"Down the Road a Piece" is a boogie-woogie song written by Don Raye. In 1940, it was recorded by the Will Bradley Trio and became a top 10 hit in the closing months of the year. Called "a neat little amalgam of bluesy rhythm and vivid, catchy lyrics", the song was subsequently recorded by a variety of jazz, blues, and rock artists.[1]
"Down the Road a Piece" was recorded in 1940 by members of the Will Bradley–Ray McKinley Orchestra as the "Will Bradley Trio" (a misnomer, as Bradley did not perform on the song, while a fourth, the song's writer, Don Raye, did, as well as an uncredited vibraphone player).
Three musicians are mentioned in the lyrics:
The drummer man's a guy they call Eight Beat Mack And you remember Doc and ol' Beat Me Daddy Slack
"Eight Beat Mack" refers to the drummer Ray McKinley, "Doc" refers to the bass player Doc Goldberg, and "Beat Me Daddy Slack" refers to the pianist Freddie Slack (a reference to "Beat Me Daddy, Eight to the Bar", a hit recorded earlier in 1940 by Slack with the Bradley–McKinley Orchestra). Vocals for "Down the Road a Piece" are provided by McKinley and Raye.
Influenceedit
In his autobiography, Henry Mancini recalled that "Down the Road a Piece" inspired his "Baby Elephant Walk" for the 1962 movie Hatari!: "I looked at the scene [elephants walking to the watering hole] several times [and] I thought, 'Yeah, they're walking eight to the bar', and that brought something to mind, an old Will Bradley boogie-woogie number called 'Down the Road a Piece'... Those little elephants were definitely walking boogie-woogie, eight to the bar. I wrote 'Baby Elephant Walk' as a result".[2]
Numerous artists have recorded "Down the Road a Piece", sometimes with variations in the music. AllMusic critic Bruce Eder notes renditions by Chuck Berry, the Rolling Stones, and Foghat.[1]
Referencesedit
^ ab Eder, Bruce. "Don Raye – Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved March 12, 2011.
down, road, piece, boogie, woogie, song, written, raye, 1940, recorded, will, bradley, trio, became, closing, months, year, called, neat, little, amalgam, bluesy, rhythm, vivid, catchy, lyrics, song, subsequently, recorded, variety, jazz, blues, rock, artists,. Down the Road a Piece is a boogie woogie song written by Don Raye In 1940 it was recorded by the Will Bradley Trio and became a top 10 hit in the closing months of the year Called a neat little amalgam of bluesy rhythm and vivid catchy lyrics the song was subsequently recorded by a variety of jazz blues and rock artists 1 Down the Road a Piece Sheet music coverSingle by Will Bradley TrioB side Celery Stalks at Midnight Released1940 1940 RecordedAugust 12 1940GenreBoogie woogieLength3 10LabelColumbiaSongwriter s Don RayeRecording and lyrics editThis section needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources in this section Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Down the Road a Piece news newspapers books scholar JSTOR July 2019 Learn how and when to remove this message Down the Road a Piece was recorded in 1940 by members of the Will Bradley Ray McKinley Orchestra as the Will Bradley Trio a misnomer as Bradley did not perform on the song while a fourth the song s writer Don Raye did as well as an uncredited vibraphone player Three musicians are mentioned in the lyrics The drummer man s a guy they call Eight Beat Mack And you remember Doc and ol Beat Me Daddy Slack Eight Beat Mack refers to the drummer Ray McKinley Doc refers to the bass player Doc Goldberg and Beat Me Daddy Slack refers to the pianist Freddie Slack a reference to Beat Me Daddy Eight to the Bar a hit recorded earlier in 1940 by Slack with the Bradley McKinley Orchestra Vocals for Down the Road a Piece are provided by McKinley and Raye Influence editIn his autobiography Henry Mancini recalled that Down the Road a Piece inspired his Baby Elephant Walk for the 1962 movie Hatari I looked at the scene elephants walking to the watering hole several times and I thought Yeah they re walking eight to the bar and that brought something to mind an old Will Bradley boogie woogie number called Down the Road a Piece Those little elephants were definitely walking boogie woogie eight to the bar I wrote Baby Elephant Walk as a result 2 Numerous artists have recorded Down the Road a Piece sometimes with variations in the music AllMusic critic Bruce Eder notes renditions by Chuck Berry the Rolling Stones and Foghat 1 References edit a b Eder Bruce Don Raye Biography AllMusic Retrieved March 12 2011 Mancini Henry 2001 Did They Mention the Music The Autobiography of Henry Mancini Cooper Square Press p 109 ISBN 978 0 8154 1175 8 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Down the Road a Piece amp oldid 1158756368, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
