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Hit the Road Jack

1961 single by Ray Charles

1961 single by Ray Charles

FieldValue
nameHit the Road Jack
coverRaCharles HTRJ.png
typesingle
artistRay Charles
B-sideThe Danger Zone
releasedAugust 1961
recordedJune 1961
genreR&B
length2:00
labelABC-Paramount
writerPercy Mayfield
producerSid Feller
prev_titleOne Mint Julep
prev_year1961
next_titleI Can’t Stop Loving You
next_year1962
Note

the Ray Charles song

| B-side = The Danger Zone

"Hit the Road Jack" is a song written by the rhythm and blues singer Percy Mayfield and recorded by Ray Charles. The song was a US number 1 hit in 1961, and won a Grammy Award for Best Rhythm and Blues Recording, becoming one of Charles' signature songs.

Background

The song was written by Percy Mayfield, who first recorded it in 1960 as an a cappella demo sent to music executive Art Rupe. It became famous after it was recorded by the singer-songwriter-pianist Ray Charles, with The Raelettes vocalist Margie Hendrix.

Charles's recording hit number one for two weeks on the Billboard Hot 100, beginning on Monday, October 9, 1961. "Hit the Road Jack" won a Grammy Award for Best Rhythm and Blues Recording. The song was number one on the R&B Sides chart for five weeks, thereby becoming Charles's sixth number-one on that chart. The song was ranked number 387 on Rolling Stone magazine's 2010 list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time"; it had ranked at number 377 on the original 2004 list.

In 2013, the 1961 recording by Ray Charles on the ABC-Paramount label was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.

The Chantels released an answer song, "Well, I Told You" which charted at No. 29.

Charts and certifications

Charts

Chart (1961)Peak
positionAustralia (Kent Music Report)Flanders13artist=Ray Charlessong=Hit the Road Jackaccess-date=March 8, 2014}}New Zealand (Lever Hit Parade)Sweden (Tio i Topp)UK6artist=Ray Charlessong=Hit the Road Jackdate=1961-11-11access-date=March 8, 2014}}US Billboard Hot 100US Hot R&B Sides (Billboard)
3
1
1
1
1
Chart (2011)Peak
positionFrance90artist=Ray Charlessong=Hit the Road Jackaccess-date=March 8, 2014}}

Certifications

The Stampeders version

In 1976, Canadian band the Stampeders released a version of the song taken from their album *Steamin''' featuring DJ Wolfman Jack. The song reached No. 6 in Canada, No. 40 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and No. 41 on the US *Cash Box'' Top 100. The single features a conversation between Wolfman Jack and "Cornelius" -- the real name of Stampeders bassist Ronnie King.

References

References

  1. "Hit the Road Jack".
  2. Breihan, Tom. (April 6, 2018). "The Number Ones: Ray Charles' "Hit The Road Jack"".
  3. Billboard Staff. (October 19, 2023). "The 500 Best Pop Songs: Staff List".
  4. "Taking a crack at the history of 'Jack'".
  5. (2020-11-23). "Ray Charles".
  6. (2010-05-28). "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time".
  7. (2004-12-09). "The RS 500 Greatest Songs of All Time".
  8. "GRAMMY Hall Of Fame | Hall of Fame Artists | GRAMMY.com".
  9. "The Chantels".
  10. Kent, David. (2008). "[[Kent Music Report". Australian Chart Book.
  11. "Lever Hit Parade, 30 November 1961".
  12. (2012). "Tio i Topp - med de utslagna "på försök" 1961–74". Premium.
  13. "Ray Charles – Awards". [[Rovi Corporation]].
  14. "New Zealand single certifications – Ray Charles – Hit the Road Jack". [[Recorded Music NZ]].
  15. "RPM Top 100 Singles - July 19, 1975".
  16. Whitburn, Joel. (2011). "Top Pop Singles 1955–2010". Record Research, Inc.
  17. Whitburn, Joel. (2014). "Cash Box Pop Hits: 1952-1996". Record Research.
Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

1960-songs 1961-singles abc-records-singles the-animals-songs billboard-hot-100-number-one-singles cashbox-number-one-singles number-one-singles-in-new-zealand paramount-records-singles ray-charles-songs songs-written-by-percy-mayfield male–female-vocal-duets
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