Eddie Miller

Induction Year: 1975

Birth Name: Edward Monroe Miller

Birth Date: 12-10-1919

Place of Birth: Carmargo, Oklahoma

Death Date: 04-11-1977

Place of Death: Nashville, Tennessee

Eddie Miller found success within the country music scenes of both Southern California and Nashville. On the West Coast, he helped form the Academy of Country Music. Following his relocation to Tennessee, he became one of the co-founders of the Nashville Songwriters Association. His co-written "Release Me" is an all-time country standard.

Miller was raised in Oklahoma and formed his Western swing band Eddie Miller & His Oklahomans there in the early 1940s. He worked as a railroad engineer during World War II. He reformed his group after the war and began his recording career in Texas in 1947.

After moving to California, Eddie Miller was signed by the Four Star recording and music publishing company as both a songwriter and a recording artist. One of his singles for the company was "Release Me," which initially made no impact when released in 1950. In 1954, three versions of the song all made the Top 10 on the country charts, beginning its rise to prominence. In 1962, Esther Phillips revived it as a pop and R&B hit. Five years later, British crooner Engelbert Humperdinck made "Release Me" an international pop smash. More than 400 artists have now recorded the song.

Also while at Four Star, Miller had access to the label's Patsy Cline, then a struggling unknown. As a result, several of her early recordings were Eddie Miller copyrights.

Miller's next big hit was 1955's "There She Goes," as recorded by Carl Smith. He also provided successful songs to Eddy Arnold ("After Loving You"), Ernest Tubb ("Thanks a Lot"), Rose Maddox ("Somebody Told Somebody") and, posthumously, to Marty Stuart ("Burn Me Down").

In 1966, he composed and produced The Legend of Johnny Brown. Issued on Tower Records, it was billed as the world's first country opera.

Eddie Miller moved to Nashville in 1967. Thereafter, he began writing Christian songs, including a new religious lyric for "Release Me." He also taught songwriting classes at the University of Tennessee. Miller died at age 57.

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Song Catalog

 

"A Church, a Courtroom and Then Goodbye"

(written with W. S. Stevenson)

Patsy Cline1955 
 

"After Loving You"

(written with John William Lantz)

Eddy Arnold1962 #7 country
Jim Reeves1963 
Della Reese1965 #21 adult contemporary, #95 pop
Esther Phillips1966 
Elvis Presley1969 
Melissa Kay1988 #79 country
 

"Burn Me Down"

(written with Don Sessions)

Marty Stuart1992 #7 country
 

"Hidin' Out"

(written with W. S. Stevenson)

Patsy Cline1955 
 

"Hungry for Love"

(written with W. S. Stevenson)

Patsy Cline1957 
 

"I Don't Wanta"

(written with W. S. Stevenson, Durwood Haddock)

Patsy Cline1957 
 

"I Love You Honey"

Eddie Miller1946 
Patsy Cline1956 
 

"I've Loved and Lost Again"

Patsy Cline1956 
Goldie Hill1961 
 

"If You See My Baby"

(written with Bob Morris)

Wynn Stewart1960 
Rose Maddox1964 
Merle Haggard1968 
Billy Walker1970 
Asleep at the Wheel2003 

"In Care of the Blues"

(written with W. S. Stevenson)

Patsy Cline1957 
Toni Price1993 
 

"Lots of Luck"

Ernest Tubb1965 
 

"Motel Time"

Eddie Miller1950 
 

"Playboy"

(written with Bob Morris)

Roger Miller1957 
Wynn Stewart1976 

"Release Me"

(written with James Pebworth, Robert Yount)

Eddie Miller1950 
Jimmy Heap1953 #5 country
Kitty Wells1954 #8 country
Ray Price1954 #6 country
Patti Page1961 
Esther Phillips1962 #1 R&B, #8 pop
The Everly Brothers1963 
Ernest Tubb1966 
Wilma Burgess1967 
Chet Atkins1967 
Engelbert Humperdinck1967 #4 pop, #28 adult contemporary
Dolly Parton1968 
Johnny Adams1968 #34 R&B, #82 pop
Jean Shepard1968 
Tennessee Ernie Ford1968 
Johnny Paycheck1968 
David Houston1968 
Boots Randolph1969 
Tommy Cash1969 
Don Gibson1970 
Elvis Presley1970 
Dottie West1971 
Charlie McCoy1973 #33 country
George Morgan1974 
Marie Owens1974 #71 country
Jerry Lee Lewis & Gillian Welch2010 
Lyle Lovett & K. D. Lang2012 
 

"Somebody Told Somebody"

Rose Maddox1963 #18 country

"Thanks a Lot"

(written with Don Sessions)

Ernest Tubb1963 #3 country
Brenda Lee1965 #45 pop
Billy Parker1979 #80 country
Hank Williams Jr.1987 
IIIrd Tyme Out1991 
Ricky Van Shelton1994 
Ronnie & Rob McCoury1995 
Neko Case1997 
Martina McBride2005 
Aaron Watson2005 
Tracy Nelson2007 
 

"That See Me Later Look"

(written with Curly Putman)

Bobby Wright1967 #67 country
Bonnie Guitar1969 #36 country

"There She Goes"

(written with Durwood Haddock, W. S. Stevenson)

Carl Smith1955 #3 country
Patsy Cline1960 
Jerry Wallace1979 
Sissy Spacek1980 
Patsy Cline & John Berry1999 #70 country
 

"This Old Heart"

(written with Bob Morris)

Kitty Wells1961 
The Newbeats1965 

"Three Cigarettes in an Ashtray"

(written with W. S. Stevenson)

Patsy Cline1957 
k. d. lang1987 
Caitlin Rose2008 

Other Media

Eddie Miller

Induction Year: 1975