Tobacco Road (song)
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August 1964 (US)
| "Tobacco Road" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Side A of the US single | ||||
| Single by The Nashville Teens | ||||
| from the album Tobacco Road | ||||
| B-side | "I Like It Like That" | |||
| Released | June 26, 1964 (UK) August 1964 (US) | |||
| Recorded | May 1964 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 2:27 | |||
| Label | Decca (UK) London (US) | |||
| Songwriter | John D. Loudermilk | |||
| Producer | Mickie Most | |||
| The Nashville Teens singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
"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.
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[1][2]/blues rock[3] 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.[citation needed] "Tobacco Road" was a trans-Atlantic pop hit in 1964, reaching number 6 on the UK singles chart, number 3 in Canada,[4] 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. It reached number 9 on the New Zealand Lever Hit Parade charts[5]
