"Get Away" is a song by

Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames were a British rhythm and blues group during the 1960s whose repertoire spanned jazz, soul, ska, and calypso. They were originally the backing band for rock and roll singer Billy Fury. At the end of 1961, the ...

, written by

Georgie Fame Georgie Fame (born Clive Powell; 26 June 1943) is an English R&B and jazz musician. Fame, who had a string of 1960s hits, is still performing, often working with contemporaries such as Alan Price, Van Morrison and Bill Wyman. Fame is the on ...

(credited under his birth name Clive Powell). Released on the Columbia label, it topped the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

for one week in July 1966. Some original pressings and reissues, as well as BMI, give its title as a single word, "Getaway".

Background

The song was originally written as a jingle for a television advertisement for

National National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

petrol. The piece was reworked after producer Denny Cordell recognised its potential. Upon release, Norman Jopling and Peter Jones of ''

Record Mirror ''Record Mirror'' was a British weekly music newspaper between 1954 and 1991 for pop fans and record collectors. Launched two years after the ''NME'', it never attained the circulation of its rival. The first UK album chart was published in ''Re ...

'' praised the song's arrangement as "hustle-rhythm, fast-lyricked and with curious and compelling little

brass Brass is an alloy of copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn), in proportions which can be varied to achieve different mechanical, electrical, and chemical properties. It is a substitutional alloy: atoms of the two constituents may replace each other with ...

- sax phrase". Fame was pleased with the song's musical balance, telling ''

Disc and Music Echo ''Disc'' was a weekly British popular music magazine, published between 1958 and 1975, when it was incorporated into ''Record Mirror''. It was also known for periods as ''Disc Weekly '' (1964–1966) and ''Disc and Music Echo '' (1966–1972). ...

'' "I'm still young enough to enjoy

rock 'n' 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 an ...

. I don't want to go out on a limb and play introvert

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

- the jazz I play is very danceable. "Get Away" grooves just as much as some pure

rhythm and blues Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated in African-American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly ...

Chart performance

"Get Away" was the second number 1 for Fame, following his 1965 chart-topper "

Yeh, Yeh "Yeh, Yeh" (in some territories released as "Yeah, yeh, yeh") is a Latin soul tune that was written as an instrumental by Rodgers Grant and Pat Patrick, and first recorded by Mongo Santamaría on his 1963 album ''Watermelon Man!'' Lyrics were ...

". Fame would have a third number 1 single, in January 1968, with "

The Ballad of Bonnie and Clyde "The Ballad of Bonnie and Clyde" is a song, written by Mitch Murray and Peter Callander, and recorded by the British rhythm and blues singer Georgie Fame. Released as a single, the song reached number one in the UK Singles Chart for one week from ...

". The single was released in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

on the

Imperial Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor, or imperialism. Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to: Places United States * Imperial, California * Imperial, Missouri * Imperial, Nebraska * Imperial, Pennsylvania * Imperial, Texa ...

label, a subsidiary of

Liberty Liberty is the ability to do as one pleases, or a right or immunity enjoyed by prescription or by grant (i.e. privilege). It is a synonym for the word freedom. In modern politics, liberty is understood as the state of being free within society fr ...

, and reached number 70 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...

. Fame's two subsequent singles, " Sunny" and "Sitting in the Park", reached chart positions of number 13 and number 12 respectively. After the album '' Sweet Things'' (1966) was released, Fame signed to

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

and became a solo artist. "Get Away" was later used as the theme-tune for a long-running travel and lifestyle show on

Australian television Television in Australia began experimentally as early as 1929 in Melbourne with radio stations 3DB and 3UZ, and 2UE in Sydney, using the ''Radiovision'' system by Gilbert Miles and Donald McDonald, and later from other locations, such as Bris ...

called '' Getaway''.

References

UK Singles Chart number-one singles RPM Top Singles number-one singles 1966 singles Georgie Fame songs Song recordings produced by Denny Cordell 1966 songs Columbia Graphophone Company singles Imperial Records singles {{1960s-single-stub