Reformed hellraiser Greg Douglass will show why he played with some of rock’s biggest names when he hits Kinross on Sunday.
The Californian guitar maestro spent years in music’s wilderness after his heroin misuse started to spiral out of control in the ’70s – just as global fame beckoned as part of the massive-selling Steve Miller Band.
After co-writing the San Francisco outfit’s US hit Jungle Love, Douglass saw his career nosedive in the ’80s.
More than two decades clean
However, after more than two decades clean, in 2018 he celebrated 50 years since starting out with his first band The Virtues.
Refreshingly honest Greg, 72, will play a set of Miller favourites at the Green Hotel with his Pompatus Of Love line-up.
He says he has massive respect for the Steve Miller Band bandleader – despite their collaboration’s premature ending.
“Steve was a disciplinarian,” he says. “He didn’t want the people around him to take drugs and rightfully so, because it reflected badly on him if somebody was on stage three sheets to the wind.
“It wasn’t a job I wanted to lose because it was very prestigious and a great opportunity to make money.
“My mortgage still gets paid every month by Jungle Love and that’s 50 years after the fact.
‘Music is a job, like being a plumber’
“Steve really didn’t brook any nonsense. I learned so much about running a band from him, everything from doing a soundcheck correctly to keeping people in line if somebody starts to go off on a tangent.
“Music’s a job, just like being a plumber. You can’t show up at a plumbing job and not have your wrenches, just like you can’t show up at a gig without your gear being in shape or being at the top of your game.”
Douglass, who also played with blues rockers Hot Tuna and legend Van Morrison, reckons it’s easy to see why his former band’s work has lasted.
“It’s in the classic tradition of great songwriting,” he declares.
“The songs all have great hooks. You can remember them and it’s multi-generational. If you go to a Steve Miller show you see every age group.”
After playing on SMB’s 1977 opus Book Of Dreams, Greg missed out on 1981 follow-up Circle Of Love, before resurfacing on Miller’s huge 12th album the following year.
But his fortunes were to quickly plummet.
“Steve needed a break and at one point the rest of the band went into a garage and wrote just a ton of songs,” he explains.
“We got real creative and those songs became the Abracadabra album. Steve basically got a whole album done for next to nothing.
The wheels fell off
“The wheels really started to fall off the bus when I was with Greg Khin Band, that’s when my heroin habit really became a problem.
“I was showing up at the studio in no shape to play and eventually they fired me. That was the beginning of a long period of just not playing at all.
“Once the word gets out that you’re a junkie people want nothing to do with you.
“I’ve been one of the fortunate few who’ve come out of it alive and wiser. I’m now the guy who takes people to rehab – I talk to them and try to get them on the right path.
“In a way my addiction was a gift because it showed me an entirely different side of life I’d never have seen before.
“I can honestly say I’m happier than I’ve ever been. My playing is better and every day is a new set of wonders.”
Fresh from a lucrative stint performing on a gigantic Pacific cruise ship, Douglass started a UK tour last Sunday and can’t wait to play his only Scottish show.
“I have a very soft spot for Kinross,” he admits. “I got an award from the music society there in 2015 that I’ve got hung up right next to my platinum albums.
“In Kinross I’d get up early and wander around the coffee shops and just sit down and talk to people.
“People don’t do that in the USA – they’ll look at you like you’re going to steal their money.
“This is the highlight of the tour. I’m thinking about coming back with my wife and enjoying Scotland at my leisure.”
- Kathryn Roberts and Sean Lakeman play Kinross on Thursday. The ex-Equation duo are double Radio 2 Folk Award recipients and have partnered the likes of Levellers and Fotheringay.
