“Jet Airliner” by Steve Miller Band

"Jet Airliner" had a long, strange flight before it landed on the Steve Miller Band's 1977 album Book of Dreams. Paul Pena wrote and recorded it in 1973 for his album New Train, which sat on the shelf until 2000 thanks to fights with his label. Ben Sidran, New Train's producer and a former member of Miller's band, played Miller the tape, and Miller cut his own version in 1975 during the Fly Like an Eagle sessions, then held on to it for two years.

Miller produced it, plays guitar and sings lead, with Lonnie Turner on bass and Gary Mallaber on drums; Mike Fusaro engineered and Jim Gaines mixed. Cash Box praised its harmonies and its steadily pumping guitars, and it reached number 8 on the Billboard chart. Classic rock stations usually play it straight out of "Threshold", the all-synthesizer instrumental that leads into it on the album.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.