Frankie Miller: Tears, Tennent’s and Trainspotting stars in tribute to a Scots great

“I knew next to nothing about Frankie Miller and I’d never produced a record,” he said.

“The only tracks of his I’d really heard were Darlin’ and Caledonia. I couldn’t have told you anything else about him.”

But Downie was never going to let such minor details stand in his way.

In 2001, he embarked on a two-year roller coaster ride to make A Tribute To Frankie Miller, a collection of the Bridgeton-born legend’s most famous songs.

This was no compilation from his back catalogue, however.

Instead, Downie decided to ask some of the singer’s most high profile friends and admirers to cover their favourite tracks.

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The album is a superb mix of songs by Miller’s contemporaries such as Rod Stewart, Billy Connolly, Joe Walsh, Nazareth, The Sensational Alex Harvey Band, Maggie Bell, Lulu and Bonnie Tyler … alongside names from the next generation including The Proclaimers, Edwyn Collins, Clare Grogan, Pat Kane and The Cosmic Rough Riders.

At the time, Downie, a computer specialist, was running his own new technology team at the BBC.

His work took him all over the country, and it was a chance meeting in Belfast that was the catalyst for the album.

Miller had suffered a brain haemorrhage in New York in 1994, after travelling there to write songs with his close friend Joe Walsh, guitarist of The Eagles.

He spent five months in a coma in a US hospital and was given only a 2% chance of survival.

When he emerged, he was unable to speak or sing.

He also faced crippling medical bills.

“I gave a guy a lift to Londonderry and he told me that his brother was Frankie’s music therapist … and how Rod Stewart and Billy Connolly had clubbed together to bring him home,” recalled Alec.

“Financially, Frankie was in quite a tenuous position. I didn’t know any of this.

“I went online to see if I he had his own website, but there was very little information about him at all.”

Frankie Miller

Downie tracked down the singer’s partner Annette Creedon, who’d been with him in New York, and offered to design a website.

“I had no idea he’d written songs covered by Ray Charles, Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison, Etta James and Joe Cocker,” revealed Alec.

“Annette told me a few well known musician friends had said they’d be willing to take part in a tribute. I thought, I’m gonna call these people’s bluff.

“So I got in touch with them and said: ‘If I was to make an album would you be interested?’

“I thought I’d maybe be lucky to scrape together enough songs for a single record.

“Before long, Joe, Billy, Nazareth and the guys from the Alex Harvey band all said they were up for it. In the end, it was a triple album with 47 tracks.”

Downie joined forces with Brian Young at CaVa Studios in Glasgow.

“I was gobsmacked when he told me how much they were prepared to help,” said Alec.

“The album, in any other studio, would have cost an absolute fortune. I couldn’t have done it without them.”

For the next few months, Downie listened to more than 200 Frankie Miller songs.

“I made every artiste I was targeting a CD with about 18 tracks, but I put them in the order I thought they’d be most suited to,” revealed Alec.

“It was basically me saying, here are the songs … which one do you fancy? And, on the whole, every act chose one of the top three I’d suggested.

“It was a bit of a domino effect. Once I got Billy Connolly and Joe Walsh on board, other people got involved too.”

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Downie wanted the album to open with a real bang, so he approached actor Robert Carlyle and asked him to recite the lyrics to Bridgeton, from Miller’s 1975 album, The Rock.

It would lead straight into a new version of Caledonia – written by Dougie MacLean – which became a hit when Miller’s recording was used in a TV commercial for Tennent’s Lager in 1991.

“I came up with the idea for Bobby to recite the first verse of Bridgeton as a soliloquy,” said Alec.

“Kevin McKidd – who appeared with him in the movie Trainspotting – played guitar on it. We had fellow actor Ian Robertson also contributing to the vocal.

“On the day we recorded it, Fish was in the main studio at CaVa with the Alex Harvey Band, Brian Robertson of Thin Lizzy, plus the BBC Orchestra, a pipe band and a gospel choir.

“While in the smaller studio, we had Bobby, Ian and Kevin doing their song. They recorded it in one take.”

The session is one of Alec’s most treasured memories. He recalled:

“Brian put an amplifier in the middle of the big studio then went into the control room and did his solo from there. Two takes. He said: ‘That’s it, I’m done’.

“It was amazing. I remember saying to him: ‘How the f*** do you do that?’ He pointed to his heart, then ran a finger down his arm to his hand and said: ‘That’s how’.”

It was also a very emotional moment for Miller who attended the session.

“Frankie and Brian had fallen out some years previously,” revealed Alec.

“But I got the two of them together again. They were hugging and clearly still had a deep love for one another. I was almost in tears.”

But it wasn’t quite so easy for Fish. Alec told me:

“He was really nervous because Frankie’s version of the song is so great, he was worried he wouldn’t do as good a job.

“Much as he’s a big, jovial guy … he’s not really a showman when it comes to working in the studio. He likes quiet.

“So off he went and did the part on his own, and it was brilliant.”

Alec added:

“Eighteen people tried to mix that track. Everybody wanted a shot at it because it had an orchestra, pipe band, gospel choir … the whole shebang.

“But I hated the final mix. They’d sucked all the life out of it. When I heard it I threw the CD at the wall of my flat in anger. I think there’s still a dent there.

“I went back into the studio with Fish, Ted McKenna and a bottle of wine. We locked the door and did a new mix in just two hours.”

Downie had to navigate his way around each act’s schedule and it wasn’t always possible to get them to record in Glasgow.

“Geography made it hard. It became a little bit tricky when I put The Cosmic Rough Riders together with Joe Walsh on “When I’m Away From You,” he recalled.

“The band recorded their backing track and I

Fed-Ex-ed it to Joe in Los Angeles.

“It was a perfect match to have an established star working with a new Scottish band.”

Rod Stewart is also a huge fan and said: “He’s the only white guy that’s ever brought a tear to my eye.”

He contributed You’re The Star – written by Miller – which he’d recorded with Bernard Edwards of Chic and producer Trevor Horn for his 1995 album, A Spanner In The Works.

“Rod actually wanted to do a new version of Darlin’, but Frankie detests the song,” revealed Alec.

“It would have been great if Rod would have been able to record a new track, but he gave us his name and that was important to the project.”

Among the Scottish legends who also took part were Maggie Bell, John Martyn, Michael Marra and Hamish Stuart.

Downie released the album on Eagle Records, who also signed up Miller’s back catalogue. The deal generated much-needed funds for the singer.

Alec said:

“I did the entire project in my spare time. I got thrown in at the deep end and it was a case of … if you can’t swim, you’re gonna drown.

“Frankie was pleased with the record. I think I feel more humbled by it more than anything else.

“I can’t believe so many great people gave up their time and artistry for me.

“It was me doing the asking, but they were really doing it because of their love for Frankie.”

ONE of the most poignant tracks on the album was a new recording of Beautiful Woman by Graham Lyle.

The Grammy award winning songwriter played a pivotal role in Frankie Miller’s recovery.

During a visit to his London home, he held a guitar and placed his friend’s fingers into the C chord position.

As Lyle strummed the guitar, the singer moved his hands to make other chord shapes … and they played together.

His actions provided the first glimmer of hope that Miller was not suffering from brain damage.

Another special song was Angels With Dirty Faces, recorded by Altered Images’ star, Clare Grogan.

“It’s a song written about prostitutes and I just liked the idea of a woman singing it, turning it on its head,” revealed Alec.

“Clare gave it a totally different meaning and emotion. I’d never heard that softer, more vulnerable side before.”

The album had a budget of £28,000 and there were several sticky moments along the way.

“Until the advance came through from Eagle Records I was paying for the whole thing out of my own pocket,” revealed Alec.

“At one point, I was £18,000 down and had the deal fallen through I’d have been landed with the bill.

“But I didn’t care. I was so determined to do it, once the momentum started I just couldn’t stop.”

He added:

“The project was a weird experience for me. Although I’d never produced a record before, I’d changed jobs and done so many different things, I had no fear of it.

“When it came to the songs, I could hear what I wanted in my head.

“Frankie’s peers, that generation of old school Scottish artists are legends … but they’re legends for a good reason. They knew how hard it was to get to where they were. And that made them so easy and a real pleasure to work with.”

On September 7, 2002, Downie promoted a tribute gig at Barrowland featuring many of the artistes from the album. It raised £30,000 for music therapy.

“At the end of the night, I was standing underneath the Barrowland awning, sheltering from the rain, trying to get a taxi,” he said finally.

“It was a very emotional moment. I thought … it’s done. There was nothing more to do after that than to tell everybody we’d made a GREAT record.

“And we did. I think the album is testament to Frankie’s incredible talent as a singer and songwriter.”

* THE Billy Sloan Show is on BBC Radio Scotland every Saturday at 10pm.