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"The Ballad of Thunder Road" | |
---|---|
Song by Robert Mitchum | |
B-side | "My Honey's Lovin' Arms" |
Published | 1958 |
Released | May 1958 |
Genre | Country [1] |
Composer(s) | Jack Marshall |
Lyricist(s) | Robert Mitchum |
Producer(s) | Lee Gillette |
"The Ballad of Thunder Road" is a song performed and co-written by actor Robert Mitchum in 1958, with music by composer Jack Marshall. [2] It was the theme song of the movie Thunder Road . [2] The song made the Billboard Hot 100 twice, in 1958 and 1962, and while it never peaked higher than number 62, it racked up 21 total weeks in the chart. The song moves ominously between minor and major keys.
It tells the tale of "Lucas Doolin" (Robert Mitchum), a bootlegger during the 1950s, who would deliver moonshine along local roads at excessive speeds to avoid "revenuers". [3] [4]
After receiving word (on April 1, 1954) that the revenuers had "200 agents, covering the state", Lucas' father advises him to "make this run your last", and that he should not attempt to outrun the revenuers, but if he could not get through safely, to turn himself in. However, Lucas ignores his father's request, and attempts to outrun the law, but fails to evade them and dies as a result (the last lines read: "Then right outside of Bearden, they made the fatal strike./He left the road at 90, that's all there is to say/The Devil got the moonshine and the mountain boy that day").
Mitchum got the tune for the song from a Norwegian folk-dance ("Gammel Reinlender") song his mother used to sing to him. He also played the bootlegger in the movie.
Bluegrass performers Jim & Jesse (McReynolds) brought the song to the national country charts in the fall of 1967.
The song in the movie soundtrack itself is a softer, more ballad-like version than the hit single recorded by Mitchum, and was sung by Randy Sparks. [5]
Addie Moore of Wide Open Country compared Mitchum's songwriting to the storytelling of Western singer-songwriters Johnny Horton and Marty Robbins, stating the song's staying power "opened the door for Mitchum to briefly become one of the celebrity toasts of Tennessee." [1]
Robert Charles Durman Mitchum was an American actor. He is known for his antihero roles and film noir appearances. He received nominations for an Academy Award, and a BAFTA Award. He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1984 and the Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award in 1992. Mitchum is rated number 23 on the American Film Institute's list of the greatest male stars of classic American cinema.
Moonshine is high-proof liquor, generally whiskey, traditionally made, or at least distributed, illegally. Its clandestine distribution is known as bootlegging. The name was derived from a tradition of creating the alcohol during the nighttime, thereby avoiding detection. In the first decades of the 21st century, commercial distilleries have adopted the term for its outlaw cachet and begun producing their own legally sanctioned, novelty "moonshine," including many flavored varieties, that in some sense continue its tradition, generally having a similar method and/or location of production.
Thunder Road is a black-and-white 1958 drama–crime film directed by Arthur Ripley and starring Robert Mitchum, who also produced the film and wrote the story. With Don Raye, Mitchum co-wrote the theme song, "The Ballad of Thunder Road". The supporting cast features Gene Barry, Jacques Aubuchon, Keely Smith, James Mitchum, Sandra Knight, and Peter Breck. The film's plot concerns running bootleg moonshine in the mountains of Kentucky, North Carolina, and Tennessee in the late 1950s. Thunder Road became a cult film and continued to play at drive-in movie theaters in some southeastern states through the 1970s and 1980s.
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Thunder Road may refer to:
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