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 that had been recorded by George Morgan.[1] The song had already become somewhat of a country crooner standard, after it had been recorded by Jim Reeves for his 1960 album The Intimate Jim Reeves and by Dean Martin 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 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.'"[citation needed]
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).[2]
Gilley was resigned, however, to the song being "terrible," as he saw the record being distributed only in the Houston, Texas, area. However, the song quickly became popular and was later picked up for national distribution by the newly formed Playboy Records.[3][4]
Released in April 1974, the song was Gilley's first of seventeen No. 1 hits on the Billboard magazine Hot Country Singles chart.[5]