"Take the Money and Run" is a song recorded in 1976 by the Steve Miller Band. A song about two young (possibly teenage) bandits and the detective pursuing them, it was one of the many hit singles produced by the Steve Miller Band in the 1970s and featured on the 1976 album Fly Like an Eagle. The song peaked at number 11 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100[3] and at number 8 in Canada[4] in July 1976 and also charted in Australia.[5][6]
Background and writing
The song was written as a road trip. Miller drew inspiration from his childhood, when he listened to the radio while on long road trips with his family, and he would sing along to his favorite songs. Because FM radio was capable of clearer stereo sound, this allowed him to make his road trip songs with more layers for a much bigger sound.
This here’s a story about Billy Joe and Bobbie Sue
Two young lovers with nothin’ better to do
Than sit around the house, get high, and watch the tube
And here’s what happened when they decided to cut loose[7]
Billy Joe robs a house in El Paso and shoots its owner, while Bobbie Sue escapes with the proceeds of the robbery. They reunite the next day and flee south through Texas, pursued by Billy Mack, a police detective intent on arresting them.
Reception
Cash Box said that the song gets off to a "fine start" with "spirited drums" and has "intelligent" lyrics and music that is "just as good, maybe better, than "Space Cowboy."[8]Record World said that this "story about an armed robbery is punctuated with some good guitar chording and [Miller's] distinct vocal."[9]
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.
Legacy
This was the first song Miller let a rap group sample, since he had previously turned down requests to sample his songs. Run-DMC used it in 2001 with Everlast also on vocals. He agreed only after hearing the song and liking what they did with it.[11]
In 2006, the 30th Anniversary Edition of the Fly Like An Eagle album was released. The track "Take the Joker and Run," was included as a bonus track and is an acoustic version of "Take the Money and Run" sung over an early version of "The Joker."
^Sinclair, Tom (January 12, 2001). "Hear & Now". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved April 28, 2022. So when Arista exec Pete Ganbarg called Miller's publishing company about letting Run DMC release a version of his 1976 hit "Take the Money and Run" that the group had cut with Everlast, the initial answer was a flat "No." Says Linda Komorsky, who handles Miller's publishing rights: "I said, 'This is just not going to happen, tell them to choose somebody else's song.' And [Ganbarg] kept calling me back, saying 'Please, just listen to the tape."' Komorsky relented, and, after hearing the track, played it for Miller. Abra, abracadabra, the song just reached out and grabbed him. "He liked what they did," confirms Komorsky. "This is the first time he's allowed a group like this to do one of his songs."
