Gotta travel on
Gotta Travel on is the title of a country song released by Billy Grammer in 1958, which is based on an old folk song .
History of origin
The history of Gotta Travel on can be traced back to the 19th century. Both the title and its text have changed over the years. Under the title Yonder Comes the High Sheriff , his tracks lead to the year 1891, at that time also titled as I've Laid Around and Played Around (part of today's chorus). Obviously the first recording was made on August 6, 1927 by Ollis Martin (vocals / harmonica) under the title Police & High Sheriff Come ( Gennett Records # 6306), registered in the American Songbag. The Blues referred to in Georgia popular and the United States throughout the South fraud in gambling ( "skin games") in Blues Bars. This was followed on September 19, 1927 as the first cover version, the recording by the Aiken County String Band as High Sheriff ( Okeh Records # 45219).
The melody, but with a completely different text, was adopted by Crockett Ward & his Boys (recorded on September 26, 1927; as Deadheads and Suckers , Okeh 45179), Prairie Ramblers (February 21, 1935; as Big Ball in Texas ; Vocalion 02918), Monroe Brothers (February 27, 1936; as My Long Journey Home , Bluebird B6422) and the Delmore Brothers (January 26, 1938, as Big Ball in Texas , Bluebird B7560). These songs are based on the title Long Journey Home , which uses the same melody but has completely different lyrics.
However, it took over 30 years before the song was picked up again with its original lyrics. When Sanga Music Inc. took over the copyright in early 1959 , folk singers Paul Clayton, Larry Ehrlich (pseudonym of Lee Hays), David Lazar ( Pete Seeger ) and Tom Six (Fred Hellerman) were registered as composers. Hays, Seeger and Hellerman were members of the folk group Weavers . Folk singer Pete Seeger took it over with the title Done Laid Around for his album Hootenanny at Carnegie Hall (recorded live at Carnegie Hall on February 22, 1958; Folkways Records #FN 2512; 1960).
Million seller
The independent label Monument Records sought since its formation in March 1958 for a suitable song to which the label catalog to begin. Founder Bob Foster needed 5 months to come across the title Done Laid Around . The folk singer and composer Paul Clayton had given the English folk song together with David Lazar and Larry Ehrlich a new text with an additional third verse and the title Gotta Travel on . Clayton contributed the refrain "Done laid around, done stayed around this old town too long and I feel like I gotta travel on". In an evening session on August 22, 1958 in the RCA recording studios of Nashville with Billy Grammer and the orchestra of Bob Moore under production supervision by Bob Foster, a country song provided with rockabilly elements.
The long search was worth it, because Gotta Travel on / Chasing a Dream (Monument 45-400) with Billy Grammer became the first million seller of the new record label and a crossover hit after its release in October 1958 . The title had already sold 900,000 copies in February 1959, and weeks later the million mark was exceeded. It was ranked 5th in the country charts and 4th in the pop charts and was thus transported to the charts for the first time. Grammer could no longer repeat the success with other titles; he died on August 10, 2011.
In October 1959 Paul Clayton got a record deal with Monument Records.
Cover versions
Coverinfo lists a total of 34 versions. Bill Monroe recorded a bluegrass version on December 1, 1958 ( Decca Records # 30809), which after its release in January 1959 reached number 15 on the country charts. The Weavers included the folk song on their LP Traveling on With the Weavers ( Vanguard Records #VSD 2022, January 1959). A single was released on Vanguard VRS 35001. Buddy Holly presented the now popular piece on February 2, 1959 in Clear Lake, Iowa , on the eve of his fatal plane crash. Cisco Houston covered him for the LP Sings Songs of the Open Road (Folkways FA 2480; January 1960) as Travel On . Harry Belafonte sings the song in the film The World, the Flesh and the Devil (German title: Die Welt, das Fleisch und der Teufel ), which had its US premiere on May 20, 1959.
Co-composer Paul Clayton had it in February 1963 for his LP Folk Singer! (Monument SP 18017), which only appeared in December 1964. Timi Yuro released her bluesy version in October 1963, Eddy Arnold included it on his LP Folk Song Book (January 1964). Bob Dylan took up the title on the June 28, 1970 LP Self Portrait . Rex Gildo's German version was called Der Sommer geht (LP When it has to be can I be faithful , Electrola #SME 83 846; 1965), Peggy Lee immortalized the song on October 29, 1965. Gotta Travel on is one of the more than a million times songs performed on radio and television, that is over 50,000 hours of airplay , and was awarded a BMI award.
Individual evidence
- ^ Daniel Watkins Patterson, North Carolina Folklife , 1990, p. 141
- ^ Carl Sandburg, The American Songbag , p. 213
- ^ Paul Oliver, Barrelhouse Blues - Location Recording and the Early Tradition of the Blues , 2009, p. 99
- ↑ Wayne Peas, Rural Roots of Bluegrass: Songs, Stories and History , 2003, p. 121
- ↑ Billboard Magazine, January 30, 1961, All-Time Hit Songs at Broadcast Music Inc. 1940-1960 , p. 19
- ↑ Rick Kennedy / Randy McNutt, Little Labels - Big Sound , 1999, p. 143
- ^ Billboard Magazine, December 21, 1968, Foster Creates a Monument , p.42
- ^ Joseph Murrells, Million Selling Records , 1985, p. 117
- ↑ Billboard Magazine January 13, 1959, p. 35
- ^ BMI List of Most Played Titles