I loved this song and was madly obsessed with it when it came out [No 1 in the UK charts in 1965 and I would have been 12). I was too young to buy it at the time but it was on the radio a heck of a lot over here and I loved that laconic exotic drawl and the style of it spoke of the exotica of America to these youthful ears. Miller is still an overlooked artist in general and worthy of greater inquiry IMHO. In the 47 years I smoked and especially cigars or cheroots I always called them old stogies . . . . this man is why!
I had no clear idea what a trailer was in the Americana style but knowing that you could get a room for fifty cents filled me with excitement . You couldn't buy a cheap American cigar for fifty cents now. I started my world of employment working in a motel on the outskirts of the village pushing brooms and this song was always playing in my head. I also hitch hiked the length and breadth of the country then and walking the lanes of the countryside with no money in my pocket I felt I too was a 'king of the road' as opposed to a white middle class student between educational establishments!
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