20th Century Masters

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...Read more

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!)