Q: How did this record come about?
A: I was playing at a club in Idaho called the Old Playhouse Bar. One day, I was talking to the club owner about the fair and we just decided to do a record. I went off and wrote the songs, then had a meeting with the people who ran the fair and played them the song—just me and my guitar—and they loved it. We recorded the songs at Ripchord Recording Studio in Vancouver, Washington and had them pressed at Capitol Records in Hollywood.
Q: This was how long before the fair?
A: Well before, probably about a year.
Q: And was it your band in the studio with you?
A: No, it was all studio musicians. You just call them up and tell them, 'I need a slide guitar player,' or a piano player or someone and they're there when you go in.
Q: The picture sleeve looks terrific. Did you do it?
A: No, I hired a guy. It cost $800 or $900, which was a lot of money back then, but he did a real good job. It was a great big piece of plastic that they photographed.
Q: Was this your first record?
A: Oh, no. I had a hit called Potter County U. S. A. that was a big hit on the East Coast and sold 100,000 copies in the first two months. That was my biggest at the time, but was passed by one called Ballad of Two Miners—that one's still being played today. I got my start playing on the radio when I was eleven years old. I also did one of the first TV shows in Spokane, called Saddle Up With Slim and then later, The Dale Miller Show.
Q: So, how did Expo '74 do?
A: I'm not sure how many it sold, because when you have a distributor and concessions people, and so on, the artist never really gets to know…but it was number one on KGA way before the fair actually opened. They played it so much, I think it drove everybody crazy. Having it on the radio so much was great advertising for me and I felt like a big shot then. Jean and I made a little bit of money on it and I think it was pretty good effort for a hick from the sticks. [Note from Mike: Jean is Dale's wife and was his bass player, then and now]. We sold them at all the concession booths for $2 each and the fair people got to keep $1.08 of it.
Q: Did you do many shows at the fair?
A: We did four or five shows, at the Alberta Amphitheatre and the Boeing stage.
Q: Do you have any special memory of the fair?
A: Well, Spokane has a sister city in Japan and so they sent some materials over there, including a copy of my song. Then, during the fair, there was this choir of about 40 little girls who came over here from the sister city and performed Expo '74. I thought that was real sweet. Also, every few years, the City Council votes on making The Lilac City Spokane's official song and that may happen yet.
Q: So, what are you doing these days?
A: I'm 66 years old and still play a little bit of music, but just with the family band. I gave up the nightclubs years ago; all that drinking and breathing in other people's smoke just isn't good for you. Mostly, I work in the Internet. My son and I buy up old corporations, build them up and get them ready to merge with other companies.
Q: Any final words?
A: I hoarded some copies of the record, so if someone wants to buy one, maybe they could contact you and you can put us in touch.
Q: Thanks for your time, Dale.
A: Thank you, and I'm glad so many people remember Expo. It was a real nice world's fair and the ecology was a great theme.
Expo 74 b/w The Lilac City (Alpine Records)
Written and performed by Dale Miller
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