photo: Rick Musacchio
www.tennessean.com
Late Country Music Hall-of-Famer Roger Miller is the focus of an all-star, multi-genre, two-disc tribute coming August 31.
In addition to country stars like Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton, Loretta Lynn, Emmylou Harris, Ronnie Dunn, Kacey Musgraves, and Alison Krauss, Beatles legend Ringo Starr and alternative rock bands Toad the Wet Sprocket and Cake also contribute songs to the project.
Brad Paisley covers one of Miller’s signature tunes, “Dang Me,” while his fellow Hall-of-FamersWillie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson, and Merle Haggard team up to do “Old Friends.” Eric Church tackles “Oo De Lally,” a song Roger wrote for Walt Disney’s Robin Hood.
Actor John Goodman, who scored one of his big career breaks in Miller’s Broadway musical Big River, contributes the show’s “Guv’ment.”
King of the Road: A Tribute to Roger Miller was produced by Roger’s son, Dean Miller.
“Roger Miller didn’t have to say much,” he says of his dad in the liner notes. “You were simply drawn to him. He had a magnetic smile, and electric wit and a passion for life and music that transcended generations.”
The elder Miller died of cancer in 1992, at the age of 56. During his career, he landed more than 30 top-40 hits on the country chart, including ten tracks that crossed over to the pop world.
A TV tribute is also in the works.
“King of the Road: A Tribute to Roger Miller”
‘King of the Road: A Tribute to Roger Miller’ Tracklist:
Disc One
Greatest Songwriter (Banter)
Chug-a-Lug – Asleep at the Wheel ft. Huey Lewis
Dang Me – Brad Paisley
Leavin’s Not the Only Way to Go – The Stellas ft. Lennon and Maisy
Kansas City Star – Kacey Musgraves
World So Full of Love – Rodney Crowell
Old Friends (Banter)
Old Friends – Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson, Merle Haggard
Lock Stock and Teardrops – Mandy Barnett
You Oughta Be Here With Me – Alison Krauss ft. The Cox Family
The Crossing – Ronnie Dunn, The Blind Boys of Alabama
In the Summertime – The Earls of Leicester ft. Shawn Camp
Fiddle (Banter)
England Swings – Lyle Lovett
You Can’t Rollerskate in a Buffalo Herd – Various Artists
Half a Mind – Loretta Lynn
Invitation to the Blues – Shooter Jennings, Jessi Colter
It Only Hurts Me When I Cry (Live) – Dwight Yoakam
Disc Two
Mouth Noises (Banter)
Oo De Lally – Eric Church
Engine, Engine #9 – Emerson Hart ft. Jon Randall
When Two Worlds Collide – Flatt Lonesome
Reincarnation – Cake
You Can’t Do Me This Way and Get By With It – Dean Miller ft. The McCrary Sisters
Chicken S#$! (Banter)
Nothing Can Stop Me – Toad the Wet Sprocket
Husbands and Wives – Jamey Johnson ft. Emmylou Harris
I’ll Pickup My Heart and Go Home – Lily Meola
I Believe in the Sunshine – Daphne and the Mystery Machines
Guv’ment – John Goodman
Old Songwriters Never Die (Banter)
Hey, Would You Hold It Down? – Ringo Starr
The Last Word in Lonesome Is Me – Dolly Parton ft. Alison Krauss
I’d Come Back to Me – Radney Foster ft. Tawnya Reynolds
One Dying and a Burying – The Dead South
Do Wacka Do – Robert Earl Keen, Jr.
King of the Road – Various Artists