Americana Music Reviews

 

So Long, Ramblin' Roy
by David Miller

 About thirty years ago there was a relatively unknown musician down around Austin by the name of Willie Nelson. You would have only heard of him if you were really into country music. Don't get me wrong, you would have known the songs; standards like "Crazy," "Funny How Time Slips Away," and "Hello Walls" had all been hits by other artists. I guess you could say he was the Darrell Scott or Dean Dillon of his time. But as an artist, Nelson had yet to achieve the kind of success he longed for,.not that it really bothered him. He was getting to play music every night for a steadily growing crowd, some of his songs were becoming legendary in Texas, and he had great friends to share
the stage with.

Around this time on one hot summer night in the beginning of July, Willie was playing Floores Country Store in Helotes. A crowd of 50-75 was on hand to hear this New Age Outlaw ply his craft. After a raucous set, Willie sat down with a group of friends, acquaintances, and band members, drinking beer and talking deep into the night. One person at the table was having a good time and got the idea that this was really pretty cool. Hanging out with great people, listening to music, drinking lots of beer, and popping some fireworks someone had brought was the perfect way to spend the Fourth of July.

"Hey Willie, this has been fun. Maybe you should do this every year."

"What's that?"

"Have a Fourth of July party."

And so was born an idea that became the Willie Fourth of July Picnic.

A few years later that same person had a song he had written and he gave it to Willie to listen to. He thought he had a good song on his hands. He had spent a lot of time crafting it, thinking it out, working on making the sound pure Willie. Willie took it and put it somewhere in his house. Damn the bad luck, Willie's house caught on fire. As Willie ran out of the house, the only things he stopped to grab were a pound of marijuana and a gold record he had received. And so the dreams of the aspiring songwriter went up in smoke.

With the idea of being a famous songwriter behind him (and a party to look forward to every Fourth of July), Roy Miller decided to become a part time disc jockey at KAND 1310 AM in Corsicana. While working as an English and history teacher in Kerens, Roy worked 4-7pm M-W-F, and a remote from Seven Points every Saturday morning that quickly became a fan favorite. After a heart attack forced him from teaching, Roy became the full-time morning DJ for almost 20 years. In late December of 2000, KAND, owned by Northland Cable, decided it would cost less to run the music operations by computer and satellite. On December 29th, 2000, Roy Miller ended his show as he always did. When his shift was over, Roy was told of the decision by the management to let him and another member of the staff go (Margie Holton, a 15-year veteran of the station). No time to prepare the audience for the change and no last goodbyes sure sounds like the radio industry to me.

I can still hear his signature sign-off today:

"This is Ramblin' Roy Miller reminding you to Keep It Country, and so long for now."

Thanks for the memories, Dad.

* If you have been around the music scene for any lengthof time I'm sure you have a couple of those "I remember when" or "there was this time" type of moments. For all of you people out there dying to get your story off of your chest, here's your chance. Send me your best "I Remember When" story, and if I like it I will run it in a future "Mindless Thoughts" column.

miller-at-rockzilla.net

 
Read the Rockzillaworld Guestbook
Sign the Rockzillaworld Guestbook