Jet Airliner

About Jet Airliner

"Jet Airliner" is a song composed by Paul Pena in 1973 and popularized by the Steve Miller Band in 1977. Pena wrote and recorded "Jet Airliner" in 1973 for his New Train album. However, New Train was not released until 2000, due to conflicts between him and his label. Steve Miller decided to record the song for his band's Book of Dreams album in 1977, after hearing the unreleased album via Ben Sidran, who produced it, and who was formerly in Miller's band. The lyrics of the Steve Miller Band version are slightly different from the Pena original. Miller's performance of the main riff also is slightly different from Pena's original, which has a more funky edge to it. The song is also notable for an early reference to the catchphrase "keep on keepin' on", also found in John Lennon's 1974 song "Old Dirt Road" and in the Bob Dylan songs "Tangled Up in Blue" and "You Ain't Goin' Nowhere." It was concurrently released as a single, and reached No. 8 on the Billboard chart. In Canada, the song spent two weeks at No. 3. On classic rock radio, Miller's "Jet Airliner" is generally played in tandem with "Threshold", the all-synthesizer instrumental that precedes it on Book of Dreams and the Greatest Hits 1974–78 compilation. more »