Photo by Don Bronstein


Famous Blues Covers

"Key to the Highway" is a blues song that has been performed and recorded by several artists. 

When Little Walter updated the song in 1958 in an electric Chicago blues style, it became a success on the R&B record chart.



 

Charlie Segar first recorded it in 1940. Jazz Gilum and Big Bill Broonzy followed with recordings in 1940 and 1941, using an arrangement that has become the standard.



"I got the key to the highway,
Billed out and bound to go
I'm gonna leave here running people
Because walking is most too slow
I'm going back, to the border
Before they put up the fence
Where I'm better known
Because you haven't done nothing baby,
Except drove a good man away from home
When the moon peeks over the mountains
Baby I'm gonna be on my way
I'm gonna roam this mean old highway
Until the break of day
So give me one, give one more kiss baby
Before I go,
'Cause when I leave this town
I won't be back no more, no more
So give me one more kiss baby
Give me one more kiss baby before I go,
'Cause when I leave this town
I won't be back no more, no more
So goodbye, goodbye baby
Baby I must, I must, I must say goodbye
Cause I'm a roam this mean old highway
Until the day I die
I'm gonna do this til the day I die folks."

Composed by Charles Segar / William Lee Conley Broonzy
Lyrics of Key To The Highway © Universal Music Publishing Group
Source: LyricFind