Miller, Roger (1936-1992)

Songwriter and singer Roger Miller is best known for his humorous novelty songs that topped the country music charts in the mid-1960s. Miller was born in Fort Worth, Texas, in 1936, but after the death of his father, his mother underwent a serious illness and Roger went to live with his aunt and uncle in Erick, Oklahoma, a small farming community. Leaving school at the end of the eighth grade, Miller worked as a ranch hand and as a rodeo rider. During these years, he taught himself to play guitar, banjo, fiddle, piano, and drums. Leaving Oklahoma to join the Army, Miller was stationed in Korea, where he worked as a jeep driver. Displaying his musical skills on the side, he was soon transferred to the Army's Special Services division, where he became part of a hillbilly band entertaining the troops. His success there encouraged him to pursue a musical career after leaving the Army in 1957.

Miller went to Nashville in 1957, working as a bellhop while he wrote songs on the side. His success in getting established Nashville singers to record his songs was limited, until Ray Price recorded Miller's song "Invitation to the Blues." The song became a hit, and Miller went to work as a songwriter in country singer Faron Young's music company. He wrote a number of hit songs there, including "That's the Way I Feel" for Faron Young, "Half a Mind" for Ernest Tubb, and "Billy Bayou" for Jim Reeves. His success in songwriting renewed Miller's interest in becoming a recording artist himself. He had a hit on the RCA label in 1961 with "You Don't Want My Love" and "When Two Worlds Collide."

Miller took his newfound success as a performer to Hollywood, where he briefly studied acting and became a regular guest on such popular shows as The Jimmy Dean Show and The Merv Griffin Show. In Hollywood, Miller developed a new style that became his hallmark sound. Instead of the straightforward country-pop sound popular in Nashville at the time, Miller developed a rather goofy and humorous persona showcasing novelty songs. In such songs as "Dang Me," a top-ten hit in 1964, Miller sang about a standard country-music theme—a man out honky-tonkin' and drinking his paycheck away while his wife and month-old baby sat at home alone—but did so in a humorous style. The bouncy country beat and Miller's country-scat singing put a brighter tone on this story of a man feeling guilty about his actions, but not enough to do anything about it. "Dang me, dang me," he sang, "they oughta take a rope and hang me." That same year, Miller scored a hit with "Chug-A-Lug," a song about discovering alcohol on a Future Farmers of America/Four-H field trip. Miller's slurred speech and funny noises added to the novelty effect of the song. In 1965, Miller scored his biggest hit in "King of the Road," a light-hearted song about a hobo singer that spent five weeks in the top ten of the country music charts. Miller's most successful year was 1965. Along with "King of the Road," he scored top-ten hits with "Engine, Engine No. 9," "One Dyin' and A-Buryin'," and "Kansas City Star." In 1966 he had a top-ten hit with "England Swings." Miller also enjoyed a brief run on NBC television as the star of his own weekly show in 1966.

After these successes, Miller's career declined. Some of his songs continued to be hits for other artists, including Andy Williams with "In the Summer Time" and Eddy Arnold with "The Last Word in Lonesome is Me." He also had a few hits with songs by other writers, including Bobby Russell's "Little Green Apples" in 1968 and Kris Kristofferson's "Me and Bobby McGee" in 1969. He recorded less often during the 1970s, giving his attention to business concerns such as his "King of the Road" hotel chain. He did, however, write songs for Walt Disney's animated film, Robin Hood, and he had hits with "Open Up Your Heart" and "Tomorrow Night in Baltimore." Miller's last major work was music he wrote for Big River, a 1985 Tony award-winning Broadway musical based on the works of Mark Twain. Miller died in 1992 after a brief battle with throat cancer.

—Timothy Berg

Further Reading:

The Country Music Foundation, editors. Country: The Music and the Musicians. New York, Abbeville Press, 1994.

Malone, Bill C. Country Music U.S.A.: A Fifty Year History. Revised Edition. Austin, American Folklore Society, University of Texas Press, 1985.

Miller, Roger. The Best of Roger Miller: His Greatest Songs. WEARecords, 1991.

Stambler, Irwin, and Grelun Landon. Country Music: The Encyclopedia. New York, St. Martin's Press, 1997.