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. 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 hit. 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 and number 14 on the U.S. singles chart. While the Teens would have some further success in the UK, in the U.S. "Tobacco Road" became another one-hit wonder of the British Invasion. Later versions and uses . In the 1970s, songwriters Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman claimed to have been inspired by "Tobacco Road" while writing The Sweet's "Blockbuster", after accusations of stealing the guitar riff from David Bowie's "Jean Genie". The song became a hit for Edgar Winter on his debut album "Entrance" and he plays a 17-minute live version of the song on the double LP "Roadwork" from 1972. 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.