Big River

Rating:
Summary: Roger Miller's Tony Award winning songs for "Big River"
Review: Roger Miller is remembered for his humorous novelty songs like "King of the Road," "Dang Me," "England Swings," "Do-Wacka-Do," and "You Can't Roller Skate in a Buffalo Herd." What gets forgotten sometimes is that he had considerable songwriting talent, and the best proof of that is his Tony Award-winning songs for "Big River." You have to appreciate the audacity of trying to turn Mark Twain's classic novel into a Broadway musical, but in turning to Roger Miller to write the songs you get the feeling Samuel Clemens was moving them in the right direction. Yes, there are stuff the fun songs like Pa's diatribe on "Guv'ment" and Tom Sawyer's "Hand for the Hog," as well as the two songs by the King and the Duke, "When the Sun Goes Down in the South" and "The Royal Nonesuch." But Miller also provides a tender country ballad, "You Oughta Be Here With Me" and the spiritual "The Crossing." The most powerful songs remain those between Huck and Jim, which includes "Muddy Water," "River in the Rain," and "Worlds Apart."

"Big River: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" contains sixteen of Miller's songs, with piano-vocal arrangements by Rick Walters along with guitar chords. In addition to the above mentioned songs you also get the music for "Arkansas/How Blest We Are," "The Boys," "Do Ya Wanna Go To Heaven?," "Free At Last," "I, Huckleberry, Me," and "Waitin' For the Light To Shine." So you get most of the songs from the musical and if you can play the piano or guitar, or are willing to risk others hearing you sing about "The Royal Nonesuch" out loud, then this is another way of enjoying Miller's work. Just remember, no music library is complete without one of the more comprehensive Roger Miller hit collections and the Original Broadway Cast album for "Big River" (with Daniel Jenkins, Ron Richardson, Rene Auberjonis, Patti Cohenour, John Goodman, and Bob Gunton).

Rating:
Summary: Roger Miller's Tony Award winning songs for "Big River"
Review: Roger Miller is remembered for his humorous novelty songs like "King of the Road," "Dang Me," "England Swings," "Do-Wacka-Do," and "You Can't Roller Skate in a Buffalo Herd." What gets forgotten sometimes is that he had considerable songwriting talent, and the best proof of that is his Tony Award-winning songs for "Big River." You have to appreciate the audacity of trying to turn Mark Twain's classic novel into a Broadway musical, but in turning to Roger Miller to write the songs you get the feeling Samuel Clemens was moving them in the right direction. Yes, there are stuff the fun songs like Pa's diatribe on "Guv'ment" and Tom Sawyer's "Hand for the Hog," as well as the two songs by the King and the Duke, "When the Sun Goes Down in the South" and "The Royal Nonesuch." But Miller also provides a tender country ballad, "You Oughta Be Here With Me" and the spiritual "The Crossing." The most powerful songs remain those between Huck and Jim, which includes "Muddy Water," "River in the Rain," and "Worlds Apart."

"Big River: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" contains sixteen of Miller's songs, with piano-vocal arrangements by Rick Walters along with guitar chords. In addition to the above mentioned songs you also get the music for "Arkansas/How Blest We Are," "The Boys," "Do Ya Wanna Go To Heaven?," "Free At Last," "I, Huckleberry, Me," and "Waitin' For the Light To Shine." So you get most of the songs from the musical and if you can play the piano or guitar, or are willing to risk others hearing you sing about "The Royal Nonesuch" out loud, then this is another way of enjoying Miller's work. Just remember, no music library is complete without one of the more comprehensive Roger Miller hit collections and the Original Broadway Cast album for "Big River" (with Daniel Jenkins, Ron Richardson, Rene Auberjonis, Patti Cohenour, John Goodman, and Bob Gunton).