"Travelin' Prayer" is a song written and performed by singer

Billy Joel William Martin Joel (born May 9, 1949) is an American singer, pianist and songwriter. Commonly nicknamed the "Piano Man (song), Piano Man" after his album and signature song of the same name, he has led a commercially successful career as a solo ...

, and released as the first single from his 1973 album ''

Piano Man Piano Man refers to a male pianist. Piano Man may also refer to: Music * ''Piano Man'' (Billy Joel album), a 1973 rock album by Billy Joel ** "Piano Man" (song), a 1973 song from the album * ''Piano Man'' (Hilton Ruiz album), 1975 * ''Piano Man'' ...

''. The song is "urgent" and "

banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and usually made of plastic, or occasionally animal skin. Early forms of the instrument were fashi ...

-fueled". It reached number No. 77 on the

Billboard 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 ...

and No. 34 on the

Adult Contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quie ...

chart in 1974. It was a slightly bigger hit in Canada, where it reached No. 61. The

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...

-flavored song has been covered by both

Earl Scruggs Earl Eugene Scruggs (January 6, 1924 – March 28, 2012) was an American musician noted for popularizing a three-finger banjo picking style, now called "Scruggs style", which is a defining characteristic of bluegrass music. His three-fin ...

and

Dolly Parton Dolly Rebecca Parton (born January 19, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter, actress, philanthropist, and businesswoman, known primarily for her work in country music. After achieving success as a songwriter for others, Parton made her album d ...

. Parton's version was nominated for a

Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance The Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance was first awarded in 1965, to Dottie West. The award has had several minor name changes: *From 1965 to 1967 the award was known as Best Country & Western Vocal Performance - Female *In 1 ...

in 2001.

Lyrics and music

Joel wrote "Travelin' Prayer" about two years before it appeared on the album. The song has four verses, the first of which is later repeated, and two instrumental breaks. The lyrics offer a prayer that the singer's lover be protected until she returns to the singer. The song has elements of

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

, and is taken at a brisk pace. Instrumentation includes honky-tonk piano, banjo, bass, violin and drums, the latter of which are played with

brushes A brush is a common tool with bristles, wire or other filaments. It generally consists of a handle or block to which filaments are affixed in either a parallel or perpendicular orientation, depending on the way the brush is to be gripped durin ...

using just a snare and bass drum. The drummer has a fixated smile throughout the whole song. Joel plays mouth harp during the second instrumental break. Author Ken Bielen sees the song as being influenced by a traditional Irish blessing for an easy return home. Bielen also notes that the song fits with a trend during the period in which religious images were often used in popular songs. Author Hank Bordowitz describes the song as a "pop-grass on-the-road-again song." Bordowitz particularly praises the banjo playing of

Eric Weissberg Eric Weissberg (August 16, 1939 – March 22, 2020) was an American singer, banjo player, and multi-instrumentalist, whose most commercially successful recording was his banjo solo in "Dueling Banjos," featured as the theme of the film ''Deliver ...

Reception

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'' regarded "Travelin' Prayer" as Joel's "best single effort yet," praising the

arrangement and the contrast between the prayer-like lyrics and the fast tempo of the song. ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', was an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' called it "an up-tempo bluegrass flavored tune" with "the same dynamism that '

' exhibited, saying that "Billy's voice is powerful and his piano work is really sensational" and "his technique is clean and polished." ''

Record World ''Record World'' magazine was one of the three main music industry trade magazines in the United States, along with '' Billboard'' and '' Cashbox''. It was founded in 1946 under the name ''Music Vendor'', but in 1964 it was changed to ''Record Wo ...

'' said that it's "a result of strong across-the-dials feedback on this powerful cut" which "translates oel'slive excitement into hot, hot wax."

Cover versions

"Travelin' Prayer" was covered by

Revue in 1973 on the album '' Rockin' Cross the Country''. ''

'' rated it as one of the "best cuts" on the album. It later earned

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

Nomination for Best Female Country Vocal Performance, when she

covered Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of co ...

it in 1999 on the album ''

The Grass Is Blue ''The Grass Is Blue'' is the thirty-seventh solo studio album by American singer-songwriter Dolly Parton. It was released on October 26, 1999, by Sugar Hill and Blue Eye Records. The album won a Grammy for Best Bluegrass Album and " Travelin' P ...

''. CMJ noted the song as a "recommended track." Parton has stated that she "always loved Billy Joel's 'Travelin' Prayer', which hethought lent itself to pure bluegrass." The

CMJ New Music Report CMJ Holdings Corp. is a music events and online media company, originally founded in 1978, which ran a website, hosted an annual festival in New York City, and published two magazines, ''CMJ New Music Monthly'' and ''CMJ New Music Report''. Th ...

confirmed that Parton's arrangement transforms the song into a "legitimate bluegrass tune."

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

critic Philip Van Vleck agrees that it works as a bluegrass song. Author Ken Bielen notes that "Parton recognizes the roots music element" of the song. Bielen notes that Parton's version begins with a slow violin introduction that lasts almost a minute, but the rest of the song goes at "pedal to the metal" speed. In addition to the violin, Parton's backing instruments include

dobro Dobro is an American brand of resonator guitars, currently owned by Gibson and manufactured by its subsidiary Epiphone. The term "dobro" is also used as a generic term for any wood-bodied, single-cone resonator guitar. The Dobro was originally ...

mandolin A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...

, guitar and bass guitar. Holly Dunn covered the song in her '' Across the Rio Grande'' album in 1988 though the song was not released.

Chart positions

References

{{Billy Joel Billy Joel songs 1974 singles Songs written by Billy Joel Columbia Records singles Song recordings produced by Michael Stewart (musician) Dolly Parton songs Earl Scruggs songs 1973 songs Bluegrass songs