Top Ten Songs Written by Roger Miller: Big Harlan Taylor (#2)

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Greetings from the road. Most of yesterday was just looking at scenery that I’ve seen a million times but still amazes me every time I see it, as if I’m seeing it for the first time. Before I head out I’ll give you another great tune written by Roger Miller. @xander6464 gave the original suggestion of a Roger Miller countdown, and I think he had money riding on this song….. #2: Big Harlan Taylor - George Jones (Linda? George Jones should tell you all you need to know. ) Yeah, it’s the Possum, with a song learned from Miller during a stint on Starday. This is one of those deceptive songs: you’d be up and dancing to this 3/4 tune in a heartbeat, then you’d listen to this poor sap lamenting how he contemplated suicide and even murder (“I wanted revenged and waylaid for Big Harlan”). Then he wises up with the last line of the song, which I find rather humorous. He may not have figured out “the ways of the world and the wants of a woman” but he did come out a winner. Big Harlan Taylor Written by Roger Miller Recorded by George Jones Released as a single, 1959 Harlan had a rubber-tired new shiny car: