Born 2 B Blue

{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2025}} {{Infobox album | name = Born 2 B Blue | type = Album | artist = Steve Miller | cover = Born 2b blue.jpg | alt = | released = September 1988<ref>{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/greatrockdiscogr00stro/page/548/mode/2up?q=steve+miller|title=Great Rock Discography|page=548}}</ref> | recorded = in Seattle, Minneapolis, Los Angeles and New York | venue = | studio = | genre = Easy listening, jazz | length = 42:22 | label = Capitol | producer = Steve Miller | prev_title = Living in the 20th Century | prev_year = 1986 | next_title = The Very Best of the Steve Miller Band | next_year = 1991 }} '''''Born 2 B Blue''''' is the debut solo album by Steve Miller, released in 1988 by Capitol Records,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Koster |first1=Rick |title=Texas Music |date=2000 |publisher=St. Martin's Publishing Group |page=131}}</ref> and his only album to not be released under the Steve Miller Band moniker. It consists primarily of jazz standards reinterpreted in a more modern context. It represented a departure from Miller's work with the Steve Miller Band. The album was Miller's final release for Capitol Records, after 20 years with the label.

==Critical reception== {{Music ratings | rev1 = AllMusic | rev1Score = {{Rating|3|5}}<ref>{{cite web|author=Stephen Thomas Erlewine |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/born-2b-blue-mw0000197299 |title=Born 2B Blue – Steve Miller |publisher=AllMusic |date= |accessdate=2018-08-14}}</ref> | rev2 = ''The Encyclopedia of Popular Music'' | rev2Score = {{Rating|3|5}}<ref>{{cite book|last=Larkin|first=Colin|author-link=Colin Larkin|title=The Encyclopedia of Popular Music|year=2007|publisher=Oxford University Press|edition=4th|isbn=978-0195313734}}</ref> | rev3 = ''The Rolling Stone Album Guide'' | rev3Score = {{Rating|3|5}}<ref>{{cite book |title=The Rolling Stone Album Guide |date=1992 |publisher=Random House |page=475}}</ref> }} ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' called the album "perhaps the most anemic, far-removed expression of blues sentiment to surface in years".<ref>{{cite news |last1=Moon |first1=Tom |title=Steve Miller Born 2 B Blue |work=The Philadelphia Inquirer |date=September 25, 1988 |page=L12}}</ref>

==Track listing== {{Track listing | title1 = Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah | writer1 = Allie Wrubel, Ray Gilbert | length1 = 4:13

| title2 = Ya Ya | writer2 = Lee Dorsey, Morris Levy, Clarence Lewis, Morgan Robinson | length2 = 3:37

| title3 = God Bless the Child | writer3 = Billie Holiday, Arthur Herzog Jr. | length3 = 5:00

| title4 = Filthy McNasty | writer4 = Horace Silver | length4 = 2:50

| title5 = Born to Be Blue | writer5 = Mel Tormé, Robert Wells | length5 = 5:25

| title6 = Mary Ann | writer6 = Ray Charles | length6 = 4:49

| title7 = Just a Little Bit | writer7 = Buster Brown, Ralph Bass, Fats Washington, John Thornton | length7 = 4:04

| title8 = When Sunny Gets Blue | writer8 = Marvin Fisher, Jack Segal | length8 = 4:36

| title9 = Willow Weep for Me | writer9 = Ann Ronell | length9 = 5:12

| title10 = Red Top | writer10 = Lionel Hampton, Ben Kynard | length10 = 2:31 }}

==Personnel== * Steve Miller – guitar, vocals * Billy Peterson – bass guitar * Ben Sidran – keyboards * Gordy Knudtson – drums

'''Additional personnel''' * Milt Jackson – vibraphone on "Born to be Blue" * Phil Woods – alto saxophone on "When Sunny Gets Blue" & "Red Top" * Bobby Malach – tenor saxophone on "Mary Ann," "God Bless the Child," "Filthy McNasty," & "Just a Little Bit" * Ricky Peterson – all programming on "Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah," additional synthesizers on "Ya Ya" & "Just a Little Bit" * Bruce Paulson – trombone on "God Bless the Child" * Steve Faison – percussion on "Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah" * Steve Wiese (engineer) – recorded and mixed at Creation Audio, Minneapolis

==Charts== {| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" |+Chart performance for ''Born 2 B Blue'' !scope="col"|Chart (1988) !scope="col"|Peak<br />position |- {{album chart|Canada|95|chartid=8686|rowheader=true|access-date=April 7, 2025}} |- {{album chart|Billboard200|108|artist=The Steve Miller Band|rowheader=true|access-date=April 7, 2025}} |}

==References== {{Reflist}}

Category:1988 debut albums Category:Steve Miller albums Category:Capitol Records albums Category:1980s covers albums Category:Easy listening albums Category:Jazz albums by American artists