"Forty Miles of Bad Road" is a

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It originated from African-American music such as jazz, rhythm a ...

instrumental An instrumental is a recording normally without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through semantic widening, a broader sense of the word song may refer to inst ...

recorded by

Duane Eddy Duane Eddy (born April 26, 1938) is an American rock and roll guitarist. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, he had a string of hit records produced by Lee Hazlewood, which were noted for their characteristically "twangy" sound, including " Rebel ...

. Released as a single in 1959, it also appeared on Eddy's 1960 album '' $1,000,000 Worth of Twang''.

Background

Duane told Oldies Radio DJ "Wild" Wayne that the title came about when he and his producer Lee Hazlewood were waiting in line to buy tickets at a movie theatre. They overheard two guys in front of them discussing a blind date that one of them just had. One asked the other as to how the blind date went. His friend replied that it was ok but the girl had a face that looked like "forty miles of bad road". Duane and Lee looked at each other and said we have the title of our next record.

Chart performance

The song charted at #9 on the Pop chart. "Forty Miles of Bad Road" also went to #17 on the Hot R&B Sides chart.

Song influence

*The idiom is referenced in the lyrics of the

R.E.M. R.E.M. was an American rock band from Athens, Georgia, formed in 1980 by drummer Bill Berry, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills, and lead vocalist Michael Stipe, who were students at the University of Georgia. One of the first alternati ...

song " Crush with Eyeliner": "She's a sad tomato/She's three miles of bad road". *It is also referenced in Bob Dylan's 2000

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

winning song "

Things Have Changed "Things Have Changed" is a song from the film ''Wonder Boys (film), Wonder Boys'', written and performed by Bob Dylan and released as a single on May 1, 2000, that won both the Academy Award for Best Original Song and the Golden Globe Award for ...

": "I've been walking forty miles of bad road/If the Bible is right, the world will explode."https://www.bobdylan.com/songs/things-have-changed/

References

Duane Eddy songs Songs written by Duane Eddy Songs written by Al Casey (rock & roll guitarist) 1959 singles 1950s instrumentals 1959 songs Jamie Records singles {{1950s-single-stub