Posted on 09/16/2006 5:58:25 PM PDT by Nita Nupress
Roger loved little gadgets, little mechanical things.... locomotives, steamboats, things of that nature. We were in Australia one time and he had a steam engine that he bought in Sydney that was on a flad board. He had taken it up to his hotel suite. I walked in and he was playing with it. (p. 125)
Artist/Band: Miller Roger
Lyrics for Song: King Of The Road
Lyrics for Album: All Time Greatest Hits
Trailer for sale or rent
Rooms to let...fifty cents.
No phone, no pool, no pets
I ain't got no cigarettes
Ah, but..two hours of pushin' broom
Buys an eight by twelve four-bit room
I'm a man of means by no means
King of the road.
Third boxcar, midnight train
Destination...Bangor, Maine.
Old worn out clothes and shoes,
I don't pay no union dues,
I smoke old stogies I have found
Short, but not too big around
I'm a man of means by no means
King of the road.
I know every engineer on every train
All of their children, and all of their names
And every handout in every town
And every lock that ain't locked
When no one's around.
I sing,
Trailers for sale or rent
Rooms to let, fifty cents
No phone, no pool, no pets
I ain't got no cigarettes
Ah, but, two hours of pushin' broom
Buys an eight by twelve four-bit room
I'm a man of means by no means
King of the road.
"If I Can't..." is actually a super short song, like 60 seconds long. Roger did it on TNN in the late 80s or so.
Here's the lyrics taken from the ultimate song resource from Australia - www.rogermillermusic.com - that's the website to check out that you asked about.
Lyrics:
Oh the ways of love are hard enough, to understand as it is
Without you going out on me, and hurtin’ me like this
While other folks are makin’ love, we’re just makin’ do
If you won’t be my number one, number two on you
Well, if you won’t be my number one, number two on you
Out the back door down the path, you old two-timer you
Well who says you go run and play, while I go boo hoo hoo
If you won’t be my number one, number two on you
Oh there ain’t a claw in all the world, enough to scratch your itch
If lonely hours and whisky sours were gold, then I’d be rich
Well who says you hang out till one, while I stay up till two
If you won’t be my number one, number two on you
Well, if you won’t be my number one, number two on you
Out the back door down the path, you old two-timer you
While other folks are makin’ love, we’re just makin’ do
If you won’t be my number one, number two on you
My husband's grandpa was Bob Will's poker buddy.
One of my all time favorites...
"Here come them boys, Eldon and Leon (Or Tiny and Jimmy)! Haaaahhh!!"
I wish by golly I could spread my wings and fly
And let my grounded soul be free for just a little while
To be like eagles when they ride upon the wind
And taste the sweetest taste of freedom for my soul
CHORUS:
Then I'd be free at last, free at last
Great God Almighty I'd be free at last
To let my feelings lie where harm can not come by
And hurt this always hurtin' heart
That needs to rest awhile
I wish by golly I could spread my wings and fly
And taste the sweetest taste of freedom for my soul
CHORUS:
Then I'd be free at last, free at last
Great God Almighty I'd be free at last
I'd be free at last, free at last
Great God Almighty I'd be free at last
I met Shelley about that same time when I was in radio. She was prettier than all get out, and I still love listening to You're the Reason God Made Oklahoma and Texas State of Mind.
I like these. Don't tell anyone, but you can make a good one with V8 juice...hot and spicy is best.
Ummm...wouldja like to see the shack Corsicana, Texas, shows off as the home of Lefty? LOL--- I'd like to get to the bottom of this!
How do you FIND his '70s material? Ebay? (Clark's site has them all listed in chronological order, for anyone who is interested: http://users.bigpond.net.au/clarks/album.html#album)
And about that "If I Can't..." song on TNN, if that was the late '80s then that tape should be out there somewhere, right? I would give my right arm to hear that! If you ever see it on YouTube, let me know.
And finally, of all those interviews you had to omit because of that copyright balONEY: Did any of them talk more about him getting clean? Do you remember?
King Of The Road (the video)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3fsMCxE1Zc
I've never seen it. But you can bet I'll look for it the next time I'm headed that way!
I suspect that people will be playing Jimmy Buffett in fifty years, but they won't be playing "Margaritaville." Instead, they'll be playing "Death of an Unpopular Poet" and "He Went to Paris."
Great memories......
Here's a playlist with some more Roger Miller:
http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=ED9361BF19D622B2
And a playlist of Lyle's interviews, for anyone who missed it:
http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=82F833F135D14317
I found the rare 70s stuff from hunting in record shops for a few years (before ebay really hit). But yes, now ebay is your best bet for finding the rare material.
"#2 on you" is on the video tape "Roger Miller Remembered" - that was the TNN special that actually hooked me into his world. It's available on ebay, in fact, I think that guy is selling my copy of the show that I gave him in trade for a Johnny Cash Show.
Keep your right arm for now. Give me some time and I can see if I can get you a copy of some of that stuff. I only have one VCR that doesn't work too great, I have to start backing up my collection. Things like that should really be on You Tube instead of a bootlegger making cash of those items but my manager (nor myself) want to post it on You Tube because it wouldn't be legal and I don't want to upset any big name publishing house, whose name happens to be splattered on my TVs and electronics around my house.
The cut interviews...
Here's a part of the interview I did with Billy Walker, who died earlier this year in a tragic vehicle accident:
Billy: Well, I got real serious with Roger one time and I tried to talk him into leaving them pills alone. Cause I could see what they was doing to him.
Lyle: What was his response to that?
Billy: Well, he agreed with me, but that was about all.
- From what I recall no one really talked about him getting clean other than Gary Mule Deer, Waylon and Roy Clark (from the top of my head anyway). Most which was kept in the book. And from what I can tell, Roger's version of getting clean was just switching to something that no one told him was really bad for him (yet). As did many at that time, it was a topic of conversation between them, I imagine.
It's my belief, PRIDE, is the big cause in the decline
In the number of Husbands and Wifes.
Oh, now, that would be really cool about the video. Every since I read where you discovered Roger Miller on that '98 tv special, I've wanted to see it. I looked on Ebay for awhile but I've been burned there before. Let's just say it's not a safe place for me to shop (because I don't know what I'm doing!)
Thanks for that omitted interview. And also for the 3 names to go read again. I remembered the Waylon conversation but not the other two.
Okay, I have ONE more question for this evening. Well, two actually.
1. Do you have the entire manuscript in a Word doc or something that has a word count function? Probably not... it would be too big. HOWEVER,...
2. If you do, has anyone ever done a word count for the word "genius" and/or "creative/creativity?" I'm just dying to know. If you've done it, don't tell me; let me guess first!
You saw it? I'm so jealous. That was March of '98. I was probably distracted by what was going on with bill clinton about that time. January '98 was when Matt Drudge broke the Monica story.
But I've READ about it!
Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN)
March 9, 1998, Metro Edition
He was king of the country road
Noel Holston; Staff Writer
Very few country songwriters penned more hits than Roger Miller. Hank Williams and Willie Nelson come to mind, and that's about it. And for a match for Miller's sense of humor, you have to look farther afield, to lyricists such as Cole Porter and Randy Newman.
(snip - stuff about KOTR and Dang Me)
How in the world did a song so bleak and ironically remorseless ever get so high on the country charts, let alone cross over to the pop Top 40? Probably because it was sung with such rollicking mischief that the character's insincerity sailed right past most listeners.
(snip - blah, blah, blah)
Tuesday night he gets a sweet and deserved salute in "Roger Miller Remembered," a two-hour Nashville Network special. The guest lineup itself is a fair indication of what the country-music community thought of him: Nelson, Kris Kristofferson, Reba McEntire, Trisha Yearwood, Kathy Mattea, Lyle Lovett, Clint Black, Kenny Rogers, Dwight Yoakam, the Mavericks. So is the fact that they did the show for union scale.
Miller's son Dean, who made an acclaimed debut as a recording artist last year, said he would have been surprised only if the big names hadn't shown up. "I've always known my dad had a broad, far-reaching influence," he said by phone from Nashville. "I've never met anybody who didn't like him. He never acted like a big star. He was nice to people."
Dean's rendition of "Toy Trains," a charming Christmas song his dad wrote for him years ago, is one of 20 Miller originals performed in the TNN special. "I never do my dad's songs live," he said. "I think it's a mistake to try to imitate him. But for this special, I felt like it was a unique enough situation that I should sing a song of his, and I thought that would be the most appropriate one."
Other highlights include Nelson's performance of "When Two Worlds Collide" (a hit for Miller in 1961, Jim Reeves in 1969 and again for Jerry Lee Lewis in 1980); Lovett's game, grinning go at the tricky "My Uncle Used to Love Me But She Died," and the Mavericks' loping rendition of "Invitation to the Blues," featuring an encore verse by Ray Price, for whom it was a big hit in 1958.
Mask of humor
Between songs, there are clips of Miller performing on various TV shows, and reminiscences by family, friends and associates. Only one anecdote - the producer of "Big River" recalling how he had to lock Miller in his hotel room to get him to finish the delinquent libretto - hints of a darker side to Miller's personality.
"I'm not sure how many people knew that Roger," Kenny Rogers said by phone from his ranch in Georgia. "I think Roger's humor was his security blanket, and he used it so beautifully that whatever troubles he had, I don't think many of us were allowed in on."
What Rogers did see was a guy for whom amusing observations seemed as natural as breathing. "His mind worked in such strange ways," he said. "He told me once that he could tell he was gettin' older because he could still jump as high, he just couldn't stay up as long."
Mavericks bassist Robert Reynolds, who was 2 when "Dang Me" and "Chug-a-Lug" were huge crossover hits in 1964, represents another faction of Miller fans - those who literally grew up on his music.
"They seemed like funny little songs to me then," Reynolds said by phone from Nashville. "But now, as I've gotten older, I understand him a lot better and respect him wildly. There's this facade that's for children, but underneath there's all this adult content.
"It's deceiving stuff, because it comes off light and comedic, but his brilliance as a poet is still in there."
Reynolds said his delight in Miller's work "goes so far that, on the road when we're traveling, occasionally I'll bring out the Disney animated 'Robin Hood.' Roger's narration and the songs are real warming.
"No matter how glamorous the music business may seem, it's really not," he said. "Sometimes, you don't want to think about bills and taxes and things. It's almost like you want your mom there to fix you a grilled.
(snip)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.