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Tobacco Road (song)

"Tobacco Road"
Nashville Teens Tobacco Road.png
Cover of the 1964 English single
Single by The Nashville Teens
from the album Tobacco Road
B-side I Like It Like That
Released June 26, 1964 (1964-06-26) (UK)
August 1964 (1964-08) (US)
Format 7"
Genre
Length 2:27
Label Decca (UK)
London (US)
Writer(s) John D. Loudermilk
Producer(s) Mickie Most
The Nashville Teens singles chronology
"Tobacco Road"
(1964)
"Google Eye"
(1964)
"Tobacco Road"
Tobacco Road (song).png
Cover of the 1972 German single
Single by Eric Burdon & War
from the album Eric Burdon Declares "War"
B-side Tobacco Road: I Have A Dream
Released 1970
Format 7"
Genre
Writer(s) John D. Loudermilk
Producer(s) Jerry Goldstein
Eric Burdon & War singles chronology
"Spill the Wine"
(1970)
"Tobacco Road"
(1970)
"Paint It Black"
(1971)

"Tobacco Road" is a song written and first recorded by John D. Loudermilk in 1960 that was 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.

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 England, in the U.S. "Tobacco Road" became another one-hit wonder of the British Invasion. The Nashville Teens' cover version was featured at the close of episode 1 of season 4, "Public Relations", of the hit television show Mad Men on July 25, 2010.

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


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