Scott McKenzie born 10 January 1943

Scott McKenzie (born Philip Wallach Blondheim, January 10, 1939 – August 18, 2012) was an American singer and songwriter. He was best known for his 1967 hit single and generational anthem, "San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair)".

Blondheim was born in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1939. His family moved to Asheville, North Carolina, when he was six months old. He grew up in North Carolina and Virginia, where he became friends with the son of one of his mother's friends, John Phillips. In the mid-1950s, he sang briefly with Tim Rose in a high school group called The Singing Strings, and later with Phillips, Mike Boran, and Bill Cleary formed a doo wop band, The Abstracts.

In New York, The Abstracts became The Smoothies and recorded two singles with Decca Records, produced by  Milt Gabler. During his time with The Smoothies, Blondheim decided to change his name for business reasons:"[We] were working at one of the last great night clubs, The Elmwood Casino in Windsor, Ontario. We were part of a variety show ... three acts, dancing girls, and the entire cast took part in elaborate, choreographed stage productions ... As you might imagine, after-show parties were common.

"At one of these parties I complained that nobody could understand my real name ... [and] pointed out that this was a definite liability in a profession that benefited from instant name recognition. Everyone started trying to come up with a new name for me. It was [comedian] Jackie Curtis who said he thought I looked like a Scottie dog. Phillips came up with Laura's middle name after Jackie's suggestion. I didn't like being called "Scottie" so everybody agreed my new name could be Scott McKenzie."

  In 1961 Phillips and McKenzie met Dick Weissman and formed the folk group, The Journeymen, at the height of the folk music craze. They recorded three albums and seven singles for Capitol Records. After The Beatles became popular in 1964, The Journeymen disbanded. McKenzie and Weissman became solo performers, while Phillips formed the group The Mamas & the Papas with Denny Doherty, Cass Elliot, and Michelle Phillips and moved to California.

McKenzie originally declined an opportunity to join the group, saying in a 1977 interview, "I was trying to see if I could do something by myself. And I didn't think I could take that much pressure". Two years later, he left New York and signed with Lou Adler's Ode Records.

Phillips wrote and co-produced "San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair)" for McKenzie. John Phillips played guitar on the recording and session musician Gary L Coleman played orchestra bells and chimes. The bass line of the song was supplied by session musician Joe Osborn. Hal Blaine played drums. It was released on 13 May 1967 in the USA and was an instant hit, reaching number 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 2 in the Canadian RPM Magazine charts. It was also a number 1 in the UK and several other countries, selling over seven million copies globally.

McKenzie followed the song with "Like An Old Time Movie", also written and produced by Phillips, which was a minor hit (number 27 in Canada). His first album, The Voice of Scott McKenzie, was followed with an album called Stained Glass Morning. He stopped recording in the early 1970s and lived in Joshua Tree, California, and Virginia Beach, Virginia. McKenzie also penned the song "Hey! What About Me" that launched the career of Canadian singer Anne Murray in 1968.

In 1986, he started singing with a new version of The Mamas and the Papas. With Terry Melcher, Mike Love, and John Phillips, he co-wrote "Kokomo" (1988), a number 1 single for the Beach Boys.

By 1998, he had retired from the road version of The Mamas and Papas, and resided in Los Angeles, California, until his death. He appeared at the Los Angeles tribute concert for John Phillips in 2001, amongst other 1960s contemporary acts.

McKenzie died on August 18, 2012 in Los Angeles, aged 73.  He had suffered from Guillain–Barré syndrome since 2010. (Info Wikipedia)

Gracie Fields born 9 January 1898

Dame Gracie Fields, DBE (January 9, 1898–September 27, 1979), born Grace Stansfield, was an English/Italian singer and comedienne who became one of the greatest stars of both cinema and music hall.

Born over a fish and chip shop owned by her grandmother in Molesworth Street, Rochdale, Lancashire, she made her first stage appearance as a child in 1905. Her two sisters, Edith and Betty, and brother, Tommy, all went on to appear on stage, but Gracie was the most successful. Her professional debut in variety took place at the Rochdale Hippodrome theatre in 1910 and she soon gave up her job in the local cotton mill.

She met comedian Archie Pitt and they began working together. Pitt would come to serve as her manager and the two married in 1923. Their first revue in 1915 was called Yes I think so and the two continued to tour Britain together until 1922 in the revue Mr Tower of London. Her career rapidly accelerated from this point with straight dramatic performances and the beginning of a recording career.

One of her most successful productions was at the Alhambra Theatre in 1925. The show, booked by Sir Oswald Stoll, was a major success and toured for ten years. She made the first of ten appearances in Royal Variety Performances in 1928, gaining a devoted following with a mixture of self-deprecating jokes, comic songs and monologues, as well as cheerful "depression-era" songs all presented in a "no-airs-and-graces" northern, working class style. Fields had a great rapport with her audience, which helped her become one of Britain's highest paid performers, playing to sold out theatres across the country.

                                    

Her most famous song, which became her theme, "Sally," was worked into the title of her first cinema film, Sally in Our Alley (1931), which was a major box office hit. She went on to make several films initially in Britain and later in the United States (for which she was paid a record fee of US$200,000 for four films), despite never enjoying the process of performing without a live audience. The late 1930s saw her popularity peak and she was given many honours: the Order of Officer Sister of St. John of Jerusalem (for charity work), the Commander of the British Empire (CBE) (for services to entertainment) in 1938, and the Freedom of the Borough of Rochdale.

In 1939, however, she became seriously ill with cervical cancer. The public sent over 250,000 goodwill messages and she retired to her villa on Capri to recover. After she recovered, she recorded a very special 78 record simply called 'Gracie's Thanks' in which she thanks the public for the many cards and letters she received whilst in hospital, and she
also sings a new track called 'I Love The Moon.' Her voice never falters. -She recorded this song only twice more. Once in a live broadcast and once on her final album 'The Golden Years.'

World War II was declared whilst she was recovering and Fields travelled to France to entertain the troops. In 1940 she married film director Monty Banks, following her divorce from Pitt. However because Banks remained an Italian citizen and would have been interned in the United Kingdom, she was forced to leave Britain for North America during the war. Although she continued to spend much of her time entertaining troops and otherwise supporting the war effort outside Britain, this led to a fall-off in her popularity at home where she was portrayed by the press as a traitor and deserter. Nevertheless, she performed many times for Allied troops, travelling as far as the islands of New Guinea, where she received an enthusiastic response from Australian personnel.

After the war, Fields continued her career on a less active basis. She began performing in Britain again in 1948 and starred at the 1951 Festival of Britain celebrations. She proved popular once more, without ever regaining the status she achieved in the 1930s. She continued recording, but made no more films, moving more towards light classical music as popular tastes changed.

Although there is some doubt that her British citizenship was ever re-granted after the war(she lost it due to her marriage), she did a great deal of charity work, and established a permanent home on the Isle of Capri, Italy. Monty Banks died in 1950. Fields was married again, to Boris Alperovici, two years later. After that she began to work even less but still sold out theatres even into her seventies.

In 1978, she opened the Gracie Fields Theatre in Rochdale, Lancashire, it is located next to Oulder Hill Community School She made a final appearance at the Royal Variety Show at the age of 80; it was her last performance.

 

 In February 1979 she was created a Dame Commander of the British Empire seven months before her death at her home on Capri, aged 81. She is buried in the non-Catholic cemetery on Capri. (info Wikipedia)

Elvis Presley born 8 January 1935

 

Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935–August 16, 1977), was an American singer, musician and actor. He is a cultural icon, often known as "The King of Rock 'n' Roll", or simply "The King".

Presley is born to Gladys and Vernon Presley in a two-room cabin on North Saltillo Road in East Tupelo, Mississippi on January 8, 1935, and grew up surrounded by gospel music of the Pentecostal church. In 1948 the family moved to Memphis, where he was exposed to blues and jazz on Beale Street. After graduating from high school in 1953, an 18-year-old Presley visited the Memphis Recording Service - also the home of Sun Records - to record his voice. Owner/producer Sam Phillips was struck by the plaintive emotion in Presley’s vocals and subsequently teamed him with guitarist Scotty Moore and bassist Bill Black. In July 1954 the trio worked up “That’s All Right” and “Blue Moon of Kentucky” - blues and country songs, respectively - in a crackling, up-tempo style that stands as the blueprint for rock and roll.

After five ground-breaking

singles, Presley’s contract was sold to RCA Records on August 15, 1955: Elvis Presley signs a management contract with “Colonel” Tom Parker, whose other clients included country-music stars Eddy Arnold and Hank Snow. The relationship with Parker will continue till Presley’s death. “I Forgot to Remember to Forget” - his last single for Sun and first for RCA - went to #1 on the country charts. “Heartbreak Hotel,” a haunting ballad, became his first across-the-board hit, holding down the top spot for eight weeks.

On January 28, 1956: Elvis Presley makes his first appearance on network TV as a guest on Stage Show, hosted by jazz bandleaders Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey. Throughout 1956, Presley’s hip-shaking performances on a series of TV variety shows, including Ed Sullivan’s, generated hysteria and controversy. From blistering rockers to aching balladry, Presley captivated and liberated the teenage audience. His historic string of hits in 1956 and ‘57 included “Don’t Be Cruel,” “Hound Dog,” “Love Me Tender,” “All Shook Up” and “Jailhouse Rock.”

 

 

Presley’s career momentum was interrupted by a two-year Army stint in Germany, where he met his future wife, Priscilla. For much of the Sixties, he occupied himself with movie-making and soundtrack-recording. His albums of sacred songs, such as How Great Thou Art, stand out from this otherwise fallow period. On May 1, 1967: Elvis marries Priscilla Beaulieu, at the Aladdin Hotel in Las Vegas. Their daughter, Lisa Marie Presley, is born exactly nine months later, on February 1, 1968.

 Presley’s standing as a rock and roller was rekindled with an electrifying TV special, simply titled Elvis and broadcast on December 3, 1968. He followed this mid-career renaissance with some of the most mature and satisfying work of his career. Recording in Memphis, he cut such classic tracks as “In the Ghetto, “Suspicious Minds” and “Kentucky Rain” with the soulful, down-home musicians at American Studio.

 

If the Fifties were devoted to rock and roll and the Sixties to movies, the Seventies represent the performing chapter in Presley’s career. He toured constantly, performing to capacity crowds around the country until his death. Presley died of a heart attack at Graceland, his Memphis mansion, on August 16, 1977. He was 42 years old.

(info from www.rockhall.com/inductee/elvis-presley )

Nino Tempo born 6 January 1935

Nino Tempo (born Antonino LoTempio, January 6, 1935) is an American musician, singer, and actor.

Nino Tempo was born in Niagara Falls, New York. A musical prodigy, he learned to play the clarinet and the tenor saxophone as a child. He was a talent show winner at four years of age and appeared on television with Benny Goodman at seven. When his family moved to California, he appeared on the Horace Heidt radio show, performing a Benny Goodman clarinet solo. A child actor, he worked in motion pictures in such films as 1949's The Red Pony and in 1953's The Glenn Miller Story starring James Stewart.

 He was also a sought after session musician, working with Elkie Brooks, as a member of The Wrecking Crew for Phil Spector, and recording with Maynard Ferguson (Live At The Peacock-1956). Through a Bobby Darin recording session, Tempo made connections with Atlantic Records and signed with its Atco Records subsidiary.

 

However, Nino Tempo is best known for his 1963 duet "Deep Purple" on Atco with his sister Carol (singing under the stage name April Stevens) that went to No.1 on the Billboard charts. The song won the 1964 Grammy Award for Best Rock and Roll Recording. It sold over one million copies and was awarded a gold disc. The record was followed by a series of singles of more oldies in a similar style: "Whispering", "Stardust", "Tea for Two". For years following their charting singles, the duo continued recording, but failed to achieve continued sales success.

However, in March 1973 the duo scored a No. 5 hit in the Netherlands with "Love Story" on A&M Records, two years after Andy Williams took that same song to #13 in the Dutch Top 40. In late 1973, a little less than 10 years after "Deep Purple" topped the Hot 100, Tempo reached #53 in his last appearance on the Hot 100 with the (mostly) instrumental "Sister James" as Nino Tempo And 5th Ave. Sax, an obvious play on Saks Fifth Avenue. Recorded at A&M with the backing, writing, producing, and arranging of Jeff Barry, "Sister James" became one of the first instrumental disco records to reach the national charts. "Sister James" is often classified as an example of Northern Soul. In 1975, Tempo played saxophone on John Lennon's Rock 'n' Roll album.

Nino & April moved to Chelsea Records for "What Kind of Fool Am I?" in 1976; Tempo had another solo single with "Hooked on Young Stuff" back on A&M in 1979; and he placed three tracks on the soundtrack to The Idolmaker, which charted in December 1980. But after that, he retired from record-making for a decade until he produced and played on Stevens' 1990 comeback album Carousel Dreams. Then he played at a memorial service for Atlantic Records co-founder Nesuhi Ertegun and as a result was re-signed to the label as a jazz instrumentalist. He made three albums, Tenor Saxophone (1990), Nino (1992), and Live at Cicada (1995).

 In 1996, he and Stevens recorded a new track, a version of the old Benny Goodman/Peggy Lee hit "Why Don't You Do Right?," for the Varèse Sarabande compilation Sweet and Lovely: The Best of Nino Tempo & April Stevens. By then, brother and sister were living in semi-retirement in Arizona although Tempo continues to perform to this day. (Info edited from Wikipedia & All Music)



American Bandstand. May 30, 1964

Lenny Dee born 5 January 1923

Lenny Dee, born Leonard George DeStoppelaire, (January 5, 1923 - February 12, 2006) was a virtuoso organist who played many styles of music. His record albums were among the most popular of easy listening and space age pop organists of the 1950s through the early 1970s. His signature hit, Plantation Boogie, charted as a Top 20 hit in 1955. He also had a gold record with 1970's Spinning Wheel.

Born in Chicago, Illinois in 1923, Dee was an only child (though it is sometimes erroneously reported that he was one of eleven or twelve children). As a child, he sang in his church's choir; he also played ukulele and accordion. As a teenager, he turned playing the accordion into a profession, which he continued until he was drafted into the Navy during World War II in 1943.

Upon his return from service, Dee spent his Navy earnings on a Hammond Model A organ, one of the earliest of its kind. With money from the G.I. Bill, he received instruction in organ at the Chicago Conservatory of Music. Afterwards, he began playing hotels and night clubs in the south in the late 1940s to some degree of success, but very little fame and no record contracts.



It was not until the early 1950s that Dee was signed up to Decca after country singer Red Foley heard him playing at the Plantation Inn in Nashville, Tennessee, and thought Dee's country flavor would be a good contrast to the label's then prominent jazz organist, Ethel Smith.

Dee made good, and his original composition, Plantation Boogie charted at #18 in 1955. Dee re-recorded the hit on numerous albums, and was often imitated, even plagiarized, but never duplicated.

Dee ventured into recording albums for Decca starting in 1954 with his first LP, Dee-lightful. Part of Dee's charm was his albums' zany covers featuring Dee in various situations, and titles with puns that usually included his name, such as Dee-Lirious, Dee-Licious, and Dee-Most! His recording featured organ with other instruments. He was nearly always backed by percussion; depending on the song, he also recorded with guitar; bass; a backup chorus; strings; horns such as saxophones, trombones, trumpets; and even the banjo.

When Dee married his wife, Hendrica, in 1960, the couple settled down in Sarasota, Florida, which would become the base of Lenny's operations for the rest of his career. They had five children; his oldest son, Lenny Jr., played drums with his father.

Despite his contract with Decca, Lenny Dee's first love was live performance. In 1967, after performing regularly in hotel lounges at St. Petersburg Beach like the Dolphin Beach Resort, Dee started a night club named Lenny Dee's Dolphin Den. He later opened Lenny Dee's King's Inn, a few miles away. His supper club format—with dinner, drinks and his musical and his comedy routines—was popular with local fans and visitors from around the world. The club's menu included the "One Pound Pork Chop," along with other selections.

His routine included corny jokes and wild hat and costume routines that Dee was noted for. A lover of animals, Dee often included his pet dogs (particularly one black poodle he owned named "Miss Muffett") in his routine, with the dogs barking along with some of his numbers.

His television credits include appearances on Toast of the Town with Ed Sullivan, The Tonight Show with Jack Paar, The Lawrence Welk Show, and later Nashville Now. Dee even had his own show in the mid-50s on WFLA-TV in Tampa, Florida called Ladies' Day with Lenny Dee; it enjoyed a brief run.

Dee continued recording into the '70s, adding a background orchestra in the late '60s as many other easy listening performers were doing at the time. By the late '70s, Dee was in less demand. After recording 56 albums, he was finally dropped from the MCA label, along with many other easy listening artists.

Dee spent the rest of his career at his night clubs and on tour, but the demand for his music continued to decline. In 1999, Dee played on a series of cruise ship tours. He retired in 2003. He died on February 12, 2006 in St. Petersburg. He was 83. (info Wikipedia)

Lenny Dee appeared on an airing of the television program Nashville Now which also featured Pete Fountain. Some sources inform that this show aired on January 25, 1988. As a result of his Nashville Now appearances, the mayor of St. Petersburg, Florida (Lenny's home turf) proclaimed January 25 "Lenny Dee Day".

Noro Morales born 4 January 1911

Norosbaldo Morales (January 4, 1912, Puerta de Tierra – January 16, 1964, San Juan) was a Puerto Rican pianist and bandleader. One of the most prominent figures of mambo and rumba music from the 1930’s until his death in 1964.

His his father, Luis and his sister, Marina were his first music teachers. Morales learned trombone, bass and piano. They helped prepare him for his professional career as a musician in the Orquesta Hermanos Morales, directed by his father. He later played with an band in Venezuela in 1924 but returned to Puerto Rico six years later and joined the orchestra of the famous Rafaél Muñoz.

He emigrated to New York City in 1935, and played there with Alberto Socarras and Augusto Cohen. In 1939, he and brothers Humberto and Esy put together the Brothers Morales Orchestra, which was later called Noro Morales And His Orchestra. Morales played the piano and the band included the typical Latin rhythm section with bass, bongos, conga, timbales, and claves. He released his signature tune "Serenata Ritmica" on Decca Records in 1942, which catapulted him to fame in the mambo and rumba music world; his band rivaled Machito's in popularity in New York in the 1940s. It was during this time that his orchestra played for the Havana Madrid nightclub.

 

Here is "Serenata Ritmica" from above album

Morales remained a popular and successful act on the New York scene for over 20 years. His dance orchestra was so well-liked that annually he performed for the Harvest Moon Ball at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

 

After more than 25 years in New York, Noro began to feel the lure of his native island calling him back. In the late 1950s the music business in the States was in a slump. Big bands were being replaced by small combos, and venues such as the Palladium Ballroom were no longer profitable. Noro suffered from glaucoma brought on by diabetes and was beginning to lose his eyesight. All this contributed to his decision to go back home. In 1960, he did just that.
His sister Alicia, through some business connections in Puerto Rico, negotiated a contract for him to play with his big band at the La Concha Hotel in San Juan for six months. He ended up performing there for nearly four years. Noro actually organized a new band in Puerto Rico. He chose the best local musicians he could find and brought others from New York with him.

He returned to Puero Rico in 1961 and played in noted nightclubs such as the Palladium, The Stork Club, Copacabana and La Conga. But he also played more humble venues in the Hispanic “barrio”, earning him the title of “King of Latin Music.”

Morales cut a distinctive figure on stage and off, with his large bald head and black mustache. One friend recalled that, "He was always well-dressed, shows shined, nails polished and reeked of expensive cologne....He loved women. He had to work steadily to pay the alimony his three wives collected."

During this time he appeared with such famous artists as Tito Rodríguez, José Luis Moneró, Chino Pozo, Willie Rosario and Tito Puente. Among the musicians who played in Morales' orchestra were Ray Santos, Jorge López, Rafí Carrero, Juancito Torres, Pin Madera, Ralph Kemp, Pepito Morales, Carlos Medina, Lidio Fuentes, Simón Madera, Ana Carrero, Pellin Rodriguez, and Avilés.

Yearning to return home, as many of his compatriots did, and suffering from glaucoma due to diabetes, Morales moved back to Puerto Rico in 1960. He organized his own band with the best musicians available and spent the next four years with playing at La Concha Hotel in San Juan. Among the musicians in his band were Ray Santos, Jorge López, Rafí Carrero, Juancito Torres, Pin Madera, Ralph Kemp, Pepito Morales, Carlos Medina, Lidio Fuentes, Simón Madera, Ana Carrero, and Vitín Avilés.

Morales made numerous recording over the course of his prolific career and was well known for his interpretations of “classic” songs such as “Perfume de Gardenia”, (lyrics) “Silencio”, (lyrics)’, Walter Winchell Rumba “Arráncame la Vida”, “Malditos Celos” and “Tres Palabras”.

In spite of his indomitable spirit, besieged by diabetes, glaucoma, and kidney problems, Noro Morales died on January 14, 1964, at the relatively young age of 53. He is buried in Puerto Rico, where he is recognized as a musical legend, El Gran Noro Morales.

 A fitting tribute to Morales was the 1984 album “A Giant Step” by Charlie Palmieri which included the song “Rumba Rhapsody” with piano and rhythm inspired by Morales.

(Info edited from Wikipedia & mainly Music Of Puerto Rico.com) 



Video soundie c.1941 with Noro Morales at the piano, a young Tito Puente on the drums and a teenage Marquita Rivera featured in the dance segment. Luba Malina on vocals.

Roger Miller born 2 January 1936

Roger Dean Miller (January 2, 1936 – October 25, 1992) was an American singer, songwriter and musician, best known for his mid-1960s country/pop hits such as King of the Road, Dang Me and England Swings. He also wrote the music and lyrics for the Tony-award winning Broadway musical Big River (1985).

Roger Miller, the youngest of three boys, was born in Fort Worth, Texas, to Laudene Holt Miller (mother) and father Jean Miller. Jean died when Roger was only a year old, and he was subsequently sent to live with his aunt and uncle, Elmer and Armelia Miller, in Erick, Oklahoma.

Miller had a lonely and unhappy childhood. Heavily influenced by the Grand Ole Opry on Saturday nights and the Light Crust Doughboys on Fort Worth radio, he desperately wanted to be a singer-songwriter. When he was seventeen, he stole a guitar, but turned himself in and chose to join the Army rather than go to jail. He later quipped, "My education was Korea, Clash of '52." Upon leaving the Army, he went to Nashville to work on his music career. In 1959 he wrote his first number-one song, "Billy Bayou" recorded by Jim Reeves.

Although usually grouped with country music singers, Miller's unique style defies easy classification. He had a string of pop hits in the 1960s, and also his own TV show in 1966. 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 also caught the public's fancy, none more so than his signature song, "King of the Road", a major 1965 hit, about a presumed hobo who relishes his life and freedom, riding the rails. He also had a big single in this year with the #8 hit "England Swings".

In the 1970s, Miller appeared in ads for Monroe shock absorbers, backed by a re-recording of "King of the Road". Miller wrote and performed three songs in the 1973 animated Robin Hood film as the rooster/minstrel Alan-a-Dale. One of these, a high-pitched sample of "Whistle Stop", was later used as the musical accompaniment for the Internet phenomenon "Hampsterdance".

Miller was married to Mary Arnold, who herself was a musician, a member of Kenny Rogers' backing band, Kenny Rogers and The First Edition. Band leader Kenny Rogers introduced the two. Arnold now manages Miller's estate. He is related to the Burton family. His eldest son, Dean Miller, is a singer-songwriter in his own right. Roger's Christmas song, "Old Toy Trains" was written about his son, who was only two years old when the song came out in 1967.

During the 1980's this multifaceted artist turned his talents to Broadway. In eighteen months he created the musical Big River, based on Mark Twain's classic American novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Opening on Broadway in 1985, Big River collected seven Tony Awards and represented the crowning achievement of Roger's career.
Rejuvenated by its success, he maintained an active career through the remainder of the decade. In 1991, though, he left the road when he learned he had cancer. He fought the disease for a year, but died on October 25, 1992.

In addition to 11 Grammy Awards, Roger Miller won Broadway's Tony award for writing the music and lyrics for Big River, which won a total of 7 Tonys 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. In Erick, Oklahoma where he grew up, a thoroughfare was renamed "Roger Miller Boulevard." The chorus of one of his songs, "England Swings", was used for the 1998 BBC radio program, 15 Minutes of Misery. The song was also featured in the 2003 movie Shanghai Knights.

Miller was a lifelong cigarette smoker. During a television interview Miller explained that he composed his songs from "bits and pieces" of ideas he wrote on scraps of paper. When asked what he did with the unused bits and pieces, he half-joked, "I smoke 'em!" It was in the fall of 1991 that Miller found out he had a form of lung cancer. His last performance was during CMA week in Nashville. Publicly, he refused to let his illness phase him. After a year of treatment and one remission, Roger Miller died at the Century City Hospital on October 25, 1992, at the young age of 56. (Info edited mainly from Wikipedia)



American Bandstand. July 11, 1964