Route 66 (song)
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"(Get Your Kicks On) Route 66" is an American popular song, composed in 1946 by Bobby Troup and first recorded that same year by Nat King Cole. The title was suggested by his first wife, Cynthia.
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[edit] History
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. Specifically mentioned, in order, are 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 in the list. It was a very small settlement east of Flagstaff, and might indeed have been forgotten if not for the song's lyric, "Don't forget Winona", written to rhyme with "Flagstaff, Arizona."
Cole's rendition of "Route 66" became a hit on both the U.S. R&B and pop record charts.
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 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 popular teen group The Cheetah Girls also covered the song, which was released on the special-edition version of The Cheetah Girls 2 soundtrack.
[edit] Cover versions
The song is a pop standard and has since been covered by numerous other vocal and instrumental artists, including:
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The Cheetah Girls' version was released in 2006 on the special edition of The Cheetah Girls 2 soundtrack album. Its music video, released to promote the film Cars, features the group traveling down Route 66 and stopping at gas stations.
[edit] Re-Worked versions
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".
[edit] External links
[edit] References
- ^ (nominated for Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance for the 49th Annual Grammys, also used in the soundtrack for the 2006 Pixar film Cars)
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