Weeki Wachee

Marlin and the Mermaids - At Weeki Wachee 

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Roger on Tour

My late friend Kurt Neiburg, former proprietor of Sound Trax Records in Clemson, SC, once told me about seeing Roger Miller live at an outdoor show on Bowman Field there when he he was a teen-ager*. As he described it, Roger was pretty drunk, and played his whole set while sitting precariously balanced on a stool. Thanks to Billboard's Music on Campus special issue (3/19/66; apparently not included in Google Books' Billboard archives) I can now confirm that Kurt attended this show on Monday, March 28, 1966. He would have been 13 at the time (Kurt, not Roger). It seems odd that they would have held an outdoor event like this on a Monday, but that's what he told me, and I'm afraid that follow-up questions aren't an option. I did check to see if I could find any corroborative evidence, but neither the local nor the college paper there are archived online, and I don't feel like traveling 80 miles and back again to check the microfilm for you folks. Sorry.

*Kurt also saw the Electric Prunes at the Anderson (SC) Civic Center, but I have no corroborative evidence to share at this time.

Live From The Admiral

DJ. Filth and Greg Cartwright

Tonight from 10 PM - until:  DJs Greg Cartwright & Dr. Filth spin live on WFMU's Rock 'n' Soul Ichiban.

All the way from Asheville, NC!!

The Asheville Two, live every Saturday night.  Set your Radioshift app.

Suspense

Johnny Brown and the Joy Boys - Suspense

Roger Miller on the Grand Ole Opry, Part One

Roger Miller - "Engine, Engine No.9" and "King of the Road"

     Today's selection comes from the record library of WCON in Cornelia, GA, where it was presumably played once, filed away, and forgotten until a few years ago, when I bought it in a stack of 50 or so Opry episodes at the J&J Flea Market in Athens.
     While neither the record nor the track listing sheet are dated, in his introduction, Bill Monroe says that Roger will have a TV show in the Fall, which dates this to somewhere between January and September 1966. I've never found a lot of information about this syndicated version of the Opry, so I welcome any further data from you folks out there in Radioland.
    Next week, we'll be presenting his segment from a return engagement three weeks later. Stay tuned!

The Higher We Get The More Informal We Are

Do Wacka Do!
Roger Miller hamming it up on TV in 1966.
Complete with genius Thumbs Carlisle sportin' a nifty Batman shirt!!!

(Excuse the picture-less first 10 seconds or so)

Editor's note: see the entire show here!

Batwoman Lucha Libre!!

Tassel Twirler Tuesday!

Who,_Me?

Mr. Fine Wine Live

Our own Mr. Fine Wine has been entertaining patrons every Wednesday night at Botanica Bar in NYC for 16 years!!!  We will be celebrating this Wednesday night with a cavalcade of guest soul spinners.  Stop by in person to raise a glass or listen online on the Ichiban webstream.  Action starts at 10 PM EST and goes all night long.   Follow us on Twitter for an up to the minute account of the DJ schedule.  

Ikettes - Camel Walk

Happy Birthday, Country Charley Pride!

Almost forgot to observe the 74th birthday of veteran Negro League baseball player and Member of the Grand Ole Opry Charley Frank Pride, born this day in 1938 in Sledge, Mississippi.  His late '70s- early '80s "crossover" material didn't do much for me, but if I can forgive Charlie Rich and Dolly for their excesses of the period, I can certainly overlook Charley's. Here's to another 74 years!

Roger Miller - "Husbands and Wives"

So... once more, I got scooped by our Beloved Ringleader, who already posted the song in question while I was busy digitizing some upcoming surprises for you that haven't been heard by the public in 46 years (stay tuned for further details!), but I've still got more to offer on this particular subject: to wit, the document below.

I like this one a lot, but maybe not as much as Debbie. I do recall a conversation with Mr. William Orten Carlton in which he cited this as his favorite Miller lyric. In matters of a musical, Ort is rarely wrong (or succinct!)

Roger Miller - A Man Like Me

Roger Miller - A Man Like Me (2:28)

Here's a stellar Decca honky-tonker that Roger recorded in late 1958, featuring the great Johnny Paycheck on harmony vocals. The rest of the guys on the session were from Nashville's fabled A-team.

Roger Miller - Vocal
Owen Bradley - Leader
Hank Garland - Guitar
Donald Eugene Lytle (Johnny Paycheck) - Guitar, harmony vocals
Jack Evins - Steel guitar
Joe Zinkans - Bass
Buddy Harman - Drums
Tommy Jackson - Fiddle
Floyd Cramer - Piano

This track, the photo above and all the session details were borrowed from Bear Family's excellent A Man Like Me CD that compiles all of Miller's recordings from 1957 - 1960 and features Deke Dickerson's liner notes that provide insight into Miller's many talents.