Dang Me
Encyclopedia
"Dang Me" is a 1964 song by American
country music
artist Roger Miller
, and that year's Grammy Award
winner for Best Country & Western Song. Miller's first major country hit and first Top Ten pop music
hit, it was a novelty song
whose "jazzy instrumental section" helped make it "the quintessential example of Miller's lighthearted humor, which brought him many more hits".
subsidiary Smash Records
, Miller gathered on January 10-11, 1964, with music producer Jerry Kennedy
, music arranger Bill Justis
, and session musicians Ray Edenton and Harold Bradley
(guitar
s), Hargus "Pig" Robbins (piano
), Bob Moore
(bass
), and Buddy Harman
(drums
) at the Quonset Hut Studio
on Nashville, Tennessee
's Music Row
. On the second day, they recorded "Dang Me," which Miller, in his official biography, recalled as having written in four minutes in a Phoenix, Arizona
hotel room. Johnny Cash
in his last major interview would claim Miller wrote the song at the Joshua Tree
in California
when Miller got out of the car with pen and paper to go write the song. Cash asked Miller what he was doing to which Miller replied "I'm writing a song. You can't come look."
Kennedy had already started work on many other of that sessions' songs before he eventually brought the recording of "Dang Me" to his home. Upon playing it, he recalled, "My kids came screaming down the stairs when 'Dang Me' came on. They thought that was the greatest thing they'd ever heard. I started playing it over and over and over again...". Kennedy and Mercury Records chose "Dang Me" (copyrighted by Tree Publishing, BMI
) as the first single of the May 1964 LP
Roger and Out
(Smash SRS-67046). The album was shortly retitled and rereleased that year as Dang Me (Smash SRS-67049)
The song spent 25 weeks on the Billboard
country-music chart, reaching number one, and peaked at number seven on the magazine's pop chart. It went on to appear on numerous Miller compilations. On film or tape, Miller performs it, with other songs, in the 1966 concert film
The Big T.N.T. Show
, and as part of a closing-number medley on season three, episode #21, of The Muppet Show
in 1979.
on his 1999 album Folsom Prison Blues, Johnny Rivers
recorded live in 1964 on Here We à Go Go Again!
, and Sammy Davis, Jr.
on the live album That's All (1967).
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
country music
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
artist Roger Miller
Roger Miller
Roger Dean Miller was an American singer, songwriter, musician and actor, best known for his honky tonk-influenced novelty songs...
, and that year's Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
winner for Best Country & Western Song. Miller's first major country hit and first Top Ten pop music
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
hit, it was a novelty song
Novelty song
A novelty song is a comical or nonsensical song, performed principally for its comical effect. Humorous songs, or those containing humorous elements, are not necessarily novelty songs. The term arose in Tin Pan Alley to describe one of the major divisions of popular music. The other two divisions...
whose "jazzy instrumental section" helped make it "the quintessential example of Miller's lighthearted humor, which brought him many more hits".
History
Newly signed with the Mercury RecordsMercury Records
Mercury Records is a record label operating as a standalone company in the UK and as part of the Island Def Jam Motown Music Group in the US; both are subsidiaries of Universal Music Group. There is also a Mercury Records in Australia, which is a local artist and repertoire division of Universal...
subsidiary Smash Records
Smash Records
Smash Records is an American record label. It was founded in 1961 as a subsidiary of Mercury Records by Mercury executive Shelby Singleton and run by Singleton with Charlie Fach. Fach took over after Singleton left Mercury in 1966...
, Miller gathered on January 10-11, 1964, with music producer Jerry Kennedy
Jerry Kennedy
Jerry Glenn Kennedy is an American record producer, songwriter and guitar player.-Early years:Kennedy was born in Shreveport, Louisiana. As a child, he recalls "beating on broomsticks and other things" as his initial forays into music-making...
, music arranger Bill Justis
Bill Justis
William E. "Bill" Justis Jr. was an American pioneer rock and roll musician, composer, and musical arranger, best known for his 1957 Grammy Hall of Fame song, "Raunchy."-Biography:...
, and session musicians Ray Edenton and Harold Bradley
Harold Bradley
Harold Bradley is a pop guitarist and an American country guitarist.Harold played banjo as a child but switched to guitar on the advice of his elder brother, Owen Bradley. Owen arranged for Harold to tour with Ernest Tubb while Harold was still in high school. After graduation, Harold joined the...
(guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
s), Hargus "Pig" Robbins (piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
), Bob Moore
Bob Moore
Bob Loyce Moore is an American session musician, orchestra leader, and bassist who was a member of the legendary Nashville A-Team during the 1950s and 60s.-Biography:...
(bass
Bass (instrument)
Bass describes musical instruments that produce tones in the low-pitched range. They belong to different families of instruments and can cover a wide range of musical roles...
), and Buddy Harman
Buddy Harman
Buddy Harman was an American session musician.-Career:Born in Nashville, Tennessee, he played drums on over 18,000 sessions for artists such as Elvis Presley, Patsy Cline, Dolly Parton, Brenda Lee, Tammy Wynette, Loretta Lynn, Roy Orbison, Connie Francis, Chet Atkins, Marty Robbins, Roger Miller,...
(drums
Drum kit
A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
) at the Quonset Hut Studio
Quonset Hut Studio
The Quonset Hut, also known as Bradley Film & Recording Studios, was the first major recording studio on what would later become known as music row in Nashville, Tennessee.-Origins:...
on Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
's Music Row
Music Row
Music Row is an area just to the southwest of Downtown Nashville, Tennessee that is home to hundreds of businesses related to the country music, gospel music, and Contemporary Christian music industries...
. On the second day, they recorded "Dang Me," which Miller, in his official biography, recalled as having written in four minutes in a Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix is the capital, and largest city, of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the sixth most populated city in the United States. Phoenix is home to 1,445,632 people according to the official 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data...
hotel room. Johnny Cash
Johnny Cash
John R. "Johnny" Cash was an American singer-songwriter, actor, and author, who has been called one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century...
in his last major interview would claim Miller wrote the song at the Joshua Tree
Joshua tree
Yucca brevifolia is a plant species belonging to the genus Yucca. It is tree-like in habit, which is reflected in its common names: Joshua tree, Yucca palm, Tree yucca, and Palm tree yucca....
in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
when Miller got out of the car with pen and paper to go write the song. Cash asked Miller what he was doing to which Miller replied "I'm writing a song. You can't come look."
Kennedy had already started work on many other of that sessions' songs before he eventually brought the recording of "Dang Me" to his home. Upon playing it, he recalled, "My kids came screaming down the stairs when 'Dang Me' came on. They thought that was the greatest thing they'd ever heard. I started playing it over and over and over again...". Kennedy and Mercury Records chose "Dang Me" (copyrighted by Tree Publishing, BMI
Broadcast Music Incorporated
Broadcast Music, Inc. is one of three United States performing rights organizations, along with ASCAP and SESAC. It collects license fees on behalf of songwriters, composers, and music publishers and distributes them as royalties to those members whose works have been performed...
) as the first single of the May 1964 LP
LP album
The LP, or long-playing microgroove record, is a format for phonograph records, an analog sound storage medium. Introduced by Columbia Records in 1948, it was soon adopted as a new standard by the entire record industry...
Roger and Out
Roger and Out
Roger and Out was the debut album of country music singer-songwriter Roger Miller. It was released under the Smash Records label in 1964, and later re-released in 2005 under Vertigo Records, adding the track "Smile of Me." The second release did not chart but the first reached #3 on country album...
(Smash SRS-67046). The album was shortly retitled and rereleased that year as Dang Me (Smash SRS-67049)
The song spent 25 weeks on the Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
country-music chart, reaching number one, and peaked at number seven on the magazine's pop chart. It went on to appear on numerous Miller compilations. On film or tape, Miller performs it, with other songs, in the 1966 concert film
Concert film
A concert movie, or concert film, is a type of documentary film, the subject of which is an extended live performance or concert by a musician ....
The Big T.N.T. Show
The Big T.N.T. Show
The Big T.N.T. Show is a 1966 concert film. Directed by Larry Peerce and distributed by American International Pictures, it includes performances by numerous popular rock and roll and R&B musicians from the United States and England....
, and as part of a closing-number medley on season three, episode #21, of The Muppet Show
The Muppet Show
The Muppet Show is a British television programme produced by American puppeteer Jim Henson and featuring Muppets. After two pilot episodes were produced in 1974 and 1975, the show premiered on 5 September 1976 and five series were produced until 15 March 1981, lasting 120 episodes...
in 1979.
Cover versions
"Dang Me" has appeared on recordings by at least eight other performers as disparate as Johnny CashJohnny Cash
John R. "Johnny" Cash was an American singer-songwriter, actor, and author, who has been called one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century...
on his 1999 album Folsom Prison Blues, Johnny Rivers
Johnny Rivers
Johnny Rivers is an American rock and roll singer, songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. His styles include folk songs, blues, and revivals of old-time rock 'n' roll songs and some original material...
recorded live in 1964 on Here We à Go Go Again!
Here We à Go Go Again!
Here We à Go Go Again! was Johnny Rivers's second official album, and like his first album, At the Whisky à Go Go, it was recorded live at the Whisky a Go Go in Los Angeles, California...
, and Sammy Davis, Jr.
Sammy Davis, Jr.
Samuel George "Sammy" Davis Jr. was an American entertainer and was also known for his impersonations of actors and other celebrities....
on the live album That's All (1967).
Chart performance
| Chart (1964) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles | 1 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 7 |
| Canadian RPM Country Tracks | 3 |
| Canadian RPM Top Singles | 6 |