I can't imagine listening to Fly Like An Eagle without the one minute plus Space Intro. It is an essential part of the whole mind-blowing experience. Space Intro is basically an ARP Odyssey solo from Steve Miller, something that wouldn't sound too out of place as incidental music from Land of the Lost, perhaps during an episode where Will and Holly are tripping on Pakuni mushrooms or pylon crystals.
The song is from the album of the same name, which was released in May of 1976, when I had just turned nine. It is one of the songs I remember hearing a lot on the radio while hanging out in the back seat of the Mercury station wagon as my parents drove me somewhere, to a swim meet or baseball practice, or maybe to McDonalds afterwards. (see April 17 and August 29 entries)
After Space Intro ends, there is a whoosh of wings that welcome in Fly Like An Eagle, followed soon thereafter by a classic Steve Miller guitar riff. The song features some of the coolest Hammond B3 organ ever, played by the late Joachim Young. As Miller's ARP meanders around, Young chops the air with some awesome staccato notes. Impeccable timing, applying the drawbars, harmonics and swells perfectly. Lyrically, it's pretty dreamy stuff...bummed out by all the problems in the world? Well, there's a solution. Just fly like an eagle to the sea. Groovy, but it sounds like too much hippie talk, man. Yeah, just fly away to the sea, that will solve everything, Steve Miller.
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