Forty Miles of Bad Road
| "Forty Miles of Bad Road" | |
|---|---|
| Single by Duane Eddy, His 'Twangy' Guitar and the Rebels | |
| from the album $1,000,000 Worth of Twang | |
| B-side | "The Quiet Three" |
| Released | May 1959 |
| Genre | Instrumental rock |
| Length | 2:10 |
| Label | Jamie |
| Songwriter(s) |
|
"Forty Miles of Bad Road" is a rock and roll instrumental recorded by Duane Eddy. Released as a single in 1959, it also appeared on Eddy's 1960 album $1,000,000 Worth of Twang.
Background
Michael Gray has written that the idea of the song title came from Eddy's producer Lee Hazlewood, who heard one Texan say to another, "Your girl has a face like forty miles of bad road," and immediately recognised the remark's potential as a song title.[1]
Chart performance
The song charted at #9 on the Pop chart.[2] "Forty Miles of Bad Road" also went to #17 on the Hot R&B Sides chart.[3]
Song influence
- The idiom is referenced in the lyrics of the R.E.M. song "Crush with Eyeliner": "She's a sad tomato/She's three miles of bad road".
- It is also referenced in Bob Dylan's 2000 Academy Award winning song "Things Have Changed": "I've been walking forty miles of bad road/If the bible is right, the world will explode."
References
- ^ Gray, The Bob Dylan Encyclopedia, pp. 655–656.
- ^ Koda, Cub (1994).Rock Instrumental Classics Volume 1: The Fifties (p. 14) [CD booklet]. Los Angeles: Rhino Records.
- ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 182.
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