(I'm a) Road Runner

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"(I'm a) Road Runner"
Jr walker road runner.jpg
Single by Junior Walker & the Allstars
from the album Road Runner
B-side"Shoot Your Shot"
Released1966
Recorded1965
GenreSoul, rhythm and blues
Length2:49
LabelTamla Motown
Songwriter(s)Holland–Dozier–Holland
Junior Walker & the Allstars singles chronology
"Cleo's Back"
(1966) 		"(I'm a) Road Runner"
(1966) 		"Cleo's Mood"
(1966)
Music video
[I'm A] Road Runner on YouTube

"(I'm a) Road Runner" is a hit song by Junior Walker & the Allstars, and was the title track of the successful 1966 album Road Runner. Written by the team of Holland–Dozier–Holland, it was released on the Tamla (Motown) label in 1966 and reached the top twenty in the U.S. and the UK.[1][2]

Background[]

Walker plays the distinctive tenor saxophone solo, backed by Mike Terry on baritone saxophone with on guitar.[3] During the recording, it was discovered that Walker could play the song in only two keys. So Walker sang in a key that he couldn’t play, and after being recorded, the saxophone track was sped up to match.[4]

The pictorial single sleeve used a running bird similar to the Road Runner cartoon character.

Personnel[]

Junior Walker & the Allstars

Plus

Chart history[]

Chart (1966) Peak
position
U.K. Singles Chart[5] 12
U.S. Billboard Hot 100[6] 20
U.S. Billboard Top Selling R&B Singles[7] 4

Later versions[]

  • British-American rock group Fleetwood Mac recorded the song with Dave Walker on lead vocals for their 1973 album Penguin.
  • The Jerry Garcia Band performed a version of the song in 1975, which was featured on The Jerry Garcia Collection, Vol. 2: Let It Rock.
  • James Taylor performed his version, in September 1976, in episode 1, season 2 of Saturday Night Live.[citation needed] Taylor also included the song on his 2008 album Covers.
  • Steve Gaines from Lynyrd Skynyrd performed the song with his own band, Crawdad, in the mid 1970s. A recording of them performing it was released on Gaines's 2001 live compilation CD, Okie Special.
  • Peter Frampton included the song on his 1977 album I'm in You.

References[]

  1. ^ AllMusic.com
  2. ^ HDH Records
  3. ^ "WBSS Media-Willie Woods".
  4. ^ Brian's Weekly Sleevenotes from BBC Radio 2's "Sounds of the Sixties" broadcast 5 July 2014.
  5. ^ "officialcharts.com". officialcharts.com. Retrieved June 6, 2021.
  6. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2013). Joel Whitburn’s Top Pop Singles, 14th Edition: 1955-2012. Record Research. p. 893.
  7. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 607.

External links[]

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