The Frankie Miller albums you should definitely own

The Rock (Chrysalis, 1975)

It was officially credited to The Frankie Miller Band, but The Rock was very much a personal statement. Now, it stands as his definitive album. The title track’s heavy lyrics refer to Alcatraz, on which sits the former penitentiary, which was visible from the studio in San Francisco where the album was recorded. Miller always said he might have ended up in prison were it not for music. 

The realities of his life – the hard times and hard drinking – were also expressed in Bridgeton and Drunken Nights In The City. Upbeat tracks A Fool In Love and Ain’t Got No Money would become signature songs.

Full House (Chrysalis, 1977)

Miller sang as soulfully as Paul Rodgers, and that similarity wasn’t lost on Andy Fraser. Formerly a bandmate of Rodgers in Free, Fraser had wanted to put a group together with Miller. That came to nothing, but it was Fraser who wrote Be Good To Yourself, the standout track on Full House, one of Miller’s best-known tracks and his first chart single, which rocks with all the funky swagger of classic Free. 

A mix of Miller originals and covers, it’s an album on which Miller exhibited his full range as a singer, emoting all the pain and regret in John Lennon’s Jealous Guy, and belting it out as only he could in Down The Honky Tonk.

Once In A Blue Moon (Chrysalis, 1973)

This, his first album, included his first great song, I Can’t Change It, a confessional ballad with a beautiful melody and deep lyrics. Miller sang it with raw emotion, as did Ray Charles, the legendary singer who covered it in 1980. 

Fittingly for someone who was fond of a drink or two, Miller had the quintessential pub rock band, Brinsley Schwarz, backing him on Once In A Blue Moon, and they hit a well-oiled groove on funky tracks such as Candlelight Sonata In F Major. The album also included another heartbreaker of a ballad, After All (I Live My Life).

High Life (Chrysalis, 1974)

Miller ventured into America’s Deep South to make his second album with producer and songwriter Allen Toussaint, the New Orleans R&B maestro famed for his work with Dr. John, Labelle and The Meters. Things didn’t quite work out as Miller had planned. High Life was released in remixed form without his and Toussaint’s approval. 

Their original version was only released belatedly, on the 2011 box set That’s Who. But on either version there is some great stuff, most notably two heavily atmospheric songs on which Miller channels southern funk and soul: The Devil Gun and I’m Falling In Love Again.

Falling In Love (Chrysalis, 1979)

There was always a whiff of chicken-in-a-basket about Miller’s one big hit single, Darlin’ (UK No.6 in 1968), a jaunty pop song written by Q-Tips saxophonist Oscar Blandamer and first recorded by Poacher, a country act from Warrington, of all places. But there are better songs on the Falling In Love album (titled A Perfect Fit in the US). 

When I’m Away From You is one of Miller’s finest – the hit that never was. And on the ballad If I Can Love Somebody, written by singer-songwriter John Hiatt, the croak in Miller’s voice recalls another hero, legendary American soul singer Otis Redding.

Standing On The Edge (Capitol, 1982)

For his first album after leaving the Chrysalis label, Miller returned to the Deep South to record at the fabled Muscle Shoals Studio in Alabama with their shit-hot in-house band, plus several guitarists, including Wayne Perkins, who almost joined the Rolling Stones before Ronnie Wood got the gig. 

Andy Fraser was again heavily involved in the songwriting, but the album’s standout tracks were all Miller’s own: Danger Danger, a filthy boogie; Jealousy, a gutwrenching ballad; and To Dream The Dream, which swings like the Bob Seger classic Night Moves and is every bit as irresistible

Double Trouble (Chrysalis, 1978)

On his fifth album Miller went for a harder rock edge, with Aerosmith producer Jack Douglas at the controls, Steven Tyler guesting on backing vocals and harmonica, and another song written by Andy Fraser, Double Heart Trouble, on which Miller again sounded like Paul Rodgers, with more of a lateperiod Bad Company feel. 

He also had another great British singer, Paul Carrack, as co-writer and backing vocalist on half of the songs, including the bittersweet Good Time Love. And the old Motown classic he covered, a song by Marvin Gaye, had a title that was entirely apt for this singer: Stubborn Kind Of Fellow.

Easy Money (Chrysalis, 1980)

After the success of his single Darlin’, Miller drifted a little further into middle-of-the-road territory with Easy Money. Recorded in Nashville with some of the best session players in the business, the album was a smooth blend of soul, country and pop. 

What elevated it above mere blandness was that magical voice. It included a great version of Why Don’t You Spend The Night, but it was country singer Ronnie Milsap who had a hit with the song. Again, the best song on the album was one of Miller’s own – Tears, another stinging ballad. The song was later reworked as a duet with Bonnie Tyler.

Long Way Home (Jerkin’ Crocus, 2006)

At the time he was struck down in 1994, Miller had been working on new material with Joe Walsh and keyboard player Nicky Hopkins, famed for his work with the Rolling Stones. Twelve years later, those recordings finally emerged on Miller’s album Long Way Home. 

The highlight was Guilty Of The Crime, with a typically ballsy vocal from Miller and searing slide guitar from Walsh, who later sang it with the Eagles. Similarly, on the 2016 album Frankie Miller’s Double Take, more of his final recordings were formed into duets with Walsh, Rod, Elton John and others. As Elton said in tribute: “Frankie’s music should be revered.”

Dancing In The Rain (Vertigo, 1986)

In 1984, when Frankie Goes To Hollywood ruled the pop charts, kids in ‘Frankie Says…’ T-shirts were everywhere. Two years later, Miller’s album Dancing In The Rain was promoted with cheeky T-shirts emblazoned with the title of his 1978 European ‘best of’ set: ‘Frankie Who? Frankie Fucking Miller, That’s Who!’ 

The joke backfired when Dancing In The Rain promptly bombed. Miller had some famous friends helping out on Dancing In The Rain – drummer Simon Kirke, ex-Thin Lizzy guitarist Brian Robertson – but the songs were mostly forgettable, the production too slick. Miller was so much better than this.