Route 66 [full title: [
Get Your Kicks On) Route 66] is an interesting song because it has been recorded by so very many artists in so many different genres and styles since it was first recorded by Nat King Cole in 1946:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCYApJtsyd0
(BTW, the guitarist in the above clip is the great Oscar Moore, arguably one of the finest jazz guitarists of the 1940s and 50s...)...
The song was written by Bobby Troup, a composer/musician/arranger/singer who made a name for himself in the jazz, Blues, and R&B scenes and was a much sought after songwriter; this is a clip of Troup singing his signature song with his own jazz group:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLUYf6cekMA
Bobby Troup was very well respected in the music business and had established a reputation as an advocate for integration in the music business, starting with his service in the US Marine Corps in WW2:
Quote:
After graduating from college in 1941, he enlisted in the United States Marine Corps but did not receive orders until January 1942. After completing officer training, he was assigned as one of two dozen white officers to direct recruit training at Montford Point, the recruit depot for the first black Marines. In 1943 he became recreation officer and helped build a recreation hall, basketball court, and outdoor boxing ring. A friend installed a miniature golf course. At Montford Point, he also organized the first African-American band of U.S. Marines. During this time he composed "Take Me Away from Jacksonville", which was to become an anthem of sorts for the Marines at Montford Point and other areas of Camp Lejeune.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_Troup
I recall seeing him as an actor on the TV series Emergency! back in the 1970s; I saw his name in the credits and wondered if he was the same Bobby Troup who wrote
Route 66; turned out he was the one and same; the TV series also featured the beautiful Julie London, who was the real life wife of Troup and who had been discovered by Troup who encouraged her to pursue a recording career:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXg6UB9Qk0o
Troup and London were married for 44 years until Troup's passing away...
Route 66 has been covered by artists as diverse as Chuck Berry, The Rolling Stones, Asleep At The Wheel, Manhattan Transfer, The Cramps, and many, many others; the most recent well-known version I could think of was this one by Depeche mode:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwPV3qJegEE
Sharp-eared listeners may detect how very much the opening notes of the above clip mirrors the opening of the ZZ Top song
Sharp Dressed Man whose opening licks mirror the opening notes of Bobby Troup's
Route 66...
...goes around, comes around...
<O>
