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"(Get Your Kicks on) Route 66" is a popular rhythm and blues song, composed in 1946 by American songwriter Bobby Troup. The lyrics relate a westward roadtrip on U.S. Route 66, a highway which traversed the western two-thirds of the U.S. from Chicago, Illinois, to Los Angeles, California. The song became a standard, with several renditions appearing on the record charts.
Background
Bobby Troup got the idea for the song on a cross-country drive from Pennsylvania to California. Troup wanted to try his hand as a Hollywood songwriter, so he and his wife, Cynthia, packed up their 1941 Buick and headed west. The trip began on US 40 and continued along US 66 to the California coast. Troup initially considered writing a tune about US 40, but Cynthia suggested the title "Get Your Kicks on Route 66".
The song was started during the ten-day trip and finished after consulting a map in Los Angeles. The lyrics mention several cities and towns encountered along the way; Cynthia later commented: "What I can't really believe is that he doesn't have Albuquerque in the song."
Billy Bragg recorded an anglicised version of the song titled "A13 (Trunk Road to the Sea)" for a John Peel session in 1985. It uses the original music, but the landmark cities are replaced with English towns along the route of the A13, with Bragg inviting listeners to "Go motoring, on the A-thirteen". According to Bragg, he wrote the lyrics while playing with his band Riff Raff in 1977: while the band played "Route 66" as part of their set, Bragg "objected to singing about these places that (he) didn't know ... there's a tradition of driving down the A13 to the glory of Southend. Growing up in Barking, that was the promised land, in quite a Springsteenish way". The song was originally meant to be released on Bragg's 1983 debut album Life's a Riot with Spy vs Spy; however, it was ultimately not included due to problems getting permission to use the music of "Route 66". It was finally released commercially on the bonus disc of the 2003 compilation Must I Paint You a Picture? The Essential Billy Bragg.
In 1995, Argentine blues guitarist and singer Pappo recorded a Spanish version titled "Ruta 66" for the eighth album of his "Pappo's Blues" project, Vol. 8 – Caso cerrado. Through heavy radio airplay, this version became an instant local hit and was later covered by other notorious Argentine rock and roll bands such as Ratones Paranoicos.
Sheet music cover
