Readers vote Nat King Cole as recording the best version of “Route 66”

A little more than a year ago, I posted a story and online readers poll about the many versions of “(Get Your Kicks on) Route 66” over the decades.

I promised a follow-up on the top vote-getter within a week or so.

Then, I promptly forgot about it … for more than a year.

The good thing is the PollDaddy poll continued to collect data, despite my negligence. After recently realizing my absent-mindedness, I closed the poll Friday night, and I now am ready to give the results.

It was close, and no one music artist dominated. But the first recorded version of “Route 66” by Nat King Cole in 1946 finished on top of more than a dozen entries. This oldie but goodie beat them all, with 16.5 percent of the vote of almost 400 votes cast by readers.

Second with 14.2 percent of the vote was the Rolling Stones’ version on the band’s first album, in 1964.

Third was Chuck Berry’s version in 1961, with 13.2 percent.

Fourth was Depeche Mode’s electronica version, released in 1981. It earned 13 percent of the vote.

Fifth was John Mayer’s version from 2006, which was boosted by it being on the “Cars” movie soundtrack. It received 10.4 percent of the vote.

After that, the results tail off, with the No. 6 version, western swing act Asleep At the Wheel, with 8.4 percent.

Each act listed in the poll received at least one vote, except Michael Martin Murphey.

You can see the full results here:

The big winner, however, is the late Bobby Troup and his estate. He’s the one who wrote the tune during a cross-country trip on Route 66 all those years ago. Because of the many successful versions of “Route 66,” Troup and his family undoubtedly earned millions of dollars in royalties.

(Image of Nat King Cole in 1964 by Roadsidepictures via Flickr)

7 thoughts on “Readers vote Nat King Cole as recording the best version of “Route 66”

  1. I listen to the Modern Rock / New Wave station on Sirius/XM, and I estimate the Depeche Mode version is played about 5-10 times a week. It’s my 2nd favorite song by them (and the band is in my Top 10) and is still quite popular on New Wave stations across the US.

      1. This track was originally a B-Side. In addition to the regular version, there’s a couple of extended mixes, and also rare mixes of a medley that contains the A-Side, “Behind The Wheel.”

  2. I was a fan of the TV show “Emergency!” growing up. I now catch it on MeTV on a semi-regular basis and find it fascinating to watch how Dr. Joe Early (Bobby Troup) and Dixie McCall (his wife, Julie London) interact. As a kid, I never connected who Dr. Joe Early and Dixie McCall were in real life, when in fact “Route 66”, at that time, was already years behind Troup. I vaguely remember him being a part of the Route 66 renaissance in the very early 1990s. Every time I see Dr. Joe Early, I have to wonder if he ever had any inkling of how far this song would go, how many times it would be recorded by someone new, and how beloved it would become? Thanks for giving us the survey results Ron. They are interesting indeed!

  3. Gary, I was not aware that Depeche Mode had covered this song. I’ll have to check it out. There are so many versions…nothing personal, but it’s not likely to become a favorite.

    Mark, I didn’t know there were any of us Jason and the Scorchers fans left! LOL WAs a fan in college, and bought another CD of theirs years later with their cover of John Denver’s “Country Roads”. I enjoyed (and bookmarked) this clip. Thanks for sharing it!

    Tonya, I’m right there with you, ME TV and all. I grew up watching EMERGENCY!, and I think the show holds up pretty well still.

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