What can I say? Fifty top tracks from the late Roger Miller spread over two cds; life doesn’t get much better than this.
Best know to many for his 1960s hits “King of The Road”, “England Swings”, “Walkin’ In the Sunshine”, “In The Summertime”, “Kansas City Star” and “You Can’t Roller-Skate In A Buffalo Herd” among others. Some though not the big sellers of those noted above, their entertainment value was every bit as potent, and in many cases even more so! Miller played a huge part in developing country music, from songwriter to recording artist to band member; as he paid his dues. He had already written 150 songs before he broke through as a recording act, and with the people he befriended and worked with his story is one worthy of being told to the world.
Supportive of fellow singer-songwriters; Kris Kristofferson in particular as he was one of the first to recognise his work, hence you have “Me and Bobbie McGhee” (the ink was still wet when Miller recorded it, and was also the first person to have a hit with it), “Darby’s Castle”, “Jody And The Kid” and “Lovin’ Her Was Easier (Than Anything I’ll Ever Do Again)” figure alongside Newbury’s Swiss Cottage Place and his own country classics “Invitation To The Blues”, “When Two Worlds Collide”, “When A House Is Not A Home”, “Husbands And Wives” to go with a couple of gems from Dennis Linde “Where Have All The Average People Gone” and “The Tom Green County Fair” plus his own off the wall songs (“My Uncle Used To Love Me But She Died” and “One Dyin’ And A Buryin’), and in Curly Putman’s “(The Day I Jumped) From Uncle Harvey’s Plane” and John Hadley’s “Rings For Sale” that could just as easily have been one of his.
Miller’s career may not have lasted as long as it should regards reeling in hits, but he did keep relatively busy during his latter days, both writing and working on a musical (Big River) record a duet album with Willie Nelson (that also had Ray Price feature on it) as the likes of Dwight Yoakam, Randy Travis, k.d lang, Ricky Van Shelton, Highway 101 and Brooks & Dunn enjoyed additional chart success with his creations. His death in 1992, aged only 56 was a great loss to music and the world, the fact he was belatedly elected to the Country Music Hall Of Fame three years later in 1995 underlines this.
Maurice Hope