King of the Road: The Genius of Roger Miller

by

Roger Miller

Edit

Using the word genius to describe Roger Miller somehow seems to fall short. One listen through this box set will perfectly illustrate that. Even the casual Roger Miller fan will find this box set worth every penny.

The main problem with the current in-print catalog of Roger's songs is that the majority (okay, nearly ALL) of the releases are "best-ofs" and "greatest hits" than only offer 10-15 tracks...or 20, at best. Considering the brevity of most of Roger's songs (most are around the 2-minute mark), you're looking at CDs that clock in at 20-40 minutes. While the music is undoubtably great, these discs are underselling Roger's other works. Shockingly, none of Roger's original Smash albums are available in their entirety anymore. They may be some of the last great country albums not to be reissued in the CD age.

This box set does a great job of compiling all of the key points of Roger's career, from the mid 50s country sessions to the early 60s RCA sessions, to the famous Smash years, and beyond. Most of the essential tracks are here, and as such, it's the only in-print release that even comes close to being comprehensive. The Bear Family "King of the Road" single CD is a nice companion that collects the full RCA sessions (his most underrated work, in my opinion). Other than that, there is little on CD that hasn't been covered by this box.

My only beef is that this box doesn't quite take up the room available on the 3 CDs. More great songs from Roger's career could've been squeezed on here. Maybe I'm nitpicking, but when a song like "Every Which-a-Way" is missing, you aren't getting a definitive package. Still, this box is the best thing out there and it comes highly recommended.

If I had my way, there would be a two CD set that collected the first four Smash albums: Dang Me, Return of Roger Miller, Third Time Around, and Words and Music...all remastered and presented in their entire glory. While the key tracks (i.e. the hits) from these albums are on the box set already, several more gems lay within these albums. Surely there is market out there for these originals album to see the light of day once again...

One final note...the box set here contains 4-5 tracks from Roger's 1970 album "A Trip in the Country" where Roger recorded his own versions of the songs he wrote for George Jones, Faron Young, and others in the late 50s and early 60s. This is truly the hidden gem within Roger's discography. Why this entire album isn't available is a mystery. Search for the original vinyl or enjoy the slice available on this box set. It shows just how important of a songwriter Roger was before the public had even heard of him.

My non-inspired opinion is that this box set badly needed a 4th disc so that the following songs could be included.

*INVITATION TO THE BLUES *HEY LITTLE STAR *THINK I'LL PICK UP MY HEART AND GO HOME *THE DAY I JUMPED FROM UNCLE HARVEY'S PLANE *SOUTH *THE TOM GREEN COUNTY FAIR *TOMORROW NIGHT IN BALTIMORE *STEPHEN FOSTER *LOCK, STOCK AND TEARDROPS-(my favorite RM song)

LS&T was recorded at RCA after a stint with STARDAY and before his SMASH recordings as was HEY, LITTLE STAR. LS&T featured the "Talking Steel Guitar" work of Pete Drake and should have been included if for no other reason. The only RCA cuts in this set, to the best of my knowledge, are #'s 8, 9, and 10 from disc 1.

Roger Miller was a phenom! He is the uncrowned "King of Country Songwriting". The last time I saw him on TV, he was explaing why he lived in Santa Fe, New Mexico (so far away from the music recording mecca's of Nashville and Los Angeles). Roger's explanation: "I live in Santa Fe because that's where my house is." I miss Roger Miller!