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(Get Your Kicks on) Route 66

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For other uses, see Route 66 (disambiguation).
"Route 66"
Sheet music cover
Song
Published1946
Songwriter(s)Bobby Troup

"(Get Your Kicks On) Route 66", often rendered simply as "Route 66", is a popular song and rhythm and blues standard, composed in 1946 by American songwriter Bobby Troup. It was first recorded in the same year by Nat King Cole, and was subsequently covered by many artists including Chuck Berry in 1961 and The Rolling Stones in 1964. The song's lyrics follow the path of the U.S. Route 66 highway, which used to run a long distance across the U.S., going from Chicago, Illinois, to Los Angeles, California. The title was suggested to Troup by his first wife, Cynthia.[citation needed]

Composition and lyrics

File:Route 66 map.PNG
Location of U.S. Route 66 in the late 1930s in relation to the modern interstate highway system.

Troup conceived the idea for the song while driving west from Pennsylvania to Los Angeles, California, and the lyrics — which include references to the U.S. highway of the title and many of the cities it passes through — celebrate the romance and freedom of automobile travel. In an interview he once said the tune for the song, as well as the lyric "Get your kicks on Route 66," came to him easily, but the remainder of the lyrics eluded him. More in frustration than anything else he simply filled up the song with the names of towns and cities on the highway.

The lyrics read as a mini-travelogue about the major stops along the route, listing several cities and towns that Route 66 passes through, viz. St. Louis, Missouri; Joplin, Missouri; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; Amarillo, Texas; Gallup, New Mexico; Flagstaff, Arizona; Winona, Arizona; Kingman, Arizona; Barstow, California; and San Bernardino, California. Winona is the only town out of sequence: it was a very small settlement east of Flagstaff, and might indeed have been forgotten if not for the lyric "Don't forget Winona," written to rhyme with "Flagstaff, Arizona." Many artists who have covered the tune over the years have changed the initial lyrics, usually to "It goes to St. Louis, down through Missouri..." then continuing on with Oklahoma City and so on.

Recording history

"Route 66" was first recorded in 1946 by Nat King Cole, whose rendition became a hit on both the U.S. R&B and pop record charts. The version recorded by Perry Como in 1959 is more complete, including the seldom-heard second verse and also the introductory verse.

The song has become a pop standard and has since been covered by numerous other vocal and instrumental artists, including:

Re-worked version

Essex-born English singer-songwriter Billy Bragg also recorded an "anglicised" version of the song called "A13 (Trunk Road to the Sea)" for a John Peel session. In the song — strummed and sung to the same tune as the original — the landmark cities are replaced with English ones along the route of the A13, with Bragg inviting listeners to "Go motoring, on the A-thirteen".

Appearances in Other Media

The producers of television show Route 66 commissioned a new theme song because they wanted to avoid making royalty payments for Troup's song.

The song was performed by Ray Ellington and his Quartet on The Goon Show 'King Solomon's Mines', first broadcast by the BBC on December 2, 1957.

The 1981 Burt Reynolds' film Sharky's Machine featured a version performed by the The Manhattan Transfer.

The 2006 Disney/Pixar film Cars portrays the legendary road, Route 66 as a spectacle of the United States. In doing so, the film's soundtrack includes the popular Chuck Berry version and the Grammy nominated "update version" by modern blues rock artist John Mayer.

The 2006 film RV features the song, sung by the cast (Robin Williams, Cheryl Hines, JoJo, Josh Hutcherson, Jeff Daniels, Kristin Chenoweth, Hunter Parrish, Chloe Sonnenfeld, Alex Ferris) as the closing credits are scroll up the screen.

The 2008 video-game Burnout Paradise (Xbox 360/PS3) features the song, performed by Depeche Mode.

Notes

  1. ^ (as a bonus track on the 2002 CD release of the 1986 album "Still Standing")
  2. ^ (nominated for Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance for the 49th Annual Grammys, also used in the soundtrack for the 2006 Pixar film Cars)
  3. ^ (includes part of Nelson Riddle's theme song from Route 66 (TV series))
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