"Jet Airliner" is a song composed by Paul Pena

Paul Pena

Paul Pena was an American singer, songwriter and guitarist of Cape Verdean descent.His music from the first half of his career touched on Delta blues, jazz, morna, flamenco, folk and rock and roll...

 and popularized by the Steve Miller Band

Steve Miller Band

The Steve Miller Band is an American rock band formed in 1967 in San Francisco, California. The band is managed by Steve Miller on guitar and lead vocals, and is known for a string of mid-1970s hit singles that are staples of the classic rock radio format.-History:In 1965, Steve Miller and...

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Pena wrote and recorded the song in 1973

1973 in music

-January–April:*January 9 – Mick Jagger's request for a Japanese visa is rejected on account of a 1969 drug conviction, putting an abrupt end to The Rolling Stones' plans to perform in Japan during their forthcoming tour.*January 14...

 for his New Train

New Train

New Train is an album by Paul Pena, recorded in 1973 and released in 2000. The album was recorded at Bearsville Records and produced by Ben Sidran ....

album.
However, due to conflicts between Pena and his label, New Train sat unreleased until 2000

2000 in music

See also:* 2000 in music Record labels established in 2000-Events:*January – Gary Glitter is released from jail, two months before his sentence for sexual offences ends.*January 1**John Tavener is knighted in the New Year's Honours List....

. Miller

Steve Miller (musician)

Steven H. "Steve" Miller is an American guitarist and singer-songwriter who began his career in blues and blues rock and evolved to a more popular-oriented sound which, from the mid 1970s through the early 1980s, resulted in a series of successful singles and albums.-Early years:Born in Milwaukee,...

 decided to record "Jet Airliner" for his band's Book of Dreams

Book of Dreams

Book of Dreams is the tenth studio album by American rock band The Steve Miller Band. The album was released in 1977 on the Capitol label in North America and on the Mercury label in Europe...

album in 1977

1977 in music

This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1977.-January–February:*January 1 – The Clash headline the gala opening of the London music club, The Roxy....

 after hearing the unreleased album via Ben Sidran

Ben Sidran

Ben Sidran is an American jazz and rock pianist, organist, vocalist and writer born in Chicago, noted for his work with the early Steve Miller Band.-Biography:...

, who produced it, and who was also formerly in Miller's band. It was concurrently released as a single, and reached #8 on the Billboard chart

Billboard Hot 100

The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...

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On classic rock

Classic rock

Classic rock is a radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format features music ranging generally from the late 1960s to the late 1980s, primarily focusing on the hard rock genre that peaked in popularity in the...

 radio, "Jet Airliner" is typically played in tandem with "Threshold", the all-synthesizer instrumental piece that precedes it on both Book of Dreams and Greatest Hits.

The song's main guitar riff as played by Miller is reminiscent of (but not identical to) one used by Eric Clapton

Eric Clapton

Eric Patrick Clapton, CBE, is an English guitarist and singer-songwriter. Clapton is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist, and separately as a member of The Yardbirds and Cream. Clapton has been referred to as one of the most important and...

 in Cream

Cream (band)

Cream were a 1960s British rock supergroup consisting of bassist/vocalist Jack Bruce, guitarist/vocalist Eric Clapton, and drummer Ginger Baker...

's version of Robert Johnson's song "Cross Road Blues

Cross Road Blues

"Cross Road Blues" is a song by Delta Blues singer Robert Johnson; released on a 78 rpm record in 1936 by Vocalion Records, catalogue 3519. The original version remained out of print after its initial release until the appearance of The Complete Recordings in 1990...

" (from Cream's 1968 album Wheels of Fire

Wheels of Fire

Wheels of Fire is the name of a double album recorded by Cream. The release was largely successful, scoring the band a #3 peak in the United Kingdom and a #1 in the United States, and became the world's first platinum-selling double album....

). Miller's performance of the main riff is in turn slightly different from Pena's original, which has a more funky edge to it.

Single edit

The single edit of Miller's recording features a truncated version of the guitar intro. In addition, one line of the song's lyric was altered for radio play: instead of "'Cause I don't want to get caught up in any of that funky shit goin' down in the city", it was changed to "funky kicks goin' down in the city". The single edit was included on the original release of Miller's Greatest Hits 1974–78 compilation, although the full album version has been used for later reissues of the title.

The single edit also had much better-produced Steve Miller vocals. On the album version, one can often hear Miller breathing into the microphone as he begins singing a line. His breathing was mixed out of the single release.