Roger Miller was so desperate to kickstart his music career that he committed a crime to get started. To his credit, he turned himself in. But didn't end up behind bars.
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According to Roger Miller's biography, before he was a music icon, he was a budding star. When he was only a teenager, the singer-to-be had Sheb Wooley (who I recently learned did the infamous Wilhelm Scream) by his side, who got him into performing and filled his head with dreams and ambition.
Wooley bought Miller his first fiddle and taught him how to play the guitar. Miller quickly knew that playing and performing were exactly what he wanted to do with his life. So, young and driven, he took to doing everything he could to make it in the industry.
He skipped school to perform where he could and grabbed as many jobs as he could as he travelled around Texas and Oklahoma.
However, he was without a guitar. Desperate for one, one day, he stole one while in Texas and escaped to Oklahoma. He deemed it the only way to start writing songs, but his conscious weighed on him too heavily.
The next day, he turned himself in.
Instead Of Prison, Roger Miller Joined The Army
Only 17 years old, Roger Miller accepted service instead of a cell.
His desperation for a guitar and stardom took him from Oklahoma to Korea, which is where he was shipped off to.
He did his tour with his fiddle (I assume the authorities confiscated the stolen instrument), where he ended up in the Circle A Wranglers. When his tour was over, however, he was back to where he started. Without a damn guitar.
Miller went to see Chet Atkins, who loaned him his guitar when he introduced himself as a songwriter without one.
Unfortunately, it's unclear how long Chet Atkins loaned his guitar out for. It may have been for that one session (which went poorly), or it could have been for a while. Ultimately, the tale of him acquiring his first guitar ends here.
We can only assume he managed to scrape the funds to purchase one not long after his service.
