Music of Expo: Dale Sings Songs of the Fair City
Dale Francis Miller had a classically Northwestern life: according to his obituary, he worked as a logger, a miner, a dam-builder, and a tavern owner. "He did it all, climbed every mountain, crossed every river, loved to fish and loved the outdoors." In addition to all these adventures, he released several albums in his musical career, including two regionally-specific singles (with b-sides) on Alpine Records: "Expo '74 / My Lilac City, Spokane" for Spokane, and "Ballad of Two Miners / Take Me Back to Pennsylvania" for Potter County, PA. He passed away in 2011 at the age of 75. You can read more about his life at this link.
Dale's musical contributions to Expo stand out as some of the only songs written specifically about Expo and its host city. Most other Expo '74 albums simply represented the work of artists who performed at Expo or nations that exhibited at Expo, but were not crafted with Expo in mind. In contrast, Dale's lyrics included many meaningful references to the fair and the city where he "lived as a very young man." In earlier years, Dale had performed on Spokane radio shows such as "Dr Cowan's Old Time Party" and "The Clyde and Slim Show," as well as hosting his own show on K-PEG. He appeared on television in "Saddle Up With Slim" on KXLY.
On August 13th, 1974, Dale performed his Expo songs at the fair itself. The afternoon show was at the International Amphitheater, while the evening show was at the Alberta Amphitheater. His band consisted of friends and family: "His wife, Jeanne, will play electric bass. Cynthia, 16, his daughter, will sing and shake a tambourine, and his brother, Bill Miller, will sing and play guitar. A friend, Duffy White, plays a steel dobro, which is like a miniature steel guitar. Miller also sings and strums a guitar."
