| "Dang Me" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single byRoger Miller | ||||
| from the albumRoger and Out | ||||
| B-side | "Got 2 Again" | |||
| Released | May 1964 | |||
| Recorded | January 11, 1964[1] | |||
| Studio | Bradley Studios, Nashville, Tennessee | |||
| Genre | Country | |||
| Length | 1:47 | |||
| Label | Smash | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Roger Miller | |||
| Producer(s) | Jerry Kennedy | |||
| Roger Miller singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
"Dang Me" is a song byAmericancountry music artistRoger Miller, and 1964'sGrammy Award winner for Best Country & Western Song. It was Miller's first chart-topping country hit and first Top Tenpop music hit,[2] whose "jazzy instrumental section" helped make it "the quintessential example of Miller's lighthearted humor, which brought him many more hits."[2]
In 1998, Roger Miller's 1964 version of "Dang Me" was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.[3]
Newly signed with theMercury Records subsidiarySmash Records,[4] Miller gathered on January 10–11, 1964, withmusic producerJerry Kennedy,music arrangerBill Justis, and session musiciansRay Edenton andHarold Bradley (guitars),Hargus "Pig" Robbins (piano),Bob Moore (bass), andBuddy Harman (drums) at theBradley Studios onNashville, Tennessee'sMusic Row.[5] On the second day, they recorded a run-through of "Dang Me," with Miller giving rehearsal direction (such as "one more time" at the end of the first chorus). The run-through was the final version released to radio. Miller, in his official biography, recalled writing the song in four minutes in aPhoenix, Arizona, hotel room.Johnny Cash in his last major interview claimed Miller wrote the song atJoshua Tree inCalifornia when Miller got out of the car with pen and paper to go write the song. Cash asked Miller what he was doing to which Miller replied "I'm writing a song. You can't come look."[6]
Kennedy had already started work on many other of that session's songs before he eventually brought the recording of "Dang Me" to his home. Upon playing it, he recalled, "My kids came screaming down the stairs when 'Dang Me' came on. They thought that was the greatest thing they'd ever heard. I started playing it over and over and over again...".[5] Kennedy and Mercury Records chose "Dang Me" as the first single of the May 1964LPRoger and Out.[7] The album was shortly retitled and rereleased that year asDang Me (Smash SRS-67049)
The song spent 25 weeks on theBillboard country-music chart,[5] reaching number one,[8] and peaked at number seven on the magazine's pop chart. It went on to appear on numerous Miller compilations. On film or tape, Miller performs it, with other songs, in the 1966concert filmThe Big T.N.T. Show, and as part of a closing-number medley on season three, episode #21, ofThe Muppet Show in 1979.[9]
"Dang Me" has appeared on recordings by at least eight other performers as disparate as Buck Owens,Johnny Rivers recorded live in 1964 onHere We à Go Go Again!,Sammy Davis Jr. on the live albumThat's All (1967), and Sweet G.A. Brown on hisMiller Time album in 2011.The Hollies, withGraham Nash in the band, performed it live on tour in 1968. Singer-songwriterBuddy Miller (no relation to Roger Miller) covered it on his album "Majestic Silver Strings" in 2011.Widespread Panic covered the tune as en encore during their acoustic tour on February 11, 2012.[10] Jerry Jeff Walker in 2001 for his Album “Gonzo Stew”
| Chart (1964) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| U.S.Billboard Hot Country Singles | 1 |
| U.S.Billboard Hot 100[11] | 7 |
| CanadianRPM Country Tracks | 3 |
| CanadianRPM Top Singles | 6 |
