Rare Roger Miller

First off, thank my friend Jim Carlton for having the good sense to record this off the TV, probably 4/23/85. His first (and only) musical, Big River, was about to hit Broadway after out of town tryouts in Cambridge and La Jolla. On Broadway, it slayed. 1,005 performances. It launched the career of John Goodman. It won Roger Miller a Tony, which must have looked out of place next to his eleven Grammy's -- the record for a male artist until Quincy Jones finally broke it.

(Awards are meaningless, but what the hell. You don't write "England Swings" if you're looking for awards. Roger said he always tried to be on the edge of creative thinking, and I believe him.)

By the time of Big River, it was assumed that Roger Miller's best days and best work were behind him, despite that he still popped up every so often and always delivered. But these three songs point to that his muse was vacationing. The range of the eighteen songs in this show are like a guide to the stuff Roger did great. There are straight country songs ("River In The Rain"), a Roger novelty tongue twister ("How Bout A Hand For The Hog"), and the completely perfect, beautiful "Maybe Leavin's Not The Only Way To Go".

Here, he performs all three, and it's clear that Roger is in full bloom as he was in the "King Of The Road" period.

If you don't love Roger Miller, you will never swing like a pendulum do.