''Book of Dreams'' is the tenth

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records c ...

Steve Miller Band The Steve Miller Band is an American rock band formed in 1966 in San Francisco, California. The band is led by Steve Miller on guitar and lead vocals. The group had a string of mid- to late-1970s hit singles that are staples of classic rock, as ...

. The album was released in May 1977 on

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of not ...

in the United States, Canada and Japan and by

Mercury Records Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. In the United States, it ...

in Europe. Three singles were released from the album in 1977 with the first single, "

Jet Airliner A jet airliner or jetliner is an airliner powered by jet engines (passenger jet aircraft). Airliners usually have two or four jet engines; three-engined designs were popular in the 1970s but are less common today. Airliners are commonly clas ...

", being the most successful. The album peaked in the top 10 of the trade charts in four countries, including Canada where the album topped '' RPM'' magazine's 100 Albums chart. The album has gone on to become one of the group's most successful studio albums.

Recording and production

The songs on ''Book of Dreams'' were recorded at CBS Studios in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17t ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

; the basic tracks were recorded at the same time as the basic tracks for ''

Fly Like an Eagle ''Fly Like an Eagle'' is the ninth studio album by American rock band Steve Miller Band, released in May 1976 by Capitol Records in the United States, Canada and Japan and Mercury Records in Europe. The album was a success, spawning three singles ...

''. The sessions were produced by the group's leader, Steve Miller, who had been producing the group's albums since '' Number 5'' in 1970. John Palladino was the album's

executive producer Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the making of a commercial entertainment product. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights ...

and the

recording engineer An audio engineer (also known as a sound engineer or recording engineer) helps to produce a recording or a live performance, balancing and adjusting sound sources using equalization, dynamics processing and audio effects, mixing, reproductio ...

was Mike Fusaro. The recordings were later mixed by Jim Gains with assistance from Win Kutz and were

mastered Mastering, a form of audio post production, is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device (the master), the source from which all copies will be produced (via meth ...

by Ken Perry.

Artwork

The winged horse art was created by

Alton Kelley Alton Kelley (June 17, 1940 – June 1, 2008) was an American artist known for his psychedelic art, in particular his designs for 1960s rock concert posters and album covers. Along with artists Rick Griffin, Stanley Mouse, Victor Moscoso ...

and

Stanley Mouse Stanley George Miller (born October 10, 1940), better known as Mouse or Stanley Mouse, is an American artist who is notable for his 1960s psychedelic rock concert poster designs and album covers for the Grateful Dead, Journey, and other bands. P ...

, who were credited as "Kelly and Mouse". The art director for the album was Roy Kohara. The cover illustration was also used on the record label on the vinyl version of the album.

Reception

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

gave the album a rating of 4/5 stars, calling it "a highlight of the '70s classic rock era and one of Miller's finest releases." The review also comments that it is an unnecessary album for the casual fan to consider, as the compilation album '' Greatest Hits 1974–78'' contains seven highlight tracks from ''Book of Dreams''.

Track listing

Personnel

* Steve Miller –

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

, synthesizer,

sitar The sitar ( or ; ) is a plucked stringed instrument, originating from the Indian subcontinent, used in Hindustani classical music. The instrument was invented in medieval India, flourished in the 18th century, and arrived at its present form ...

, producer *

David Denny David Thomas Denny (March 17, 1832, Part II: Chapter 3, p. 203 – November 25, 1903) was a member of the Denny Party, who are generally collectively credited as the founders of Seattle, Washington, USA. Though he ultimately underwent bank ...

– guitar *

Greg Douglass Greg Douglass (born 1949 in Oakland, California, United States) is an American rock guitarist. Career Douglass started his musical career in the late 1960s with his band The Virtues, which later turned into the acid-rock group Country Weather. ...

– guitar, slide guitar * Byron Allred –

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keybo ...

, synthesizer * Lonnie Turner –

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

Gary Mallaber Gary Mallaber (born October 11, 1946 in Buffalo) is a Los Angeles session drummer, percussionist and singer. He attended Lafayette High School, where he and Bobby Militello, along with other musicians, were mentored by saxophonist Sam Scam ...

– drums,

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Ex ...

;Additional personnel * Norton Buffalo – harmonica on "Winter Time" and "The Stake" * Les Dudek – lead guitar on "Sacrifice" * Kenny Johnson – drums on "Sacrifice" * Jachym Young – piano on "Sacrifice" * Charles Calamise – bass guitar on "Sacrifice" * Curley Cooke – acoustic guitar on "Sacrifice" * Bob Glaub – bass guitar on "Winter Time" ;Technical * John Palladino –

* Mike Fusaro –

* Jim Gains – Audio mixing (recorded music), mixing * Win Kutz – assistant mixer * Ken Perry – Audio mastering, mastering * Roy Kohara – Art director, art direction * Alton Kelley, Kelly – illustration * Stanley Mouse, Mouse – illustration

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications and sales

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Book Of Dreams 1977 albums Steve Miller Band albums Capitol Records albums