"Key to the Highway" is a

blues standard Blues standards are blues songs that have attained a high level of recognition due to having been widely performed and recorded. They represent the best known and most interpreted blues songs that are seen as standing the test of time. Blues s ...

that has been performed and recorded by several

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the ...

and other artists. Blues pianist

Charlie Segar Charlie Segar was an American blues pianist and occasional singer, who is best known for being the first to record the blues standard, "Key to the Highway" (1940). Originally from Pensacola, Florida, Segar has been dubbed the "Keyboard Wizard S ...

first recorded the song in 1940. Jazz Gillum and

Big Bill Broonzy Big Bill Broonzy (born Lee Conley Bradley; June 26, 1903 – August 14, 1958) was an American blues singer, songwriter, and guitarist. His career began in the 1920s, when he played country music to mostly African American audiences. In the 1930s ...

followed with recordings in 1940 and 1941, using an arrangement that has become the standard. When

Little Walter Marion Walter Jacobs (May 1, 1930 – February 15, 1968), known as Little Walter, was an American blues musician, singer, and songwriter, whose revolutionary approach to the harmonica had a strong impact on succeeding generations, earning him ...

updated the song in 1958 in an electric

Chicago blues Chicago blues is a form of blues music developed in Chicago, Illinois. It is based on earlier blues idioms, such as Delta blues, but performed in an urban style. It developed alongside the Great Migration of the first half of the twentieth cent ...

style, it became a success on the R&B record chart. A variety of artists have since interpreted the song, including

Eric Clapton Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is often regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s list o ...

, who recorded several versions.

Original recordings

"Key to the Highway" is usually credited to Charles "Chas" Segar and William "Big Bill" Broonzy. Broonzy explained the song's development: Segar's lyrics are nearly the same as those recorded by Broonzy and Jazz Gillum. The verses use the theme of the itinerant bluesman leaving to travel the highways after breaking up with his lover: Musically, however, there are differences in the recorded versions. Charlie Segar's original "Key to the Highway" was performed as a mid-tempo

twelve-bar blues The 12-bar blues (or blues changes) is one of the most prominent chord progressions in popular music. The blues progression has a distinctive form in lyrics, phrase, chord structure, and duration. In its basic form, it is predominantly based ...

. When Jazz Gillum recorded it later that year with Broonzy on guitar, he used an eight-bar blues arrangement (May 9, 1940

Bluebird The bluebirds are a North American group of medium-sized, mostly insectivorous or omnivorous birds in the order of Passerines in the genus ''Sialia'' of the thrush family (Turdidae). Bluebirds are one of the few thrush genera in the Americas. ...

B 8529). In two different interviews, Gillum gave conflicting stories about who wrote the song: in one, he claimed sole authorship, in another he identified Broonzy "the real author". The

chord progression In a musical composition, a chord progression or harmonic progression (informally chord changes, used as a plural) is a succession of chords. Chord progressions are the foundation of harmony in Western musical tradition from the common practice ...

is as follows: A year later, Broonzy recorded "Key to the Highway" with Gillum on harmonica, Horace Malcolm on piano,

Washboard Sam Robert Clifford Brown (July 15, 1910 – November 6, 1966), known professionally as Washboard Sam, was an American blues musician and singer. Biography Brown's date and place of birth are uncertain; many sources state that he was born in 191 ...

on washboard, and an unknown bassist, also using an eight-bar arrangement. According to Broonzy, he used an original melody which was based on childhood songs. These earliest recorded versions of "Key to the Highway" were released before record industry trade publications such as ''

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 adverti ...

'' magazine began tracking such releases. While it is difficult to gauge which version was the most popular, the eight-bar arrangement used by Gillum and Broonzy has become the standard for subsequent recordings.

Little Walter version

Shortly after Broonzy's death in 1958,

recorded "Key to the Highway" as an apparent tribute to him. He adapted it as a

with a full band. The session took place sometime in August and backing Walter (vocals and harmonica) were

Muddy Waters McKinley Morganfield (April 4, 1913 April 30, 1983), known professionally as Muddy Waters, was an American blues singer and musician who was an important figure in the post- war blues scene, and is often cited as the "father of modern Chicag ...

(slide guitar),

Luther Tucker Luther Tucker (January 20, 1936 – June 18, 1993) was an American blues guitarist. While soft-spoken and shy, Tucker made his presence known through his unique and clearly recognizable guitar style. Tucker helped to define the music known as ...

(guitar),

Otis Spann Otis Spann (March 21, 1924 or 1930April 24, 1970) was an American blues musician, whom many consider to be the leading postwar Chicago blues pianist. Early life Sources differ over Spann's early years. Some state that he was born in Jackson, Mis ...

(piano),

Willie Dixon William James Dixon (July 1, 1915January 29, 1992) was an American blues musician, vocalist, songwriter, arranger and record producer. He was proficient in playing both the upright bass and the guitar, and sang with a distinctive voice, but he ...

(bass), and George Hunter or Francis Clay (drums). The song was a hit, spending fourteen weeks in the

Billboard 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 ...

where it reached number six in 1958. After a six-year run of successful singles, Little Walter only had one charting single after "Key to the Highway". The song is included on several Little Walter compilation albums, including '' His Best''.

Eric Clapton versions

Eric Clapton recorded "Key to the Highway" for Derek and the Dominos' 1970 landmark album '' Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs''. Lasting over nine minutes, it is essentially an impromptu jam which was recorded by accident. Clapton and

Duane Allman Howard Duane Allman (November 20, 1946 – October 29, 1971) was an American rock guitarist, session musician, and the founder and original leader of the Allman Brothers Band, for which he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame i ...

heard singer Sam Samudio, better known as " Sam the Sham", performing the song in a neighboring studio and spontaneously started playing it themselves. When record producer

Tom Dowd Thomas John Dowd (October 20, 1925 – October 27, 2002) was an American recording engineer and producer for Atlantic Records. He was credited with innovating the multitrack recording method. Dowd worked on a veritable "who's who" of recording ...

heard it, he quickly told the engineers to "hit the goddamn machine!" to start the tape recorder. Because of the late start, the album track starts with a fade-in to a performance already underway. A live version of the song appears on the 1995 remastered edition of ''

Eric Clapton's Rainbow Concert ''Eric Clapton's Rainbow Concert'' is a live album by Eric Clapton, recorded at the Rainbow Theatre in London on 13 January 1973 and released in September that year. The concerts, two on the same evening, were organised by Pete Townshend of the ...

'' recordings from the 1973 concert. Clapton also recorded the song with other musicians: Johnnie Johnson for his 1991 album ''Johnnie B. Bad'' and in 2000 with B.B. King for their collaboration album ''Riding with the King''. Another Clapton version is included on his 2002 live album ''

One More Car, One More Rider ''One More Car, One More Rider'' is the eighth live album by Eric Clapton, released on 5 November 2002 on Duck / Reprise Records. It is also his third double live album. The album contains songs performed during Clapton's 2001 world tour. Th ...

''. During two

Allman Brothers Allman may refer to: Music *The Allman Brothers Band The Allman Brothers Band was an American rock band formed in Jacksonville, Florida in 1969 by brothers Duane Allman (founder, slide guitar and lead guitar) and Gregg Allman (vocals, keyboa ...

shows at the Beacon Theatre in New York City on March 19 and 20, 2009, Clapton joined the band onstage to perform the song.

Recognition and influence

"Key to the Highway" is recognized as a blues standard. In 2010, the

Blues Foundation The Blues Foundation is an American nonprofit corporation, headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee, that is affiliated with more than 175 blues organizations from various parts of the world. Founded in 1980, a 25-person board of directors governs the ...

inducted Broonzy's rendition into the Blues Hall of Fame. "Key to the Highway" has been recorded by numerous blues and other artists. It was one of the songs played at Duane Allman's 1971 funeral in Macon, Georgia.

References

{{authority control 1940 songs 1958 singles B.B. King songs Big Bill Broonzy songs Blues songs Checker Records singles Vocalion Records singles Derek and the Dominos songs Eric Clapton songs Grammy Hall of Fame Award recipients Little Walter songs Muddy Waters songs Songs about roads Okeh Records singles