Roy D. Mercer

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

Roy D. Mercer
First appearance	How Big 'a Boy Are Ya? Vol. 1
Created by	Brent Douglas, Phil Stone
Voiced by	Brent Douglas
In-universe information
Gender	Male
Occupation	Prank caller
Nationality	American

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] Twelve Roy D. Mercer compilation albums 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-whuppin'"). Mercer has been described as speaking with "a mush-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] A couple of notable people that Douglas and Stone had called were Bill Goldberg, and Chris Bray, the production manager for Steppenwolf.

On October 12, 2012, the Phil and Brent Show ended its 27-year run with KMOD-FM radio. Forty days later, on November 21, Phil Stone died from causes related to heart disease at the age of 57.[5]

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

Many claim that Roy D. Mercer was inspired by "Leroy Mercer," a character created in Tennessee by Knoxville resident John Bean, who made prank calls circulated by hand-to-hand tape exchange in the early 1980s. Leroy Mercer, voiced by John Bean, also called individuals and businesses threatening an "ass-whuppin".[6] There are many parallels and similarities to the calls, with Roy D. Mercer using many of the former Leroy Mercer's lines.[7][8][9][10][11] John Bean died from cancer in his early 30s in 1984; Stone and Douglas said that they originally invented their Roy D. Mercer character in 1990 before his official creation in 1993, and that part of the name and lines used in Roy D. Mercer's recordings was copied from John Bean.[12]

Discography

Studio albums

Year	Album	Chart Positions[13]
		US Comedy	US Country	US Heat	US
1996	How Big 'a Boy Are Ya? Vol. 1		39	28
	How Big 'a Boy Are Ya? Vol. 2		43	33
1997	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
2013	Red, White & Bruised	7

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	The Best of Roy D. Mercer Double Wide Vol. 4
	The Best of Roy D. Mercer Double Wide Vol. 5
	The Best of Roy D. Mercer Double Wide Vol. 6
2008	More Greatest Fits	3	40
2010	10 Great Skits	2	45	20
2012	The Very Worst of Roy D. Mercer: Ultimate Fits!	3	75

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. Retrieved 2007-12-02.
2. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "allmusic ((( Roy D. Mercer > Biography )))". Allmusic. 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.
4. McCall, Michael (1998-11-26). "Frankly Speaking: Country comedy, like country music, tries to keep up with the times". Nashville Scene.
5. "Former 'Phil and Brent' morning show host Phil Stone dies". Tulsa World. November 21, 2012. Retrieved November 24, 2012.
6. Bean, Betty (2008-07-30). "Tales of Bean More anecdotes of John Bean's sly sense of humor". Metro Pulse. Archived from the original on February 26, 2014. Retrieved 26 July 2010.
7. Turczyn, Coury (2008-07-30). "Ass-Whuppin' Time". Metro Pulse. Archived from the original on February 26, 2014. Retrieved 26 July 2010.
8. "Phone prank phenomenon gets his due: Atomic Audio releases 'The Real Leroy Mercer'". The City Paper. 2001-01-18.
9. "John Bean's Leroy Mercer discovers YouTube". Knoxville News Sentinel. 2008-07-24. Retrieved 26 July 2010.
10. 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. Retrieved 26 July 2010.
11. Dills, John (2009-02-10). "The Real John Bean". Trucker News. Retrieved 26 July 2010.
12. Bledsoe, Wayne (2000-01-02). "Prank calls that spread around world now on CD". Knoxville News Sentinel. Retrieved 26 July 2010.
13. "Charts & Awards—Roy D. Mercer". Allmusic. Retrieved 16 November 2009.
14. "CMT : Videos : Roy D. Mercer : How Big'a Boy Are Ya". Country Music Television. Retrieved November 18, 2011.

External links

• Capitol Nashville Records: Roy D. Mercer