Born 2 B Blue

Born 2 B Blue
Studio album by Steve Miller
Released	September 1988[1]
Recorded	in Seattle, Minneapolis, Los Angeles and New York
Genre	Easy listening, jazz
Length	42:22
Label	Capitol
Producer	Steve Miller
Steve Miller chronology
Living in the 20th Century (1986) Born 2 B Blue (1988) The Very Best of the Steve Miller Band (1991)

Born 2 B Blue is the debut solo album by Steve Miller, released in 1988 by Capitol Records,^[2] 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

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[3]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[4]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[5]

The Philadelphia Inquirer called the album "perhaps the most anemic, far-removed expression of blues sentiment to surface in years".^[6]

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah"	Allie Wrubel, Ray Gilbert	4:13
2.	"Ya Ya"	Lee Dorsey, Morris Levy, Clarence Lewis, Morgan Robinson	3:37
3.	"God Bless the Child"	Billie Holiday, Arthur Herzog Jr.	5:00
4.	"Filthy McNasty"	Horace Silver	2:50
5.	"Born to Be Blue"	Mel Tormé, Robert Wells	5:25
6.	"Mary Ann"	Ray Charles	4:49
7.	"Just a Little Bit"	Buster Brown, Ralph Bass, Fats Washington, John Thornton	4:04
8.	"When Sunny Gets Blue"	Marvin Fisher, Jack Segal	4:36
9.	"Willow Weep for Me"	Ann Ronell	5:12
10.	"Red Top"	Lionel Hampton, Ben Kynard	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

Chart performance for Born 2 B Blue

Chart (1988)	Peak position
Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)[7]	95
US Billboard 200[8]	108

References

1. "Great Rock Discography". p. 548.
2. Koster, Rick (2000). Texas Music. St. Martin's Publishing Group. p. 131.
3. Stephen Thomas Erlewine. "Born 2B Blue – Steve Miller". AllMusic. Retrieved August 14, 2018.
4. Larkin, Colin (2007). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (4th ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0195313734.
5. The Rolling Stone Album Guide. Random House. 1992. p. 475.
6. Moon, Tom (September 25, 1988). "Steve Miller Born 2 B Blue". The Philadelphia Inquirer. p. L12.
7. "Top RPM Albums: Issue 8686". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved April 7, 2025.
8. "The Steve Miller Band Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved April 7, 2025.