Miracles (Jefferson Starship song)
Encyclopedia
"Miracles" is a song written by Marty Balin
and originally recorded by Jefferson Starship
, appearing on their 1975 album Red Octopus
.
"Miracles" peaked at #3 for three weeks on the Billboard Hot 100
, making it the highest-charting single the band ever recorded under the name "Jefferson Starship," and also charting higher than any single the band had recorded in its previous incarnation as "Jefferson Airplane
". (However, the band went on to have three #1 hits under its later incarnation as "Starship".)
The song was inspired in part by the Indian guru Sathya Sai Baba
, whose followers believe him to have been a miracle worker. It was also inspired in part by a woman Balin was in love with at the time. According to Jeff Tamarkin's book Got a Revolution! The Turbulent Flight of Jefferson Airplane, Balin labored over the song "for some time" and "slowly but deliberately crafted" it. However, author Robert Yehling has written that Balin wrote the song in 30 minutes or wrote the lyrics in 45 minutes.
According to Balin, when he presented the song to the rest of the band members, "Everybody went, 'I don't know about that, that's pretty weird, man.' I was really worried; nobody liked it. But I told myself, after about five days, Maybe they're wrong."
Commenting on the band's recording of "Miracles", Jeff Tamarkin wrote: "[Larry] Cox nailed the production -- there isn't a wasted, out of place note. Strings glisten, the keyboard sound is contemporary and Grace [Slick
] and Paul [Kantner
]'s harmonies are relatively traditional. [David] Freiberg
came up with the memorable signature organ riff that opens the song and Craig [Chaquico
] with a fresh supply of delicious guitar sounds. Marty is at his most open, crooning his words of love like he hasn't in years -- without a hint of irony or awkwardness he uses the word 'baby' at least 25 times ...."
In order to secure more radio airplay for the song, the full-length album version of "Miracles" (6 minutes, 52 seconds long) was cut by more than half its length for the single, which was released at a length of 3 minutes, 25 seconds. This edit was done not only for length, but to remove the sexual reference in the line "I had a taste of the real world when I went down on you, girl."
magazine listed "Miracles" among its Top Single Picks, indicating that the review panel predicted it to reach the top 30 of the Hot 100
. The magazine commented, "With a top 10 LP under their belts, the rejuvenated Starship (with Marty Balin back as a full fledged member) come up with the kind of easy rocker that highlighted the early Airplane days. Vocal interchanges between Balin and Grace Slick
the high point of the record."
Reviewing a Balin solo concert in 1981, New York Times critic Stephen Holden
referred to "Miracles" as Balin's "little masterpiece of pop pillow talk".
Dave Marsh
and James Bernard listed "Miracles" among the "Best Songs to Pass the Censor" in The New Book of Rock Lists. In the same book, they also described "I got a taste of the real world when I went down on you girl" as the "Most Off-Color Line in the LP Version of a Number One Hit" (although "Miracles" did not, in fact, hit #1).
In 1998, Balin received a plaque from Broadcast Music Incorporated
, a performing rights organization which monitors music performances on radio and elsewhere, recognizing that "Miracles" had achieved 2 million performances.
William Ruhlmann, writing in All Music Guide Required Listening: Classic Rock, commented, "[T]here can be little doubt that it was Balin's irresistible ballad 'Miracles,' the biggest hit single in the Jefferson Whatever catalog, that propelled Red Octopus to the top of the charts .... This must have been sweet vindication for Balin, who founded Jefferson Airplane but then drifted away from the group as it veered away from his musical vision. Now, the collective was incorporating his taste without quite integrating it -- 'Miracles,' with its strings and sax solo by nonband member Irv Cox, was hardly a characteristic Airplane/Starship track."
The New Rolling Stone Album Guide, published in 2004, stated that "with Marty Balin's 'Miracles,' Octopus′s massive hit, the band began shifting toward schmaltz. Balin now sounded like a lounge singer ...."
Philip Dodd, in The Book of Rock: From the 1950s to Today, described "Miracles" as "magnificent".
Marty Balin
Marty Balin is an American musician. He is best known as the founder and one of the lead singers of the psychedelic rock band Jefferson Airplane.-Early life:Martyn Buchwald was born in Cincinnati, Ohio...
and originally recorded by Jefferson Starship
Jefferson Starship
Jefferson Starship is an American rock band formed in the early 1970s. The group is a spin-off from the iconic 1960s psychedelic/folk group Jefferson Airplane. The band has undergone several major changes in personnel and genres through the years while retaining the same Jefferson Starship name...
, appearing on their 1975 album Red Octopus
Red Octopus
Red Octopus is a 1975 album by Jefferson Starship. It was the best-selling album by any incarnation of Jefferson Airplane and its spin-off groups, and the single "Miracles" hit #3 on the Billboard charts, being the biggest hit single the band had until that point...
.
"Miracles" peaked at #3 for three weeks on the Billboard Hot 100
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...
, making it the highest-charting single the band ever recorded under the name "Jefferson Starship," and also charting higher than any single the band had recorded in its previous incarnation as "Jefferson Airplane
Jefferson Airplane
Jefferson Airplane was an American rock band formed in San Francisco in 1965. A pioneer of the psychedelic rock movement, Jefferson Airplane was the first band from the San Francisco scene to achieve mainstream commercial and critical success....
". (However, the band went on to have three #1 hits under its later incarnation as "Starship".)
The song was inspired in part by the Indian guru Sathya Sai Baba
Sathya Sai Baba
Śri Sathya Sai Baba , born as Sathyanarayana Raju was an Indian guru, spiritual figure, mystic, philanthropist, and educator. He claimed to be the reincarnation of Sai Baba of Shirdi, a spiritual saint and miracle worker who died in 1918 and whose teachings were an eclectic blend of Hindu and...
, whose followers believe him to have been a miracle worker. It was also inspired in part by a woman Balin was in love with at the time. According to Jeff Tamarkin's book Got a Revolution! The Turbulent Flight of Jefferson Airplane, Balin labored over the song "for some time" and "slowly but deliberately crafted" it. However, author Robert Yehling has written that Balin wrote the song in 30 minutes or wrote the lyrics in 45 minutes.
According to Balin, when he presented the song to the rest of the band members, "Everybody went, 'I don't know about that, that's pretty weird, man.' I was really worried; nobody liked it. But I told myself, after about five days, Maybe they're wrong."
Commenting on the band's recording of "Miracles", Jeff Tamarkin wrote: "[Larry] Cox nailed the production -- there isn't a wasted, out of place note. Strings glisten, the keyboard sound is contemporary and Grace [Slick
Grace Slick
Grace Slick is an American singer and songwriter, who was one of the lead singers of the rock groups The Great Society, Jefferson Airplane, Jefferson Starship, and Starship, and was a solo artist, for nearly three decades, from the mid-1960s to the mid-1990s...
] and Paul [Kantner
Paul Kantner
Paul Lorin Kantner is an American rock musician, known for co-founding the psychedelic rock band Jefferson Airplane and its spin-off band Jefferson Starship.- Overview :...
]'s harmonies are relatively traditional. [David] Freiberg
David Freiberg
David Freiberg is an American musician. He was vocalist and/or bass guitar player with Quicksilver Messenger Service, Jefferson Airplane and Jefferson Starship.-Career:...
came up with the memorable signature organ riff that opens the song and Craig [Chaquico
Craig Chaquico
Craig Chaquico is an American guitarist of Portuguese and Native American descent. He has had over thirty years of success in a variety of genres: in the 1970s with the post-Summer of Love Jefferson Starship, in that band's 1980s incarnation, Starship, and in the 1990s and 2000s as a...
] with a fresh supply of delicious guitar sounds. Marty is at his most open, crooning his words of love like he hasn't in years -- without a hint of irony or awkwardness he uses the word 'baby' at least 25 times ...."
In order to secure more radio airplay for the song, the full-length album version of "Miracles" (6 minutes, 52 seconds long) was cut by more than half its length for the single, which was released at a length of 3 minutes, 25 seconds. This edit was done not only for length, but to remove the sexual reference in the line "I had a taste of the real world when I went down on you, girl."
Response
Upon the single's release, BillboardBillboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
magazine listed "Miracles" among its Top Single Picks, indicating that the review panel predicted it to reach the top 30 of the Hot 100
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...
. The magazine commented, "With a top 10 LP under their belts, the rejuvenated Starship (with Marty Balin back as a full fledged member) come up with the kind of easy rocker that highlighted the early Airplane days. Vocal interchanges between Balin and Grace Slick
Grace Slick
Grace Slick is an American singer and songwriter, who was one of the lead singers of the rock groups The Great Society, Jefferson Airplane, Jefferson Starship, and Starship, and was a solo artist, for nearly three decades, from the mid-1960s to the mid-1990s...
the high point of the record."
Reviewing a Balin solo concert in 1981, New York Times critic Stephen Holden
Stephen Holden
Stephen Holden is an American writer, music critic, film critic, and poet.Holden earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Yale University in 1963...
referred to "Miracles" as Balin's "little masterpiece of pop pillow talk".
Dave Marsh
Dave Marsh
Dave Marsh is an American music critic, author, editor and radio talk show host. He was a formative editor of Creem magazine, has written for various publications such as Newsday, The Village Voice, and Rolling Stone, and has published numerous books about music and musicians, mostly focused on...
and James Bernard listed "Miracles" among the "Best Songs to Pass the Censor" in The New Book of Rock Lists. In the same book, they also described "I got a taste of the real world when I went down on you girl" as the "Most Off-Color Line in the LP Version of a Number One Hit" (although "Miracles" did not, in fact, hit #1).
In 1998, Balin received a plaque from Broadcast Music Incorporated
Broadcast Music Incorporated
Broadcast Music, Inc. is one of three United States performing rights organizations, along with ASCAP and SESAC. It collects license fees on behalf of songwriters, composers, and music publishers and distributes them as royalties to those members whose works have been performed...
, a performing rights organization which monitors music performances on radio and elsewhere, recognizing that "Miracles" had achieved 2 million performances.
William Ruhlmann, writing in All Music Guide Required Listening: Classic Rock, commented, "[T]here can be little doubt that it was Balin's irresistible ballad 'Miracles,' the biggest hit single in the Jefferson Whatever catalog, that propelled Red Octopus to the top of the charts .... This must have been sweet vindication for Balin, who founded Jefferson Airplane but then drifted away from the group as it veered away from his musical vision. Now, the collective was incorporating his taste without quite integrating it -- 'Miracles,' with its strings and sax solo by nonband member Irv Cox, was hardly a characteristic Airplane/Starship track."
The New Rolling Stone Album Guide, published in 2004, stated that "with Marty Balin's 'Miracles,' Octopus′s massive hit, the band began shifting toward schmaltz. Balin now sounded like a lounge singer ...."
Philip Dodd, in The Book of Rock: From the 1950s to Today, described "Miracles" as "magnificent".