Posted on 09/16/2006 5:58:25 PM PDT by Nita Nupress
Seriously, though. You would like this book regardless. Even without Ozzie in it.
My teen years were great. My mom was trying to get into country music, so Dad booked shows for which their band would open - Red Sovine when his "Teddy Bear" song was out, Dottie West "Country Sunshine", Tommy Overstreet "That's Where My Woman Begins", and others. We had a lot of fun. That was in Wisconsin. Mom & Dad now live in Branson, but never did make it big in country music. They decided at one point the cost to the family was too high.
If you'll private mail me & tell me your nearest library, I'll send them one today, or maybe tomorrow. All I need is a name; I can find their address.
You HAVE to read this book.
You may be interested in this.
Thanks Nita for the terrific review.
"Chug-a-lug, Chug-a-lug...Makes me wanna holler hidee-ho..."
I swiped my Mom's Roger Miller CD last year, after hearing that song.
You can find other reviews at Amaon (but if you get it from the author's website, you'll get a signed copy)
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/customer-reviews/1894283600/ref=cm_cr_dp_2_1/104-7802692-4507139?ie=UTF8&customer-reviews.sort%5Fby=-SubmissionDate&n=283155
If anyone leaves a question for the author on this thread, ping me back & I'll try to make sure he sees it.
LOL! I'm telling. Give me her phone number right now.
I have a son who swiped 2 of my best Waylon CDs, one from each 2-CD set.
He still denies it. I don't believe him.
I should drive to Austin one night and steal them back. I would if I knew I wouldn't get shot. Stealing Waylon music is a shooting offense down here.
"But officer, I know I'm just his neighbor, but she was stealing his Waylon! She needed killing!
Thanks, And you're welcome!
I have a question, though. How did you get Merle Haggard for your first interview? Why didn't you start with one of the "lesser-known" friends?
And more importantly, how did you talk him into it? For everyone after him, you could mention "Merle Haggard" in the message to open a few doors. But how did you get that first one?
First off a huge THANK YOU to Nita for taking the time to do this review. It's so appreciated and nice to know that there are other Roger Miller fans out there that know that this man was one of the most interesting characters in the history of entertainment. I'm amazed that more people don't know it, there should be TV specials about Roger, movies and tons of forums on this amazing character.
My wife and I were chatting about it this morning that even if another book was never sold, the book has touched some people's lives and there is a sense that all those years of work was worth it. As sad as it is to lose so many of the legends I was lucky enough to spend time with, there is a sense of pride that the book captured many stories that would have gone untold for the fans of Roger and the interviews themselves if the book wasn't published.
Regarding the Merle interview, I landed that the same way I got to meet Johnny Cash. I just used the power of seeing it happen in my mind's eye. I read some books on the power of positive thinking and visualization and it works. I think there are 100 examples in this book alone on how the power of visualization can work. Wayne Dyer really helped through his words of wisdom.
What happened was I just moved back to Winnipeg from Vancouver and I saw Merle was playing in Grand Forks, North Dakota. As I did when meeting Saint Johnny Cash, I told my family and a few friends that I was going to meet Merle Haggard this weekend and do my first interview with him for the Roger Miller book. They asked me how I was going to do that and I told them I'd let them know when I got home.
I just saw it in my mind's eye that I was going to meet him and talk to him about my book idea. I didn't "try" to meet him, I think that's people's biggest mistake in making goals happen, they "try" - either you do it or you don't. You have to say to yourself I KNOW I can do this, for some reason if you even say to yourself "I THINK I can do this", there is an overtone of failure built into that.
Anyway, I went to the concert, spoke to the merchandise people, asked who the road manager was, introduced myself to him, told him about my book (not concept, just the book I was working on). Luckily, he didn't ask "who else you talked to". He introduced me to Merle, Merle was great, he said absolutely that he'd talk about his friend Roger. I didn't even know before hand if they were that close, so I was lucky that they liked each (if the book was on Waylon, I don't think Merle would have spoke to me). Afterwards, Merle gave me his phone number and said to keep in touch, which I did a little but I felt like he was just being nice so I haven't spoke to him in a while. The thing with celebrities is when they say "keep in touch", you really don't know if they're just being nice.
From there on with the interviews, I used an old sales technique of assumptive selling, I never called someone and asked if it would be possible to do an interview, I'd just asked when would be a good time to meet with them and do an interview. For the most part, it worked.
Having Merle Haggard as the first interview probably convinced me the most that I could interview anyone I set my mind to meet up with. And it helped when I told managers and publicists that I already interview Merle. I also knew Waylon Jennings a little and his crew from some shows I did so I knew I could meet up with them and a few others I had contact with like Marty Stuart and some of the Branson guys.
The lesser knowns came from me talking with the 'big names' - they'd tell me, you know who you should talk with is.... and I'd track them down.
Thanks for asking!
Lyle
www.doitwithstyle.com
Well, I assuage my guilty conscience by telling myself that I'm introducing his music to a new generation. My 5&3 year olds know every word of England Swings and King of the Road...Although it's a little wierd to hear them singing about smoking Stogies and not having any cigarettes.
This thread has convinced me that I need to read your book. Thanks for dropping by here.
Perhaps my favorite is Kansas City Star. In those days, there was something mysterious about the voice and face that came over airways making the small town on air talent big stars. Roger captured that.
Plus, Roger was just a plain old ham.
Thanks for the comment.
I noticed someone mentioned Jim Ed Brown.
Here's a funny story we had to cut out of the book, from an afterword with Harold Bradley (his interview was actually cut down to a funny story). I had over 500 pages and had to cut it down to 300.
I think this is why Jim Ed Brown didn't have any Roger stories to share with me:
In October, 2002 – I was in Nashville doing more interviews and it turned out there was a celebration of 100 years of the Nashville Musicians Union. I called Mr. Bradley the day of the show and he set me up with front row tickets. He really is a great guy. There’s not too many people in positions like he is that will take time to talk to you no matter who you are and be willing to help out any way he can.
After the star filled concert (Willie Nelson, Kitty Wells, Eddie Arnold, Ray Price, Bobby Bare, George Jones and many more), Keith -----, a buddy of mine from Memphis and I went backstage. I guess this was the first time he was around country music legends so he went around getting some of them to autograph his concert program. He went up to Ray Stevens and said “Mr. Price, could I get your autograph?”. Ray was not impressed and snapped back “So I should sign that Ray PRICE?”. He apologized for the mix-up and then he went straight to Jim Ed Brown and said “Mr. Reeves could you sign my program?”. Jim said “BROWN, it’s Jim Ed Brown, Jim Reeves is dead!”. So I left my friend on his own as I didn’t want to get kicked out of there. He was a little nervous I guess – I told him just to call people by their first name.
Obviously, if you've never encountered red beer, you're located more than fifty miles east of 81. It's a mixture of one part tomato juice to two (or three) parts draft beer -- often with a shot of Tobasco.
I'll be seeing Chickasha next weekend -- heading home for 50th high school reunion.
I think I originally had something in this review about positive thinking. And that concept may be why we admire Roger Miller so much. During certain times in his life, he was the epitome of the "positive thinker."
I said in the review that Roger was "resilient." I'm fascinated by how you can dissect Roger's lyrics, the content of many of his songs, and you begin to see several different 'themes.' (each one of them a study all by themselves). One of those themes that jumped out at me was Roger's ability to "see the good" in things. I think he must have developed that approach to life quite early, out of necessity if nothing else. Why dwell on the negatives? What point does it serve? Look at the good and just go from there. Build on it.
Walking In The Sunshine (1967?):
Walking In the Sunshine, sing a little sunshine song
Put a smile upon your face as if there's nothing wrong
Think about a good time had a long time ago
Think about forgetting about your worries and your woes
Walking In The Sunshine, sing a little sunshine song
La la la la la dee oh,
Whether the weather be rain or snow
Pretending can make it real
A snowy pasture, a green and grassy field
So what exactly does that mean? What's he saying here? You don't know exactly, that's the thing. You think you know, but you can't be sure. When taken by itself, it says nothing. Even after you add his "Can't Go Skating in a Buffalo Herd" song with it's "you can be happy if you've a mind to", you're still not sure if you could go deeper. Heck, words can mean anything. Maybe it was just a sunny day and he couldn't think of anything else to write. Maybe he just likes to roller skate, like George Lindsay said in the book.
This is why your book is so important. Yes, it's funny and it's fun to read, and all these characters are interesting people, but it also gives a new dimension to Roger Miller's entire discography. All these interviews that make up your book, when taken as a cumulative whole, truly serve as a living document. It gives the historian and other researchers an entirely new way to examine both his work and the culture in which he lived.
In your book, Sheb Wooley told how Roger would be out in the fields working with him, and every time a plane would fly over, Roger would get distracted. He would stand there gazing into the sky, daydreaming, and Sheb would have to bring him back down to earth. Sheb also said that after Sheb got his break and became a singer, Roger wanted to be like him; he wanted to be a songwriter/singer. ("He never wanted anything else in life.")
So, yes, Roger was a positive thinker. Otherwise, he never would have become the success he was. And yes, that song up there does have a deeper meaning.
I wouldn't be surprised if he wrote it on the cloudiest day in Nashville's history. ;-)
It's not the full tune, but here's a reminder of the signature song.
http://sg1.allmusic.com/cg/smp.dll?link=5kmmb4fwi7l668wjh6mbre7&z=MP3&r=20.asx
Good points, never thought of that. Maybe those lyrics hit people subconsciously, possibly it was hidden messages in Roger lyrics that actually helped make this book a reality. Makes me wish I asked a few more questions to some of the guys I met up with. I think every week I kick myself because I think of something else I should have asked them when I had the chance.
Merle Kilgore said he liked hanging out with Roger because he was a positive kind of guy, he told me Roger would say to him "Fu&& being negative" and he'd keep the jokes coming. It's a little ironic because at the same time Roger suffered with depression.
As you know, Roger would at times walk off stage angry half way through a show. Just a thought, wonder if he ever sang "Walking In The Sunshine" during one of those shows?
Also I wanted to mention, you keep saying the words "in your book" - I really don't consider it "my" book. For the most part, it's the interviewee's book. I consider them the true authors because they really provided the content of it, I just put it all together. I was more of a facilitator and 'project manager', I think anyway.
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