seek other employment." Miller met Ray Price, and became a member of his Cherokee Cowboys. Miller said that as a fireman he saw only two fires, one in a "chicken coop" and another he "slept through," after which the department "suggested that. Jones and Miller collaborated to write "Tall, Tall Trees" and "Happy Child." Īfter marrying and becoming a father, Miller put aside his music career to be a fireman in Amarillo, Texas. Impressed, the executives set up a recording session with Jones in Houston. He then met George Jones, who introduced him to music executives from the Starday Records label who scheduled an audition. Miller found work as a bellhop at Nashville's Andrew Jackson Hotel, and he was soon known as the "singing bellhop." He was finally hired by Minnie Pearl to play the fiddle in her band. Atkins advised him to come back later, when he had more experience. Out of nervousness, Miller played the guitar and sang a song in two different keys. He met with Chet Atkins, who asked to hear him sing, loaning him a guitar since Miller did not own one. On leaving the Army, Miller traveled to Nashville to begin his musical career. "Jethro" Burns, from the musical duo Homer and Jethro, persuaded him to head to Nashville after his discharge. While Miller was stationed in South Carolina, an army sergeant whose brother was Kenneth C. 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. He chose to enlist in the United States Army to avoid jail. At 17, he stole a guitar out of desperation to write songs however, he turned himself in the next day. He began to run away and perform in Oklahoma and Texas. Wooley, Hank Williams, and Bob Wills were the influences that led to Miller's desire to be a singer-songwriter. Wooley taught Miller his first guitar chords and bought him a fiddle. He listened to the Grand Ole Opry and Light Crust Doughboys on a Fort Worth station with his cousin's husband, Sheb Wooley. Miller was a member of the National FFA Organization in high school. One of his earliest compositions went: "There's a picture on the wall. Miller was an introverted child, and would often daydream or compose songs. He received his primary education at a one-room schoolhouse. He would later say he was "dirt poor" and that as late as 1951 the family did not own a telephone. Īs a boy, Miller did farm work, such as picking cotton and plowing. Thus, Miller grew up on a farm outside Erick, Oklahoma, with Elmer and Armelia Miller. Unable to support the family during the Great Depression, Laudene sent her three sons to live with three of Jean's brothers. Jean Miller died from spinal meningitis when Miller was a year old. Roger Miller was born in Fort Worth, Texas, the third son of Jean and Laudene (Holt) Miller. The Roger Miller Museum in his home town of Erick, Oklahoma, is a tribute to Miller. His songs continued to be recorded by other singers, with covers of " Tall, Tall Trees" by Alan Jackson and "Husbands and Wives" by Brooks & Dunn both reached the number one spot on country charts in the 1990s. Miller died from lung cancer in 1992 and was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame three years later. Later in his life, he wrote the music and lyrics for the 1985 Tony-award winning Broadway musical Big River, in which he acted. He also wrote and performed several of the songs for the 1973 Disney animated film Robin Hood. He later began a recording career and reached the peak of his fame in the mid-1960s, continuing to record and tour into the 1990s, charting his final top 20 country hit " Old Friends" with Willie Nelson in 1982. His most recognized tunes included the chart-topping country and pop hits "King of the Road", " Dang Me", and " England Swings", all from the mid-1960s Nashville sound era.Īfter growing up in Oklahoma and serving in the United States Army, Miller began his musical career as a songwriter in the late 1950s, writing such hits as " Billy Bayou" and "Home" for Jim Reeves and " Invitation to the Blues" for Ray Price. (January 2, 1936 – October 25, 1992) was an American singer-songwriter, musician, and actor, best known for his honky-tonk-influenced novelty songs.
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