roll on down the highway
Track 3 would be Roll on Down the Highway, written by Fred Turner and Robbie Bachman.
As a kid growing up in Canada there many amazing bands from my country… Triumph, Rush, April Wine, The Guess Who … Randy Bachman and Burton Cummings were just a legendary duo! But when Randy Bachman left that band and they moved on without him, he started up BTO (Bachman Turner Overdrive). They produced some of the most bad-ass music and Randy even outsold his former band The Guess Who. We all know Taking Care of Business, You Ain’t Seen Nothin Yet and other great songs from that era, but Roll on Down the Highway was one that I would hear as a kid going to hockey games in Canada and I loved it. I just had to put a cover song on this record and for a while I thought it would be an April Wine song … maybe that will appear on the last album of the AMERIKAN KAOS Trilogy!
This was a tough one to do because it’s hard to play like other guitar players, especially the greats, like Randy Bachman! So I kind of went off on my own but kept that vibe and sound of a bit of Van Halen and Jeff Waters in the solo because I just couldn’t pull off the Randy Bachman … he‘s just got his own style and feel!
Another cool thing about that is that I got to play it for the guys when I went to Vancouver. I cranked it up at The Armoury Studios and Paul Dean from Loverboy, a friend of mine who was there and with the Mighty Mike Fraser… and they liked this new version of it and I hope a lot of people get to go and revisit BTO…and for those who don’t know that band hopefully you can go listen to them!
Oh, and a cool note, Marc LaFrance has been singing on many Annihilator records and the AMERIKAN KAOS stuff… and on Motely Crue, DLR, Bon Jovi and many other bands records… but Marc also PLAYS DRUMS for Randy Bachman! Small world 🙂
ROLL ON DOWN THE HIGHWAY
(Turner/Bachman)
we rented a truck and a semi to go
travelled down the long and the winding road
look on the map, i think we’ve been there before
close up the doors and let’s roll once more
cop’s on the corner, he’s starting to write
well, i don’t need no ticket so i screamed out of sight
drove so fast, that my eyes can’t see
look in the mirror, is he still following me
let it roll down the highway
look at the sign, we’re in the wrong place
move out boys and let’s get ready to race
four fifty-four’s coming over the hill
the man on patrol is gonna give us a bill
the time’s real short, you know the distance is long
i’d like to have a jet but, no, it’s not in the song
climb back in the cab, cross your fingers for luck
we gotta keep moving if we’re going to make a buck
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