Roger Miller
Encyclopedia
Roger Dean Miller was an American singer, songwriter, musician and actor, best known for his honky tonk
-influenced novelty songs. His most recognized tunes included the chart-topping country
/pop hits "King of the Road
", "Dang Me
" and "England Swings
", all from the mid-1960s Nashville sound
era.
After growing up in Oklahoma
and serving in the United States Army, Miller began his musical career as a songwriter in the late 1950s, penning such hits as "Billy Bayou
" and "Home" for Jim Reeves
and "Invitation to the Blues" for Ray Price
. He later started a recording career and reached the peak of his fame in the late-1960s, but continued to record and tour into the 1990s, charting his final top 20 country hit "Old Friends" with Willie Nelson
in 1982. Later in his life, he wrote the music and lyrics for the 1985 Tony
-award winning Broadway musical Big River
, in which he also acted.
Miller died from lung cancer in 1992, and was posthumously inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame three years later. His songs continued to be recorded by younger artists, with covers of "Tall, Tall Trees
" by Alan Jackson
and "Husbands and Wives
" by Brooks & Dunn
, each reaching the number one spot on country charts in the 1990s. The Roger Miller Museum
in his home town serves as a tribute to Miller.
, the third son of Jean and Laudene (Holt) Miller. Jean Miller died from spinal meningitis when Roger was only a year old. Unable to support the family during the Great Depression
, Laudene sent each of her three sons to live with a different one of Jean's brothers. Thus, Roger grew up on a farm outside Erick, Oklahoma
with Elmer and Armelia Miller.
As a boy, Miller did farm work such as picking cotton
and plowing. He would later say he was "dirt poor" and that as late as 1951 the family did not own a telephone. He received his primary education at a one-room schoolhouse. Miller was an introverted child, and would often daydream or compose songs. One of his earliest compositions went: "There's a picture on the wall. It's the dearest of them all, Mother."
Miller was a member of the National FFA Organization
in high school. He listened to the Grand Ole Opry
and Light Crust Doughboys
on a Fort Worth station with his cousin's husband Sheb Wooley
. Wooley taught Miller his first guitar chords and bought him a fiddle. Wooley, Hank Williams, and Bob Wills
were the influences that led to Miller's desire to become a singer-songwriter. He began to run away and perform in Oklahoma and Texas. When he was 17, he stole a guitar out of desperation to write songs; however, he turned himself in the next day. He chose to enlist in the Army to avoid jail. He later quipped, "My education was Korea, Clash of '52
." Near the end of his military service, while stationed in Atlanta, Georgia, Miller played fiddle in the "Circle A Wranglers," a military musical group started by Faron Young
. While stationed in South Carolina
, an army sergeant whose brother was Kenneth C. Burns
from the musical duo Homer and Jethro
, convinced Miller to head to Nashville after his demobilization.
, who asked to hear Miller, and even loaned him his guitar after learning that he did not own one. Out of nervousness, Miller played the guitar and sang a song in two different keys. Atkins advised him to come back at a later date, after a little more work. Miller remained in Nashville and worked as a bellhop at the Andrew Jackson Hotel, to make ends meet; he soon became known as the "singing bellhop," Meanwhile, he was hired by Minnie Pearl
to play fiddle in her band, and later met up with George Jones
, who introduced him to music executives from the Starday Records label for an audition. The label was impressed with Miller and awarded him with a session in Houston
, accompanied by Jones. Jones and Miller collaborated, writing "Tall, Tall Trees" and "Happy Child."
After getting married and having a child, Miller decided to put his Nashville career on hold and left for Amarillo, Texas
to become a fireman. He did not altogether abandon his musical career; although he worked as a fireman during the day, he spent the nights performing gigs. Miller later recounted that during his career as a fireman, he saw only two fires, a "chicken coop" and another that he "slept through." After the latter, the department "suggested that...[he] seek other employment." Miller met with Ray Price, and was hired as a member of his Cherokee Cowboys. He moved back to Nashville, and penned the song "Invitation to the Blues," which was covered by Rex Allen
and later by Price, for whom it became a number three hit on country charts. Miller signed with Tree Publishing on a salary of $50 a week. He wrote: "Half a Mind" for Ernest Tubb
, "That's the Way I Feel" for Faron Young; and his first number one, "Billy Bayou," which along with "Home" were recorded by Jim Reeves. Miller became one of the biggest songwriters of the 1950s. However, Bill Anderson
would later remark that "Roger was the most talented, and least disciplined person that you could imagine" citing the attempts of Miller's Tree Publishing boss, Buddy Killen
to force him to finish a piece. He was also known to give away lines, inciting many Nashville songwriters to follow him around since "everything he said was a potential song." (Killen)
in 1958. He was paired with singer Donny Little, who would later gain fame under the name Johnny Paycheck
, to perform the Little-penned "A Man Like Me", and later "The Wrong Kind of Girl." Both songs were honky tonk
and did not chart. His second single with the label, featuring the B-side "Jason Fleming," foreshadowed Miller's future style. To make extra money, Miller went on tour and joined Faron Young's band as a drummer, although he had never drummed before. During this period, he signed a record deal with Chet Atkins at RCA Records
, for whom Miller recorded "You Don't Want My Love" (also known as "In the Summertime") in 1960, which marked his first appearance on country charts, peaking at #14. The next year, he would make an even bigger impact, breaking through the top 10 with his single "When Two Worlds Collide," co-written with Bill Anderson. But Miller soon grew tired of writing songs, divorced his wife and began a party lifestyle that earned him the moniker "wild child." He was dropped from his record label and began to pursue other interests.
After numerous appearances on late night comedy shows, Miller decided that he might have a chance to go to Hollywood to be an actor. However, short of money, he signed with the up and coming label Smash Records
, asked the label for $1,600 in cash, in exchange for recording 16 sides. Smash agreed to the proposal, and Miller performed at his first session for the company early in 1964, when he recorded the hits "Dang Me" and "Chug-a-Lug
". Both were released as singles, peaking at #1 and #3 respectively on country charts; both also fared well on the Billboard Hot 100
reaching #7 and #9. The songs transformed Miller's career, although the former was penned by Miller in only four minutes. Later that year, he recorded the #15 hit "Do-Wacka-Do
," and soon after the biggest hit of his career "King of the Road," which topped Country and Adult Contemporary charts while peaking at #4 on the Billboard 100. The song was inspired by a sign in Chicago that read "Trailers for Sale or Rent" and a hobo
happened upon by Miller while at an airport in Boise
, but took months for Miller to write. The song was certified gold in May 1965 after selling a million copies. It won Miller numerous awards, and earned him a royalty check worth $160,000 that summer. Later in the year Miller scored hits with "Engine Engine #9", "Kansas City Star" (a Top Ten country hit
in 1965 about a local television rhinestone cowboy personality
who would rather stay in the safety and security of his success in Kansas City
rather than try to become a bigger star - or risk failure - in Omaha
) and "England Swings
" (an adult contemporary
#1). He began 1966 with the hit "Husbands and Wives."
Miller was given his own TV show on NBC
in September 1966 but it was canceled after 13 weeks in January 1967. During this period Miller recorded songs written by other songwriters. The final hit from his own composition was "Walkin In the Sunshine," which reached #7 and #6 on the country and adult contemporary charts in 1967. Later in the year he scored his final top 10 hit with a cover of Bobby Russell
's "Little Green Apples
." The next year, he was one of the first artists to cover Kris Kristofferson
's "Me and Bobbie McGee," taking the song to #12 on country charts. In 1970, Miller recorded the album A Trip in the Country, made up of honky tonk standards penned by Miller, including "Tall, Tall Trees." Later that year, after Smash Records folded, Miller was signed by Columbia Records
, for whom he released Dear Folks: Sorry I Haven't Written Lately in 1973. Later that year, Miller wrote and performed three songs in the Walt Disney animated feature Robin Hood
as the rooster/minstrel Alan-a-Dale
, including "Whistle-Stop" which was sampled for use in the popular The Hampster Dance
web site. He also provided the voice of Speiltoe, the equine narrator of the Rankin/Bass
holiday special Nestor, The Long-Eared Christmas Donkey
in 1978. Miller collaborated with Willie Nelson to create an album titled Old Friends. The title track was based on a song he had previously penned for his family in Oklahoma. The song, with guest vocals from Ray Price, was the last hit of Miller's career, peaking at #19 on country charts in 1982.
's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Although he had never read the novel, Miller accepted the offer after discovering how the story brought him back to his childhood in rural Oklahoma. It took him a year and a half to write the opening but he eventually finished. The work, entitled Big River premiered at Eugene O'Neill Theatre
in New York on April 25, 1985. The musical received glowing reviews, earning seven Tony Awards including "Best Score" for Miller. He also acted the part of Huck Finn's father Pap for three months after the exit of actor John Goodman
, who left for Hollywood.
Miller left for Santa Fe
to live with his family following the success of Big River. He co-wrote Dwight Yoakam
's hit "It Only Hurts When I Cry
" from his 1990 album If There Was a Way
, and supplied background vocals. The song was released as a single in 1991, peaking at #7 on country charts. He began a solo guitar tour in 1990, which he ended the following year after being diagnosed with lung cancer. His last performance on television occurred during a special tribute to Minnie Pearl that aired on TNN
on October 26, 1992, the day after Miller's death.
or vocalese
riffs filled with nonsense syllables. Others were sincere ballads, which also caught the public's fancy, none more so than his signature song, "King of the Road." The biographical book Ain't Got No Cigarettes described Miller as an "uncategorizable talent", and stated that many regarded him as a genius.
On his own personal style, Miller remarked that he "tried to do" things like other artists but that it "always came out different" so he got "frustrated" until realizing "I'm the only one that knows what I'm thinking." He commented that the favorite song that he wrote was "You Can't Rollerskate in a Buffalo Herd." Johnny Cash
discussed Miller's bass vocal range in his 1997 autobiography
. He commented that it was the closest to his own that he had heard.
, who like his father, went on to become a singer-songwriter. The Christmas song, "Old Toy Trains" was written by Miller about his son, who was only two years old when it was released in 1967. After divorcing Leah, Miller married Mary Arnold, whom he had met through Kenny Rogers
. Arnold was a member of The First Edition
a band that included Rogers. They adopted two children: Taylor and Adam. After The First Edition, she subsequently performed with Miller on tours, including a White House performance for President Gerald Ford
. In 2009 she was inducted into the Iowa Rock'n Roll Hall of Fame, Arnold currently manages Roger Miller's estate. She sued Sony
for copyright infringement in the 2007 case Roger Miller Music, Inc. v. Sony/ATV Publishing, LLC, which went to the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
. Arnold was ultimately awarded nearly $1 million in royalties and rights to the songs Miller wrote in 1964.
Miller was a lifelong cigarette smoker. During a television interview Miller once explained that he composed his songs from "bits and pieces" of ideas he wrote on scraps of paper. When asked what he did with the unused bits and pieces, he half-joked, "I smoke 'em!" Miller died of lung and throat cancer in 1992, at the age of 56 shortly after the discovery of a growth under his vocal cords.
Recorded and released by other artists
s, Roger Miller won Broadway's Tony award
for writing the music and lyrics for Big River, which won a total of 7 Tonys including best musical in 1985. He was voted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame
in 1973 and the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1995. Miller's 11 Grammy Awards held the record as the most won by any artist until Michael Jackson
's 1982 album Thriller
. In Erick, Oklahoma where he grew up, a thoroughfare was renamed "Roger Miller Boulevard" and a museum dedicated to Miller was built on the road in 2004.
Below is a list of awards won by Miller:
Honky tonk
A honky-tonk is a type of bar that provides musical entertainment to its patrons...
-influenced novelty songs. His most recognized tunes included the chart-topping country
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...
/pop hits "King of the Road
King of the Road (song)
"King of the Road" is a 1964 song written and originally recorded by country singer Roger Miller.The lyrics tell of a hobo who despite being poor revels in his freedom, describing himself humorously as the "king of the road"...
", "Dang Me
Dang Me
"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...
" and "England Swings
England Swings
"England Swings " is a 1965 country music song written and performed by Roger Miller. The single was Miller's eleventh hit on the US country chart where it peaked at number three. On the Billboard Hot 100, it peaked at number eight and was Miller's second number one on the Easy Listening chart...
", all from the mid-1960s Nashville sound
Nashville sound
The Nashville sound originated during the late 1950s as a sub-genre of American country music, replacing the chart dominance of honky tonk music which was most popular in the 1940s and 1950s...
era.
After growing up in Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
and serving in the United States Army, Miller began his musical career as a songwriter in the late 1950s, penning such hits as "Billy Bayou
Billy Bayou
"Billy Bayou" is a 1958 single by Jim Reeves. Billy Bayou spent a total of twenty-five weeks on the country chart and became Jim Reeves fourth release to reach number one, where it stayed for five weeks. There is a song on the B-side of "Billy Bayou" titled "I'd Like to Be", which peaked at number...
" and "Home" for Jim Reeves
Jim Reeves
James Travis Reeves , better known as Jim Reeves, was an American country and popular music singer-songwriter. With records charting from the 1950s to the 1980s, he became well-known for being a practitioner of the Nashville sound...
and "Invitation to the Blues" for Ray Price
Ray Price (musician)
Ray Price is an American country music singer, songwriter and guitarist. His wide-ranging baritone has often been praised as among the best male voices of country music...
. He later started a recording career and reached the peak of his fame in the late-1960s, but continued to record and tour into the 1990s, charting his final top 20 country hit "Old Friends" with Willie Nelson
Willie Nelson
Willie Hugh Nelson is an American country music singer-songwriter, as well as an author, poet, actor, and activist. The critical success of the album Shotgun Willie , combined with the critical and commercial success of Red Headed Stranger and Stardust , made Nelson one of the most recognized...
in 1982. Later in his life, he wrote the music and lyrics for the 1985 Tony
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
-award winning Broadway musical Big River
Big River (musical)
Big River: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a musical with a book by William Hauptman and music and lyrics by Roger Miller.Based on Mark Twain's classic 1884 novel, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, it features music in the bluegrass and country styles in keeping with the setting of the novel...
, in which he also acted.
Miller died from lung cancer in 1992, and was posthumously inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame three years later. His songs continued to be recorded by younger artists, with covers of "Tall, Tall Trees
Tall, Tall Trees
"Tall, Tall Trees" is the title of a song co-written by American singers George Jones and Roger Miller. Both singers recorded their own versions: Jones on his 1958 album Long Live King George, and Miller on his 1970 cover album A Trip in the Country....
" by Alan Jackson
Alan Jackson
Alan Eugene Jackson is an American country music singer, known for blending traditional honky tonk and mainstream country sounds and penning many of his own hits. He has recorded 13 studio albums, 3 Greatest Hits albums, 2 Holiday albums, 1 Gospel album and several compilations, all on the Arista...
and "Husbands and Wives
Husbands and Wives (song)
Country music duo Brooks & Dunn covered the song on their 1998 album If You See Her. Featuring lead vocals from Ronnie Dunn, their version was the album's third single, reaching the top of the country singles charts in December 1998. It was also a Top 40 pop hit, peaking at #36 on the Billboard Hot...
" by Brooks & Dunn
Brooks & Dunn
Brooks & Dunn was an American country music duo consisting of Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn, who were both vocalists and songwriters. They were paired by record producer Tim DuBois in 1990. Before the duo's foundation, both members of the duo were solo recording artists...
, each reaching the number one spot on country charts in the 1990s. The Roger Miller Museum
Roger Miller Museum
The Roger Miller Museum is a museum dedicated to the life and career of entertainer Roger Miller. It is located on historic U.S. Route 66 in downtown Erick, Oklahoma, Miller's home town. On display are many artifacts of Miller's career including musical instruments, rare photos and Miller's stage...
in his home town serves as a tribute to Miller.
Early life
Roger Miller was born in Fort Worth, TexasFort Worth, Texas
Fort Worth is the 16th-largest city in the United States of America and the fifth-largest city in the state of Texas. Located in North Central Texas, just southeast of the Texas Panhandle, the city is a cultural gateway into the American West and covers nearly in Tarrant, Parker, Denton, and...
, the third son of Jean and Laudene (Holt) Miller. Jean Miller died from spinal meningitis when Roger was only a year old. Unable to support the family during the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
, Laudene sent each of her three sons to live with a different one of Jean's brothers. Thus, Roger grew up on a farm outside Erick, Oklahoma
Erick, Oklahoma
Erick is a city in Beckham County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 1,052 at the 2010 census.-Geography:Erick is located at , elevation 2,060 feet ....
with Elmer and Armelia Miller.
As a boy, Miller did farm work such as picking cotton
Cotton
Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective capsule, around the seeds of cotton plants of the genus Gossypium. The fiber is almost pure cellulose. The botanical purpose of cotton fiber is to aid in seed dispersal....
and plowing. He would later say he was "dirt poor" and that as late as 1951 the family did not own a telephone. He received his primary education at a one-room schoolhouse. Miller was an introverted child, and would often daydream or compose songs. One of his earliest compositions went: "There's a picture on the wall. It's the dearest of them all, Mother."
Miller was a member of the National FFA Organization
National FFA Organization
The National FFA Organization is an American youth organization known as a Career and Technical Student Organization, based on middle and high school classes that promote and support agricultural education...
in high school. He listened to the Grand Ole Opry
Grand Ole Opry
The Grand Ole Opry is a weekly country music stage concert in Nashville, Tennessee, that has presented the biggest stars of that genre since 1925. It is also among the longest-running broadcasts in history since its beginnings as a one-hour radio "barn dance" on WSM-AM...
and Light Crust Doughboys
Light Crust Doughboys
The Light Crust Doughboys is a quintessential American Western swing band from Texas organized in 1931 by the Burrus Mill and Elevator Company in Saginaw, Texas. The band achieved its peak popularity in the few years leading up to World War II...
on a Fort Worth station with his cousin's husband Sheb Wooley
Sheb Wooley
Shelby F. "Sheb" Wooley was a character actor and singer, best known for his 1958 novelty song "Purple People Eater"...
. Wooley taught Miller his first guitar chords and bought him a fiddle. Wooley, Hank Williams, and Bob Wills
Bob Wills
James Robert Wills , better known as Bob Wills, was an American Western Swing musician, songwriter, and bandleader, considered by music authorities as the co-founder of Western Swing and universally known as the pioneering King of Western Swing.Bob Wills' name will forever be associated with...
were the influences that led to Miller's desire to become a singer-songwriter. He began to run away and perform in Oklahoma and Texas. When he was 17, he stole a guitar out of desperation to write songs; however, he turned himself in the next day. He chose to enlist in the Army to avoid jail. He later quipped, "My education was Korea, Clash of '52
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
." Near the end of his military service, while stationed in Atlanta, Georgia, Miller played fiddle in the "Circle A Wranglers," a military musical group started by Faron Young
Faron Young
Faron Young was an American country music singer and songwriter from the early 1950s into the mid-1980s and one of its most successful and colorful stars...
. While stationed in South Carolina
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
, an army sergeant whose brother was Kenneth C. Burns
Kenneth C. Burns
Kenneth C. Burns was an American country musician, comedian, and mandolin player. He was better known by his stage name Jethro from his years with Henry D. Haynes as part of the comedic musical duo Homer and Jethro beginning in 1936.-Biography:Burns was born Conasauga, Tennessee on March 10, 1920...
from the musical duo Homer and Jethro
Homer and Jethro
Homer and Jethro were the stage names of American country music duo Henry D. Haynes and Kenneth C. Burns , popular from the 1940s through the 1960s on radio and television for their satirical versions of popular songs...
, convinced Miller to head to Nashville after his demobilization.
Nashville songwriter
After his discharge, Miller traveled to Nashville to begin his musical career. Once there, he met with Chet AtkinsChet Atkins
Chester Burton Atkins , known as Chet Atkins, was an American guitarist and record producer who, along with Owen Bradley, created the smoother country music style known as the Nashville sound, which expanded country's appeal to adult pop music fans as well.Atkins's picking style, inspired by Merle...
, who asked to hear Miller, and even loaned him his guitar after learning that he did not own one. Out of nervousness, Miller played the guitar and sang a song in two different keys. Atkins advised him to come back at a later date, after a little more work. Miller remained in Nashville and worked as a bellhop at the Andrew Jackson Hotel, to make ends meet; he soon became known as the "singing bellhop," Meanwhile, he was hired by Minnie Pearl
Minnie Pearl
Sarah Ophelia Colley Cannon , known professionally as Minnie Pearl, was an American country comedienne who appeared at the Grand Ole Opry for more than 50 years and on the television show Hee Haw from 1969 to 1991.-Early life:Sarah Colley was born in Centerville, in Hickman County, Tennessee,...
to play fiddle in her band, and later met up with George Jones
George Jones
George Glenn Jones is an American country music singer known for his long list of hit records, his distinctive voice and phrasing, and his marriage to Tammy Wynette....
, who introduced him to music executives from the Starday Records label for an audition. The label was impressed with Miller and awarded him with a session in Houston
Houston, Texas
Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...
, accompanied by Jones. Jones and Miller collaborated, writing "Tall, Tall Trees" and "Happy Child."
After getting married and having a child, Miller decided to put his Nashville career on hold and left for Amarillo, Texas
Amarillo, Texas
Amarillo is the 14th-largest city, by population, in the state of Texas, the largest in the Texas Panhandle, and the seat of Potter County. A portion of the city extends into Randall County. The population was 190,695 at the 2010 census...
to become a fireman. He did not altogether abandon his musical career; although he worked as a fireman during the day, he spent the nights performing gigs. Miller later recounted that during his career as a fireman, he saw only two fires, a "chicken coop" and another that he "slept through." After the latter, the department "suggested that...[he] seek other employment." Miller met with Ray Price, and was hired as a member of his Cherokee Cowboys. He moved back to Nashville, and penned the song "Invitation to the Blues," which was covered by Rex Allen
Rex Allen
Rex Elvie Allen was an American film actor, singer and songwriter, known as the Arizona Cowboy, particularly known as the narrator in many Disney nature and Western film productions. For contributions to the recording industry, Allen was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.-Family...
and later by Price, for whom it became a number three hit on country charts. Miller signed with Tree Publishing on a salary of $50 a week. He wrote: "Half a Mind" for Ernest Tubb
Ernest Tubb
Ernest Dale Tubb , nicknamed the Texas Troubadour, was an American singer and songwriter and one of the pioneers of country music. His biggest career hit song, "Walking the Floor Over You" , marked the rise of the honky tonk style of music...
, "That's the Way I Feel" for Faron Young; and his first number one, "Billy Bayou," which along with "Home" were recorded by Jim Reeves. Miller became one of the biggest songwriters of the 1950s. However, Bill Anderson
Bill Anderson (country music)
James William Anderson III , better known as Bill Anderson, is an American country music singer, songwriter and television personality. He has released more than 40 studio albums and has reached No...
would later remark that "Roger was the most talented, and least disciplined person that you could imagine" citing the attempts of Miller's Tree Publishing boss, Buddy Killen
Buddy Killen
William Doyce “Buddy” Killen was a record producer and music publisher, and a former owner of Trinity Broadcasting Network, and the largest country music publishing business, before he sold it in 1989...
to force him to finish a piece. He was also known to give away lines, inciting many Nashville songwriters to follow him around since "everything he said was a potential song." (Killen)
Recording career
Miller signed a recording deal with Decca RecordsDecca Records
Decca Records began as a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; however, owing to World War II, the link with the British company was broken for several decades....
in 1958. He was paired with singer Donny Little, who would later gain fame under the name Johnny Paycheck
Johnny Paycheck
Johnny Paycheck was the legal name of Donald Eugene Lytle , a country music singer and Grand Ole Opry member most famous for recording the David Allan Coe song "Take This Job and Shove It"...
, to perform the Little-penned "A Man Like Me", and later "The Wrong Kind of Girl." Both songs were honky tonk
Honky tonk
A honky-tonk is a type of bar that provides musical entertainment to its patrons...
and did not chart. His second single with the label, featuring the B-side "Jason Fleming," foreshadowed Miller's future style. To make extra money, Miller went on tour and joined Faron Young's band as a drummer, although he had never drummed before. During this period, he signed a record deal with Chet Atkins at RCA Records
RCA Records
RCA Records is one of the flagship labels of Sony Music Entertainment. The RCA initials stand for Radio Corporation of America , which was the parent corporation from 1929 to 1985 and a partner from 1985 to 1986.RCA's Canadian unit is Sony's oldest label...
, for whom Miller recorded "You Don't Want My Love" (also known as "In the Summertime") in 1960, which marked his first appearance on country charts, peaking at #14. The next year, he would make an even bigger impact, breaking through the top 10 with his single "When Two Worlds Collide," co-written with Bill Anderson. But Miller soon grew tired of writing songs, divorced his wife and began a party lifestyle that earned him the moniker "wild child." He was dropped from his record label and began to pursue other interests.
After numerous appearances on late night comedy shows, Miller decided that he might have a chance to go to Hollywood to be an actor. However, short of money, he signed with the up and coming label 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...
, asked the label for $1,600 in cash, in exchange for recording 16 sides. Smash agreed to the proposal, and Miller performed at his first session for the company early in 1964, when he recorded the hits "Dang Me" and "Chug-a-Lug
Chug-a-Lug
"Chug-a-Lug" is the title of a song written and recorded by American country music artist Roger Miller. The song reached #9 on the U.S. charts in 1964, becoming his second pop hit.-Content:...
". Both were released as singles, peaking at #1 and #3 respectively on country charts; both also fared well on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
reaching #7 and #9. The songs transformed Miller's career, although the former was penned by Miller in only four minutes. Later that year, he recorded the #15 hit "Do-Wacka-Do
Do-Wacka-Do
"Do-Wacka-Do" is a song, released in 1965, by American country music artist Roger Miller. The expression "do-wacka-do" is a funny way of saying "do-like-I-do".The song expresses envy in a humorous way...
," and soon after the biggest hit of his career "King of the Road," which topped Country and Adult Contemporary charts while peaking at #4 on the Billboard 100. The song was inspired by a sign in Chicago that read "Trailers for Sale or Rent" and a hobo
Hobo
A hobo is a term which is often applied to a migratory worker or homeless vagabond, often penniless. The term originated in the Western—probably Northwestern—United States during the last decade of the 19th century. Unlike 'tramps', who work only when they are forced to, and 'bums', who do not...
happened upon by Miller while at an airport in Boise
Boise, Idaho
Boise is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Idaho, as well as the county seat of Ada County. Located on the Boise River, it anchors the Boise City-Nampa metropolitan area and is the largest city between Salt Lake City, Utah and Portland, Oregon.As of the 2010 Census Bureau,...
, but took months for Miller to write. The song was certified gold in May 1965 after selling a million copies. It won Miller numerous awards, and earned him a royalty check worth $160,000 that summer. Later in the year Miller scored hits with "Engine Engine #9", "Kansas City Star" (a Top Ten country hit
Hot Country Songs
Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States.This 60-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly mostly by airplay and occasionally commercial sales...
in 1965 about a local television rhinestone cowboy personality
Celebrity
A celebrity, also referred to as a celeb in popular culture, is a person who has a prominent profile and commands a great degree of public fascination and influence in day-to-day media...
who would rather stay in the safety and security of his success in Kansas City
Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...
rather than try to become a bigger star - or risk failure - in Omaha
Omaha
Omaha may refer to:*Omaha , a Native American tribe that currently resides in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Nebraska-Places:United States* Omaha, Nebraska* Omaha, Arkansas* Omaha, Georgia* Omaha, Illinois* Omaha, Texas...
) and "England Swings
England Swings
"England Swings " is a 1965 country music song written and performed by Roger Miller. The single was Miller's eleventh hit on the US country chart where it peaked at number three. On the Billboard Hot 100, it peaked at number eight and was Miller's second number one on the Easy Listening chart...
" (an adult contemporary
Adult contemporary music
Adult contemporary music is a broad style of popular music that ranges from lush 1950s and 1960s vocal music to predominantly ballad-heavy music with varying degrees of rock influence, as well as a radio format that plays such music....
#1). He began 1966 with the hit "Husbands and Wives."
Miller was given his own TV show on NBC
The Roger Miller Show
The Roger Miller Show was an American music variety television show hosted by Roger Miller. The NBC program aired on Monday nights from 8:30–9 p.m. ET from September 12–December 26, 1966. The house band was the Eddie Karam Orchestra....
in September 1966 but it was canceled after 13 weeks in January 1967. During this period Miller recorded songs written by other songwriters. The final hit from his own composition was "Walkin In the Sunshine," which reached #7 and #6 on the country and adult contemporary charts in 1967. Later in the year he scored his final top 10 hit with a cover of Bobby Russell
Bobby Russell
Bobby Russell was an American singer and songwriter. Between 1966 and 1973, he charted five singles on the Hot Country Songs charts, including the crossover pop hit "Saturday Morning Confusion." Russell was also married to singer and actress Vicki Lawrence from 1972 to 1974.-Career:Russell wrote...
's "Little Green Apples
Little Green Apples
"Little Green Apples" is a song written by Bobby Russell which was most successful as a 1968 hit single by O. C. Smith.According to Buzz Cason, who partnered Bobby Russell in the Nashville-based Rising Sons music publishing firm, Russell wrote both the songs "Honey" and "Little Green Apples" as "an...
." The next year, he was one of the first artists to cover Kris Kristofferson
Kris Kristofferson
Kristoffer "Kris" Kristofferson is an American musician, actor, and writer. He is known for hits such as "Me and Bobby McGee", "For the Good Times", "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down", and "Help Me Make It Through the Night"...
's "Me and Bobbie McGee," taking the song to #12 on country charts. In 1970, Miller recorded the album A Trip in the Country, made up of honky tonk standards penned by Miller, including "Tall, Tall Trees." Later that year, after Smash Records folded, Miller was signed by Columbia Records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
, for whom he released Dear Folks: Sorry I Haven't Written Lately in 1973. Later that year, Miller wrote and performed three songs in the Walt Disney animated feature Robin Hood
Robin Hood (1973 film)
Robin Hood is an 1973 American animated film produced by the Walt Disney Productions, first released in the United States on November 8, 1973...
as the rooster/minstrel Alan-a-Dale
Alan-a-Dale
Alan-a-Dale is a figure in the Robin Hood legend...
, including "Whistle-Stop" which was sampled for use in the popular The Hampster Dance
The Hampster Dance
The Hampster Dance or Hampsterdance is one of the earliest examples of an Internet meme. Created by Canadian art student Deidre LaCarte for a Geocities page, the dance features rows of animated hamsters and other rodents dancing in various ways to a sped-up sample from the song "Whistle Stop" by...
web site. He also provided the voice of Speiltoe, the equine narrator of the Rankin/Bass
Rankin/Bass
Rankin/Bass Productions, Inc. , also known as Rankin/Bass Animated Entertainment, was an American production company, known for its seasonal television specials, particularly its work in stop-motion animation. The pre-1974 library is currently owned by Classic Media,while the post-1974 library is...
holiday special Nestor, The Long-Eared Christmas Donkey
Nestor, The Long-Eared Christmas Donkey
Nestor, The Long-Eared Christmas Donkey is a Christmas television special produced in stop motion animation by Rankin-Bass. It was first aired in 1977, and its plot is similar to an earlier Rankin-Bass special, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.- Plot :...
in 1978. Miller collaborated with Willie Nelson to create an album titled Old Friends. The title track was based on a song he had previously penned for his family in Oklahoma. The song, with guest vocals from Ray Price, was the last hit of Miller's career, peaking at #19 on country charts in 1982.
Late career
He continued to record for different record labels and charted a few songs, but stopped writing in 1978, feeling that his more "artistic" works were not being appreciated. He was absent from the entertainment business following the release of Old Friends in 1981, but returned after receiving an offer to write a Broadway score for a new musical based upon Mark TwainMark Twain
Samuel Langhorne Clemens , better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist...
's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Although he had never read the novel, Miller accepted the offer after discovering how the story brought him back to his childhood in rural Oklahoma. It took him a year and a half to write the opening but he eventually finished. The work, entitled Big River premiered at Eugene O'Neill Theatre
Eugene O'Neill Theatre
The Eugene O'Neill Theatre is a Broadway theatre located at 230 West 49th Street in midtown-Manhattan.Designed by architect Herbert J. Krapp, it was built for the Shuberts as part of a theatre-hotel complex named for 19th century tragedian Edwin Forrest...
in New York on April 25, 1985. The musical received glowing reviews, earning seven Tony Awards including "Best Score" for Miller. He also acted the part of Huck Finn's father Pap for three months after the exit of actor John Goodman
John Goodman
John Stephen Goodman is an American film, television, and stage actor. He is best known for his role as Dan Conner on the television series Roseanne for which he won a Best Actor Golden Globe Award in 1993, and for appearances in the films of the Coen brothers, with prominent roles in Raising...
, who left for Hollywood.
Miller left for Santa Fe
Santa Fe, New Mexico
Santa Fe is the capital of the U.S. state of New Mexico. It is the fourth-largest city in the state and is the seat of . Santa Fe had a population of 67,947 in the 2010 census...
to live with his family following the success of Big River. He co-wrote Dwight Yoakam
Dwight Yoakam
Dwight David Yoakam is an American singer-songwriter, actor and film director, most famous for his pioneering country music...
's hit "It Only Hurts When I Cry
It Only Hurts When I Cry
"It Only Hurts When I Cry" is a song co-written by country music artists Dwight Yoakam and Roger Miller, and recorded by Yoakam. It is the fourth single from his 1990 album If There Was a Way. It peaked at #7 in the United States, and at #4 in Canada...
" from his 1990 album If There Was a Way
If There Was a Way
If There Was a Way is the fourth album by Dwight Yoakam. Five of its tracks would rise into the Top 40 of the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart in 1991 and 1992. They were "Turn It On, Turn It Up, Turn Me Loose" at No. 11, "You're the One" at No. 5, "Nothing's Changed Here" at No. 15, "It Only...
, and supplied background vocals. The song was released as a single in 1991, peaking at #7 on country charts. He began a solo guitar tour in 1990, which he ended the following year after being diagnosed with lung cancer. His last performance on television occurred during a special tribute to Minnie Pearl that aired on TNN
The Nashville Network
The Nashville Network, usually referred to as TNN, was an American country music-oriented cable television network. Programming included music videos, taped concerts, movies, syndicated programs, and numerous talk shows...
on October 26, 1992, the day after Miller's death.
Style
Although usually grouped with country music singers, Miller's unique style defies easy classification. Many of his recordings were humorous novelty songs with whimsical lyrics, coupled with scat singingScat singing
In vocal jazz, scat singing is vocal improvisation with wordless vocables, nonsense syllables or without words at all. Scat singing gives singers the ability to sing improvised melodies and rhythms, to create the equivalent of an instrumental solo using their voice.- Structure and syllable choice...
or vocalese
Vocalese
Vocalese is a style or genre of jazz singing wherein lyrics are written for melodies that were originally part of an all-instrumental composition or improvisation. Whereas scat singing uses improvised nonsense syllables, such as "bap ba dee dot bwee dee" in solos, vocalese uses lyrics, either...
riffs filled with nonsense syllables. Others were sincere ballads, which also caught the public's fancy, none more so than his signature song, "King of the Road." The biographical book Ain't Got No Cigarettes described Miller as an "uncategorizable talent", and stated that many regarded him as a genius.
On his own personal style, Miller remarked that he "tried to do" things like other artists but that it "always came out different" so he got "frustrated" until realizing "I'm the only one that knows what I'm thinking." He commented that the favorite song that he wrote was "You Can't Rollerskate in a Buffalo Herd." 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...
discussed Miller's bass vocal range in his 1997 autobiography
Cash: The Autobiography
Cash: The Autobiography is a 1997 autobiography of Johnny Cash, country musician, written twenty years after his first autobiography, Man in Black. Cash co-wrote this book with Patrick Carr. Cash's autobiographies were the basis for the award-winning biopic Walk the Line in 2005....
. He commented that it was the closest to his own that he had heard.
Personal life and death
Miller was married three times, and fathered seven children. Miller's first wife Barbara bore his first child, Michael, who later died. The couple had 3 more children subsequent to Michael's death—Alan, Rhonda and Shari. By the time Shari was born, Miller's career was beginning to blossom into national popularity. The family remained in Inglewood for a short time after Miller found fame. The increasing interest in Miller caused struggles for the performer: he suffered from depression and insomnia and had a drug addiction that contributed to the end of both his first and second marriages; Miller was known to walk off of shows and get into fights. After a divorce with his first wife, he married Leah Kendrick. She gave birth to two children, Shannon and Dean MillerDean Miller
Roger Dean Miller, Jr. is an American country music artist, known professionally as Dean Miller. He is the son of Roger Miller, a country pop artist who had several hit singles between the 1960s and 1980s...
, who like his father, went on to become a singer-songwriter. The Christmas song, "Old Toy Trains" was written by Miller about his son, who was only two years old when it was released in 1967. After divorcing Leah, Miller married Mary Arnold, whom he had met through Kenny Rogers
Kenny Rogers
Kenneth Donald "Kenny" Rogers is an American singer-songwriter, photographer, record producer, actor, and entrepreneur...
. Arnold was a member of The First Edition
The First Edition
The First Edition was a country music/rock band. Its stalwart members being Kenny Rogers , Mickey Jones and Terry Williams...
a band that included Rogers. They adopted two children: Taylor and Adam. After The First Edition, she subsequently performed with Miller on tours, including a White House performance for President Gerald Ford
Gerald Ford
Gerald Rudolph "Jerry" Ford, Jr. was the 38th President of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977, and the 40th Vice President of the United States serving from 1973 to 1974...
. In 2009 she was inducted into the Iowa Rock'n Roll Hall of Fame, Arnold currently manages Roger Miller's estate. She sued Sony
Sony
, commonly referred to as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan and the world's fifth largest media conglomerate measured by revenues....
for copyright infringement in the 2007 case Roger Miller Music, Inc. v. Sony/ATV Publishing, LLC, which went to the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts:* Eastern District of Kentucky* Western District of Kentucky...
. Arnold was ultimately awarded nearly $1 million in royalties and rights to the songs Miller wrote in 1964.
Miller was a lifelong cigarette smoker. During a television interview Miller once explained that he composed his songs from "bits and pieces" of ideas he wrote on scraps of paper. When asked what he did with the unused bits and pieces, he half-joked, "I smoke 'em!" Miller died of lung and throat cancer in 1992, at the age of 56 shortly after the discovery of a growth under his vocal cords.
Main albums
- Roger and OutRoger and OutRoger 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...
(1964) - The Return of Roger MillerThe Return of Roger MillerThe Return of Roger Miller was the second studio album of country music singer-songwriter Roger Miller. It was released under the Smash Records label in 1965...
(1965) - The 3rd Time AroundThe 3rd Time Around-Chart:-Singles:-Personnel:*Ray Edenton – Guitar*Buddy Harman – Drums*Roger Miller – Guitar, Vocals*Bob Moore – Bass...
(1965) - Words and MusicWords and Music (Roger Miller album)Words and Music is the fourth studio album by American country music singer Roger Miller. It was released under the Smash Records label in 1966...
(1966) - Walkin' in the Sunshine (1967)
- A Tender Look at Love (1968)
- Roger Miller (1969)
- Roger Miller Featuring Dang Me! (1969)
- A Trip in the Country (1970)
- Roger Miller 1970 (1970)
- Dear Folks, Sorry I Haven't Written Lately (1973)
- Celebration (1976)
- Painted Poetry (1977)
- Off the Wall (1978)
- Waterhole #3 (1978)
- Making a Name for Myself (1979)
- Old Friends (with Willie NelsonWillie NelsonWillie Hugh Nelson is an American country music singer-songwriter, as well as an author, poet, actor, and activist. The critical success of the album Shotgun Willie , combined with the critical and commercial success of Red Headed Stranger and Stardust , made Nelson one of the most recognized...
) (1982) - The Country Side of Roger Miller (1986)
- Green Green Grass of Home (1994)
#1 singles
Released and recorded by Miller- "Dang MeDang Me"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...
" (1964) - "King of the RoadKing of the Road (song)"King of the Road" is a 1964 song written and originally recorded by country singer Roger Miller.The lyrics tell of a hobo who despite being poor revels in his freedom, describing himself humorously as the "king of the road"...
" (1965) - "England SwingsEngland Swings"England Swings " is a 1965 country music song written and performed by Roger Miller. The single was Miller's eleventh hit on the US country chart where it peaked at number three. On the Billboard Hot 100, it peaked at number eight and was Miller's second number one on the Easy Listening chart...
" (1966)
Recorded and released by other artists
- "Billy BayouBilly Bayou"Billy Bayou" is a 1958 single by Jim Reeves. Billy Bayou spent a total of twenty-five weeks on the country chart and became Jim Reeves fourth release to reach number one, where it stayed for five weeks. There is a song on the B-side of "Billy Bayou" titled "I'd Like to Be", which peaked at number...
" – Jim ReevesJim ReevesJames Travis Reeves , better known as Jim Reeves, was an American country and popular music singer-songwriter. With records charting from the 1950s to the 1980s, he became well-known for being a practitioner of the Nashville sound...
(1958) - "Don't We All Have the RightDon't We All Have the Right"Don't We All Have the Right" is a song written and recorded by Roger Miller in 1970 and featured on his album, Trip in the Country, released as a double A-side with "South." It was later recorded by Ricky Van Shelton...
" – Ricky Van SheltonRicky Van SheltonRicky Van Shelton is a currently retired American country music artist. Active between 1986 and 2006, he has charted more than twenty singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts...
(1988) - "Tall, Tall TreesTall, Tall Trees"Tall, Tall Trees" is the title of a song co-written by American singers George Jones and Roger Miller. Both singers recorded their own versions: Jones on his 1958 album Long Live King George, and Miller on his 1970 cover album A Trip in the Country....
" – Alan JacksonAlan JacksonAlan Eugene Jackson is an American country music singer, known for blending traditional honky tonk and mainstream country sounds and penning many of his own hits. He has recorded 13 studio albums, 3 Greatest Hits albums, 2 Holiday albums, 1 Gospel album and several compilations, all on the Arista...
(1995) - "Husbands and WivesHusbands and Wives (song)Country music duo Brooks & Dunn covered the song on their 1998 album If You See Her. Featuring lead vocals from Ronnie Dunn, their version was the album's third single, reaching the top of the country singles charts in December 1998. It was also a Top 40 pop hit, peaking at #36 on the Billboard Hot...
" – Brooks & DunnBrooks & DunnBrooks & Dunn was an American country music duo consisting of Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn, who were both vocalists and songwriters. They were paired by record producer Tim DuBois in 1990. Before the duo's foundation, both members of the duo were solo recording artists...
(1998)
Awards
In addition to 11 Grammy AwardGrammy 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...
s, Roger Miller won Broadway's Tony award
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
for writing the music and lyrics for Big River, which won a total of 7 Tonys including best musical in 1985. He was voted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame
Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame
The Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame was established by the Nashville Songwriters Foundation, Inc. in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. A non-profit organization, its objective is to honor and preserve the songwriting legacy that is uniquely associated with music community in the city of...
in 1973 and the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1995. Miller's 11 Grammy Awards held the record as the most won by any artist until Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records...
's 1982 album Thriller
Thriller (album)
Thriller is the sixth studio album by American recording artist Michael Jackson. It was released on November 30, 1982, by Epic Records as the follow-up to Jackson's critically and commercially successful 1979 album Off the Wall...
. In Erick, Oklahoma where he grew up, a thoroughfare was renamed "Roger Miller Boulevard" and a museum dedicated to Miller was built on the road in 2004.
Below is a list of awards won by Miller:
- 1964 — Grammy AwardGrammy AwardA 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...
: Best Country Song: "Dang Me" - 1964 — Grammy AwardGrammy AwardA 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...
: Best New Country and Western Artist - 1964 — Grammy AwardGrammy AwardA 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...
: Best Country and Western Recording, Single: "Dang Me" - 1964 — Grammy AwardGrammy AwardA 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...
: Best Country and Western Performance, Male: "Dang Me" - 1964 — Grammy AwardGrammy AwardA 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...
: Best Country and Western Album: "Dang Me"/"Chug-a-Lug" - 1965 — Jukebox Artist of the Year
- 1965 — Grammy AwardGrammy AwardA 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...
: Best Country Song: "King of the Road" - 1965 — Grammy AwardGrammy AwardA 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...
: Best Country Vocal Performance, Male: "King of the Road" - 1965 — Grammy AwardGrammy AwardA 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...
: Best Country and Western Recording, Single: "King of the Road" - 1965 — Grammy AwardGrammy AwardA 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...
: Best Contemporary Vocal Performance, Male: "King of the Road" - 1965 — Grammy AwardGrammy AwardA 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...
: Best Contemporary (Rock 'N Roll), Single: "King of the Road" - 1965 — Grammy AwardGrammy AwardA 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...
: Best Country and Western Album: "The Return of Roger Miller" - 1965 — Academy of Country and Western Music: "Best Songwriter"
- 1965 — Academy of Country and Western Music: "Man of the Year"
- 1973 — Nashville Songwriters Hall of FameNashville Songwriters Hall of FameThe Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame was established by the Nashville Songwriters Foundation, Inc. in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. A non-profit organization, its objective is to honor and preserve the songwriting legacy that is uniquely associated with music community in the city of...
- 1985 — Tony AwardTony AwardThe Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
for Best Score and Drama Desk Award for Outstanding LyricsDrama Desk Award for Outstanding LyricsThe Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lyrics is an annual award presented by the Drama Desk, a committee of New York City theatre critics, writers, and editors...
for Big River - 1988 — Academy of Country Music: Pioneer Award
- 1995 — Country Music Hall of Fame
- 1997 — Grammy Hall of Fame Song : "Dang Me"
- 1998 — Grammy Hall of Fame Song : "King Of The Road"
- 2003 — CMTCMT- Medicine :* California mastitis test* Certified Massage Therapist* Cervical motion tenderness, a sign of pelvic inflammatory disease* Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease* Chemically modified tetracyclines* Circus Movement Tachycardia...
's 40 Greatest Men of Country Music: Ranked #23.
External links
- All Roger Miller Songs Written and Released
- Episode of Quincy ME starring Roger Miller
- Roger Miller Museum in Erick, Oklahoma
- Roger Miller interview on the Pop ChroniclesPop ChroniclesThe Pop Chronicles are two radio documentary series which together "may constitute the most complete audio history of 1940s-60s popular music." Both were produced by John Gilliland.-The Pop Chronicles of the 50s and 60s:...