Room Full of Roses

Infobox Single
Name = Room Full of Roses


Artist = Mickey Gilley
from Album = Room Full of Roses
A-side = "Room Full of Roses"
B-side = "She Called Me Baby"
Released = April 1974
Format = 7"
Recorded = 1973
Genre = Country
Length = 2:50
Label = Playboy Records
50056
Writer = Tim Spencer
Producer = Mickey Gilley
Chart position =
Last single =
This single = "Room Full of Roses"
(1974)
Next single = "I Overlooked an Orchid"
(1974)

"Room Full of Roses" is a song first recorded in 1949 by country music singer George Morgan, and famously covered in 1974 by up-and-coming singer Mickey Gilley. The Gilley version was his first major hit and broke open his career.

Background

In 1973, Mickey Gilley was enjoying brisk business with his nightclub, Gilley's Club, when he cut four sides for his own label, Astro Records. Those songs included "She Called Me Baby" (for a local jukebox owner), "Abilene" and "When Two Worlds Collide." The fourth was "Room Full of Roses," a song written by Sons of the Pioneers member Tim Spencer and recorded by George Morgan. ["The Billboard Book of Number One Country Hits" (Billboard Books, Watson-Guptill Publications, New York, 1991 (ISBN 0-82-307553-2)), p. 115]

Gilley never intended to have a hit with "Room Full of Roses," as it was designated the B-side for "She Called Me Baby." In fact, Gilley was not even happy with the final product of that recording. "I liked 'She Called Me Baby,' and thought to myself, well, I finally got something." Gilley once told "Country Music" magazine. "Then I flipped the record over. All I could hear was that damn steel guitar. The echo was just bounding off the walls.'"

Country music writer Tom Roland also noted that Gilley got lost during the piano interlude during the middle portion of the song, but "somehow managed to come out of it in sync with the studio band." Other flaws pointed out included muffled lyrics and excessive "echo" (to conceal the song being recorded out of tune). ["Country Music: The Encyclopedia," St. Martin's Press, New York, 1997 (ISBN 0-312-15121-7)]

Gilley was resigned, however, to the song being "terrible," as he saw the record being distributed only in the Houston, Texas area. The public, however, was very forgiving of the song's perceived flaws. The song swept Houston, and it wasn't long before the single was picked up for national distribution by the newly formed Playboy Records. [Roland.] ["Country Music: The Encyclopedia."]

Released in April 1974, the song soon became Gilley's first No. 1 hit on the "Billboard magazine" Hot Country Singles chart, and paved the way for future superstardom.

George Morgan original

The original George Morgan version was released in the summer of 1949, and would reach No. 4 on the "Billboard" country chart that August.

References

*Whitburn, Joel, "Top Country Songs: 1944-2005," 2006.