"Gotta Travel On" | ||||
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Single by Billy Grammer | ||||
B-side | "Chasing a Dream" | |||
Released | October 1958 | |||
Studio | RCA Victor, Nashville, Tennessee [1] | |||
Genre | Country | |||
Length | 2:24 | |||
Label | Monument | |||
Songwriter(s) | Paul Clayton, The Weavers, Larry Ehrlich, Dave Lazer [2] | |||
Billy Grammer singles chronology | ||||
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"Gotta Travel On" is an American folksong. The earliest known version was printed in Carl Sandburg's The American Songbag in 1927 under the title "Yonder Comes the High Sheriff" and several variations were recorded in the 1920s, but the best known version is credited to Paul Clayton, The Weavers, Larry Ehrlich, and Dave Lazer and was first recorded by Pete Seeger in 1958. [3]
A 1958 recording by Billy Grammer backed by the Anita Kerr Singers reached #4 on the U.S. pop chart, #5 on the U.S. country chart, #6 in Australia, and #14 on the U.S. R&B chart in 1959. [4] The recording ranked #53 on Billboard magazine's Top 100 singles of 1959. [5]
"All My Trials" is a folk song which became popular during the social protest movements of the late 1950s and 1960s. Alternative titles it has been recorded under include "Bahamian Lullaby" and "All My Sorrows." The origins of the song are unclear, as it appears to not have been documented in any musicological or historical records until after the first commercial recording was released on Bob Gibson's 1956 debut album Offbeat Folksongs.
"Me and Bobby McGee" is a song written by American singer-songwriter Kris Kristofferson and originally performed by Roger Miller. Fred Foster shares the writing credit, as Kristofferson wrote the song based on a suggestion from Foster. A posthumously released version by Janis Joplin topped the U.S. singles chart in 1971, making the song the second posthumously released No. 1 single in U.S. chart history after "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay" by Otis Redding. Gordon Lightfoot released a version that reached number 1 on the Canadian country charts in 1970. Jerry Lee Lewis released a version that was number 1 on the country charts in December 1971/January 1972 as the "B" side of "Would You Take Another Chance On Me." Billboard ranked Joplin's version as the No. 11 song for 1971.
"Only You (And You Alone)" (often shortened to "Only You") is a pop song composed by Buck Ram. It was originally recorded by The Platters with lead vocals by Tony Williams in 1955.
Rosemary Victoria Yuro, known professionally as Timi Yuro, was an American singer. Sometimes called "the little girl with the big voice", she is considered to be one of the first blue-eyed soul stylists of the rock era. Yuro possessed a contralto vocal range. According to one critic, "her deep, strident, almost masculine voice, staggered delivery and the occasional sob created a compelling musical presence".
"Sixteen Tons" is a song written by Merle Travis about a coal miner, based on life in the mines of Muhlenberg County, Kentucky. Travis first recorded the song at the Radio Recorders Studio B in Hollywood, California, on August 8, 1946. Cliffie Stone played bass on the recording. It was first released in July 1947 by Capitol on Travis's album Folk Songs of the Hills. The song became a gold record.
"Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" is a show tune written by American composer Jerome Kern and lyricist Otto Harbach for the 1933 musical comedy Roberta. The song was sung in the Broadway show by Tamara Drasin. Its first recorded performance was by Gertrude Niesen, who recorded the song with orchestral direction from Ray Sinatra, Frank Sinatra's second cousin, on October 13, 1933. Niesen's recording of the song was released by Victor, with the B-side, "Jealousy", featuring Isham Jones and his Orchestra. The line — When your heart's on fire, smoke gets in your eyes — apparently comes from a Russian proverb.
"Cotton Fields (The Cotton Song)" (also known as In Them Old Cotton Fields Back Home) is a song written by American blues musician Huddie Ledbetter, better known as Lead Belly, who made the first recording of the song in 1940.
"Hallelujah I Love Her So" is a single by American musician Ray Charles. The rhythm and blues song was written and released by Charles in 1956 on the Atlantic label, and in 1957 it was included on his self-titled debut LP, also released on Atlantic. The song peaked at number five on the Billboard R&B chart. It is loosely based on 'Get It Over Baby' by Ike Turner (1953).
"Detroit City" is a song written by Danny Dill and Mel Tillis, made famous by Billy Grammer, country music singer Bobby Bare and Tom Jones. Bare's version was released in 1963. The song — sometimes known as "I Wanna Go Home" — was Bare's first Top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart that summer, and became a country music standard.
"Boll Weevil" is a traditional blues song, also known by similar titles such as "Boweavil" or "Boll Weevil Blues". Many songs about the boll weevil were recorded by blues musicians during the 1920s through the 1940s. However, a rendition by Lead Belly recorded in 1934 by folklorist Alan Lomax led to its becoming well-known. A 1961 adaptation by Brook Benton became a pop hit, reaching number two on the Billboard Hot 100. Fats Domino's "Bo Weevil" is a different song.
"I'm Just a Country Boy" is a song written by Fred Hellerman and Marshall Barer. In 1954, the song was recorded by Harry Belafonte accompanied by Hugo Winterhalter And His Orchestra and released on 78 rpm and 45 rpm record. It was the B-side of the record, "Hold 'Em Joe" (Calypso) being the A-side. The print on the record informs us that the song was written by Fred Brooks and Marshall Barer, noting that Fred Brooks was a pseudonym for Fred Hellerman who was blacklisted in the McCarthy era for his socialist ideals.
"Hurt" is a 1954 song by Jimmie Crane and Al Jacobs. "Hurt" was originally performed by Roy Hamilton, whose version peaked at number eight on the R&B Best Seller chart and spent a total of seven weeks on the chart. A version by Ricky Denell also received considerable radio airplay in 1954 on pop radio stations. The song is considered to be the signature hit of Timi Yuro, whose version went to number four on the Billboard pop chart in 1961. Elvis Presley’s 1976 version reached the top 40 on the Billboard Hot 100 and the top 10 on Billboard’s Hot Country Singles chart. Juice Newton's 1985 version scored number one on Billboard's Country chart.
The song known as both "Gospel Boogie" and "A Wonderful Time Up There" was written by Lee Roy Abernathy, and first recorded by him in 1947 under the former name. This release, for the label White Church Record, credits the performance with variant spelling to "Leroy Abernathy Homeland Harmony Quartet".
"Long Black Limousine" is a song written by Vern Stovall and Bobby George around 1958. The first released version was Stovall's, in 1961.
"Losing You" is a song written by Jean Renard and Carl Sigman and performed by Brenda Lee. The song reached #2 on the adult contemporary chart, #6 on the Billboard Hot 100, #10 in the UK, and #13 on the R&B chart in 1963. The song is featured on her 1963 album, ..."Let Me Sing".
"The Fool" is a song written by Naomi Ford and Lee Hazlewood and performed by Sanford Clark. It reached #5 on the U.S. R&B chart, #7 on the U.S. pop chart, and #14 on the U.S. country chart in 1956.
"Why Don't They Understand" is a song written by Jack Fishman and Joe Henderson and performed by George Hamilton IV. It reached #10 on the U.S. pop chart, #22 on the UK Singles Chart, and #18 in Canada in 1958.
"Sleep" is a song written by Earl Burtnett and Adam Geibel in 1923. The song's melody is based on a motif from "Visions of Sleep", a 1903 composition by Geibel. The song was released by Fred Waring's Pennsylvanians in 1923, becoming the band's first hit and their signature theme. The song was also the theme for the television musical variety show The Fred Waring Show. The lyrics for the song were written by Waring's brother, Tom, who sang on the recording as well.
"Dynamite" is a song by Cliff Richard and the Shadows, first released in October 1959 as the B-side to the number one hit "Travellin' Light".
500 Miles Away from Home is the debut studio album by American country artist, Bobby Bare. It was released in December 1963 via RCA Victor and contained 12 tracks. It was the debut studio album of Bare's career and second with RCA Victor. The album's title track was released as a single in 1963. It became a top ten single on the American country, pop and adult contemporary music charts. The album itself reached the top ten of the American country albums chart. It received positive reception from AllMusic in later years following its original release.