WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.359 Welcome in, everyone. Pull up a chair, get comfortable. 00:00:02.640 --> 00:00:04.679 Let's get right into it. Yeah, let's do it. It's 00:00:04.679 --> 00:00:06.500 great to be here. It is so great to have you 00:00:06.500 --> 00:00:09.000 here with us today because we are going on a 00:00:09.000 --> 00:00:11.330 bit of a journey. And when I say you, I mean 00:00:11.330 --> 00:00:12.830 you, the person listening right now. Right. You 00:00:12.830 --> 00:00:14.689 are the essential third person in this conversation. 00:00:14.949 --> 00:00:17.589 Exactly. We've got a really fantastic deep dive 00:00:17.589 --> 00:00:20.109 lined up for you today. We are going to be exploring 00:00:20.109 --> 00:00:23.910 a single, incredibly rich source, which is a 00:00:23.910 --> 00:00:26.890 comprehensive Wikipedia article all about the 00:00:26.890 --> 00:00:32.549 iconic 1946 Rhythm and Blue song, Route 66. Or, 00:00:32.670 --> 00:00:35.670 to use its full official title, Get Your Kicks 00:00:35.670 --> 00:00:38.170 on Route 66. It is a title that practically invites 00:00:38.170 --> 00:00:41.469 you to, you know, roll the window. It really 00:00:41.469 --> 00:00:44.310 does. Our mission today is to figure out how 00:00:44.310 --> 00:00:47.009 a simple cross -country road trick birthed a 00:00:47.009 --> 00:00:49.710 musical standard. We want to understand how a 00:00:49.710 --> 00:00:52.149 song hasn't just survived the decades, but is 00:00:52.149 --> 00:00:55.090 actively shapeshifted across entirely different 00:00:55.090 --> 00:00:58.409 genres and generations of artists. Okay, let's 00:00:58.409 --> 00:01:00.829 unpack this. To really understand the DNA of 00:01:00.829 --> 00:01:02.969 the song, we have to ground ourselves in the 00:01:02.969 --> 00:01:05.489 historical context of the original source material. 00:01:05.790 --> 00:01:09.209 So we're looking at the year 1946. Post -war 00:01:09.209 --> 00:01:11.909 America. Exactly. A post -war America that is 00:01:11.909 --> 00:01:15.030 absolutely ripe for travel, for mobility, and 00:01:15.030 --> 00:01:17.730 for new beginnings. People are looking out at 00:01:17.730 --> 00:01:20.109 the horizon with a fresh perspective after years 00:01:20.109 --> 00:01:23.510 of global conflict. The rationing is ending. 00:01:23.730 --> 00:01:25.849 Right. Automobile production is ramping back 00:01:25.849 --> 00:01:30.010 up, and the highway system is calling. So as 00:01:30.010 --> 00:01:31.810 we go through this deep dive, keep in mind that 00:01:31.810 --> 00:01:33.769 this isn't just a story about a catchy tune. 00:01:33.969 --> 00:01:36.530 It is about the cultural evolution of the American 00:01:36.530 --> 00:01:39.370 road trip itself, captured in just a few minutes 00:01:39.370 --> 00:01:41.829 of music. That perfectly sets the stage for the 00:01:41.829 --> 00:01:43.709 origin story. I was thinking about this while 00:01:43.709 --> 00:01:45.930 reading the article. Today, before we go on a 00:01:45.930 --> 00:01:49.370 long drive, we spend hours curating the perfect 00:01:49.370 --> 00:01:51.969 Spotify playlist. Oh, absolutely. But the songwriter 00:01:51.969 --> 00:01:54.510 we are talking about today, Bobby Troop, he essentially 00:01:54.510 --> 00:01:57.439 created the ultimate road trip anthem. by writing 00:01:57.439 --> 00:01:59.439 it while driving. That's the best part. So the 00:01:59.439 --> 00:02:03.500 year is 1946, and Troop has this dream. He wants 00:02:03.500 --> 00:02:05.780 to try his hand at being a Hollywood songwriter. 00:02:05.959 --> 00:02:08.580 So he and his wife, Cynthia, pack up everything 00:02:08.580 --> 00:02:11.860 they need into their 1941 Buick, and they leave 00:02:11.860 --> 00:02:15.039 Pennsylvania behind, pointing the car west toward 00:02:15.039 --> 00:02:17.780 California. It's a classic American migration 00:02:17.780 --> 00:02:20.680 story, but the route they took is actually where 00:02:20.680 --> 00:02:22.860 the creative spark happened. Right. And here 00:02:22.860 --> 00:02:25.550 is the pivot that I found so surprising. The 00:02:25.550 --> 00:02:28.590 trip actually began on U .S. Highway 40. And 00:02:28.590 --> 00:02:31.210 as they were driving along U .S. 40, which eventually 00:02:31.210 --> 00:02:33.870 connected them to U .S. 66 to get to the coast, 00:02:34.169 --> 00:02:36.750 Troop had an idea. He initially wanted to write 00:02:36.750 --> 00:02:39.590 a tune about U .S. 40. Which is wild to think 00:02:39.590 --> 00:02:42.050 about. How different would music history be if 00:02:42.050 --> 00:02:44.050 he had stuck with that? Musically speaking, it 00:02:44.050 --> 00:02:45.930 probably wouldn't have worked. Route 40 just 00:02:45.930 --> 00:02:47.810 doesn't have the same rhythmic bounce to it. 00:02:48.219 --> 00:02:50.800 The double six creates a natural percussive rhyme 00:02:50.800 --> 00:02:52.879 scheme that you just can't get out of the word 00:02:52.879 --> 00:02:56.139 40. This brings us to the unsung hero of this 00:02:56.139 --> 00:02:59.460 entire deep dive, his wife, Cynthia. It wasn't 00:02:59.460 --> 00:03:01.319 Bobby Truke who came up with the legendary hook 00:03:01.319 --> 00:03:03.280 that we all know today. No, it wasn't. It was 00:03:03.280 --> 00:03:06.840 Cynthia who leaned over in that 1941 Buick, probably 00:03:06.840 --> 00:03:09.659 exhausted from the drive, and suggested the title 00:03:09.659 --> 00:03:12.740 Get Your Kicks on Route 66. What's fascinating 00:03:12.740 --> 00:03:16.080 here is how the actual mechanics of the songwriting 00:03:16.080 --> 00:03:18.240 process played out against the reality of the 00:03:18.240 --> 00:03:20.680 trip. Right. You have this 10 -day drive across 00:03:20.680 --> 00:03:23.680 the western two -thirds of the country from Chicago 00:03:23.680 --> 00:03:26.840 to Los Angeles. The song was started during that 00:03:26.840 --> 00:03:29.400 10 -day journey out there on the open road. With 00:03:29.400 --> 00:03:32.139 the wind in their hair. Exactly. But according 00:03:32.139 --> 00:03:34.460 to the source material, it wasn't actually finished 00:03:34.460 --> 00:03:37.139 in the car. Troop finished the song after they 00:03:37.139 --> 00:03:39.159 had already arrived in Los Angeles. And to get 00:03:39.159 --> 00:03:41.580 all those iconic cities and towns in the right 00:03:41.580 --> 00:03:44.419 order for the lyrics, Chicago, St. Louis, Joplin, 00:03:44.520 --> 00:03:47.439 Oklahoma City, he had to consult a physical paper 00:03:47.439 --> 00:03:50.319 map. That is the ultimate irony to me. We think 00:03:50.319 --> 00:03:52.680 of this song as the definitive boots on the ground 00:03:52.680 --> 00:03:55.400 road trip anthem. But he was literally sitting 00:03:55.400 --> 00:03:57.930 at a desk in a Los Angeles apartment. tracing 00:03:57.930 --> 00:04:00.389 his finger over a map to remember where he had 00:04:00.389 --> 00:04:02.310 just been. A little bit of movie magic right 00:04:02.310 --> 00:04:04.629 there. Yeah, and because he was relying on this 00:04:04.629 --> 00:04:07.250 map to finish the lyrics, there were some casualties. 00:04:07.710 --> 00:04:10.449 I was laughing so hard reading the article because 00:04:10.449 --> 00:04:12.930 it includes this later quote from Cynthia. Oh, 00:04:12.969 --> 00:04:16.230 about the missing city. Yes. Even years later, 00:04:16.329 --> 00:04:19.769 she commented, and I'm quoting here, what I can't 00:04:19.769 --> 00:04:22.189 really believe is that he doesn't have Albuquerque 00:04:22.189 --> 00:04:25.689 in the song. He drove right through it. looked 00:04:25.689 --> 00:04:28.129 at a map, and somehow still left Albuquerque 00:04:28.129 --> 00:04:30.230 completely out of the lyrics. It just goes to 00:04:30.230 --> 00:04:32.410 show that even a song that feels like a spontaneous, 00:04:32.689 --> 00:04:35.610 lived -in travelogue is still subject to the 00:04:35.610 --> 00:04:38.370 editing process and occasionally simple human 00:04:38.370 --> 00:04:40.850 error. He just skipped right over New Mexico's 00:04:40.850 --> 00:04:43.290 largest city. Whoops. But regardless of missing 00:04:43.290 --> 00:04:45.170 Albuquerque, the foundation was laid. And that 00:04:45.170 --> 00:04:47.670 brings us to the very first time this song was 00:04:47.670 --> 00:04:50.009 put on wax. We are talking about the Nat King 00:04:50.009 --> 00:04:52.189 Cole original version. I want to know how that 00:04:52.189 --> 00:04:54.370 happened so quickly. He recorded it with a King 00:04:54.370 --> 00:04:59.279 Cole. Trio on March 16, 1946 at Radio Recorders 00:04:59.279 --> 00:05:02.420 in Los Angeles. The timeline there is incredible 00:05:02.420 --> 00:05:05.300 if you really look at it. Trute makes the drive 00:05:05.300 --> 00:05:08.899 in early 1946, the song is written, and by mid 00:05:08.899 --> 00:05:11.519 -March of that exact same year, Nat King Cole 00:05:11.519 --> 00:05:14.420 is already in the studio recording it. That's 00:05:14.420 --> 00:05:17.170 a fast turnaround. Cole was a massive star, and 00:05:17.170 --> 00:05:19.550 his trio's piano -driven rhythm and blues style 00:05:19.550 --> 00:05:22.490 was the perfect vehicle for Troop's lyrics. Capitol 00:05:22.490 --> 00:05:25.209 Records released it as a single shortly after, 00:05:25.350 --> 00:05:29.589 on April 20, 1946. Just a quick piece of trivia 00:05:29.589 --> 00:05:31.930 for you listening. The B -side to that single 00:05:31.930 --> 00:05:34.569 was a song called Everyone is Saying Hello Again, 00:05:34.750 --> 00:05:37.829 Why Must We Say Goodbye? Quite the mouthful compared 00:05:37.829 --> 00:05:40.319 to the A -side. Right. But the A -side is what 00:05:40.319 --> 00:05:42.980 took off. The article mentions it reached number 00:05:42.980 --> 00:05:45.639 three on Billboard magazine's race records chart, 00:05:45.779 --> 00:05:48.040 and it climbed to number 11 on the broader singles 00:05:48.040 --> 00:05:50.100 chart. Can you give us a little context on what 00:05:50.100 --> 00:05:52.199 those charts meant at the time? Absolutely. The 00:05:52.199 --> 00:05:54.519 race records chart was the industry term Billboard 00:05:54.519 --> 00:05:57.540 used in the 1940s to track rhythm and blues music, 00:05:57.560 --> 00:05:59.600 which was predominantly created by and marketed 00:05:59.600 --> 00:06:01.740 to black Americans during a heavily segregated 00:06:01.740 --> 00:06:04.500 era in the music industry. Okay, got it. The 00:06:04.500 --> 00:06:06.720 fact that Route 66 hit number three there was 00:06:06.720 --> 00:06:09.500 huge, but the fact that it crossed over and reached 00:06:09.500 --> 00:06:12.540 number 11 on the broader mainstream singles chart 00:06:12.540 --> 00:06:15.560 meant it was breaking through those racial barriers 00:06:15.560 --> 00:06:18.439 and appealing to a massive nationwide audience. 00:06:18.819 --> 00:06:22.220 That crossover appeal is so crucial to its legacy. 00:06:22.439 --> 00:06:24.899 It really is. And its impact wasn't just a flash 00:06:24.899 --> 00:06:27.040 in the pan for Cole either. If you look at his 00:06:27.040 --> 00:06:29.240 discography, you can see how much he genuinely 00:06:29.240 --> 00:06:31.480 loved the song. He didn't just record it once 00:06:31.480 --> 00:06:33.579 and move on. He went back to it, right? Yeah. 00:06:33.680 --> 00:06:35.980 He actually re -recorded the tune for later albums 00:06:35.980 --> 00:06:38.959 as recording technology improved. You can find 00:06:38.959 --> 00:06:42.480 lush subsequent versions of it on his 1956 album, 00:06:42.639 --> 00:06:45.560 After Midnight, and again on the 1961 release, 00:06:45.800 --> 00:06:48.879 The Nat King Cole Story. By returning to it repeatedly, 00:06:49.220 --> 00:06:52.720 he really cemented Route 66 as an absolute standard 00:06:52.720 --> 00:06:55.360 of the rhythm and blues genre. Here's where it 00:06:55.360 --> 00:06:57.379 gets really interesting, though, because it didn't 00:06:57.379 --> 00:07:00.339 just stay a rhythm and blues standard. As a listener, 00:07:00.399 --> 00:07:01.939 you might be familiar with five or six different 00:07:01.939 --> 00:07:03.689 versions of this song. They probably sound nothing 00:07:03.689 --> 00:07:06.470 alike. Very true. How does a smooth R &B tune 00:07:06.470 --> 00:07:08.990 become a global chameleon? It comes down to the 00:07:08.990 --> 00:07:11.889 underlying musical architecture. At its core, 00:07:12.069 --> 00:07:15.069 Route 66 is built on a standard 12 -bar blues 00:07:15.069 --> 00:07:17.870 progression. Okay. It is an incredibly sturdy, 00:07:18.170 --> 00:07:21.449 simple, and adaptable framework. Because the 00:07:21.449 --> 00:07:23.170 structure is so fundamental, you can dress it 00:07:23.170 --> 00:07:25.569 up in almost any musical style, and it still 00:07:25.569 --> 00:07:28.170 holds together. Let's test that theory with some 00:07:28.170 --> 00:07:29.930 of the covers mentioned in the source. Just to 00:07:29.930 --> 00:07:32.370 start with the contemporaries, you had Bing Crosby 00:07:32.370 --> 00:07:34.569 teaming up with the Andrews sisters. A classic 00:07:34.569 --> 00:07:36.750 pairing. They recorded a version that reached 00:07:36.750 --> 00:07:38.870 number 14 on the Billboard chart in that same 00:07:38.870 --> 00:07:42.860 year. 1946. How does a song go from a smooth 00:07:42.860 --> 00:07:45.959 piano trio to a mainstream crinor and a vocal 00:07:45.959 --> 00:07:48.339 harmony group in a matter of months? Because 00:07:48.339 --> 00:07:50.560 that walking bass line and the rhythmic naming 00:07:50.560 --> 00:07:53.579 of the cities acts almost like a drumbeat. Crosby 00:07:53.579 --> 00:07:55.839 and the Andrews sisters leaned into the swing 00:07:55.839 --> 00:07:59.040 and the novelty of the geography. It felt fun 00:07:59.040 --> 00:08:01.740 and patriotic in a post -war landscape. Okay, 00:08:01.779 --> 00:08:05.040 so that's 1946. Let's fast forward to 1964. Suddenly, 00:08:05.079 --> 00:08:07.060 the Rolling Stones are putting it on their self 00:08:07.060 --> 00:08:09.680 -titled debut album. A huge shift. We are talking 00:08:09.680 --> 00:08:12.899 about gritty, rebellious British rock and roll. 00:08:13.620 --> 00:08:16.360 How did a group of young kids in London learn 00:08:16.360 --> 00:08:19.240 a song about an American highway? The lineage 00:08:19.240 --> 00:08:21.279 of how the Rolling Stones actually arrived at 00:08:21.279 --> 00:08:23.639 their version is a tangled web all on its own. 00:08:24.040 --> 00:08:26.480 The music critic Richie Unterberger has some 00:08:26.480 --> 00:08:28.519 great notes on this, which are cited in the Wikipedia 00:08:28.519 --> 00:08:31.519 article. He points out it was a staple of their 00:08:31.519 --> 00:08:33.899 early live tours. Did they just listen to Nat 00:08:33.899 --> 00:08:36.419 King Cole and speed it up? Not at all. According 00:08:36.419 --> 00:08:38.440 to those notes, the Stones pieced it together 00:08:38.440 --> 00:08:41.330 from two entirely different sources. They learned 00:08:41.330 --> 00:08:43.809 the aggressive, driving musical arrangement from 00:08:43.809 --> 00:08:46.029 a version that rock and roll pioneer Chuck Berry 00:08:46.029 --> 00:08:50.289 recorded for his 1961 album New Jukebox Hits. 00:08:50.409 --> 00:08:52.190 Oh, that makes sense. Berry had taken that 12 00:08:52.190 --> 00:08:55.429 -bar blues structure and electrified it. However, 00:08:55.610 --> 00:08:57.850 for the actual words, the Stones sourced the 00:08:57.850 --> 00:09:00.450 lyrics from a version by Perry Como, specifically 00:09:00.450 --> 00:09:04.629 from Como's 1959 album Como Swings. That is wild. 00:09:04.830 --> 00:09:07.009 They took Chuck Berry's blazing rock and roll 00:09:07.009 --> 00:09:09.690 energy and layered it over lyrics they pulled 00:09:09.690 --> 00:09:12.490 from... a Perry Como pop vocal record. A total 00:09:12.490 --> 00:09:15.070 hybrid. That is the kind of musical archaeology 00:09:15.070 --> 00:09:16.970 that makes a deep dive like this so much fun. 00:09:17.269 --> 00:09:19.490 It's like a game of intercontinental telephone. 00:09:19.950 --> 00:09:23.610 And the genre hopping did not stop with 1960s 00:09:23.610 --> 00:09:25.870 British rock. Not by a long shot. Where did it 00:09:25.870 --> 00:09:28.850 go next? Well, the article highlights its jump 00:09:28.850 --> 00:09:32.350 into jazz. In 1982, the vocal group, the Manhattan 00:09:32.350 --> 00:09:34.669 Transfer, released a version that was featured 00:09:34.669 --> 00:09:37.509 on the soundtrack for the 1981 film Sharky's 00:09:37.509 --> 00:09:40.320 Machine. Oh yeah, Burt Reynolds. Yep. And more 00:09:40.320 --> 00:09:42.700 impressively, that version earned them a Grandy 00:09:42.700 --> 00:09:45.440 Award for Best Jazz Vocal Performance. Which 00:09:45.440 --> 00:09:47.659 makes sense. They took the song back to its jazz 00:09:47.659 --> 00:09:51.080 and R &B roots, but added complex, modern vocal 00:09:51.080 --> 00:09:53.580 harmonies. It's a completely different flavor 00:09:53.580 --> 00:09:55.779 from the Rolling Stones, yet highly acclaimed 00:09:55.779 --> 00:09:57.320 in its own right. But if we're talking about 00:09:57.320 --> 00:09:59.460 different flavors, we have to talk about the 00:09:59.460 --> 00:10:02.059 hard left turned into synth pop. The English 00:10:02.059 --> 00:10:04.480 electronic band Depeche Mode took a swing at 00:10:04.480 --> 00:10:07.440 it. I love this one. In 1988, their version reached 00:10:07.440 --> 00:10:10.840 number 61 on the Billboard. Hot 100. I have to 00:10:10.840 --> 00:10:13.960 admit, picturing a 1940s road trip song played 00:10:13.960 --> 00:10:16.519 on dark industrial synthesizers is breaking my 00:10:16.519 --> 00:10:18.899 brain a little bit. It sounds like a mismatch, 00:10:18.899 --> 00:10:22.179 but they did something incredibly clever. Depeche 00:10:22.179 --> 00:10:24.440 Mode didn't just cover it straight. They mashed 00:10:24.440 --> 00:10:26.740 it up in a medley with their own song behind 00:10:26.740 --> 00:10:30.059 the wheel. Oh, that is smart. Right. By conceptually 00:10:30.059 --> 00:10:32.379 connecting the thematic idea of driving from 00:10:32.379 --> 00:10:34.720 their own brooding track with the ultimate American 00:10:34.720 --> 00:10:37.419 road trip anthem, they created something entirely 00:10:37.419 --> 00:10:40.360 new. They proved that the desire for the open 00:10:40.360 --> 00:10:42.919 road translates just as well to dark European 00:10:42.919 --> 00:10:45.960 dance clubs as it does to a dusty highway in 00:10:45.960 --> 00:10:48.500 Arizona. And just to prove that the 12 -bar blues 00:10:48.500 --> 00:10:51.100 framework can literally do anything, it also 00:10:51.100 --> 00:10:53.860 conquered country. Naturally. The artist Michael 00:10:53.860 --> 00:10:56.039 Martin Murphy recorded the song for his 1989 00:10:56.039 --> 00:10:59.399 album, Land of Enchantment. And when it was released 00:10:59.399 --> 00:11:02.220 as a single in 1990, it charted on the Billboard 00:11:02.220 --> 00:11:05.700 Hot Country Singles Chart. Jazz, rock, electronic 00:11:05.700 --> 00:11:08.779 pop, country, the framework of the song, the 00:11:08.779 --> 00:11:10.820 rhythm of traveling, the naming of places is 00:11:10.820 --> 00:11:13.580 universally appealing. It's a blank canvas. Speaking 00:11:13.580 --> 00:11:16.320 of a blank canvas, that brings us to my absolute 00:11:16.320 --> 00:11:19.080 favorite anomaly in the entire article. We have 00:11:19.080 --> 00:11:20.559 to talk about the British detour. We have to 00:11:20.559 --> 00:11:22.440 talk about Billy Bragg. Yes, the Bragg version. 00:11:22.559 --> 00:11:24.820 For those who aren't familiar, Bragg is this 00:11:24.820 --> 00:11:27.820 fiercely political, working class, English punk 00:11:27.820 --> 00:11:31.720 and folk musician. And in 1977, he was playing 00:11:31.720 --> 00:11:34.379 with his band Riff Raff. They were performing 00:11:34.379 --> 00:11:37.480 Route 66 as part of their set. But Bragg had 00:11:37.480 --> 00:11:39.240 a problem with the lyrics. He didn't relate to 00:11:39.240 --> 00:11:42.019 them. Exactly. He strongly objected to standing 00:11:42.019 --> 00:11:44.500 on a stage and singing about these American cities 00:11:44.500 --> 00:11:47.559 that he had never actually been to. It felt inauthentic 00:11:47.559 --> 00:11:50.200 to him. He was a kid from England. Singing about 00:11:50.200 --> 00:11:53.279 Gallup, New Mexico and Flagstaff, Arizona meant 00:11:53.279 --> 00:11:55.899 absolutely nothing to his lived experience or 00:11:55.899 --> 00:11:58.080 to his audience. I'm going to play devil's advocate 00:11:58.080 --> 00:12:00.759 here for a second. Isn't it kind of sacrilege 00:12:00.759 --> 00:12:03.379 to just cross out the lyrics to an established 00:12:03.379 --> 00:12:05.860 classic and write in your own hometowns? You 00:12:05.860 --> 00:12:07.620 wouldn't rewrite the lyrics to a Beatles song 00:12:07.620 --> 00:12:09.299 just because you've never been to Penny Lane. 00:12:09.710 --> 00:12:11.309 I get why you'd say that, but think about the 00:12:11.309 --> 00:12:14.070 folk music tradition. Folk music is entirely 00:12:14.070 --> 00:12:16.830 based on oral history, on taking traditional 00:12:16.830 --> 00:12:19.330 melodies and updating the lyrics to reflect current 00:12:19.330 --> 00:12:22.309 events or local geography. Bragg was just applying 00:12:22.309 --> 00:12:25.610 that folk tradition to an R &B standard. He took 00:12:25.610 --> 00:12:27.889 ownership of the concept and completely localized 00:12:27.889 --> 00:12:31.389 it. He kept the original music, but swapped out 00:12:31.389 --> 00:12:33.929 all those iconic U .S. cities for English towns. 00:12:34.129 --> 00:12:38.370 He titled it A13, Trunk Road to the Sea. So good. 00:12:39.019 --> 00:12:41.139 replaced the sprawling American West with the 00:12:41.139 --> 00:12:43.899 route of the A13 road in England. Instead of 00:12:43.899 --> 00:12:45.820 telling people to get their kicks on Route 66, 00:12:46.120 --> 00:12:49.220 he was inviting listeners to go motoring on the 00:12:49.220 --> 00:12:52.580 A13. I love that so much. The article notes that 00:12:52.580 --> 00:12:55.159 growing up in Barking, driving down the A13 to 00:12:55.159 --> 00:12:58.279 South End was the ultimate escape for him. He 00:12:58.279 --> 00:13:00.279 described South End as being a promised land 00:13:00.279 --> 00:13:02.860 in a very Springsteen -ish way. That's a great 00:13:02.860 --> 00:13:05.000 description. For anyone listening, think of that 00:13:05.000 --> 00:13:07.700 classic Bruce Springsteen blue -collar longing 00:13:07.700 --> 00:13:10.200 for an escape from your hometown. That's what 00:13:10.200 --> 00:13:12.740 the A13 was for Bragg. If we connect this to 00:13:12.740 --> 00:13:14.860 the bigger picture, it shows us something profound 00:13:14.860 --> 00:13:17.639 about how music operates. Bragg used Troop's 00:13:17.639 --> 00:13:19.700 melody to paint a picture of local geography 00:13:19.700 --> 00:13:22.620 and working class identity. The American dream 00:13:22.620 --> 00:13:25.139 of the open road was translated into a British 00:13:25.139 --> 00:13:27.740 working class reality of driving to the coast 00:13:27.740 --> 00:13:30.080 for the weekend. It's the same feeling. The desire 00:13:30.080 --> 00:13:33.159 for freedom is exactly the same, but the landmarks 00:13:33.159 --> 00:13:35.320 change to reflect the reality of the listener. 00:13:35.720 --> 00:13:38.379 Unfortunately for Bragg, the music industry is 00:13:38.379 --> 00:13:41.250 a bit more rigid than the folk tradition. He 00:13:41.250 --> 00:13:44.350 wanted to include his version on his 1983 debut 00:13:44.350 --> 00:13:48.169 album, Life's a Riot with Spy vs. Spy. But he 00:13:48.169 --> 00:13:50.769 hit a wall. A major copyright hurdle. He simply 00:13:50.769 --> 00:13:52.830 couldn't get the official permission to use the 00:13:52.830 --> 00:13:55.629 music of Route 66 with his altered lyrics at 00:13:55.629 --> 00:13:58.549 the time. Copyright law doesn't always appreciate 00:13:58.549 --> 00:14:02.059 folk -style localization. The legalities of songwriting 00:14:02.059 --> 00:14:05.000 credits often get in the way of creative reinterpretation. 00:14:05.159 --> 00:14:07.860 The publishers protect the original work fiercely. 00:14:07.980 --> 00:14:10.019 Because of those legal problems the song sat 00:14:10.019 --> 00:14:12.519 in the vault for decades. It wasn't officially 00:14:12.519 --> 00:14:14.940 released until the year 2003 when it was finally 00:14:14.940 --> 00:14:17.120 included on a compilation album. It's a great 00:14:17.120 --> 00:14:19.460 example of how an idea can endure even when it 00:14:19.460 --> 00:14:21.539 has to wait 20 years to officially see the light 00:14:21.539 --> 00:14:24.200 of day. But speaking of endurance, we also have 00:14:24.200 --> 00:14:26.419 to look at how this song managed to stay culturally 00:14:26.419 --> 00:14:29.279 relevant well into the 21st century. That is 00:14:29.279 --> 00:14:31.759 a perfect transition, because we are moving from 00:14:31.759 --> 00:14:35.000 the A13 highway straight into a modern animated 00:14:35.000 --> 00:14:38.559 revival. For a massive portion of a younger generation, 00:14:38.860 --> 00:14:42.399 their introduction to this 1946 standard didn't 00:14:42.399 --> 00:14:44.580 come from Nat King Cole and it didn't come from 00:14:44.580 --> 00:14:46.559 the Rolling Stones. Nope. It came from a movie 00:14:46.559 --> 00:14:50.399 theater in 2006. We are talking about the Disney 00:14:50.399 --> 00:14:54.200 and Pixar animated film Cars. Exactly. The film 00:14:54.200 --> 00:14:57.059 is literally a love letter to the lore of Route 00:14:57.059 --> 00:14:59.279 66 and the forgotten towns along the highway. 00:14:59.820 --> 00:15:01.960 So, of course, the soundtrack had to include 00:15:01.960 --> 00:15:04.080 the song. But what's great is that they didn't 00:15:04.080 --> 00:15:06.820 just use one version. They feature two. The soundtrack 00:15:06.820 --> 00:15:10.080 brought in Chuck Berry, whose 1961 version was 00:15:10.080 --> 00:15:12.159 so influential to the rock lineage we talked 00:15:12.159 --> 00:15:14.240 about. And they also brought in modern artist 00:15:14.240 --> 00:15:17.899 John Mayer to record a fresh, bluesy take specifically 00:15:17.899 --> 00:15:20.019 for the film. Which bridged the gap beautifully. 00:15:20.600 --> 00:15:22.500 You have the historical anchor of Chuck Berry 00:15:22.500 --> 00:15:24.940 reminding older listeners of the song's pedigree 00:15:24.940 --> 00:15:27.799 and the contemporary appeal of John Mayer, ensuring 00:15:27.799 --> 00:15:29.700 the song resonates with the parents and children 00:15:29.700 --> 00:15:32.200 watching the film. And it wasn't just a throwaway 00:15:32.200 --> 00:15:34.840 soundtrack cover either. John Mayer's version 00:15:34.840 --> 00:15:37.240 was critically acclaimed. It actually secured 00:15:37.240 --> 00:15:41.539 a Grammy nomination for Best... solo rock vocal 00:15:41.539 --> 00:15:44.139 performance. It proves that a well -crafted song 00:15:44.139 --> 00:15:46.799 doesn't really have an expiration date. It just 00:15:46.799 --> 00:15:49.360 needs the right vehicle to reach a new audience. 00:15:49.759 --> 00:15:51.879 Okay, we have covered a massive amount of ground 00:15:51.879 --> 00:15:54.919 today. We've driven from a 1941 Buick out of 00:15:54.919 --> 00:15:57.200 Pennsylvania, through the recording studios of 00:15:57.200 --> 00:16:00.399 1940s Los Angeles, across the Atlantic to British 00:16:00.399 --> 00:16:03.740 rock bands and the A13 highway, into a synth 00:16:03.740 --> 00:16:06.340 -pop dance club, and right into a Pixar animation 00:16:06.340 --> 00:16:09.399 studio. So what does this all mean? That is the 00:16:09.399 --> 00:16:11.080 big question for you, the listener. We want you 00:16:11.080 --> 00:16:13.100 to think about why a song like this actually 00:16:13.100 --> 00:16:15.460 matters. Right, because Route 66 isn't just a 00:16:15.460 --> 00:16:18.340 catchy tune to tap your foot to. It is a masterclass 00:16:18.340 --> 00:16:21.100 in how a simple, relatable concept, the freedom 00:16:21.100 --> 00:16:23.659 of a road trip, can be endlessly adapted. Exactly. 00:16:24.059 --> 00:16:26.659 Whether you are driving that 1941 Buick across 00:16:26.659 --> 00:16:29.360 the American West, or dancing in a dark club 00:16:29.360 --> 00:16:32.340 in the 80s to Depeche Mode, or motoring down 00:16:32.340 --> 00:16:34.860 the A13 to South End hoping for a spring -ski 00:16:34.860 --> 00:16:38.600 -nish escape, The core human desire for exploration 00:16:38.600 --> 00:16:42.080 remains exactly the same. The song is just the 00:16:42.080 --> 00:16:44.159 vessel that carries that feeling. This raises 00:16:44.159 --> 00:16:45.860 an important question, though. A final thought 00:16:45.860 --> 00:16:48.019 to leave you with as we wrap up this deep dive. 00:16:48.139 --> 00:16:50.049 Yeah, lay it on us. Throughout this conversation, 00:16:50.250 --> 00:16:52.750 we've talked about Route 66 as if it's a permanent 00:16:52.750 --> 00:16:55.850 fixture of the landscape. But Bobby Troup managed 00:16:55.850 --> 00:16:58.610 to write a definitive, immortal anthem about 00:16:58.610 --> 00:17:01.509 American geography, largely by just looking at 00:17:01.509 --> 00:17:04.190 a paper map in a Los Angeles apartment. Yeah, 00:17:04.250 --> 00:17:07.029 that is still so crazy to me. It makes you wonder. 00:17:07.420 --> 00:17:10.000 How much of the legendary romanticized folklore 00:17:10.000 --> 00:17:12.859 we consume about places and travel is based on 00:17:12.859 --> 00:17:15.640 raw lived experience? And how much is just a 00:17:15.640 --> 00:17:18.440 cleverly rhymed illusion created by someone sitting 00:17:18.440 --> 00:17:20.559 in a room with a map? What an incredible thought 00:17:20.559 --> 00:17:22.180 to chew on the next time you hit the highway. 00:17:22.460 --> 00:17:24.220 Thank you for joining us for this deep dive. 00:17:24.380 --> 00:17:26.799 Keep exploring, keep questioning, and we will 00:17:26.799 --> 00:17:27.480 catch you next time.