God bless this YouTube user that was smart enough to screen-record this Instagram story.
Back in June, Colter Wall put up a whole cover of Roger Miller’s “The Old Man And The River.”
With no production whatsoever… just a guitar, what’s probably an average-quality phone microphone, and pure talent.
Roger Miller was a sensation during the ’60s. His honky tonk sound still fit radio country, giving the genre a fresh perspective. Although Miller wore many hats throughout his musical career, including writing songs for the Disney classic Robin Hood, this song perfectly defines his classic country sound.
The song has a great storytelling element with a catchy chorus and traditional ’60s twang throughout. It recorded by Donny Young, AKA Johnny Paycheck before he took that stage name.
Here is a clip of Miller performing the tune in the early ’60s on The Jimmy Dean Show.
Wall however, gives this song a whole new dimension through his silky smooth voice.
Colter titled the first slide of his Instagram story,
“Learned a new Roger Miller song today.”
Before strumming his guitar for the intro, he naturally takes a swig of his Coors Banquet.
He sings the story effortlessly, yet his voice carries depth in each word that leaves his mouth. I think truly this is a perfect cover song for Wall as he has very similar storytelling aspects through his original tracks as Miller does in this tune.
You love to see modern-day artists paying tribute to the greats that came decades before them. This cover is the perfect nod to Miller’s traditional sound.
Would love to see this on an album or as a single from Wall one of these days.