Frank John 'Frankie' Miller (born 2 November
1949, in Bridgeton,
Glasgow,
Scotland)
is a Scottish rock singer/songwriter,
who had moderate success in the 1970s with a gritty voice similar to Rod
Stewart or Joe Cocker. Bob Seger
has remarked on the influence Van Morrison had on Miller,
in an article published in 1978, in Rolling
Stone magazine.
He introduced fellow Glaswegian bassist and vocalist James Dewar to Robin
Trower and the three of them along with ex-Jethro Tull drummer Clive
Bunker formed the short-lived band Jude
in the early 1970s. He co-wrote I Can't Wait Much Longer
with Trower, which appeared on Trower's first solo album Twice
Removed From Yesterday.
His 1974 album High Life was written and
produced by Allen Toussaint.
He had several lowly placed hits
in the UK Singles Chart in the 1970s and
1980s with "Be Good To Yourself" and "Caledonia". However, he reached
his highest ever position of number six on the 14 October 1978 with a
song entitled "Darlin'", but never really made the big time.
He diversified into acting and, in 1979, starred in Peter
McDougall's TV
film Just
a Boy's Game to critical acclaim.
His songs
were covered by the likes of The
Bellamy Brothers, Kim Carnes, Waylon
Jennings, Bob
Seger, Bonnie
Tyler and Joe
Walsh. He is also referenced by the Counting
Crows in the title of one of the tracks on their 2002 Hard
Candy album.
"I Can't Change It" from Miller's "Once In A Blue Moon" album
replaced Wild
Horses by The Rolling Stones
during a particularly emotional scene in episode four of British
television drama Life on Mars (TV show) in the
DVD release of the first season.
Miller suffered a massive brain
haemorrhage in New York on 25 August 1994, which led to a
five-month coma.
He has since been in rehabilitation, re-learning
how to walk and talk.[1]
External links
References
- Guinness Book
of British Hit Singles - 16th Edition - ISBN
0-85112-190-X
- Guinness Book of British Hit Albums - 7th Edition - ISBN 0-85112-619-7
