music.wikisort.org - Composition

"King of the Road" is a song written by country singer Roger Miller, who first recorded it in November 1964.[1] The lyrics tell of the day-to-day life of a hobo who, despite being poor (a "man of means by no means"), revels in his freedom, describing himself humorously and cynically as the "king of the road". It was Miller's fifth single for Smash Records.[2]

"King of the Road"
One of A-side labels of the US release
Single by Roger Miller
from the album The Return of Roger Miller
B-side	"Atta Boy Girl"
Released	January 1965
Recorded	November 1964
Genre	Country
Length	2:28
Label	Smash[1]
Songwriter(s)	Roger Miller[1]
Producer(s)	Jerry Kennedy[1]
Roger Miller singles chronology
"Do-Wacka-Do" (1965) "King of the Road" (1965) "Engine Engine #9" (1965)

History

The crossover record reached No. 1 on the US Country chart,[3] No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100, and No. 1 on the Easy Listening surveys.[4] It was also No. 1 in the UK Singles Chart,[5] and in Norway. Miller recalled that the song was inspired when he was driving and saw a sign on the side of a barn that read, "Trailers for sale or rent".[6] This would become the opening line of the song.

R.E.M. covered the song in a shambolic, drunken, offhand rendering, guitarist Peter Buck would later comment, "If there was any justice in the world, Roger Miller should be able to sue for what we did to this song."[7]

A comic version by English entertainer Billy Howard, "King of the Cops", was a British chart hit in 1976.[8]

Chart performance

Roger Miller

Chart (1965)	Peak position
UK Singles Chart[9]	1
Norwegian Singles Chart[10]	1
U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles	1
U.S. Billboard Easy Listening	1
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	4
Irish Singles Chart	5
Canadian RPM Top Singles	10
Dutch Top40[11]	14
Dutch Official Chart[10]	5
German Official Chart[10]	26
French TEF/TMP[12]	6

The Proclaimers

Chart (1990)	Peak position
Australian Singles Chart[13]	78
Irish Singles Chart	8
UK Singles Chart[9]	9

Randy Travis

Chart (1997)	Peak position
Canada Country Tracks (RPM)[14]	74
US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)[15]	51

"Queen of the House"

Country music singer Jody Miller (no relation) answered "King of the Road" with "Queen of the House" (1965). The song used Roger Miller's music while changing the lyrics to describe the day-to-day life of a stay-at-home mom. The words were written by Mary Taylor.[16][17]

Connie Francis later recorded this song on her 1966 album Live at the Sahara (1966).^{[citation needed]}

The Supremes performed "Queen of the House" in their nightclub act. It can be heard on their The Supremes at the Copa (1965) album and I Hear a Symphony remastered CD, which includes their September 1966 appearance at the Roostertail in Detroit, on the second disc.^{[citation needed]}

References

External links

• Sample from the Roger Miller official site

На других языках

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[de] King of the Road

King of the Road ist ein von Roger Miller geschriebener und 1965 veröffentlichter Country-Song, der sich zum Evergreen entwickelte.

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- [en] King of the Road (song)

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