King Of The Road

Opry Almanac With Roger Miller! (Re-Post)

Opry Almanac on Network Awesome

 Ralph Emery hosted Opry Almanac on WSM-TV in Nashville from 1963 - 1966.  On this particular episode, guests Roger Miller, Charlie Louvin and Thumbs Carlisle had been out partying the night before.  The party is still going on during this early morning appearance on live television.

The band includes:

Jimmie Colvard: Guitar
Thumbs Carlisle: Guitar
Beggie Cruiser (Adair): Piano
Bobby Dyson: Fender Bass
Buddy Rogers & Jerry Allison: Drums 


Jerry Allison from the Crickets also makes a brief appearance on the show.  This may be the only footage in existance of Opry Almanac as most of the master tapes were recorded over or destroyed.  All the live commercials, weather and news are here as well as Thumbs Carlisle being played on stage to the Batman Theme!

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Ain't Got No Cigarettes

By Lyle E Style

Roger at the Nugget - Reno, NV, July 1975

Roses Are Red And Violets Are Purple

Dang Me (mp3)

The Crazy And The Cool

Let's have Ichiban's boys of May 2011 set the stage for you.

Homer & Jethro - Ballad Of Roger Miller (mp3)

March Is Roger Miller Month On Ichiban

Roger Miller is one of my all time heros.  Second only to Rufus Thomas.  Let's get the biggest hit out of the way.

King Of The Road (mp3)

Joe Tex month day 17: Dang Me/Show Me! The Joe Tex/Roger Miller connection

"If I were a silly grin, I'd like to be worn on Roger Miller's face."

-Joe Tex-

Buddy Killen was the Joe Tex/Roger Miller connection. He was lifelong buddies with Miller, brokered several of his record deals, managed his publishing and sat the crazy laughing ADD genius down to complete his songs.

According to "I Love You Drops" singer Bill Anderson, "Roger would come in with seven or six lines of a song. It'd be something fabulous, and Buddy would just have to almost take him and chain him to the table to make him finish."

Killen was also one of the snappers on the giant Miller hit "King of the Road".

Joe Tex covered three different Roger Miller songs throughout his Dial career, and it wasn't just the fact that  Killen helped make them the successful artists they were that made them simpatico. Both singers managed to say deeply profound things in often ridiculous contexts, and conveyed both happiness and humor in their performing style in a way that is absolutely captivating and infectious. And they were both funny as do-wacka-do.

JT covered "King of the Road" on The New Boss, "Half a Mind" on I've Got to Do a Little Bit Better, and "Engine Engine #9" on Soul Country.

And on Hold What You've Got, he wrote his own Roger Miller homage/parody, "Are We Ready?", the last verse of which goes out to Newt Gingrich.

Joe Tex with Buddy (right) and journalist Charles Lamb (center)

And just because it's too long to wait until Roger Miller Month, here's Roger and Johnny Cash.

I just told myself a dirty joke!

For more information on Roger Miller and Buddy Killen, check out the informative bio on the official Roger Miller website.