"Davy's on the Road Again" is a 1970 song by John Simon and written by Simon and

Robbie Robertson Jaime Royal Robertson (July 5, 1943 – August 9, 2023) was a Canadian musician of Indigenous and Jewish ancestry. He was the lead guitarist for Bob Dylan's backing band in the mid-late 1960s and early-mid 1970s. Robertson was also the ...

. First released on ''John Simon's Album'', the song charted at No. 6 on the UK Singles Chart when covered by

Manfred Mann's Earth Band Manfred Mann's Earth Band are an English rock band formed by South African musician Manfred Mann (musician), Manfred Mann. Their hits include covers of Bruce Springsteen's "For You (Bruce Springsteen song), For You", "Blinded by the Light" an ...

Background and original

John Simon produced

the Band The Band was a Canadian-American rock music, rock band formed in Toronto, Ontario, in 1957. It consisted of the Canadians Rick Danko (bass, guitar, vocals, fiddle), Garth Hudson (organ, keyboards, accordion, saxophone), Richard Manuel (piano, d ...

's first solo album, 1968's ''

Music from Big Pink ''Music from Big Pink'' is the debut studio album by the Canadian-American rock band the Band. Released on July 1, 1968, by Capitol Records, it employs a distinctive blend of country, rock, folk, classical, R&B, blues, and soul. The album's t ...

'', which had charted at No. 30 on the

Billboard Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also known as simply the 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), ...

. They worked together again for the Band's second album, 1969's ''The Band''; the band's Robbie Robertson wrote ''The Band'''s songs very quickly, which gave him free time between sessions, during which he co-wrote "Davey's on the Road Again". The song ended up on Simon's debut album ''John Simon's Album'', which featured many of the musicians he had been working with over the last couple of years.

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

wrote that the song "could be a lost Band track in its playing and texture", and complimented

Merry Clayton Merry Clayton (born December 25, 1948) is an American soul and gospel singer. She contributed vocals to numerous tracks and worked with many major recording artists for decades, including a duet with Mick Jagger on the Rolling Stones song " Gimm ...

's "soaring backing vocal" for adding "a special wrinkle" and for evoking

Leonard Cohen Leonard Norman Cohen (September 21, 1934November 7, 2016) was a Canadian songwriter, singer, poet, and novelist. Themes commonly explored throughout his work include faith and mortality, isolation and depression, betrayal and redemption, soc ...

's ''

Songs of Leonard Cohen ''Songs of Leonard Cohen'' is the debut studio album by Canadian singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen, released on December 27, 1967, on Columbia Records. More successful in Europe than in North America, ''Songs of Leonard Cohen'' foreshadowed the kin ...

''.

Manfred Mann's Earth Band version

Manfred Mann's Earth Band covered the song in 1977 during a concert at Roxy Theatre in

Hollywood, Los Angeles Hollywood, sometimes informally called Tinseltown, is a List of districts and neighborhoods in Los Angeles, neighborhood and district in the Central Los Angeles, central region of Los Angeles County, California, within the city of Los Angeles. ...

;

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 advertis ...

wrote that their "fresh and tender approach to the drastically overused theme of life as a rock musician injected a few moments of alluring sentiment" into the set. A live version of the song appeared on the band's ''Watch'', their 1978 album, as one of two live tracks, the other a take on

Manfred Mann Manfred Mann were an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. They were named after their keyboardist Manfred Mann (musician), Manfred Mann, who later led the successful 1970s group Manfred Mann's Earth Band. The group had two l ...

's "

Quinn the Eskimo (Mighty Quinn) "Quinn the Eskimo (The Mighty Quinn)" is a folk-rock song written and first recorded by Bob Dylan in 1967 during '' The Basement Tapes'' sessions. The song's first release was in January 1968 as "Mighty Quinn" in a version by the British band ...

" (itself a cover of a song by

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...

). When released as a single, that version charted at No. 6 on the UK Singles Chart, becoming the biggest of the band's three top ten hits in that country. The single version of the song was used in early pressings of the soundtrack of ''The Stud'', a

softcore pornography Softcore pornography or softcore porn is commercial still photography, film, imagery, or even audio that has a pornographic or erotic component but is less sexually graphic or intrusive than hardcore pornography, defined by a lack of sexual p ...

film featuring

Joan Collins Dame Joan Henrietta Collins (born 23 May 1933) is an English actress, author and columnist. She is the recipient of several accolades, including a Golden Globe Awards, a People's Choice Award, two Soap Opera Digest Awards and a Primetime Emm ...

as a

nymphomaniac Hypersexuality is a proposed medical condition said to cause unwanted or excessive sexual arousal, causing people to engage in or think about sexual activity to a point of distress or impairment., according to the website of ''Psychology Toda ...

; in 2020, the journalist Carl Meyer wrote in Pattaya Mail that his 1978 interview with

had soured due to him mentioning its appearance in the film and that Mann lost his temper after receiving confirmation of its presence from his press secretary.

References

{{Manfred Mann's Earth Band 1978 singles Manfred Mann songs 1971 songs Songs written by Robbie Robertson Songs written by John Simon (record producer)