Golden Hits (1965)
Gripped:
Antone's 9*30*10
Roger Miller is like your funniest uncle (or Dave Letterman). The humor is different than the kind you use, but it works. He's always saying weird things you don't quite get, but the point comes across. It's the kind of wit that leaves you tickled. Roger Miller has this down. It's not just in his word play that works, but also his phrasing, his guitar lines and his timing (kind of a country Thelonious Monk). There is something aged but timeless about your funniest uncle's humor, and that is also true for Roger Miller's hits. And your uncle probably remembers a lot of these Roger Miller songs.
Miller is one of those rare-ish
artists willing to embrace humor in their songs. For a minute I got on that "bygone era" mentality, but realized how wrong that is. Funny/"Funny" musicians are always out there, but just not in force. And usually they just turn out to be the Bloodhound Gang. So it's nice to land on artists like Miller who make successfully funny songs. These songs tend to steer clear of hitting you over the head with their jokes. His brand of humor is decidedly agile and witty, and really lends itself to country. Some songs, like "England Swings," and "Kansas City Star" don't quite hold their water, but the songs on this collection are mainly successful.
A lot of his lyrical humor comes from embracing shit situations. "King of the Road" probably does this best, which helps make it his song everybody knows. "Dang Me" takes a more self-deprecating approach, and is the plain funniest song here. "You Can't Roller Skate in a Buffalo Herd" reminds us that can't actually do just what you want. And I guess that's funny. The song is, anyway.
He also has songs that don't embrace the shit situations their speaker is in, and those are good too. "(And You had a) Do-Wacka-Do" really gets to the core of this. He wishes he was happy instead of you, and you can have a do-whacka-do for all he cares. There is a joy to be found in such bluntness. "One Dying and a Burying" is all about wanting to die. The super-casual tone he uses when wishing for death sets up the joke. Then there is no punchline, and that is the punchline.
"One Dying and a Burying" is an oddball on a set that could use a couple more oddballs. You can tell a few things listening to this record. You can tell that this was the jukebox era. Seven of the twelve songs here are under two minutes, so basically this is a set of two-minute jokes, which weren't really meant to be listened to all in a row. So these songs do a great job of what they were going for, but I still want a little more variety. These songs are mainly mid tempo, with acoustic guitar, acoustic bass and drums. One song had a trumpet, which was a nice touch. I like that the arrangements are simple, but flourishes like that help a track stand out. I would like for more of these songs to stand out. "King of the Road" has some piano.
Most of these songs are good-to-great, and most of them are songs you need to know. There are eight or ten little treasures here, and you will be happier upon having heard them. You need records like this every now and then, and they're usually cheap. Of course you know "King of the Road." But do you know "Do-Wack-A-Do" or "It Happened Just That Way"? "England Swings" isn't' that great, but it's an old country song making fun f England, so it's sort of essential, right? Music listening is about this bottomless well that's out there, and this is one of those records that gets you to keep on digging through record shelves.
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