super groovy delicious bite: the return of roger miller

Roger Miller knuckled down and buckled down to create his signature success with this heartfelt and hilarious hobo honky tonk. Born in Fort Worth, Texas during the depression, Miller's family sent him to live with relatives in Oklahoma. He learned to play guitar and fiddle and, after a tour with the army during the Korean War, moved to Nashville to pursue a career in music. He took a job at the Andrew Jackson Hotel, where he became known as 'the singing bellhop'. Work as a songwriter yielded hits like "Billy Bayou" and "Home" for Jim Reeves and "Invitation to the Blues" for Ray Price.

He signed a recording contract with Decca and then RCA Records, breaking into the country top ten with "When Two Worlds Collide" in 1961. With his marriage failing and his wild behavior, RCA dropped him from their roster, leaving him broke and bewildered. With some positive reaction on late night talk shows, he sought to break into television and signed a deal with up and coming Smash Records to record sixteen songs at $100 a piece in order to finance a move to California. His first single for Smash "Dang Me" became a number one country hit and the follow up "Chug a Lug" went to number three. Both of those appeared on his first album 'Roger and Out', which hit gold in 1964.

As with his first album, 'The Return of Roger Miller' was produced by Jerry Kennedy. The session featured a stripped down quartet of Buddy Harman on drums; Buddy Killen on guitar; Roger Miller on guitar and vocals; and Bob Moore on bass. With the success of lead single "King of the Road", 'The Return of Roger Miller' went to number four on the US Billboard 200 album chart and number two on the US country music album chart.

http://www.rogermiller.com/

"King of the Road" (featuring Buddy Killen and guitarist Thumbs Carlisle on finger snaps) became an international crossover smash, going to number sixteen in Australia; ten in Canada; four on the US pop chart; and number one in the UK, and on the US country and adult contemporary charts. Miller would reveal: "You know, it's funny. One night in a motel in Phoenix, Arizona, I wrote 'Dang Me' in just four minutes. It took me six weeks to write 'King of the Road.' I was driving from Davenport, Iowa, to Chicago, and somewhere along the way I saw a sign on the road which read, Trailers for Sale or Rent,' and for some reason that phrase stuck in my mind. It wasn't until later, in Boise, Idaho, that i really sat down and made something out of it, . . . although I had to induce labor to get it completed. I got stuck after the first verse, so i went out to a Boise store and bought a statuette of a hobo. I sat and stared at it until the rest of the tune came to me."

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.

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.