Edward Monroe Miller (December 10, 1919April 11, 1977) was an American

songwriter A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music gen ...

, in the

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

genre.

Early life and education

Miller was born in Camargo, Oklahoma and worked as a locomotive engineer before becoming a songwriter. Although he was never educated beyond high school, he taught songwriting at the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee (officially The University of Tennessee, Knoxville; or UT Knoxville; UTK; or UT) is a public land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1794, two years before Tennessee became the 16th state, ...

Career

His first published song, written in the mid-1930s, was "I Love You, Honey." In 1946, he wrote what was to become his biggest hit, " Release Me," though at first he could not get anyone to record it. Eventually he recorded it himself, and it was covered by several singers and was commercially successful. He was the founder of the Country and Western Music Academy in Hollywood, as well as a co-founder of the Nashville Songwriters Association International (of which he served as the first president and also another term in the presidency). Miller wrote a country opera, "The Legend of Johnny Brown," and a gospel opera, "It Was Jesus." "Legend of Johnny Brown" was a concept project that was released on

Tower Records Tower Records is an international retail franchise and online music store that was formerly based in Sacramento, California, United States. From 1960 until 2006, Tower operated retail stores in the United States, which closed when Tower Records ...

. The project featured Kay Adams as Mary Lou, Ray Sanders as Sheriff Tom, Alice Rene as Jezebel Jones and Jerry Naylor as Johnny Brown. Miller pitched this project to

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of note ...

, with a demo version he had already recorded with Alice Rene performing all of the female vocals. Miller actually wanted Rene for the Mary Lou character, but Capitol Records went with Kay Adams. Miller pressed the label to use Rene and secured her the part of Jezebel Jones. The irony is, that the only recorded version Adams had to learn this music, were the original demos previously recorded by Rene. He died in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...

at age 57.

Awards and recognition

Miller received Performance Awards from BMI for "There She Goes" (1954), for "Thanks a Lot" (1964), and "Release Me" (1954, 1962, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1971, 1972, and 1973, as well as a Most Performed Song award in 1968 and a Pop & Country Performance Award in 1974). His publisher, Four Star Publishing, gave him platinum records for "Release Me" and "There She Goes." The Oklahoma Music Association awarded him its All Time Great Songwriter's Award. In 2018, the

Academy of Country Music Awards The Academy of Country Music Awards, also known as the ACM Awards, were first held in 1966, honoring the industry's accomplishments during the previous year. It was the first country music awards program held by a major organization. The academy ...

posthumously honoured Miller (alongside Mickey and Chris Christensen) with the

Mae Boren Axton Mae Boren Axton (September 14, 1914 – April 9, 1997) was known in the music industry as the "Queen Mother of Nashville." She co-wrote the Elvis Presley hit single "Heartbreak Hotel" with Tommy Durden. She worked with Mel Tillis, Reba McEntire, ...

Award.

Published songs

*"After Loving You" *" Burn Me Down" *"A Church, a Courtroom & Then Goodbye" *"Down Came the Rains" *"Hungry For Love" *"I've Loved and Lost Again" *"I Love You Honey" *"Jesus, Let Me Write You a Song" *"Playboy" *" Release Me" *"Release Me (From My Sins)" *"Thanks a Lot" *"There She Goes" *"This Old Heart" *"Three Cigarettes in an Ashtray"

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Miller, Eddie 1919 births 1977 deaths People from Dewey County, Oklahoma American country songwriters American male songwriters Four Star Records artists University of Tennessee faculty 20th-century American musicians Songwriters from Oklahoma 20th-century American male musicians