Artist:Roger MillerSong:King Of The Road
Album:All Time Greatest Hits
Plenty of country music artists crossed over to pop in the 60s. Roger Miller was probably more successful than most because of his use of humour. King Of The Road was his biggest hit and is just one of twenty songs on this excellent comp from Mercury Chronicle. He was born Jan. 2, 1936 in Fort Worth, TX. His father died when Roger was a year old so he was moved to an aunt & uncle's farm in Oklahoma. His cousin's husband was the popular singer Sheb Wooley. He taught Miller to play guitar. Some misadventures landed Miller in The Army in Korea. After his discharge, he moved to Nashville to persue a music career. Things didn't work out and he moved to Amarillo to become a fireman. That didn't work out either and he moved back to Nashville when Ray Price hired him for his band. Finally Miller started having success as a songwriter. Miller signed with Decca Records in 1958 and then moved to RCA. His lack of discipline was causing problems with record company executives and musicians. Miller wanted to go to Hollywood to try acting so he recorded some music for the fledgling Smash label to make some money. But then Dang Me topped the country charts and was a top ten pop hit in 1964. His follow up Do-Wacka-Do reached #15 and then King Of The Road topped the country charts and reached #4 on the pop charts. Apparently Miller wrote the song after seeing a sign reading "Trailers For Sale Or Rent" in Chicago and then an encounter with a hobo in Boise. King Of The Road would be the biggest hit of Miller's career. His final top ten pop hit was Little Green Apples in 1967. He moved to Columbia Records after Smash closed and though he didn't have as much success as a recording artist, his Broadway musical Big River was a huge success and won seven Tony Awards in 1985. Roger Miller died of lung cancer on Oct. 25, 1992 at age 56. He was a lifelong cigarette smoker. His music has been very durable and memorable and I do recommend this All Time Greatest Hits CD. Here's Roger Miller performing King Of The Road 1966.
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