Roy D. Mercer

Roy D. Mercer
Portrayed by Brent Douglas

Roy D. Mercer is a fictional character created by disc jockeys Brent Douglas and Phil Stone on radio station KMOD-FM in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Douglas, who performs Mercer's voice, uses the character as a vehicle for comedy sketches in which he performs prank calls. Seventeen Roy D. Mercer albums have been released, all on Capitol Records Nashville or Virgin Records Nashville.

Contents

History

Brent Douglas and Phil Stone, disc jockeys on KMOD-FM, a rock radio station, in Tulsa, Oklahoma, created the Roy D. Mercer character in 1993.[1] Initially, they used the character on comedy sketches for the radio station. Originally, the prank call sketches were a part of KMOD's morning show. By 1997, Capitol Records Nashville began issuing the sketches on compact disc.[2] Sixteen Roy D. Mercer compilations have been released on the Capitol and Virgin Records labels. A Virgin Records Nashville executive noted that Mercer's early albums managed to sell between 250,000 and 300,000 copies, primarily due to word of mouth, without any promotion to consumers or radio airplay of the album tracks.[3]

In most of the sketches, Mercer will demand that the recipient of a call pay him money for some incident, and if the recipient refuses, he will threaten them with violence (usually an "ass-whoopin'"). Mercer has been described as speaking with "a mushy-mouthed Southern drawl" and his style of comedy has been described as "not exactly obscene ... [but] border[ing] on offensive".[4] Many of the recipients of the calls are suggested by their friends who supply Mercer with information about the potential recipients.[4]

John Bean's "Leroy Mercer" character of the 1980s

Many claim that the character "Roy D. Mercer" is based on a character in prank calls virally circulated by hand-to-hand tape exchange throughout the early eighties and beyond. In the early 1980s, the character "Leroy Mercer" was created in Tennessee by John Bean, who also called individuals and businesses threatening an "ass-whoopin".[5] There are many parallels and similarities to the calls, with "Roy D. Mercer" using many of "Leroy Mercer's" lines.[6][7][8][9][10] John Bean died in 1984; Stone and Douglas say they invented their Roy D. Mercer in 1990.[11] In a video documentary on Bean's life, comedian Jeff Foxworthy praised Bean's work and noted he quoted Bean's Leroy Mercer character every day.[12]

Discography

Studio albums

Year Album Chart Positions[13]
US Comedy US Country US Heat US
1997 How Big 'a Boy Are Ya? Vol. 1 39 28
How Big 'a Boy Are Ya? Vol. 2 43 33
How Big 'a Boy Are Ya? Vol. 3 31 11
1998 How Big 'a Boy Are Ya? Vol. 4 19 6 160
How Big 'a Boy Are Ya? Vol. 5 13 4 138
1999 How Big 'a Boy Are Ya? Vol. 6 16 5 164
2000 How Big 'a Boy Are Ya? Vol. 7: Hangin' It Up 32 22
2001 Roy D. Mercer vs. Yankees 24 17
2003 Roy D. Mercer Hits the Road 31 23
2004 Get Well Soon 7 52 49
2006 Black & Blue 3 31 146

Compilation albums

Year Album Chart Positions[13]
US Comedy US Country US Heat
2000 Greatest Fits: The Best of How Big 'a Boy Are Ya? 26
2002 The Roy D. Mercer Family Album 35 47
2007 The Best of Roy D. Mercer Double Wide Vol. 1 8
The Best of Roy D. Mercer Double Wide Vol. 2 9
The Best of Roy D. Mercer Double Wide Vol. 3 7 73
2008 More Greatest Fits 3 41
2011 10 Great Skits 2 45 20

Music videos

Year Video Director
1999 "How Big 'a Boy Are Ya?" (with Charlie Daniels)[14] Peter Zavadil

References

  1. ^ "Roy D. Mercer — he's the Jerky Boys' country cousin". The Oak Ridger. 1999-12-10. Archived from the original on 2008-01-06. http://web.archive.org/web/20080106155335/http://www.oakridger.com/stories/121099/int_1209990052.html. Retrieved 2007-12-02. 
  2. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "allmusic ((( Roy D. Mercer > Biography )))". Allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/artist/p200310. Retrieved 2007-12-02. 
  3. ^ Flippo, Chet (1999-10-23). "Roy D. Hangs On; Owen Bradley to Be Honored; Kentucky Hall of Fame Set". Billboard: p. 40. http://books.google.com/books?id=dwgEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA40&dq=%22roy+d.+mercer%22&client=firefox-a#v=onepage&q=%22roy%20d.%20mercer%22&f=false. 
  4. ^ a b McCall, Michael (1998-11-26). "Frankly Speaking: Country comedy, like country music, tries to keep up with the times". Nashville Scene. http://www.nashvillescene.com/nashville/frankly-speaking/Content?oid=1182696. 
  5. ^ Bean, Betty (2008-07-30). "Tales of Bean More anecdotes of John Bean's sly sense of humor". Metro Pulse. http://www.metropulse.com/news/2008/jul/30/tales-bean/. Retrieved 26 July 2010. 
  6. ^ Turczyn, Coury (2008-07-30). "Ass-Whuppin' Time". Metro Pulse. http://www.metropulse.com/news/2008/jul/30/ass-whuppin-time/. Retrieved 26 July 2010. 
  7. ^ "Phone prank phenomenon gets his due: Atomic Audio releases 'The Real Leroy Mercer'". The City Paper. 2001-01-18. 
  8. ^ "John Bean's Leroy Mercer discovers YouTube". Knoxville News Sentinel. 2008-07-24. http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2008/jul/24/john-beans-leroy-mercer-discovers-youtube/. Retrieved 26 July 2010. 
  9. ^ Bean, Betty. "Somebody's Fixin' to Get Their Ass Whupped: The life and death of the true Picasso of prank phone calls, John Bean". PopCult Magazine. http://www.popcultmag.com/obsessions/everydaypeople/johnbean/bean1.html. Retrieved 26 July 2010. 
  10. ^ Dills, John (2009-02-10). "The Real John Bean". Trucker News. http://www.truckersnews.com/the-real-john-bean/. Retrieved 26 July 2010. 
  11. ^ Bledsoe, Wayne (2000-01-02). "Prank calls that spread around world now on CD". Knoxville News Sentinel. http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2000/jan/02/prank-calls-spread-around-world-now-cd/. Retrieved 26 July 2010. 
  12. ^ "The Legacy of John Bean". http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLBGpbSSC3g. Retrieved 26 July 2010. 
  13. ^ a b "Charts & Awards—Roy D. Mercer". Allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/artist/p200310. Retrieved 16 November 2009. 
  14. ^ "CMT : Videos : Roy D. Mercer : How Big'a Boy Are Ya". Country Music Television. http://www.cmt.com/videos/roy-d-mercer/385498/how-biga-boy-are-ya.jhtml. Retrieved November 18, 2011. 

External links