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79-578: Roger Dean Miller Sr. (January 2, 1936 – October 25, 1992) was an American singer-songwriter, widely known for his honky-tonk -influenced novelty songs and his chart-topping country hits " King of the Road ", " Dang Me ", and " England Swings ". After growing up in Oklahoma and serving in the U.S. Army , Miller began his musical career as a songwriter in the late 1950s, writing such hits as " Billy Bayou " and "Home" for Jim Reeves and "Invitation to

158-686: A Way , and supplied background vocals. The song was released as a single in 1991, peaking at No. 7 on country charts. He began a solo guitar tour in 1990, ending the following year after being diagnosed with lung cancer. His last performance on television occurred on a special tribute to Minnie Pearl which aired on TNN on October 26, 1992, the day after Miller's death. Although he is usually grouped with country music singers, Miller's unique style defies easy classification. Many of his recordings were humorous novelty songs with whimsical lyrics, coupled with scat singing or vocalese riffs filled with nonsense syllables. Others were sincere ballads which caught

237-616: A bigger star – or risk failure – in Omaha ), and " England Swings " (an adult contemporary No. 1). He began 1966 with the hit " Husbands and Wives , a mid-tempo waltz reflecting on issues that affect marriages." Miller was given his own TV show on NBC in September 1966. It lasted for 13 weeks, and it ended its run in January 1967. During this period Miller recorded songs written by other songwriters. The final hit of his own composition

316-479: A call-and-response with audiences everywhere. Pearl's often self-deprecating humor involved her unsuccessful attempts to attract "a feller's" attention and, in later years, her age. She also spun stories involving her comical "ne'er-do-well" relatives, notably "Uncle Nabob", his wife "Aunt Ambrosia", "Lucifer Hucklehead", "Miss Lizzie Tinkum", "Doc Payne", and, of course, her "Brother", who was simultaneously both slow-witted and wise. She usually closed her monologues with

395-868: A double mastectomy and radiation therapy , she became a spokeswoman for the medical center in Nashville where she had been treated. She took on this role as herself, Sarah Ophelia Cannon, not Minnie Pearl, although a nonprofit group, the Minnie Pearl Cancer Foundation, was founded in her memory to help fund cancer research. The center where she was treated was later named the Sarah Cannon Cancer Center, and has been expanded to at least twenty other hospitals in Middle Tennessee , southern Kentucky, Richmond, Virginia, Kansas City, Missouri, Gainesville, Florida, and

474-565: A drummer, although he had never drummed. During this period, he signed a record deal with Chet Atkins at RCA Victor , for whom Miller recorded "You Don't Want My Love" (also known as "In the Summertime") in 1960, which marked his first appearance on country charts, peaking at No. 14. The next year he made an even bigger impact, breaking through the top 10 with his single "When Two Worlds Collide", cowritten with Bill Anderson. But Miller soon tired of writing songs, divorced his wife, and began

553-411: A farm outside Erick, Oklahoma , with Elmer and Armelia Miller. As a boy, Miller did farm work, such as picking cotton and plowing. He later said he was "dirt poor" and that as late as 1951 the family did not own a telephone. He received his primary education at a one-room schoolhouse. Miller was an introverted child who often daydreamed or composed songs. One of his earliest compositions went: "There's

632-478: A father, Miller put aside his music career to be a fireman in Amarillo, Texas . A fireman by day, he performed at night. Miller said that as a fireman he saw only two fires, one in a "chicken coop" and another he "slept through", after which the department "suggested that...[he] seek other employment." Miller met Ray Price and became a member of his Cherokee Cowboys. He returned to Nashville and wrote "Invitation to

711-449: A guitar since Miller did not own one. Out of nervousness, Miller played the guitar and sang a song in two different keys. Atkins advised him to come back later, when he had more experience. Miller found work as a bellhop at Nashville's Andrew Jackson Hotel, and he was soon known as the "singing bellhop." He was finally hired by Minnie Pearl to play the fiddle in her band. He then met George Jones , who introduced him to music executives from

790-521: A military musical group started by Faron Young . While Miller was stationed in South Carolina , an army sergeant whose brother was Kenneth C. "Jethro" Burns , from the musical duo Homer and Jethro , persuaded him to head to Nashville after his discharge. On leaving the Army, Miller traveled to Nashville to begin his musical career. He met with Chet Atkins , who asked to hear him sing, loaning him

869-459: A number of single records for RCA Victor during the 1950s, including a few duets with Grandpa Jones. During this period, she also made guest appearances on records by Chet Atkins and Ernest Tubb . In the 1960s, she moved to Starday Records. At age 54, she recorded a top-10 hit for Starday, "Giddyup Go – Answer", a response to Red Sovine 's classic " Giddyup Go ". She later recorded with Sovine and Buddy Starcher in other single releases. Pearl

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948-475: A party lifestyle that earned him the moniker "wild child." He was dropped from his record label and began to pursue other interests. After numerous appearances on late night comedy shows, Miller decided that he might have a chance in Hollywood as an actor. Short of money, he signed with the up-and-coming label Smash Records , asked the label for $ 1,600 in cash in exchange for recording 16 sides. Smash agreed to

1027-519: A picture on the wall. It's the dearest of them all, Mother." Miller was a member of the FFA in high school. He listened to the Grand Ole Opry and Light Crust Doughboys on a Fort Worth station with his cousin's husband, Sheb Wooley . Wooley taught Miller his first guitar chords and bought him a fiddle. Wooley, Hank Williams , and Bob Wills were the influences that led to Miller's desire to be

1106-406: A public stock worth $ 64 million, the venture collapsed amid allegations of accounting irregularities and stock price manipulation. The ensuing investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission cleared both Cannon and Jackson of involvement in financial wrongdoings, but both were embarrassed by the negative publicity. After battling breast cancer through aggressive treatments, including

1185-562: A recording deal with Decca Records in 1958. He was paired with singer Donny Lytle, who later gained fame under the name Johnny Paycheck , to perform the Miller-written "A Man Like Me", and later "The Wrong Kind of Girl". Neither of these honky-tonk -style songs charted. His second single with the label, featuring the B-side "Jason Fleming", foreshadowed Miller's future style. To make money, Miller went on tour with Faron Young's band as

1264-533: A singer-songwriter. He began to run away and perform in Oklahoma and Texas. At 17, he stole a guitar out of desperation to write songs; however, he turned himself in the next day. He chose to enlist in the U.S. Army to avoid jail . He later quipped, "My education was Korea, Clash of '52 ." Near the end of his military service, while stationed in Atlanta, Georgia, Miller played fiddle in the "Circle A Wranglers",

1343-546: A songwriter and singer, Miller's music was placed in the country genre due to his somewhat country or folk sounding voice and the use of an acoustic guitar. AllMusic wrote that in blending country with jazz , blues , and pop , Miller "utilized unusual harmonic and rhythmic devices in his sophisticated songcraft" and was an important influence on progressive country . On his own style, Miller remarked that he "tried to do" things like other artists but that it "always came out different" so he got "frustrated" until realizing "I'm

1422-545: A tempo that is slightly stepped up. It is rhythmically suited for many African-American dance." As Chris Smith and Charles McCarron wrote in their 1916 hit song "Down in Honky Tonk Town", "It's underneath the ground, where all the fun is found." Although the derivation of the term is unknown, honky tonk originally referred to bawdy variety shows in the West ( Oklahoma and Indian Territories and Texas ) and to

1501-641: A total of 7 Tony's including best musical in 1985. He was voted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1973 and the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1995. Miller won 11 Grammy Awards. In Erick, Oklahoma, where he grew up, a thoroughfare was renamed "Roger Miller Boulevard" and a museum dedicated to Miller was built on the road in 2004. Below is a list of awards won by Miller: Honky-tonk A honky-tonk (also called honkatonk , honkey-tonk , honky tonk , or tonk )

1580-579: Is either a bar that provides country music for the entertainment of its patrons or the style of music played in such establishments. It can also refer to the type of piano ( tack piano ) used to play such music. Bars of this kind are common in the South and Southwest United States. Many prominent country music artists such as Jimmie Rodgers , Ernest Tubb , Lefty Frizzell , Hank Williams , Patsy Cline , Johnny Horton and Merle Haggard began their careers as amateur musicians in honky-tonks. The origin of

1659-589: Is now called the Clarion Hotel Downtown Nashville-Stadium. Miller continued to record for different record labels and charted a few songs, but stopped writing in 1978, feeling that his more "artistic" works were not appreciated. He was absent from the entertainment business following the release of Old Friends in 1981, but returned after receiving an offer to write a Broadway score for a musical based upon Mark Twain 's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn . Although he had not read

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1738-464: Is possible, however, these pianos were not manufactured until 1889, at which point the term seems to have already been established. An early source purporting to explain the derivation of the term (spelled honkatonk ) was an article published in 1900 by the New York Sun and widely reprinted in other newspapers. The article, however, reads more like a humorous legend or fable, so its veracity

1817-650: Is questionable. An article in the Los Angeles Times of July 28, 1929, with the headline " 'Honky-Tonk' Origin Told", which was probably in response to the Sophie Tucker movie musical, Honky Tonk (1929), reads: Do you know what a honky tonk is? Seafaring men of a few years ago knew very well, as the honky-tonks of San Francisco 's Barbary Coast constituted perhaps the most vivid spots in their generally uneventful lives. The name originated on

1896-505: The Deep South and Southwest and serving alcoholic beverages to a working-class clientele. Some honky-tonks offered dancing to music played by pianists or small bands, and some were centers of prostitution . Katrina Hazzard-Gordon wrote that the honky-tonk was "the first urban manifestation of the jook ", and that "the name itself became synonymous with a style of music. Related to the classic blues in tonal structure, honky-tonk has

1975-697: The Southeast . Part of her work involved making brief appearances at civic organizations to promote the group's shows, and during this time she developed her Minnie Pearl routine. While producing an amateur musical comedy in Baileyton, Alabama she met a mountain woman whose style and speech became the basis for "Cousin Minnie Pearl". Her first stage performance as Minnie Pearl was in 1939 in Aiken, South Carolina . Her character's now-famous trademark hat

2054-518: The Starday Records label who scheduled an audition. Impressed, the executives set up a recording session with Jones in Houston . Jones and Miller collaborated to write "Tall, Tall Trees" and "Happy Child." The human mind is a wonderful thing. It starts working before you're even born and doesn't stop again until you sit down to write a song. — Roger Miller After marrying and becoming

2133-562: The Tennessee Governor's Mansion . Cannon attended Brentwood Methodist Church, just to the south of Nashville, where she also donated the pipe organ. In the late 1960s, Nashville entrepreneur John Jay Hooker persuaded Cannon and gospel singer Mahalia Jackson to lend their names to a chain of fried chicken restaurants established to compete with Kentucky Fried Chicken . The chain was known as Minnie Pearl's Fried Chicken . After initially reporting good results and enjoying

2212-409: The 1950s. Bill Anderson later remarked that "Roger was the most talented, and least disciplined, person that you could imagine", citing the attempts of Miller's Tree Publishing boss, Buddy Killen to force him to finish a piece. He was known to give away lines, inciting many Nashville songwriters to follow him around since, according to Killen, "everything he said was a potential song." Miller signed

2291-470: The 1960s has been described as both damaging of his career and helpful to his songwriting. In 1972 he referred to amphetamines as "a snake pit I got into" and supported a ban on the drug in Oklahoma . Miller married Leah Kendrick of San Antonio in 1964. Together the couple had two children, Dean and Shannon. After 14 years of marriage, Leah and Miller divorced in the mid-1970s. Miller eventually married Mary Arnold , whom he met through Kenny Rogers . Arnold

2370-699: The 1970s, outlaw country 's brand of rough honky-tonk was represented by artists such as Gary Stewart , Waylon Jennings , Willie Nelson , David Allan Coe , and Billy Joe Shaver . Minnie Pearl Sarah Colley was born in Centerville in Hickman County, Tennessee , 50 miles (80 km) southwest of Nashville . She was the youngest of five daughters born to a prosperous sawmill owner and timber dealer in Centerville. She graduated from Ward-Belmont College (now Belmont University ), at

2449-423: The 1985 Tony Award −winning Broadway musical Big River , in which he played Pap Finn in 1986. Miller died from lung cancer in 1992 and was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame three years later. His songs continued to be recorded by other singers, with covers of " Tall, Tall Trees " by Alan Jackson and " Husbands and Wives " by Brooks & Dunn ; both reached the number one spot on country charts in

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2528-555: The 1990s. The Roger Miller Museum — now closed — in his home town of Erick, Oklahoma , was a tribute to Miller. Roger Miller was born in Fort Worth, Texas , the third son of Jean and Laudene (Holt) Miller. Jean Miller died from spinal meningitis when Miller was a year old. Unable to support the family during the Great Depression , Laudene sent her three sons to live with three of Jean's brothers. Thus, Miller grew up on

2607-518: The 2007 case Roger Miller Music, Inc. v. Sony/ATV Publishing, LLC , which went to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit . Arnold was ultimately awarded nearly $ 1 million in royalties and rights to the songs Miller wrote in 1964. Miller was a lifelong cigarette smoker . During a television interview, Miller explained how he composed his songs from "bits and pieces" of ideas he wrote on scraps of paper. When asked what he did with

2686-487: The Barbary Coast and was applied to the low " dives " which formed so great a part of this notorious district. In these establishments, which were often of enormous size, much liquor was dispensed at the tables which crowded the floor, and entertainment of doubtful quality was given on a stage at one end of the room. The honky tonk, as a matter of fact, was the predecessor of the present-day cabaret or night club ,

2765-507: The Blues" for Ray Price . He later began a recording career and reached the peak of his fame in the mid-1960s, continuing to record and tour into the 1990s, charting his final top 20 country hit " Old Friends " with Price and Willie Nelson in 1982. He also wrote and performed several of the songs for the 1973 Disney animated film Robin Hood . Later in his life, he wrote the music and lyrics for

2844-473: The Blues", which was covered by Rex Allen and later by Ray Price, whose recording was a number three hit on country charts. Miller then signed with Tree Publishing on a salary of $ 50 a week. He wrote: "Half a Mind" for Ernest Tubb , "That's the Way I Feel" for Faron Young ; and his first number one, "Billy Bayou", which along with "Home" was recorded by Jim Reeves . Miller became one of the biggest songwriters of

2923-789: The No. 15 hit " Do-Wacka-Do ", and soon after, the biggest hit of his career " King of the Road ", which topped Country and Adult Contemporary charts while peaking at No. 4 on the Billboard 100. It also reached No. 1 in the UK Singles Chart for one week in May 1965. The song was inspired by a sign in Chicago that read "Trailers for Sale or Rent" and a hobo who happened upon Miller at an airport in Boise , but Miller needed months to write

3002-501: The UK. Her name has also been lent to the affiliated Sarah Cannon Research Institute . Cannon suffered a debilitating stroke in June 1991, bringing her performing career to an end. After the stroke, she resided in a Nashville nursing home , where she received frequent visits from music industry figures, including Chely Wright , Vince Gill , and Amy Grant . Her death on March 4, 1996, at

3081-611: The age of 83 was attributed to complications from another stroke. She is buried at Mount Hope Cemetery in Franklin, Tennessee . She was an important influence on younger female country music singers and rural humorists such as Jerry Clower , Jeff Foxworthy , Bill Engvall , Carl Hurley , David L Cook, Chonda Pierce , Ron White , and Larry the Cable Guy . In 1992, she was awarded the National Medal of Arts . In 2002, she

3160-661: The album A Trip in the Country , honky-tonk-style standards penned by Miller, including "Tall, Tall Trees." Later that year, after Smash Records folded, Miller was signed by Columbia Records , for whom he released Dear Folks: Sorry I Haven't Written Lately in 1973. Later that year, Miller wrote and performed three songs in the Walt Disney animated feature Robin Hood as the rooster and minstrel Allan-a-Dale : " Oo-De-Lally ", " Not in Nottingham ", and "Whistle-Stop" (which

3239-560: The couple had four children, the first of whom died shortly after birth. As Miller's young family grew, his desire for fame and success continued to grow as well. After moving the family to California for a short time, Miller and Barbara divorced. Subsequent public interest in Miller led to the success he had long hoped for, but it also brought struggles that are often associated with life in the entertainment business: periods of burnout as well as alcohol and substance abuse. His amphetamine use in

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3318-485: The exit line, "I love you so much it hurts!" She also sang comic novelty songs and often danced with Grandpa Jones . In 1956, she made a paid appearance – $ 3,000, plus expenses – at the kickoff event of the first Alabama gubernatorial candidacy of segregationist George Wallace . She also appeared at an event kicking off his 1962 candidacy for governor. Pearl drew much of her comic material from her hometown of Centerville, which she called Grinders Switch . Grinders Switch

3397-528: The former The Nashville Network (TNN) cable channel. With Emery, she performed in a weekly feature "Let Minnie Steal Your Joke" in the Minnie Pearl character, and read jokes submitted by viewers, with prizes for the best jokes. Cannon made a cameo appearance in the film Coal Miner's Daughter , appearing at the Opry as Minnie Pearl. On February 23, 1947, Colley married Henry R. Cannon, who had been an Army Air Corps fighter pilot during World War II and

3476-510: The honky-tonk style and Tubb as one of its foremost practitioners. Tubb, from Crisp, Texas, was a fan of Jimmie Rodgers and fused Western swing, which had been using electric guitars for years, with other "country" sounds. He took the sound to Nashville, where he was the first musician to play electric guitar on Grand Ole Opry . In the 1950s, honky tonk entered its golden age , with the popularity of Webb Pierce , Hank Locklin , Lefty Frizzell , Faron Young, George Jones, and Hank Williams. In

3555-468: The late 1950s; then on the long-running television series Hee Haw , both on CBS and the subsequent syndicated version. She made several appearances on NBC 's The Ford Show, Starring Tennessee Ernie Ford . She also appeared as a celebrity panelist on game shows such as Match Game in 1977 and 1978, and Hollywood Squares in 1980. Her last regular performances on national television were on Ralph Emery 's Nashville Now country-music talk show on

3634-492: The loud, boisterous music and noise heard at these establishments. One theory is that the "tonk" portion of the name may have come from the brand name of piano made by William Tonk & Bros., an American manufacturer of large upright pianos (established 1881), which made a piano with the decal "Ernest A. Tonk". The Tonk brothers, William and Max, established the Tonk Bros. Manufacturing Company in 1873, so such an etymology

3713-490: The mid- to late 1950s, rockabilly (which melded honky-tonk country with rhythm and blues ) and the slick country music of the Nashville sound ended honky-tonk's initial period of dominance. The Rolling Stones ' number-one single and gold record " Honky Tonk Women " (1969) was based on the sound of 1940s honky-tonk artists like Hank Williams and referred to the reputation of honky-tonk bars as centres of prostitution. In

3792-521: The novel, Miller accepted the offer after discovering how the story brought him back to his childhood in rural Oklahoma. It took a year and a half to write the opening, but he eventually finished it. The work, titled Big River , premiered at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre in New York on April 25, 1985. The musical received glowing reviews, earning seven Tony Awards including "Best Score" for Miller. He acted

3871-431: The only one that knows what I'm thinking." He commented that the favorite song that he wrote was "You Can't Rollerskate in a Buffalo Herd." Johnny Cash discussed Miller's bass vocal range in his 1997 autobiography . He stated that it was the closest to his own that he had heard. Miller was married three times and fathered eight children. Miller married Barbara Crow, from Shamrock, Texas , when they were both 17. Together

3950-466: The part of Huck Finn's father Pap for three months after the exit of actor John Goodman , who left for Hollywood. In 1983 Miller played a dramatic role on an episode of Quincy, M.E. He played a country and western singer who is severely burned while freebasing cocaine. Miller left for Santa Fe to live with his family following the success of Big River . He co-wrote Dwight Yoakam 's hit " It Only Hurts When I Cry " from his 1990 album If There Was

4029-490: The principal differences being that the prices were lower and that the former establishment made no pretense of " class ." In this context of the term’s meaning and its possible origin, an example from roughly the same period is the Harvey Oliver Brooks song “They Call Me Sister Honky-Tonk,” sung by Mae West in the 1933 film I’m No Angel . Honky-tonks were rough establishments, providing country music in

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4108-512: The proposal, and Miller performed his first session for the company early in 1964, when he recorded the hits "Dang Me" and " Chug-a-Lug ". Both were released as singles, peaking at No. 1 and No. 3 respectively on country charts; both fared well on the Billboard Hot 100 reaching No. 7 and No. 9. The songs transformed Miller's career, although the former was penned by Miller in just four minutes. Later that year, he recorded

4187-478: The public's fancy, like his signature song, "King of the Road". The biographical book Ain't Got No Cigarettes described Miller as an "uncategorizable talent" and stated that many regarded him as a genius. Miller's whimsical lyrics and nonsense sounding style led to him writing and performing songs for children's films such as "Oo-de-Lally" for the Disney animated film Robin Hood . During his most successful years as

4266-534: The ranches of Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Indian Territories, so the term was still in popular use during the Spanish–American War . The honky-tonk sound has a full rhythm section playing a two-beat rhythm with a crisp backbeat. Steel guitar and fiddle are the dominant instruments. The first music genre to be commonly known as honky-tonk music was a style of piano playing related to ragtime but emphasizing rhythm more than melody or harmony ;

4345-494: The singer-songwriters Floyd Tillman and Hank Williams , but later developed a clear and sharp sound, such as that of George Jones and Faron Young . Lyrics tended to focus on working-class life, with frequently tragic themes of lost love, adultery, loneliness, alcoholism, and self-pity. Copyrighted and released in 1941, " Walking the Floor Over You ", by Ernest Tubb , his sixth release for Decca , helped establish

4424-484: The song was covered by many other musicians, including Oscar Peterson . The twelve-bar blues instrumental " Honky Tonk " by the Bill Doggett Combo, with a sinuous saxophone line and driving, slow beat, was an early rock and roll hit. New Orleans native Fats Domino was another honky-tonk piano man, whose " Blueberry Hill " and " Walkin' to New Orleans " were hits on the popular music charts. In

4503-471: The song, which was certified gold in May 1965 after selling a million copies. It won numerous awards and earned a royalty check of $ 160,000 that summer. Later in 1965 Miller scored hits with "Engine Engine No. 9", "Kansas City Star" (a Top Ten country hit about a local television children's show personality who would rather stay in the safety and security of his success in Kansas City than become

4582-511: The statues. A museum dedicated to Minnie Pearl was situated just outside the Grand Ole Opry House at Opryland USA (next to another museum dedicated to Roy Acuff), but the museum closed along with the theme park in 1997. Many of its artifacts were moved to the adjacent Grand Ole Opry Museum. This list includes guest appearances on other stars' albums or appearances on "various artists" compilation albums. Minnie Pearl released

4661-412: The style evolved in response to an environment in which the pianos were often poorly cared for, tending to be out of tune and having some nonfunctioning keys. Honky-tonk music influenced the boogie-woogie piano style, as indicated by Jelly Roll Morton 's 1938 record "Honky Tonk Music" and Meade Lux Lewis 's hit "Honky Tonk Train Blues." Lewis recorded the latter many times from 1927 into the 1950s, and

4740-765: The term honky-tonk is unknown. The earliest known use in print is an article in the Peoria Journal dated June 28, 1874, stating, "The police spent a busy day today raiding the bagnios and honkytonks." There are subsequent citations from 1890 in The Dallas Morning News , 1892 in the Galveston Daily News ( Galveston, Texas ) (which used the term to refer to an adult establishment in Fort Worth ), and in 1894 in The Daily Ardmoreite in Oklahoma. Early uses of

4819-621: The term "honky-tonk" is disputed, originally referring to bawdy variety shows in areas of the old West ( Oklahoma , the Indian Territories and mostly Texas ) and to the actual theaters showing them. The first music genre to be commonly known as honky-tonk was a style of piano playing related to ragtime but emphasizing rhythm more than melody or harmony ; the style evolved in response to an environment in which pianos were often poorly cared for, tending to be out of tune and having some nonfunctioning keys. This honky-tonk music

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4898-421: The term in print mostly appear along a corridor roughly coinciding with cattle drive trails extending from Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas, into south central Oklahoma, suggesting that the term may have been a localism spread by cowboys driving cattle to market. The sound of honky-tonk (or honk-a-tonk ) and the types of places that were called honky-tonks suggests that the term may be an onomatopoeic reference to

4977-463: The theaters housing them. The earliest mention of them in print refers to them as "variety theaters" and describe the entertainment as "variety shows". The theaters often had an attached gambling house and always a bar. In recollections long after the frontiers closed, writers such as Wyatt Earp and E.C. Abbott referred to honky-tonks in the cowtowns of Kansas, Nebraska, and Montana in the 1870s and 1880s. Their recollections contain lurid accounts of

5056-453: The time Nashville's most prestigious school for young ladies, where she majored in theater studies and dance. She taught dance for the first few years after graduating. Her first professional theatrical work was with the Wayne P. Sewell Production Company, a touring theater company based in Atlanta. She produced and directed plays and musicals for local organizations in small towns throughout

5135-411: The unused bits and pieces, he half-joked, "I smoke 'em!" He also wrote a song about his habit, titled "Dad Blame Anything a Man Can't Quit". Miller died of lung and throat cancer in 1992, at age 56, shortly after the discovery of a malignant tumor beneath his vocal cords. In addition to 11 Grammy Awards , Roger Miller won Broadway's Tony Award for writing the music and lyrics for Big River , which won

5214-586: The women and violence accompanying the shows. However, in contemporary accounts these were nearly always called hurdy-gurdy shows, possibly derived from the term hurdy-gurdy , which was sometimes mistakenly applied to a small, portable barrel organ that was frequently played by organ grinders and buskers . As late as 1913, Col. Edwin Emerson, a former Rough Rider commander, hosted a honky-tonk party in New York City . The Rough Riders were recruited from

5293-548: The years before World War II, the music industry began to refer to honky-tonk music played from Texas and Oklahoma to the West Coast as hillbilly music . More recently, the term has come to refer to the primary sound in country music , developing in Nashville as Western swing became accepted there. Originally, it featured the guitar , fiddle , string bass , and steel guitar (imported from Hawaiian folk music ). The vocals were originally rough and nasal, as exemplified by

5372-458: Was "Walkin in the Sunshine", which reached No. 7 and No. 6 on the country and adult contemporary charts in 1967. Later in the year he scored his final top 10 hit with the first recording of Bobby Russell 's " Little Green Apples ". The next year, he was first to cover Kris Kristofferson 's " Me and Bobby McGee ," taking the song to No. 12 on country charts. In 1970, Miller recorded

5451-601: Was a community just outside Centerville that consisted of little more than a railroad switch. Those who knew her recognized that the characters were largely based on actual Centerville residents. So much traffic resulted from fans and tourists looking for Grinders Switch that the Hickman County Highway Department eventually changed the designation on the "Grinders Switch" road sign to "Hickman Springs Road". Cannon portrayed Minnie Pearl for many years on television, first on ABC 's Ozark Jubilee in

5530-601: Was a replacement member in The First Edition , a band led by Rogers. After the breakup of The First Edition, she performed with her husband Miller on tours as a backup singer, including a performance at the White House before President Gerald Ford . In 2009 she was inducted into the Iowa Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame. Since Miller's death, she has managed his estate. She sued Sony for copyright infringement in

5609-407: Was an important influence on the boogie-woogie piano style. Before World War II, the music industry began to refer to hillbilly music being played from Texas and Oklahoma to the West Coast as "honky-tonk" music. In the 1950s, honky-tonk entered its golden age , with the popularity of Webb Pierce , Hank Locklin , Lefty Frizzell , Faron Young , George Jones , and Hank Williams . The origin of

5688-477: Was back on RCA in 1974 when Archie Campbell and she released a parody record of Loretta Lynn and Conway Twitty 's hit "As Soon As I Hang Up the Phone" which received airplay, but did not chart. In 1977, she appeared with a number of other Opry members on Dolly Parton 's New Harvest...First Gathering album, singing on the song "Applejack". In 1986, she was a featured guest vocalist, along with Jerry Clower , on

5767-584: Was friends with performers outside the country genre, including Elvis Presley , Dean Martin (she appeared on an episode of The Dean Martin Show ), and Paul Reubens (Pee-wee Herman). In 1992, Reubens made what would be his last appearance as Pee-wee Herman for 15 years at a Minnie Pearl tribute show. Bronze statues of Minnie Pearl and Roy Acuff are displayed in the lobby of the Ryman Auditorium . Chely Wright and Dean Sams (of Lonestar ) posed for

5846-448: Was gentle satire of rural Southern culture, often called " hillbilly " culture. She lived in the fictional town of Grinders Switch. Pearl always dressed in frilly "down home" dresses and wore a hat with a price tag hanging from it, displaying the $ 1.98 price. Her signature greeting to her audience was an elongated "Howdy! I'm just so proud to be here!" delivered in a hearty holler. After she became an established star, her greeting became

5925-547: Was purchased downtown at Surasky Bros. Department store before the show. The following year, executives from Nashville radio station WSM saw her perform at a bankers' convention in Centerville and gave her an opportunity to appear on the Grand Ole Opry on November 30, 1940. The success of her debut on the show began an association with the Grand Ole Opry that continued for more than 50 years. Pearl's comedy

6004-700: Was ranked as number 14 on CMT 's 40 Greatest Women in Country Music list. According to Barney Hoskyns , the Band 's 1975 song " Ophelia " was based on Pearl. Pearl is also mentioned in the lyrics of the 1988 song " Punk Rock Girl " by the Dead Milkmen . In 1988, Pearl received the American Academy of Achievement 's Golden Plate Award, presented by Johnny Cash , alongside fellow awardee Roy Acuff , at an awards ceremony in Nashville. She

6083-552: Was sampled for use in the popular Hampster Dance web site). He provided the voice of Speiltoe, the equine narrator of the Rankin/Bass holiday special Nestor the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey in 1977. Miller collaborated with Willie Nelson on an album titled Old Friends. The title track was based on a song he had previously penned for his family in Oklahoma. The song, with guest vocals from Ray Price,

6162-589: Was the last hit of Miller's career, peaking at No. 19 on country charts in 1982. In 1970, Miller opened the King of the Road Inn, a Nashville hotel. As Brian Carpenter wrote in Southern Cultures , "With its rooftop lounge and accompanying penthouse suite (complete with a swinging double bed), Miller's King of the Road Inn was, for a time, the unofficial center of Nashville's thriving music scene." It

6241-443: Was then a partner in an air charter service. After the wedding, Cannon set up his own air charter service for country music performers and took over management of the Minnie Pearl character. His clients in the charter service included Eddy Arnold , Colonel Tom Parker , Hank Williams , Carl Smith , Webb Pierce , and Elvis Presley . The couple had no children. In 1969, they purchased a large estate home in Nashville next door to

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