Hit the Road Jack

This article is about the Ray Charles song. For other uses, see Hit the Road Jack (disambiguation).

"Hit the Road Jack" is a song written by the rhythm and blues singer Percy Mayfield and recorded by Ray Charles. The song was a US number 1 hit in 1961,^[4] and won a Grammy Award for Best Rhythm and Blues Recording, becoming one of Charles' signature songs.^[5]

"Hit the Road Jack"
Single by Ray Charles
B-side	"The Danger Zone"
Released	August 1961^[1]
Recorded	June 1961
Genre	R&B^[2]^[3]
Length	2:00
Label	ABC-Paramount
Songwriter(s)	Percy Mayfield
Producer(s)	Sid Feller
Ray Charles singles chronology
"One Mint Julep" (1961) "Hit the Road Jack" (1961) "I Can’t Stop Loving You" (1962)

Background

The song was written by Percy Mayfield, who first recorded it in 1960 as an a cappella demo sent to music executive Art Rupe. It became famous after it was recorded by the singer-songwriter-pianist Ray Charles, with The Raelettes vocalist Margie Hendrix.

Charles's recording hit number one for two weeks on the Billboard Hot 100, beginning on Monday, October 9, 1961. "Hit the Road Jack" won a Grammy Award for Best Rhythm and Blues Recording. The song was number one on the R&B Sides chart for five weeks, thereby becoming Charles's sixth number-one on that chart. The song was ranked number 387 on Rolling Stone magazine's 2010 list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time"; it had ranked at number 377 on the original 2004 list.^[6][7]

In 2013, the 1961 recording by Ray Charles on the ABC-Paramount label was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.^[8]

The Chantels released an answer song, "Well, I Told You" which charted at No. 29.^[9]

Charts and certifications

Charts Chart (1961) Peak position Australia (Kent Music Report)^[10] 3 Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)^[11] 13 New Zealand (Lever Hit Parade)^[12] 1 Sweden (Tio i Topp)^[13] 1 UK Singles (OCC)^[14] 6 US Billboard Hot 100^[15] 1 US Hot R&B Sides (Billboard)^[15] 1 Chart (2011) Peak position France (SNEP)^[16] 90

Certifications Region Certification Certified units/sales Italy (FIMI)^[17] sales since 2009 Gold 35,000^‡ United Kingdom (BPI)^[18] Silver 200,000^‡ ^‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

The Stampeders version

In 1976, Canadian band The Stampeders released a version of the song taken from their album Steamin' featuring DJ Wolfman Jack. The song reached No. 6 in Canada and No. 40 in the US.^[19]

References

1. "Hit the Road Jack". 45cat.com. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
2. Breihan, Tom (April 6, 2018). "The Number Ones: Ray Charles' "Hit The Road Jack"". Stereogum. Retrieved June 9, 2023. ..."Hit The Road Jack" is a fine example. It's an R&B song...
3. Billboard Staff (October 19, 2023). "The 500 Best Pop Songs: Staff List". Billboard. Retrieved February 15, 2024. Ray Charles getting the boot in classic R&B fashion from Raelette singer Margie Hendrix, with a scorned nation singing along.
4. "Taking a crack at the history of 'Jack'". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved 2022-01-17.
5. "Ray Charles". GRAMMY.com. 2020-11-23. Retrieved 2022-01-17.
6. "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time". Rolling Stone. 2010-05-28. from the original on 2011-05-28. Retrieved 2023-03-17.
7. "The RS 500 Greatest Songs of All Time". Rolling Stone. 2004-12-09. from the original on 2008-06-21. Retrieved 2023-03-17.
8. "GRAMMY Hall Of Fame | Hall of Fame Artists | GRAMMY.com". grammy.com.
9. "The Chantels". www.history-of-rock.com. Retrieved 2022-01-17.
10. Kent, David (2008). Australian Chart Book (1940–1969). Turramurra: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 978-0-646-44439-0.
11. "Ray Charles – Hit the Road Jack" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved March 8, 2014.
12. "Lever Hit Parade, 30 November 1961".
13. Hallberg, Eric; Henningsson, Ulf (2012). Tio i Topp - med de utslagna "på försök" 1961–74 (in Swedish). Premium. p. 420. ISBN 978-91-89136-89-2.
14. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 8, 2014.
15. "Ray Charles – Awards". AllMusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved March 8, 2014.
16. "Ray Charles – Hit the Road Jack" (in French). Les classement single. Retrieved March 8, 2014.
17. "Italian single certifications – Ray Charles – Hit the Road Jack" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved September 6, 2021. Select "2021" in the "Anno" drop-down menu. Select "Hit the Road Jack" in the "Filtra" field. Select "Singoli" under "Sezione".
18. "British single certifications – Ray Charles – Hit the Road Jack". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved September 3, 2021.
19. Whitburn, Joel (2011). Top Pop Singles 1955–2010. Record Research, Inc. p. 847. ISBN 978-0-89820-188-8.