The Google Doodle on Google’s homepage on Saturday will contain a commissioned work of an artist’s representation of Route 66. Allison Hacker of M Booth Communications alerted us to the forthcoming Google Doodle in an email about two weeks ago: While every Doodle has a story behind it, this specific one has a 2,448-mile-long journey. … Continue reading Google Doodle contains an artist’s tribute to Route 66
A Czech metal band called Doga recently performed its song “Route 66” on a staircase of city hall in Joplin, Missouri. According to the Joplin Globe: There have been more than 1.2 million views of the band Doga and its song “Route 66,” released last year on YouTube. The band performed the song on acoustic … Continue reading Czech metal band performs “Route 66” in Joplin City Hall
The Joliet-based Illinois Rock and Roll Museum on Route 66 recently announced its third class of inductees, and one of them made a key impact on Route 66 itself. That would be Nat King Cole, who was born in Alabama but spent his formative years in Chicago. He popularized “(Get Your Kicks on) Route 66” … Continue reading Nat King Cole among new inductees at Illinois Rock and Roll Museum on Route 66
William Shatner, best known for his role as Captain Kirk in the “Star Trek” television series and movies, recorded a version of Bobby Troup’s “(Get Your Kicks on) Route 66” for his new blues album. The song includes guitarist Steve Cropper, who played with Otis Redding, Sam & Dave, Booker T & the MGs and … Continue reading William Shatner gets his kicks on “Route 66” song
The story behind the now-iconic song “(Get Your Kicks on) Route 66” is Bobby Troup and his wife, Cynthia Troup, were traveling west on that highway to California in 1946 when she came up with the line “Get your kicks on Route 66.” Bobby Troup finished the rest of the song, pitched it to Nat … Continue reading Cynthia Troup’s role in “(Get Your Kicks on) Route 66”
Word came down late Monday that rock ‘n’ roll legend Tom Petty died after suffering a cardiac arrest at his Southern California home. He was 66. I’ll let others wax poetic about his marvelous career, including one of my favorite music writers at the Chicago Tribune. But it’s almost a given Tom Petty and his … Continue reading Tom Petty, R.I.P.
This video of new material being previewed by musician Inda Eaton surfaced a few days ago. This song is titled “Route 66,” but it bears little resemblance to the 1946 classic tune written by Bobby Troup and popularized by Nat King Cole. The key line — “the road, it changes you” — probably will hold … Continue reading A new version of “Route 66”
Music teacher Andy Jarema, thanks to some slick editing, performs Bobby Troup’s “(Get Your Kicks on) Route 66” on trumpet on the 10 locations mentioned in the song — plus Santa Monica as a bonus. https://youtu.be/FhLZ1Su64Ts Jarema wrote about his journey in a series of posts here. Many photos from the trip also are posted at … Continue reading A 2,400-mile performance of “Route 66”
Andrea Sachs, a Washington Post reporter who’s driven Route 66 and written about it several times, recently posited an interesting mental exercise. If Bobby Troup were writing “(Get Your Kicks on) Route 66” in 2017, what cities would he include instead? Troup wrote the song in 1946 during a trip on U.S. 66 traveling to … Continue reading What now would be the cities in the “Route 66” song?
The western swing and jazz collective Cow Bop recently completed another edition of its Route 66 music tour, this one called the Linear Music Festival. You can follow what they did here with blog posts, audio and a lot of other goodies. But here’s a performance of Bobby Troup’s “Route 66” at Cars on the … Continue reading Cow Bop gets its kicks
