort, High Life, along with the previously released one, expanding this set's total to eight albums from 1973 through 1980.

Frankie Miller - Blackland Farmer - The Complete Starday Recordings and More (2008) {3CD, Bear Family BCD16566CH rec 1957-1969}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 740 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 460 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (png) -> 1.48 Gb | 5% repair rar
© 1957-69, 2008 Starday / Bear Family Records | BCD16566CH
Country / Honky Tonk / Rockabilly

Good-natured and unassuming, and possessing an easy, slightly raspy baritone voice that brought an everyman feel to everything he sang, Frankie Miller ought to be a household name in country circles, but he isn't, and his relative obscurity as the 21st century opens is as much a mystery as it is unforgivable. Although he recorded often, Miller's key years were with Don Pierce's Starday label out of Nashville in the late '50s and early '60s (roughly 1959 to 1963), the time period covered by this marvelous three-disc anthology from Bear Family Records.