Customer Reviews

20th Century Masters

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is the best 1 CD collection that I've seen so far from Roger Miller, since my old RM's Greatest Hits album on Smash Records. Its got the funny ones ("Dang Me, Can't Roller Skate in a Buffalo Herd") and the mid tempo swingers ("England Swings, Engine, Engine #9) and my favorite, "One Dying & A Burying." This to me is pure American music, country based, with a good pop sensibility. A great collection of songs that doesn't stay out of rotation very long!

Make no mistake. Roger Miller, born on January 2, 1936 in Fort Worth, Texas was, first and foremost, a Country artist with 42 hits on those charts from 1960 to 1986, and who had the added benefit of seeing 15 of those cross over to the Billboard Pop Hot 100, another four to the Hot 100 "bubble under" charts, and 12 make the Adult Contemporary (AC) charts from 1965 to 1973. Unfortunately, he passed away at age 56 on October 25, 1992 - three years before he was finally honoured by the Country Music Hall of Fame.

This release in the massive 20th Century Masters' The Millenium Collection, which started to flood the market about eight or nine years ago, is, like most in the series, merely a teaser, although they do provide his first ten Hot 100 cross-overs along with one B-side (Atta Boy Girl which backed King Of The Road - # 1 AC for TEN weeks/# 1 Country for FIVE weeks/# 4 Hot 100 in early 1965), and an album cut (In The Summertime from the 1964 Smash LP The Return Of Roger Miller). Better choices, which would have resulted in a boost to 4 stars in my opinion, would have been Walkin' In The Sunshine (# 6 AC/# 7 Country/# 37 Hot 100 in May 1967) and Little Green Apples (# 5 AC/# 6 Country/# 39 Hot 100 in April 1968).

The sound quality is, as usual with this series, very good and, unlike some releases, this one gives you two pages of background notes written by Joseph F. Laredo in a fold-out insert that also features a nice photo of Roger and a partial discography of the contents. The latter does not, however, give you the chart performances of the 10 hits included so I have provided them for your information. In addition to King Of The Road, mentioned above, these are: Dang Me (# 1 Country for SIX weeks/# 7 Hot 100 in summer 1964); Chug-A-Lug (# 3 Country/# 9 Hot 100 in fall 1964); Do-Wacka-Do (# 15 Country/# 31 Hot 100 in December 1964); Engine Engine # 9 (# 2 AC and Country/# 7 Hot 100 in June 1965); One Dyin' And A Buryin' (# 8 AC/# 10 Country/# 34 Hot 100 in August 1965); Kansas City Star (# 3 AC/# 7 Country/# 31 Hot 100 in October 1965); England Swings (# 1 AC/# 3 Country/# 8 Hot 100 in December 1965); Husbands And Wives (# 2 AC/# 5 Country/# 26 Hot 100 in March 1966); and You Can't Roller Skate In A Buffalo Herd (# 17 AC/# 35 Country/# 40 Hot 100 in July 1966).

The late Roger Miller was one of the earliest country artists I enjoyed, back more years than I like to think about. This CD includes all the songs that appeared on my original vinyl of his hits. From the thoughtful ("Husbands and Wives") to the chillingly sad ("One Dyin' and a Buryin'") to Miller's specialty, novelty classics like "Dang Me," "Kansas City Star," and "You Can't Roller Skate in a Buffalo Herd," they're all here. And the remaster captures his unique Fort Worth voice and styling faultlessly. If you plan to buy only one Miller retrospective, this should be it. (And it's reasonably priced, too!)

I found this collection to be very disappointing in that it's 100% mono. One can argue that in some cases, the mono mix sounds more like the original hit song as heard in the mid-1960s, but to me, several of the Roger Miller hits are better in stereo (particularly "England Swings" and "Little Green Apples").

Also, Miller only had 12 Top 40 American hits, but this collection omits two -- "Walkin' in the Sunshine" and "Little Green Apples" -- and replaces them with relatively-minor songs like "Atta Boy Girl" and "In the Summertime."

You gotta wonder who is handling Mercury's reissue department these days. Instead of this collection, my advice is that you find the previous Mercury collections "The Best of Roger Miller - Vol. 1: Country Tunesmith" and "The Best of Roger Miller - Vol. 2: King of the Road," which are far superior. Most of their tracks are in stereo, too.

Roger Miller was one helluva songwriter and thank God he came on the scene in the 60's. With the overblown Nashville Sound, the orchestral interludes and banshee shrill wailing in the background of every pop-country artist of that era, Roger Miller was a breath of fresh air. This is one of the better "Best of..." albums, and I'm a fan of the 20th Century Masters Series of Country Releases. The recordings are clear, original, and will bring a smile to your face. But, like most of the other reviewers, I do believe "Little Green Apples" should've been included. Good album that will bring back many memories.

This is the best 1 CD collection that I've seen so far from Roger Miller, since my old RM's Greatest Hits album on Smash Records. Its got the funny ones ("Dang Me, Can't Roller Skate in a Buffalo Herd") and the mid tempo swingers ("England Swings, Engine, Engine #9) and my favorite, "One Dying & A Burying." This to me is pure American music, country based, with a good pop sensibility. A great collection of songs that doesn't stay out of rotation very long!

I have to say, this CD was part of probably my most eclectic single record-buying purchase ever a few days ago. I picked up Roger Miller's best along with "American Idiot" by Green Day and "The Dock of The Bay" by Otis Redding (both of which I will review seperately next week). I didn't quite know what to expect when I picked this up, but it's been a fun addition to my burgeoning record collection.

Roger Miller first came to fame in the mid-Sixties, when he beat out (among others) the Beatles for a record-breaking eight times at the Grammys. I was aware of "King of The Road" (his most famous hit), but after viewing some various programs on CMT which mentioned his other songs, I became intrigued by the man. What was this song "Chug-a-Lug", anyway? Why had I never heard of it, or "Dang Me" for that matter?

This CD is a perfect introduction to anyone equally curious about the Clown Prince of country music, who was more gifted than may first appear. Starting off with the immortal "King", the collection segues into a selection of Miller's best-known tunes (The aforementioned "Dang Me" and "Chug", along with "England Swingin", "In The Summertime", "Kansas City Star"), all of which serve to highlight his great songwriting and unique (to say the least) vocalizing.

Listening to this collection, you wish more artists in contemporary country did as well, and took Miller's light-hearted approach to heart. In these days of slickly produced generic "country pop" crap that seems aimed at stirring the neanderthalic patriotism of Red State America without offering any of the sin or storytelling of old-school country, Roger Miller is a breathe of fresh air from an earlier time. I highly recommend this as a beginner's disc, like it was for me.