Written by Paul Thompson
(THEME)
VOICE ONE:
I’m Shirley Griffith.
VOICE TWO:
And I’m Sarah Long with the VOA Special English program, PEOPLE IN AMERICA. Today we tell about music writer and performer Roger Miller.
Roger Miller
(MUSIC)
VOICE ONE:
The name of that song is “Dang Me.” It was written and recorded by Roger Miller in Nineteen-Sixty-Five. It was not the first song he had written, but it was his first huge hit record. In fact, the recording of “Dang Me” helped Roger Miller win five of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences Grammy Awards. One of those awards was the Grammy for best new country and western artist.
Before “Dang Me” became a hit record, few people outside the music business knew the name Roger Miller. Yet he had been working his way to the top of the music business since he was a boy.
(MUSIC)
VOICE TWO:
Roger Dean Miller was born January Second, Nineteen-Thirty-Six in the western city of Fort Worth, Texas. His father died when Roger was only one year old. His mother became sick soon after. Roger was sent to live with his uncle in Erick, Oklahoma.
VOICE TWO(cont):
Roger Miller had a difficult childhood. Most of his days were spent working on his uncle’s farm, picking cotton. He was a lonely and unhappy child. Roger began writing songs because he loved the music he heard on the radio. He also learned to play the guitar and the violin, sometimes called a fiddle. Much later, he learned to play the drums. Music helped the young Roger escape the hard work on his uncle’s cotton farm.
VOICE ONE:
Roger left the farm when he was still very young. He traveled from town to town in the west. He worked at any job he could find during the day. At night, he went to music clubs and drinking places where country and western bands played. These places provided him with a music education. Roger Miller entered the United States Army at the age of seventeen. He was sent to an army base near Atlanta, Georgia.
In Atlanta, he played with a music group called “The Circle “A” Wranglers.” When he left the Army, Roger moved to the home of country music in Nashville, Tennessee.
VOICE ONE(cont):
At first, he worked in a hotel. Stories say he would sing there for anyone who would listen. He soon got several jobs playing his violin. And he began writing songs for other singers.
