'King of the Road: A Tribute to Roger Miller' Liner Notes by Dean Miller

There is no one like Roger Miller. That is what anyone who knew him would say. Brilliantly funny, a wordsmith like no other and a larger than life personality that can’t be confined to a simple description. Born in Fort Worth, Texas and sent to live with his Aunt and Uncle at three years old when his father died, there is no reason such enormous talent should have found him. But it did.

He picked cotton on his Uncle’s farm. He didn’t have electricity until he was fifteen years old. At sixteen, he had to work up the nerve to use a telephone for the first time. He’d never been further than Amarillo, Texas when he went into the army and served on the front lines in the Korean War…or as he called it, “Korea, Clash of ’52.”

How did a person with such a limited, sad and obstacle filled childhood learn how to write songs as great and better than most others in the world? How did he learn to play multiple instruments and reach heights of fame few could ever dream of? 11 Grammy Awards, 7 Tony Awards for Big River, inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Nashville Songwriters’ Hall of Fame.

Roger Miller was one of a kind. He was as comfortable joking with the average person as he was laughing with Presidents and Queens. He made everyone around him comfortable. You felt like he was your best friend, though his lightning fast mind was miles ahead of everyone in the room.

His music touched lives around the world. He was best known for his signature song, King of the Road. But he was so much more than that. He had a dark side to his light exterior, which allowed him to tap into the emotions it took to write songs like Husbands and Wives and Pick Up My Heart and Go Home. He had a genius way with the simplest of phrases. He often said, “Say as much as you can in as few words as possible.”

Roger Miller didn’t have to say much. You were simply drawn to him. He had a magnetic smile, and electric wit and a passion for life and music that transcended generations. From Disney’s Robin Hood to the stage of the White House, from the Country music Hall of Fame to The Muppet Show, from Vegas showrooms to the Smithsonian Institute, Roger Miller was too gigantic to be contained by genres and definitions. He was also my Dad, and I love him.