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Thirty
or More Things
You Should Know About Roger Miller
by Maggie
Van Ostrand |
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Roger
Miller is the only Country & Western artist to ever win the Tony
(for "Big River"). His Grammy wins were more than any other artist,
and the record remained unbroken until Michael Jackson's "Thriller.
He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame posthumously in
about '95 |
Editor's
note: We found mention of Roger Miller being born in Fort
Worth, Texas, which came as something of a surprise. We mentioned
this to frequent contributor and walking show business encyclopedia
Maggie (you'll-never-get-the whole-story-out-of-me) Van Ostrand, who
was not only a personal friend of Roger Miller but once co-wrote a
book with him - gathering the material between acts at the Sahara
in Las Vegas. Her anecdotes of Roger and friends are worthy of another
book and she has graciously supplied us with enough of his quotes
and stories to expand our normal "Ten things you should know.." to
"Thirty or More" things.
While Roger Miller never "shot a man in Reno" - neither did Johnny
Cash. Roger Miller, however, did accidentally shoot
himself in a Las Vegas pawnshop - which immediately made other
singers/ songwriters back in Nashville wish that they had thought
of it.
Personal friends included Kris Kistofferson, Willie Nelson, Mason
Williams, Glenn Campbell and Maggie - who wrote: |
"As
for Roger, he rarely mentioned Ft. Worth in chatting with his audiences
between numbers, but talked a lot about the place he considered his
hometown, Erick Oklahoma.
That was because Erick was fodder for all Roger's small-town stories
-- here's what I mean:"
Of his Uncle Elmer's farm outside of Erick, he once said "We raised
cotton ankle high."
"We used to have a truck farm. We raised GMC pickups. One year we
had a bumper crop."
"I worked all my life on a farm so I could get away and make enough
money to buy a nice farm and settle down."
"It was when we lived on a dirt road it always rained."
"I'm running for city limits next year. I have the whole town behind
me."
"My daddy was a land baron. He owned some of the most barren land
you ever saw."
"Our town was so small we didn't have a village idiot; we had to take
turns."
"My hometown's so small, the people live in cars."
He pondered what a rabbit carried for luck and he frequently said
he was 20 minutes ahead of his time.
And my personal favorite:
"When we were kids, we were so poor, words were our only toys."
Roger had three children by first wife, Barbara, a son, Dean, by second
wife, Leah, and two children, Taylor and Adam, with third wife, Mary.
Mary Miller was formerly a member of Kenny Rogers and the First Edition,
Mary worked with Roger as a back-up vocalist from the 1970's on. She
is planning to attend the Grand Opening of the Roger Miller Museum
in Erick, Oklahoma on October
23, 2004, and has donated many historical items belonging to Roger.
Roger
is the only C&W artist to ever win the Tony (for "Big River")
About his stint in Korea, he used to say "My education was
Korea, Clash of 52."
He was a phenomenal fiddler and each show's final encore ended with
a foot-stompin', thigh-thumpin' Orange Blossom Special.
He was once known as The Singing Bellhop, and he took that
job at the Andrew Jackson Hotel because it was in the middle of Nashville's
music district.
His first job in country music was on the road with Minnie Pearl.
He then met George Jones, and rode back to Texas with George,
singing and writing songs along the way, including "Tall, Tall
Trees," which Jones (co-wrote) recorded in 1957, and "Happy
Child" which Jimmy Dean recorded right away.
He moved to Amarillo and joined the fire dept, and sang in clubs after
work. He really was fired, when he slept through the alarm of the
second fire of his employment (the first fire was a chicken coop.)
"It was in Amarillo that Roger met Ray Price, and became one
of the Cherokee Cowboys.
He moved back to Nashville with a new song he wrote, "Invitation
to the Blues." Both Rex Allen and Ray Price recorded it.
Ernest Tubb recorded "Half a Mind,"
Faron Young recorded "That's the Way I Feel,"
Jim Reeves recorded "Billy Bayou" which hit # 1 and "Home"
which made it to # 2.
In the late 50s he sang with Donny Little, later known as Johnny
Paycheck. Years later, Johnny Paycheck wrote the beginnings of
another song while sitting in a rocker in my living room. "Take This
Job and......"
In 1961 he was being paid $50 / week and he went through money before
he even got it. He once took a job as Faron Young's drummer.
When Young said he needed a drummer by Monday, Roger said, "By Monday,
I'll be a drummer." And he was -- for over a year.
Roger's "When Two Worlds Collide" which he wrote in the back
seat of his Rambler station wagon on the way to Texas, was named after
his favorite movie.
At this point, he left RCA and went with Smash Records. In
order to pay back a $1500 advance, Roger wrote and recorded 16 songs
in four days. He wrote "Dang Me" in four minutes in a Phoenix
hotel room. He also wrote "Chug-a-Lug" for that session.
His next hit for Smash was "King of the Road," which he wrote
while on the road somewhere outside of Chicago. He saw a sign that
read "Trailers for Sale or Rent." He wrote the first verse. Then,
in Boise, he saw a short-cigar-smokin' hobo on a corner near the railroad
station and somehow, that jarred the rest of the lyrics. That song
took 6 weeks to write.
Roger's Grammy wins were more than any other artist, and the record
remained unbroken until Michael Jackson's "Thriller." You don't read
about that anywhere.
Up until I sold my longtime house (after the '94 quake), I had kept
the milk can Roger used as a seat on his show, but in the move to
Mexico, I left it behind. It was painted worn-out white by the NBC
prop dept. They built Roger a special train set to use as a prop or
for extemporaneous remarks at which he excelled. After the show was
cancelled, Roger blew up the train on the last show. Roger said he
didn't want anybody else using it.
Boy, did NBC get mad.
It was during these days, and his stints at the Sahara and
the Desert Inn, that we did the book together. The only copy
I had didn't make it through the 'quake of '94 and as far as I know,
no copy survives.
After this, I lost touch with Roger who went on to what must've been
his greatest triumph, "Big River," which he had been scared
to do, and ended up with a Tony. He was inducted into the Country
Music Hall of Fame posthumously in about '95.
Other writers followed Roger all over because he dropped song ideas
and lyrics and never wanted credit or let them put his name on the
song they'd get out of it. As an old friend of his, Buddy Killen,
said "He spoke in songs."
So very true.
Copyright Maggie Van Ostrand
"A Balloon In
Cactus"
December 27, 2003 column |
Roger
Miller CDs - In association with Amazon.com
Click on Titles for current pricing and order information
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Big
River: The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn (1985 Original Broadway
Cast)
Audio
CD (October 25, 1990)
Label: Mca
This unjustly forgotten masterpiece was in many ways the last great
creative gasp for the late, great country songwriter-singer Roger
Miller, who died in 1992. After he wrote countless country gems like
"Invitation to the Blues," "King of the Road," and "Dang Me" during
the 1950s and '60s, Miller's creative muse ran dry in the early 1970s.
The drought continued until he made a remarkable comeback by penning
the 20-song score and contributing vocals to the soundtrack of this
1985 Broadway adaptation of Mark Twain's literary classic. Big River
still stands as a dazzling, heartwarming slice of musical Americana
and the final crowning achievement in one of country music's most
celebrated careers. -- Bob Allen |
Roger Millers
songs and records include:King of the Road, Walkin' In The Sunshine, Billy Bayou, Husbands
And Wives, Dang Me, The Last Word In Lonesome Is Me, Chug A Lug,
My Uncle Used To Love Me But She Died, Engine Engine #9, Kansas
City Star, Do-Wacka-Do, Don't We All Have the Right To Be Wrong,
England Swings, In The Summertime, When Two Worlds Collide (his
first hit), You Can't Rollerskate In A Buffalo Herd, You Don't Want
My Love, Me and Bobby McGee (written by Kris Kristofferson, but
the first successful recording was Roger's, not Joplin's), Kansas
City Star, and Little Green Apples (written by Bobby Russell).
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