| Route 66 (song) |
Article Index for Route 66 |
Website Links For Route 66 |
Information AboutRoute 66 (song) |
|
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. The lyrics read as a sort of 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 have been forgotten if not for the song's lyric, "Don't forget Winona" intended 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 song has since been covered by numerous other vocal and instrumental artists, including:
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 to the same tune as the original - American place names are replaced by English ones along the route of the A13 motorway. EXTERNAL LINKS |
|
|