Did You Know That Paul McCartney Secretly Played Drums on a Steve Miller Band Track in 1969?

It’s no surprise that Paul McCartney has great chops on the drums, as he is well known as a multi-instrumentalist. As a member of The Beatles, McCartney played drums on “Back in the U.S.S.R.,” “Dear Prudence,” “The Ballad of John and Yoko,” “Martha My Dear,” and “Wild Honey Pie.” Most of these were recorded after Ringo Starr briefly left the group for two weeks in August 1968. McCartney sat in, providing drums to four tracks on The White Album. Shortly after, Starr was welcomed back with flowers and finished the rest of the album. McCartney’s drums still remained on the completed tracks during his absence. McCartney also provided drums for Jackie Lomax’s 1968 album Is This What You Want?

Producer Glyn Johns Introduced Steve Miller to Paul McCartney

In 1969, Glyn Johns was producing The Beatles’ “Let It Be.” Simultaneously, he was producing Brave New World for the Steve Miller Band. The band had made waves in the San Francisco rock scene in the 1960s, which also included Jefferson Airplane, The Grateful Dead, and Janis Joplin. Johns brought Steve Miller in to meet The Beatles during a late-night scheduled recording session. The only Beatle to arrive was McCartney. Steve Miller claimed in an interview with Parade, “I’d never seen guys not show up to a booked recording session before. That was unbelievably wasteful.”

John then suggested Steve Miller and Paul McCartney have a late-night jam. The result became the track “My Dark Hour” featuring McCartney on drums, bass guitar, and backing vocals. This paired well with Miller’s blues guitar licks. To some, the lyrics seem to reference McCartney’s feelings towards his Beatles, paired with ferocious, heavy-hitting drums. McCartney refused to be properly credited on the track due to contractual obligations with The Beatles and Apple Records. Instead, he’s credited as Paul Ramon, his old pseudonym used in his Silver Beatles days. On this, Steve Miller stated, “I thought this was going to be the biggest single of my life!” by having McCartney on the track. But instead, it was mostly overlooked due to the crediting issue.

Steve Miller Used the Same Guitar Riff on His 1976 Hit ”Fly Like An Eagle”

Six years later, Steve Miller recycled the guitar riff used in “My Dark Hour.” He attached it as the main riff to his massive hit song “Fly Like An Eagle.” The song reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100. It’s one of a few examples of an artist repurposing a previous guitar riff. Steve Miller felt the riff worked much better on the 1976 hit. The song is often considered Steve Miller’s signature track, along with his 1973 hit “The Joker.”

As “Fly Like An Eagle” is one of Steve Miller Band’s biggest hits, many aren’t aware of the original track featuring Paul McCartney in 1969. “My Dark Hour” has since become a fan favorite, as it’s now more commonly known that McCartney is on the track due to interviews over the years.