Roger Miller: Dang Him!

by Don Cusic

In 1964 Roger Miller hit the pop charts with “Dang Me”—the same year the Beatles hit America and began the British Invasion. Roger received five Grammys for that year—and six more in 1965 when he had “King of the Road.” Roger Miller was not an overnight success—he was a successful country songwriter since 1958, penning hits for Ray Price (“Invitation to the Blues), Jim Reeves (“Billy Bayou” and “Home”) and Ernest Tubb (“Half a Mind”). Later, he wrote the score to the Tony Award winning Broadway musical Big River. In this biography, Don Cusic traces the personal life and career of Roger Miller, from Erick, Oklahoma to the Country Music Hall of Fame and shows why Roger Miller was an American Genius. Don Cusic is one of the premier historians of country music. He has written twenty-five books, including two novels. He is currently Professor of Music Business at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee.

Genres: Music, Nonfiction

340 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 7, 2012

Reviews

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Success came so suddenly - and in abundance. One day I was nothing; the next week I was a star. Well, at least a celebrity. Let me tell you something about success. It can take you places you never dreamed you would be. Man, when success falls on you it's dangerous to just run with it. You should walk." -- the man himself, on pages 192-193

Although seemingly not much remembered these days, singer/songwriter/guitarist Roger Miller had some great years of show biz success. (I can recall Miller's passing from a horrible cancer-related illness during this week exactly thirty-three years ago - he was only 55 - and my high school music teacher at the time paused, then commented "we lost a talented man today.") Born in Texas and raised on a farm in rural Oklahoma during the Great Depression and WWII, Miller was musically self-taught and had a unique knack for lyrical composition that belied the fact that he was not much of a reader or student. After a hitch in the Army (imposed by a judge to avoid a short jail sentence for stealing a guitar) and brief stints as a firefighter and hotel bellhop, Miller knocked around Nashville for a few years as a session musician. That aforementioned unlikely success came during Beatlemania crazed era of 1964-1965, when Miller charted big with 'Dang Me' and then his signature tune 'King of the Road.' Several Grammy awards and a mess of hit songs later Miller had carved out a comfortable music career, with one reviewer correctly noting "in spite of his good ol' boy image, Miller's music is a sophisticated blend of country and pop, with a hearty sprinkling of jazz and blues. At the same time, some of his songs have such a ring of folk music to them . . . ", which importantly also indicated that his work - best remembered as zany and humorous, but also sometimes serious or heartfelt - often belied an easy genre labelling other than maybe 'Americana.' Author Cusic's bio is very basic and workmanlike book on the man, but it benefits from interviews with friends, family, and musical colleagues sharing their reminisces and memories. Miller was not a perfect man, but he had a distinctive talent, and his 60 year-old discography is still an agreeable joy to 'Do-Whacka-Do' listen to in all its quirkiness.😉

[Tim Armstrong · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am disappointed in this book. From what I read in it, Roger Miller lived a pretty interesting life, but author Don Cusic didn’t seen interested or able to really get into it all that much. He was much more interested in getting into the minutia of what songs Miller recorded on which dates, who played on what session and what songs were on the charts at the same time as Miller’s. That stuff is interesting to some, but it’s really, really repetitive and does nothing to forward the narrative on Miller’s life and career. Cusic’s writing style is pretty wooden too, causing the narrative to be pretty dull for long stretches. It’s unfortunate.

We must all admit to a certain degree that when we read a celebrity biography, we are hoping there is some juicy or salacious story in there that we can read with a sense of judgmental intrigue. Roger Miller’s life is full of such things; disappointingly Cusic must have felt these aspects of Miller’s life were not important. Miller was a famous drug addict, rivaling Johnny Cash in his intake of pills in the 1960 (Miller would take more than 70 pills a day!) but this information, and his subsequent use of cocaine, marijuana and shockingly meth(!) are treated as throwaway aspects of the man’s life. Cusic tells us Miller was involved in a love affair with Anita Carter in 1962. This affair results in a pregnancy and Carter gives birth to an autistic son with Miller denying all paternity. Cusic never once brings this up again. Are you kidding me? How can you not investigate this further? You don’t think your audience would like to learn a bit more about something like that? You are writing a biography on the man, not a hagiography. Roger Miller was a genius songwriter, but that does not absolve him of this faults. Cusic does his best to mention them, but move on from them as quickly as they are mentioned. It’s just disappointing when you want to get to know Roger Miller the man.

So I cannot give this book more than 2 stars. There is a lot of good info about Miller’s career in here, but it’s terribly lacking when it comes into looking at Miller’s personal life. And that’s a real shame.

[Mark Anderson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a pretty complete and pretty wordy biography of the King of the Road, Roger Miller. I enjoyed it, but I wouldn't call it a "page turner." Mr. Cusic covers all the bases in the life of Miller, from birth, to being a "lousy fiddleplayer," a struggling songwriter, established award winning entertainer, and the writer/composer of a Grammy winning musical, "Big River," which may have been his best work.
Side note: I have actually performed in "Big River" as several different characters at one of the local theater venues here in Mr. Lincoln's home town of Springfield, IL. I started out rating it at 4 stars, but it bogged down for me about 3/4s of the way through, so 3 stars is what I am awarding here.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you're a huge fan of Roger Miller's music like I am this is currently the definitive biography available that I've been able to find.

It covers everything in his life for the most part, but not with a load of insight into his personal life. It mostly delves into his recording career, when he wrote which song, recorded it and how he got into the music business. I truly enjoyed the never before seen photos and the appendix that cataloged all of his albums and songs in order. There are plenty of stories throughout his career and this was a well researched book. You can tell the author used local papers and interviews to round out the narrative.

If you're a die hard Miller fan it is a must read, but the casual fan might find it a little boring. It seems like Roger just doesn't carry the same mystique as Johnny Cash or Willie Nelson in the genre, perhaps because he's most remembered for some of his silly songs. But Dang Me covers some serious subject matter!

[Becky · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wordy and detailed without being at all interesting.

[Bobby Vallecillo · Rating 4 out of 5]

The personality of the man is too large for containment any biographical rendering. But this came close enough. Lengthy and pretty complete. It captured all sides of Miller. A long read for me, but one I appreciate.