Hit the Road Jack

"Hit the Road Jack" is a song written by the rhythm and blues artist Percy Mayfield and first recorded in 1960 as an a cappella demo sent to Art Rupe. It became famous after it was recorded by the singer-songwriter-pianist Ray Charles with The Raelettes vocalist Margie Hendrix, and eventually became one of Charles' signature songs.

This article is about the single by Ray Charles. For the album by Big Youth, see Hit the Road Jack (album). For the television series, see Hit the Road Jack (TV series).
"Hit the Road Jack"
Single by Ray Charles
B-side"The Danger Zone"
ReleasedJune 1961
GenreR&B
Length2:00
LabelABC-Paramount
Songwriter(s)Percy Mayfield
Ray Charles singles chronology
"Ruby"
(1960)		 "Hit the Road Jack"
(1961)		 "I'm Gonna Move to the Outskirts of Town"
(1961)

Charles's recording hit number one for two weeks on the Billboard Hot 100, beginning on Monday, October 9, 1961. "Hit the Road Jack" won a Grammy award for Best Rhythm and Blues Recording. The song was number one on the R&B Sides chart for five weeks, thereby becoming Charles's sixth number-one on that chart. The song is ranked number 387 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time".

The Chantels released an answer song, "Well, I Told You" which charted at #29.

The Stampeders version

In 1976, Canadian band The Stampeders released a version of the song featuring DJ Wolfman Jack. The song reached number 6 in Canada and the top 40 in the US.[1]

Charts
Chart (1961) Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[2] 3
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[3] 13
New Zealand (Lever Hit Parade)[4] 1
UK Singles (OCC)[5] 6
US Billboard Hot 100[6] 1
US Hot R&B Sides (Billboard)[6] 1
Chart (2011) Peak
position
France (SNEP)[7] 90

References
  1. Whitburn, Joel (2011). Top Pop Singles 1955–2010. Record Research, Inc. p. 847. ISBN 978-0-89820-188-8.
  2. Kent, David (2005). Australian Chart Book (1940–1969). Turramurra: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-44439-5.
  3. "Ultratop.be – Ray Charles – Hit the Road Jack" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved March 8, 2014.
  4. Lever Hit Parade, 30 November 1961
  5. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 8, 2014.
  6. "Ray Charles – Awards". AllMusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved March 8, 2014.
  7. "Lescharts.com – Ray Charles – Hit the Road Jack" (in French). Les classement single. Retrieved March 8, 2014.



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