However, other songs that he wrote were rather touching ballads. Whimsical lyrics, coupled with scat singing or vocalese riffs filled with nonsense syllables. Some of those were essentially “novelty” songs, often featuring

Roger Miller’s hit songs were rather diverse. He was particularly excited about this success, since he had dashed off Dang Me in just four minutes. Roger Miller’s career was off to a great start. They were also big cross-over songs, both making the top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts.

However, in 1964 he recorded two songs for Smash Records, Dang Me and Chug-a-lug.īoth of these songs became country hits, peaking at #1 and #3 respectively. However, he had a terrible time finishing the tunes so his music publishing company was frequently putting pressure on Miller to complete the songs he had begun.Įventually Miller became so frustrated with songwriting that he moved to the West Coast, made a few appearances on late-night talk shows, and attempted to become an actor. Miller was unusual in that he was constantly coming up with ideas for songs. Various of his songs became hits for artists such as Ray Price and Ernest Tubb. Miller’s initial success was as a songwriter. He failed his first audition, but after he took a job at a Nashville hotel, he became known as the “singing bellhop.” As a result, he was hired as a fiddle player by Minnie Pearl.īelow is a photo of Roger Miller performing. Roger described his childhood circumstances as “dirt-poor.”Īfter serving a stint in the Army, Miller headed to Nashville to seek his fortune in country music. When his family was unable to eke out a living during the Depression, his parents sent Roger and his brothers to live with their aunt and uncle. Roger Miller was a singer-songwriter who carved out a successful career in the 60s. Finally, we’ll wrap up with the well-known version by Janis Joplin. Then, we will review the song’s origin story as part of our discussion of Kris Kristofferson’s version. Although the song was co-written by Kris Kristofferson and Fred Foster, the first recorded version was by Roger Miller.īecause of that, we will begin by discussing Roger Miller’s version.

It is one of the most iconic country-rock songs. Hello there! Our song this week is Me and Bobby McGee.

Lyrics me and bobby mcgee roger miller