Jungle Love - Steve Miller Band (1977) 6/9/21

Sometimes things work out a bit differently than what you may have planned.

In 1977, Lonnie Turner of the Steve Miller Band and Steve Douglass of Hot Tuna (among other groups) decided to write a song for Dave Mason to record.

Dave had been a founding member of the group Traffic (and is in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as such), but by this time, he had left the group, recorded and toured with the likes of Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, and George Harrison, and was well on his way to a noteworthy career as a solo artist.

When "Jungle Love" was finished, Lonnie thought he'd run it past his boss to get his opinion. Steve Miller LOVED IT, and decided he wanted to record it...right away!

Steve was just wrapping up his album, "Book of Dreams," and needed one more song. "Jungle Love" was just what he was looking for, so he rushed into the studio with Lonnie on bass and Steve on guitar and recorded the entire song in LESS THAN 30 MINUTES!

Before the year was out, "Jungle Love" was released as a single and had made it to #23 on the Hot 100. But don't let that chart position fool you into thinking it wasn't a big hit.

The distinctively shrill "space invaders" open and close of the song made it a dance floor magnet at the clubs. As soon as people heard it, they would literally RUN to the floor! (From personal experience, I can tell you it was the perfect song to start a "rock set.")

"Jungle Love" became a "Great Song of "1977" for Steve Miller (thanks to Lonnie Turner & Steve Douglass). As for Dave Mason: No worries! He soon had a "Great Song" of his own...which we'll be highlighting in the near future.

(TRIVIA: The song was featured prominently on several episodes of "Everybody Loves Raymond").

Jungle Love:

Tomorrow: AG/JT/PS