"I'm Gonna Be a Wheel Someday" is a popular song written by Roy Hayes,

Fats Domino Antoine Dominique Domino Jr. (February 26, 1928 – October 24, 2017), known as Fats Domino, was an American pianist, singer and songwriter. One of the pioneers of rock and roll music, Domino sold more than 65 million records. Born in New O ...

and

Dave Bartholomew David Louis Bartholomew (December 24, 1918 – June 23, 2019) was an American musician, bandleader, composer, arranger, and record producer. He was prominent in the music of New Orleans throughout the second half of the 20th century. Originally ...

. The song was first recorded by Bobby Mitchell & The Toppers in 1957 and released in the same year.

Origin

The song's lyrics were written by factory worker and amateur songwriter Roy Hayes (b. 1935,

Henderson, Louisiana Henderson is a town in St. Martin Parish, Louisiana, United States. Part of the Lafayette metropolitan area, its population was 1,617 at the 2020 U.S. census. Home to Cajun Palms RV Resort, it was rated in 2017 as the best campsite in Louisiana i ...

), after hearing a throwaway comment by a fellow worker. He wrote the lyrics and forwarded them to Dave Bartholomew, who agreed to record the song as a

demo Demo, usually short for demonstration, may refer to: Music and film *Demo (music), a song typically recorded for reference rather than release * ''Demo'' (Behind Crimson Eyes), a 2004 recording by the band Behind Crimson Eyes * ''Demo'' (Deafhea ...

. In 1957, Bartholomew recorded another version of the song with singer Bobby Mitchell, released as a single on

Imperial Records Imperial Records is an American record company and label started in 1947 by Lew Chudd. The label was reactivated in 2006 by EMI, which owned the label and back catalogue at the time. Imperial is owned by Universal Music Group. Early years to 19 ...

. Though Mitchell's version was locally successful it did not reach the national charts.

Fats Domino recording

When Bartholomew recorded the song again with Fats Domino in 1959 and released it as the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

of "

I Want To Walk You Home "I Want to Walk You Home" is a July 1959 R&B/pop single by Fats Domino. The single would be the last of Domino's releases to hit number one on the R&B chart. "I Want to Walk You Home" stayed at the top spot for a single week and also peaked at numb ...

", it became a chart hit, reaching number 22 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 ...

R&B chart The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by ''Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 p ...

. Tom Aswell (ed.), ''Louisiana Rocks!: The True Genesis of Rock and Roll'', Pelican Publishing, 2010, pp.372-373
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Chart history

Cover versions

"I'm Gonna Be a Wheel Someday" was later covered by: *

Sandy Nelson Sander Lloyd Nelson (December 1, 1938 – February 14, 2022) was an American drummer. Nelson, one of the best-known rock and modern jazz drummers of the late 1950s and early 1960s, had several solo instrumental Top 40 hits and released over 30 ...

Wayne Fontana and The Mindbenders Wayne may refer to: People with the given name and surname * Wayne (given name) * Wayne (surname) Geographical Places with name ''Wayne'' may take their name from a person with that surname; the most famous such person was Gen. "Mad" Anthon ...

Boots Randolph Homer Louis "Boots" Randolph III (June 3, 1927 – July 3, 2007) was an American musician best known for his 1963 saxophone hit "Yakety Sax" (which became Benny Hill's signature tune). Randolph was a major part of the "Nashville sound" for most o ...

*Defenders *

Asleep at the Wheel Asleep at the Wheel is an American Western swing group that was formed in Paw Paw, West Virginia, and is based in Austin, Texas. The band has won nine Grammy Awards since their 1970 inception, released over twenty albums, and has charted more t ...

*Orion *

Herbie Hancock Herbert Jeffrey Hancock (born April 12, 1940) is an American jazz pianist, keyboardist, bandleader, and composer. Hancock started his career with trumpeter Donald Byrd's group. He shortly thereafter joined the Miles Davis Quintet, where he help ...

with George Porter Jr.,

Zigaboo Modeliste Joseph "Ziggy" Modeliste (born December 28, 1948), also known as Zigaboo, is an American drummer best known as a founding member of the funk band the Meters. He is widely considered an innovator in the funk genre and New Orleans style drumming. ...

and Renard Poché *

Sheryl Crow Sheryl Suzanne Crow (born February 11, 1962) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and actress. Her music incorporates elements of rock, pop, country, folk, and blues. She has released eleven studio albums, five compilations and three li ...

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...

(1988 ; issued on the ''

CHOBA B CCCP ''CHOBA B CCCP'' (; also known as ''The Russian Album'') is the seventh solo studio album by Paul McCartney under his own name, originally released in October 1988 exclusively in the Soviet Union. The album consists entirely of live-in-studio reco ...

'' covers album)

References

1957 singles Fats Domino songs Songs written by Dave Bartholomew 1957 songs Songs written by Fats Domino {{1950s-single-stub