Fly Like an Eagle (1996)

"Fly Like an Eagle" is a song written by American musician Steve Miller. The song was released in the United Kingdom in August 1976 and in the United States in December 1976. It went to number two on the US Billboard Hot 100 for the week of March 12, 1977. The single edit can be found on Greatest Hits (1974–1978). It is often played in tandem with "Space Intro". On the album, the song segues into "Wild Mountain Honey".

Background

The band first performed the song in 1973 while performing at New York City's Felt Forum on a bill with The Marshall Tucker Band, Buddy Guy, and Junior Wells.

An earlier 1973 version features a more bluesy and less funk-inspired rhythm, with the guitar taking the synthesizer parts (albeit with similar delay effects). Miller described earlier iterations of the song as being a "15- or 20-minute thing that went in all kinds of different places because of the freedom of the whole psychedelic music scene."

It was re-recorded for the eponymous album released in 1976. The initial studio sessions consisted of Miller with Gerald Johnson and Gary Mallaber on bass and drums respectively. Following some unsuccessful attempts at Capitol Studios and Wally Heider Studios, Miller reconvened at Pacific Union in San Francisco with the same lineup in addition to Joachim Young on Hammond organ. Once this configuration achieved a satisfactory take, Miller mixed the song down to a portable 3M eight-track machine and conducted guitar and vocal overdubs at his home studio in Novato, California. He used a Fender Stratocaster connected to a Fender Bassman with an Echoplex to provide a staggered triplet echo effect. For the vocals, Miller sang his parts through an Electro-Voice RE20 and compressed the audio signal with a Shure Level Loc.

When discussing the inclusion of the synthesizer on "Fly Like An Eagle", Miller mentioned that he had experimented with electronic music and sound collages in the 1960s with tape recorders and the Echoplex, having been inspired by the work of La Monte Young and Karlheinz Stockhausen. The synthesizer was recorded in one take after the track was mixed. "Fly Like an Eagle" was mixed on three different occasions as Miller "didn't want to put that song out until it was really right." When the song was receiving its final mix, the tracks were transferred using a tape that had been bulk erased, resulting in a repeated beeping noise that occurred during the fade-out of the song.

Reception

Billboard described the Steve Miller Band version as "uncharacteristically thoughtful, but rivetingly attention grabbing." Cash Box said that the single edit "preserves the high points of the original while cutting the time just about in half."

The original Steve Miller Band version sold over one million copies. The Seal version had sold over 300,000 units as of April 5, 1997.

Personnel

• Steve Miller – lead vocals, guitar, ARP Odyssey
• Lonnie Turner – bass
• Gary Mallaber – drums
• Joachim Young – Hammond B3 organ

Seal version

Twenty years after Miller's original version, British singer-songwriter Seal covered "Fly Like an Eagle" for the soundtrack to the 1996 film Space Jam, sampling Miller's original "Space Intro" parts in the song's chorus. This version was released in the United States in October 1996 and was issued worldwide in early 1997 by ZTT Records. It peaked at number 10 on the US Billboard Hot 100, number 13 on the UK Singles Chart, and number two on the Canadian RPM 100 Hit Tracks chart.

According to Seal, the executive producer of the Space Jam soundtrack, Dominique Trenier, asked him to record it. D'Angelo, who was managed by Trenier, played keyboards on the song. Seal said that Steve Miller approved of the cover version and at one point called him "thanking me and saying that was the best cover of the song that he had heard."

Critical reception

Larry Flick from Billboard magazine felt that the soundtrack to Space Jam "is off to a roaring start, thanks to this faithfully funky rendition of Steve Miller's classic rocker. [...] After the solemn tone of his own compositions in recent years, Seal clearly sounds like he's having a blast as he cruises through the track's rubbery bassline and space-age synths." He added, "In fact, listen closely, and you will catch him vamping a few lines from his breakthrough hit, 'Crazy', toward the end." Daina Darzin from Cash Box stated that "you couldn't ask for a more perfect take on the song, which Seal makes even more spacey, swirling and effortlessly gorgeous than the original." Matt Diehl from Entertainment Weekly gave the song a B, writing, "Aside from some funky scatting and a dash of hip-hop rhythm, the soul slickster doesn't add much to Steve Miller's '70s classic-rock classic. Seal does get points for good taste in cover material, though: The song's ethereal synthesizer squiggles, wah-wah guitars, and soaring chorus sound great in the '90s. The latest fast break on the charts from the Space Jam soundtrack, it's perfect music for Michael Jordan to slam to."