"Room Full of Roses", written by Tim Spencer, is a song first recorded in 1949 by

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

singer George Morgan. The original George Morgan version was released in the summer of 1949, and reached No. 4 on the ''Billboard'' country chart that August. A Sons of the Pioneers version reached #10 on the country charts in the same year. It was famously covered in 1974 by up-and-coming singer

Mickey Gilley Mickey Leroy Gilley (March 9, 1936 – May 7, 2022) was an American country music singer, businessman, actor, and musician. Among his hits are " Room Full of Roses", " Don't the Girls All Get Prettier at Closing Time", and “ Lonely Nights”. ...

. 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 The Sons of the Pioneers are one of the United States' earliest Western singing groups. Known for their vocal performances, their musicianship, and their songwriting, they produced innovative recordings that have inspired many Western music per ...

member Tim Spencer that had been recorded by George Morgan. The song had already become somewhat of a country

crooner A crooner is a singer who performs with a smooth, intimate style that originated in the 1920s. The crooning style was made possible by better microphones that picked up quieter sounds and a wider range of frequencies, allowing the singer to acce ...

standard, after it had been recorded by

Jim Reeves James Travis Reeves (August 20, 1923July 31, 1964) was an American singer, songwriter, and musician. One of the earliest pioneers and practitioners of the Nashville sound, he played a central role in the sonic development of country music in th ...

for his 1960 album ''The Intimate Jim Reeves'' and by

Dean Martin Dean Martin (born Dino Paul Crocetti; June 7, 1917 – December 25, 1995) was an American singer, actor, and comedian. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Cool", he is regarded as one of the most popular entertainers of ...

for his 1963 album '' Dean "Tex" Martin: Country Style''. Gilley never intended to have a hit with "Room Full of Roses," as it was designated the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...

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). Gilley was resigned, however, to the song being "terrible," as he saw the record being distributed only in the

Houston, Texas Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

, area. However, the song quickly became popular and was later picked up for national distribution by the newly formed

Playboy Records Playboy Records was an American record label, based in Los Angeles, California, and a unit of Playboy Enterprises. Artists recording for the label included Al Wilson, Barbi Benton, Blue Ash, Bobby Taylor & the Vancouvers, The Weapons of Peac ...

. Released in April 1974, the song was Gilley's first of seventeen No. 1 hits on the ''

Billboard magazine ''Billboard'' (stylized in lowercase since 2013) is an American music and entertainment magazine published weekly by Penske Media Corporation. The magazine provides music charts, news, video, opinion, reviews, events and styles related to th ...

Hot Country Singles Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data along with digital sales and streaming. ...

chart.

Chart performance

References

External links

Eddy Howard's 1949 recording
{{DEFAULTSORT:Room Full Of Roses Songs about flowers 1974 singles George Morgan (singer) songs Mickey Gilley songs Sons of the Pioneers songs 1949 songs Playboy Records singles Eddy Howard songs