Tobacco Road (song)

"Tobacco Road" is a blues song written and first recorded by John D. Loudermilk in December 1959 and released in 1960. This song became a hit for The Nashville Teens in 1964 and has since become a standard across several musical genres.

Loudermilk original version
Originally framed as a folk song, "Tobacco Road" was a semi-autobiographical tale of growing up in Durham, North Carolina. Released on Columbia Records, it was not a hit for Loudermilk, achieving only minor chart success in Australia. Other artists, however, immediately began recording and performing the song.

Nashville Teens version
The English group The Nashville Teens' garage rock /blues rock rendering was a bold effort featuring prominent piano, electric guitar, and bass drum parts and a dual lead vocal. Mickie Most produced it with the same tough-edged-pop feel that he brought to The Animals' hits. "Tobacco Road" was a trans-Atlantic pop hit in 1964, reaching number 6 on the UK singles chart, number 3 in Canada, and number 14 on the U.S. singles chart. While the Teens would have some further success in the UK, in North America "Tobacco Road" became another one-hit wonder of the British Invasion.

Other notable versions and uses
Lou Rawls recorded the song as a slow blues and released it as a single in 1963, although it didn't chart; it also became the title track of his subsequent album. Jefferson Airplane recorded a version of "Tobacco Road" on their first album, Jefferson Airplane Takes Off, in 1966; it was one of only two songs on their first album not written by a member of the band. In a May 1967 live recording included on the 1992 Jefferson Airplane Loves You boxed set, Marty Balin introduces it as "a song that Lou Rawls put out," suggesting that that's where the band had learned the song, although their folk-rock arrangement of it is unique to them.

Also in 1966, the song was recorded by the Los Angeles band The Leaves on its album Hey Joe, and by the New York band The Blues Magoos on its debut album Psychedelic Lollipop. Both versions appear to be at least loosely modeled on The Nashville Teens' uptempo arrangement.

British psychedelic band Spooky Tooth recorded a version in 1968 for their debut album, It's All About.

Rare Earth included the song on their 1969 album Get Ready.

The band Jamul reached number 83 in Canada with their version June 6, 1970.

The song appeared on Edgar Winter's debut album Entrance in 1970, and in a 17-minute live version on his 1972 double LP Roadwork. Before Entrance, Winter had been performing it as a member of his brother Johnny Winter's band; at the Woodstock festival, Johnny introduced the song as "a tune we used to do a long time ago".

In the 1970s, songwriters Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman claimed to have been inspired by "Tobacco Road" while writing The Sweet's "Block Buster!", after accusations of stealing the guitar riff from David Bowie's "Jean Genie".

Roy Clark included the song on his 1986 album Rockin' in the Country. His version peaked at number 56 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart.

In 1986, "Tobacco Road" was included on David Lee Roth's Eat 'em and Smile album, reaching #10 on the Billboard Rock chart.