Mitchum (my all-time favorite actor) could have had an easy singing career! But I'm glad he showed up on the silver screen as often as he did. Wish it had been more when he was young!!!!!
My father and two older brothers made whiskey. They would also farm some. This was in the 60s in Alabama. I was a pretty good athlete in high school and they thought maybe I could "make something of myself" and never asked me to help other than carrying the sugar to the still. The local sheriff would pretty much leave them alone but when the federal men came in they would often get caught. All three of them spent time in the pen. They would get sent off for three years or so. To Draper or Kilby prison. I would go down and visit on Sunday afernoon.They never got caught at the still but when they were hauling the whiskey. They hauled in old beat up cars and would never drive fast. The whiskey would be in gallon glass jars just sitting in the trunk. They are dead now but I can still see them mixing the low wine with the first run and shaking the bottle until they got a good bead. This music can sure bring back memories.
Watching it right now on TCM. LOVE Mitchum. He not only co-wrote the song -- but wrote the screenplay as well - and directed it. But it has always amazed me how a "Connecticut Yankee" could NAIL the look and feel of such a classically Southern subculture.
From Internet Movie Data Base: Directed by Arthur Ripley; Writing Credits James Atlee Phillips ... (screenplay) and Walter Wise (screenplay) Robert Mitchum ... (original story) Mitchum did co-write the song, and sing it on the single record, which was not used in the movie, although it pretty well sums up the plot of the flick.
True story. 30 ish years ago, my boss in his early 50s and a coworker in her 50s, gazed out into a parking lot and saw a mid 1950s Olds under restoration. No chrome, body painted flat black, rims absolutely midnight, dull black. The two of them happened to glance at the Olds at the same time, and she remarked, "That car looks like a runner ." The boss looked at her w/ a sheepish grin and said , "Sheila, how would you know about that?" She replied, "You know I'm from Tennessee. 30 years ago, I was a single mom w/ no skills . I had babies to feed ." That was the last Sheila ever mentioned it in the 15 years I knew her .
Judy Wethington My step grandfather could almost sing The Ballad of Thunder Road like Robert Mitchum until he died last week 😫😫😫😫😫😫😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 I miss him so much
lovely 57 Ford, had the pleasure of owning one back in the mid 60's while I was in the Navy stationed at Sanford Florida. This movie was a favorite of mine when I was in High School. Mitchum did the whole thing, wrote, directed, produced, financed, acted and sang the title song.
I always thought the 300 custom was a better looking car than the 500. The 500 had those wings. I had a 300, Borg & Warner 4 speed, that lasted me about 3 months, then the old cast Iron Ford 4 speed, rolled and pleated seats, door panels,and headliner, 10 leafs of Robinson springs, with the arch taken out, coils between the housing and the rails, adjustable Silver Ease all the way around, 1 1|4 " stabilizer bar , big block, w/ aluminum high rise, but unless you put Metallic shoe on it you never had brakes, yes and old Trip car from the bottom up, some body said something about why the car swayed, 8 LB to the Gallon 8 LB X 250 Gal., now in closing, with the Speedometer hand below the double lines in the dash running with no head lights,
Yes, and he even had his son play his little brother. RM was a gem: an honest, unselfish person who lived his life with integrity and kindness. I so wish I could have known him! People who did know him were so blessed. I wonder, did they know that they were blessed?
@@ralphharper2414 The movie credits the singing to another singer. It's doubtful that Canadian singer Glen Yarborough would have sung but not recorded the song. Baby The Rain Must Fall was a movie song and he did record it. Besides, the singer in the movie has a lighter voice than Glen Yarborough. Don Rave who composed the soundtrack most likely sung it m
"the mountain boy took roads even angels fear to tread." my boyfriend and I think that lyric is reference to the tail of the dragon. its 316 switchbacks in 11 miles.
@@dominickjustave3558 That's why I mentioned that they would be touching their noses with their tails in the curves. I've seen the ride guides which mention that large trucks are prohibited from riding the Dragon's Tail.
My grandmother told me over 30 years ago about our family being in the whiskey business. They were just in the manufacturing stage not delivery. She said it was so they could eat because around here during those years money and jobs were scarce. They only made good stuff she said. No rot gut. They had a couple of drivers from a neighboring county who moved the stuff for them. One she said she thought his name was Earl had a 1955 Ford 2 door painted black. She remembered my grandfather telling her that the car had Chrysler motor with 2 carburetors and the transmission that went with it. Supposedly he worked for them for almost three years and never got caught. The law started getting nastier by the day and they started farming full-time as well as raising chickens and hogs. She said what ever the recipe was my grandfather took it to his grave with him. He never told her or anyone else she knew of. Some snooty people might find my family history less than savory. Like I care. I'm proud of my family. As far as I've heard nobody ever died or went blind from the stuff they made.
D Tittle 1964: I'm with you. Doesn't matter what other people might say. This is YOUR family history and you're proud of your family. Wonder what kind of stories those snobs might reveal...... ☺
Unsavory? As far as I'm concerned as an Australian, your family is American Royalty with an interesting history like that! Good on ya mate! Like being a drover or cattleman out here. Did you know that in Australia, they are extremely proud if they are descendants of the outlaw Ned Kelly, or if they are descendants of prisoners brought out from England on the first fleet!
Robert Mitchem was the real deal. In his youth, right after he arrived in L.A. he was considered one of the most dangerous guys in Hollywood. He played mostly tough guys so idiots in bars and restaurants were always picking fights. As far as I know he never lost.
You have to read "Them Ornery Mitchum Boys" I loved this book!!!! So much action adventure from growing up causing trouble in school running away etc.. So fun I wish they can make a movie!
Mine was purple label, "Columbia". I wore that one out as a young child. Fast forward to about 2001 or so, and a drummer friend that was playing with our outfit gifted me with a newer version "Columbia" with a red label. It was like brand new, and I was afraid to play it.
My Daddy was a moonshiner who was never caught. He went from town to town to buy the vast amounts of sugar needed to make his brew. They watched out for people who bought a lot of sugar as that was indicative of someone running a moonshine still. He moved from county to county making and selling his moonshine. He never stayed in one place too long or he would have been caught. He was always extremely careful where he hid the copper coil as he thought that he wouldn't have been charged without them finding it. We were in his car at times when we were kids when they were chasing him but he always outran them. He did not consider the fact that if he went off the road at 90 mph that we would all probably have been killed. I was about 8 years old at the time and it was exciting when he got away from them but scary at the same time. He died in a car crash but he had given up moonshining by then. He was 53 when he died.
***** Hey Spirit, cool story, I'm sorry your father died that way and at such a young age. I loved those mountain roads when I was a kid. I'm in Greenville SC, and had cousins in Hendersonville NC, My older brother had a 53 Chevy that he would race at the A&H Dragstrip which was North of Hendersonville. A&H stood for Asheville / Hendersonville. Many times coming down the mountain on a Sunday night heading home he would get in a race with someone. They would turn their headlights off in order to see oncoming cars from around the curves,, ha ha yeah you're right very exciting but bout to sh$t my pants at the same time. I still remember spending several weekends with my cousins up there and watching ''Thunder Road'' on that huge black and white TV. About 6 years later,(68 - 69) I had 3 different friends that didn't know each other, but I knew their fathers. Many years prior these 3 guys were in the shine business themselves,, Pretty cool set up, 1 was in the asphalt paving business, 1 had a car lot and a small grocery store, the other one had a larger grocery store. ha ha ha plenty of sugar and trucks to haul it. Don't know how many years they did it but prison time put a stop to it.
What a great actor and I love all his old movies and he was my idol in the 50's....bedroom eyes and that great dimple in his chin. Miss all the old greats from back there....too bad we all have to become old and leave this world. Thank you so much for posting this, I'll be back often just to be wistful.
I always loved this song and the movie. I was so in love with Robert Mitchum when I was a teen. Recently, a friend gave me a VHS copy of the movie. I will treasure it always. Thanks Mary.
thanks so much for posting this. when i was in third grade I thought this was the greatest song ever recorded. really fun to finally hear it again. my other great one back then was "the man who shot libert valance." also, "Lemon tree" by trini lopez. great memories. now all i need is a bananna flavored popsickle.
"Just outside of Bearden, where they made their fatal strike." I had a store in West Town Mall just outside of Bearden for 21 years. Great song and story!
Love the song, bought it at an antique store a few weeks back, love the movie also, we could not get the channel that it came out on, so I remember my older brothers and sister walking out to my aunts to watch it. Remember the blessing of the food, good bread good meat, gettin' late, let's eat.
Really well-done video. I just love Robert Mitchum, especially in THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER and the 1962 CAPE FEAR. I remember one scene in CAPE FEAR aboard the houseboat where the daughter is about to hit him with something and the bare-chested Mitchum simply exhales in such a way as to calmly say "Really? Just give up. That's not going to work." That one little exhale is worth more than all the over-the-top histrionics in the DeNiro/Scorsese version. I am also an admirer of Mitchum's singing voice. He was not a trained singer, yet had a naturally wonderful rich voice. Just listen to THE BALLAD OF THUNDER ROAD or his singing in THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER, especially his haunting version of the hymn "Leaning on the Everlasting Arms," At the height of the Harry Belafonte Calypso craze, Mitchum released a great LP named "Calypso is Like So," and delivered some astonishingly realistic performances of Jamaican tunes.
I suppose Bob Mitchum was as good a singer as William Shatner but having said that Mtr. Mitchum was one super actor. I do believe all of his movies were well worth watching. One helluva fine actor and as movie critics have said greatly under-rated. I always enjoyed his appearances.
Very nice video! I was 13 when this movie and song came out. Boy I loved that song! I was singing this song in a dream this morning - HAHA! I hadn't even thought about this song - but me and my dad were singing it in my dream. :)
Robert Mitchum's lyrics tell much of the plot to his movie Thunder Road. Mitchum produced the movie and introduced his son Jim in his first screen role. The melody is an old Danish folk song titled 'Mor Jeg Skal Tisse" (Mom I gotta pee), one may suppose there is a connection.
I remember when this came out it was a special I don't think it was midnight for sure and evening 10 show it was jammed and when it was all over one of the guys in town Rollo slowly up the Church Hill and came roaring down and down shifted and I'm surprised you didn't hatch that thing it was so loud it was incredible what a night what a show what a memory
I'm from west Kentucky near the the Kentucky-Tennessee border, and what I love is every family has stories of people who ran shine. My family moved here from Indiana in the 70s, but I've been here my whole life and love it. Everyone talks about how their grandpa ran shine even though profit wasnt what it was during prohibition. Last I hear, shine is still made occasionally but sense whiskey is cheap and accessible, the demand for any shine under 160 proof just isnt there.
The video is prefectly in sync with the song. Definitely could have been a modern soundtrack movie music video! Thanks for sharing!!!! Mitchum was the best!!!
Very well done. I watched the film yesterday here on YT. It was quite enjoyable - interesting plot and fine acting - and featured his son, James, playing the role of his brother.
Being from Knoxville...this song means a lot to me. Kingston Pike, Maynardville, Bearden ....I can picture all these places. This took place 8 months before I was born. !
I didn't know that Mr. Mitchum had a good singing voice! I mainly remember him as Pug Henry in "Winds of War" and "War and Remembrance", when he was in his early 70's at the end of his professional acting career.
My dad grew up as a sharecropper in Clay County KY, in the 20s, was driving tankers up until WW2 when he enlisted. Wish he'd have lived to see this movie. Killed in a mill accident in summer,1957 Great movie, great song.
I went with my Dad and Uncle Allen to my first still when I was 8 years old circa 1953. It was up in the mountains around Rockwood, Tenn. We always kept a quart of moonshine in the back of refrigerator.
Standard fare of drive-ins around Orlando Florida while I was stationed there in the early and mid 60's....Colonial, Prairie Lake, Winter Park, those were the days - thanks for the post..
Loved this movie since I seen it in 1960 and still do... Love the lyrics of the song and still today the 57 Ford Fairlane is my all~time favorite automobile!!!
Bob was too cool and a great family guy, a poet, singer and awesome actor of couse. If you want a good read get "Them Ornery Mitchum Boys". I loved this book!!!! So much action adventure from growing up running away hopping on trains etc.. . I guarantee you will love it!
I love these sort of old fashioned songs, they’re so dramatic! 🔥🌕❤️🔥🥃😇🔫⚡️ The story they tell, the creativity, and everything! This song makes me feel powerful and masculine, not to mention smart as a whip and cunning! 🤨🧐
Haven't heard this song in a long time. Looked it up here after watching a documentary on youtube. A buddy of mine would order a gallon or two from a connection of his. Finally he had to give it up. The doctor asked him if he wants to live. He said yes.
I was in the Chevrolet place in the movie it was in Asheville N.C. and we had my dads pick up truck and drove up the ramp to the service department. Long live The Thunder Roads in North Carolina. Lay her down in the curves and hear the tires screatch......
I would love to hear the "Uncensored" version once again, some day. It went " That's all there is to tell, the Devil got the moonshine, and the Mountain boy got Hell. It was only played a few times in the late 50s. A friend who is long since passed, had a copy of the recording.
The original Text Williams version is on his greatest hits album if you can find it. Mitchum originally wrote it that way but changed the last verse because of the record company. Tex redid it but by then Mitchum recorded it himself with Duane Eddy's twangy uptempo guitar. So Texs version faded away.
@@wesleycook7687 I just found the recording you spoke of. Even though IT ALSO had the well know lyrics, THIS may be the one my friend had. The voices would be VERY similar, to a 8 or 9 year old boy, remembered through the fog of time. MANY THANKS FOR THE INFO!!! Be SAFE, Be WELL, and Be HAPPY!!!
I loved those old 1950 Ford's that he started driving in the start of the movie. I have owned three of them and hope to buy one more before I die Those flathead 8's were the smoothest motors ever made and now thing beats their sound.
That stand-up bass, the one thats walking all over town ? That 'thump' that the bassist is playing reminds one of how a flat-tire sounds when it blows out its gut,,that rhythmic slapping of concrete as the steering threatens to falter and die amidst the unmistakable sounds of breaking for a curve at 200 mph while cramming the stick into a lower gear and hoping like hell that you didn't blow the head-gasket right up through the freaking hood.
I just love these old movies , sometimes I hear someone say i remember the old days but only 2 people can say that Adam and eve they were the only ones who knew a world without sin but us we know nothing but sins. I give thanks for Jesus
I was linked here by someone who said, "It's the melody to Musevisa / Mössens julafton'" Which it is, and it's very hard for me to take this seriously when I'm used to the song being sung by little mice celebrating Christmas! :-D
On the reverse side of the 45 RPM Record containing the song of "The Ballad of Thunder Road" was the song "My Honey's Lovin' Arms" (Joseph Meyer - Herman Ruby)
2/25/21: I hadn't heard this recording in almost 60 years, but it was an earworm for me when I woke up this morning, so I had to find this to hear it, to get rid of it, which it did... ...but Mitchum's singing is a revelation here: The tune goes in and out of parallel major and minor keys constantly, and his changing of modalities is pitch-perfect. Just another reason to be impressed by Robert Mitchum, I guess (as if we needed another one)...
All part of why this song gave me the "scares" when I was five or so. I'd play the record over and over to hear the "Thunder, thunder, over thunder road" part in a happy sounding major, only to descend to Beelzebub on the "And there was moonshine, moonshine, to quench the Devil's thirst" in the scary sounding minor mode! I'd scare myself purposely, in the upstairs "front room" of our house! Over and over!
I have his album. Not many people realize what a great voice Robert Mitchum had. I love this movie and the song.
Mitchum (my all-time favorite actor) could have had an easy singing career! But I'm glad he showed up on the silver screen as often as he did. Wish it had been more when he was young!!!!!
Robert Mitchum is one of my top favorite actors, love all his Movies, and his singing.
Wish I had a voice like his.
When actors who could sing or play an Instrument had the better chance to get parts
My father and two older brothers made whiskey. They would also farm some. This was in the 60s in Alabama. I was a pretty good athlete in high school and they thought maybe I could "make something of myself" and never asked me to help other than carrying the sugar to the still. The local sheriff would pretty much leave them alone but when the federal men came in they would often get caught. All three of them spent time in the pen. They would get sent off for three years or so. To Draper or Kilby prison. I would go down and visit on Sunday afernoon.They never got caught at the still but when they were hauling the whiskey. They hauled in old beat up cars and would never drive fast. The whiskey would be in gallon glass jars just sitting in the trunk. They are dead now but I can still see them mixing the low wine with the first run and shaking the bottle until they got a good bead. This music can sure bring back memories.
interestin.
The man was gorgeous. There's nobody like Mitchum in the movies anymore.
Could act and sing!? Cheers to Robert Mitchum!
he was the only skilled actor in this one,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,BUT this was great great movie
Back when actors & actresses were expected to have several talents.
@@georgerism aye my grandpa (Jim) was good bro. Also Bob which is my great grandpa was really good as well
@@sanjakarlsson8btw318 You're related to the Mitchums? Lucky you!!! Great acting family!!!
In those days any actor could sing
Had this song stuck in my head all day. One of my favorites of all time.
I was at a theme park called thunder road yesterday, really fun place, but couldn't get this song out of my head, glad im listening to it now
Me too
Watching it right now on TCM. LOVE Mitchum.
He not only co-wrote the song -- but wrote the screenplay as well - and directed it.
But it has always amazed me how a "Connecticut Yankee" could NAIL the look and feel of such a classically Southern subculture.
From Internet Movie Data Base: Directed by Arthur Ripley; Writing Credits James Atlee Phillips ... (screenplay) and Walter Wise (screenplay)
Robert Mitchum ... (original story)
Mitchum did co-write the song, and sing it on the single record, which was not used in the movie, although it pretty well sums up the plot of the flick.
I remember my uncle singing this song it was my favorite.
True story. 30 ish years ago, my boss in his early 50s and a coworker in her 50s, gazed out into a parking lot and saw a mid 1950s Olds under restoration. No chrome, body painted flat black, rims absolutely midnight, dull black. The two of them happened to glance at the Olds at the same time, and she remarked, "That car looks like a runner ." The boss looked at her w/ a sheepish grin and said , "Sheila, how would you know about that?" She replied, "You know I'm from Tennessee. 30 years ago, I was a single mom w/ no skills . I had babies to feed ." That was the last Sheila ever mentioned it in the 15 years I knew her .
GREAT STORY
Sheila of the dirt roads...pretty cool....
Shiela... thank u.. my dad hauled in a 37 Chevy coup and it had a tank under the RUMBLE seat..lol
Sounds like Shelia has a history to her.
Still waiting on my order Sheila. :)
A classic cult film, and a fantastic song sung by Mitch. Rest in piece.
My daddy loved this movie and would go around the house singing this song in his good bass voice.. I sure wish I could hear him sing it once again.
He released the oil only after they used lethal force. Long Live the spirit of Thunder Road.
Bits of piece of the road still exist. Come to Maynardville and drive on it.
The folks he wrecked out were gangsters trying to stop him,not the revenooers.
The cops did not want to kill him they just wanted him to pay taxes
Robert Michum really did a good job singing. I'm very impressed.
He did some Calypso recordings at one point too if I remember correctly.
Bought the album when it came out, which is long gone. :( Memorized the lyrics from listening to it so much and can still sing them today. :)
Im hearing alot of great stories in this comment section :)
Most are like 8 years ago tho,
But i hope all you guys are still around and doing well :)
RobertM had a big hand in composing this song. Multi-Talented Man.
One of my top 5 actors; who knew he could sing too! My paternal grandmother made moonshine with my great grandfather.
I can still remember when this movie came out I loved it and I liked his version of the song
thanks for posting this song and the film clips
Appalachia is for bootleggers, not bootlickers! Solidarity with shiners!
Helll yah ✊
Nobody can sing the story of the Thunder Road like Robert.
Judy Wethington My step grandfather could almost sing The Ballad of Thunder Road like Robert Mitchum until he died last week 😫😫😫😫😫😫😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 I miss him so much
Chara Dreemer sorry for your loss 😢😢😢
I agree. Mitchums singing is much better and Duane Eddy's great guitar work on the single made it the hit version.
@@wesleycook7687 hell yeah, his singing isn't complete without that awesome guitar work
lovely 57 Ford, had the pleasure of owning one back in the mid 60's while I was in the Navy stationed at Sanford Florida. This movie was a favorite of mine when I was in High School. Mitchum did the whole thing, wrote, directed, produced, financed, acted and sang the title song.
I always thought the 300 custom was a better looking car than the 500. The 500 had those wings. I had a 300, Borg & Warner 4 speed, that lasted me about 3 months, then the old cast Iron Ford 4 speed, rolled and pleated seats, door panels,and headliner, 10 leafs of Robinson springs, with the arch taken out, coils between the housing and the rails, adjustable Silver Ease all the way around, 1 1|4 " stabilizer bar , big block, w/ aluminum high rise, but unless you put Metallic shoe on it you never had brakes, yes and old Trip car from the bottom up, some body said something about why the car swayed, 8 LB to the Gallon 8 LB X 250 Gal., now in closing, with the Speedometer hand below the double lines in the dash running with no head lights,
Yes, and he even had his son play his little brother. RM was a gem: an honest, unselfish person who lived his life with integrity and kindness. I so wish I could have known him! People who did know him were so blessed. I wonder, did they know that they were blessed?
Actually Glen Yarbourgh sang the title song in the movie but Mitchum was waaay better
@@ralphharper2414 The movie credits the singing to another singer. It's doubtful that Canadian singer Glen Yarborough would have sung but not recorded the song. Baby The Rain Must Fall was a movie song and he did record it. Besides, the singer in the movie has a lighter voice than Glen Yarborough. Don Rave who composed the soundtrack most likely sung it m
"the mountain boy took roads even angels fear to tread." my boyfriend and I think that lyric is reference to the tail of the dragon. its 316 switchbacks in 11 miles.
Bikers consider that road to be a challenge, much less 18 wheelers that would be touching their nose to their tail in nearly every curve.
Count'um again, I get 318
@@doughesson trucks aren't allowed on it
@@dominickjustave3558 That's why I mentioned that they would be touching their noses with their tails in the curves.
I've seen the ride guides which mention that large trucks are prohibited from riding the Dragon's Tail.
Route 50 going through West Virginia is pure hell! One lane going through Mountains!
The "Runners" we're the birth of NASCAR
Read DRIVING WITH THE DEVIL. Awesome true stories.
My grandmother told me over 30 years ago about our family being in the whiskey business. They were just in the manufacturing stage not delivery. She said it was so they could eat because around here during those years money and jobs were scarce. They only made good stuff she said. No rot gut. They had a couple of drivers from a neighboring county who moved the stuff for them. One she said she thought his name was Earl had a 1955 Ford 2 door painted black. She remembered my grandfather telling her that the car had Chrysler motor with 2 carburetors and the transmission that went with it. Supposedly he worked for them for almost three years and never got caught. The law started getting nastier by the day and they started farming full-time as well as raising chickens and hogs. She said what ever the recipe was my grandfather took it to his grave with him. He never told her or anyone else she knew of. Some snooty people might find my family history less than savory. Like I care. I'm proud of my family. As far as I've heard nobody ever died or went blind from the stuff they made.
D Tittle 1964: I'm with you. Doesn't matter what other people might say. This is YOUR family history and you're proud of your family. Wonder what kind of stories those snobs might reveal...... ☺
I have some moonshiners in my family, think it is funny and who cares colorful history.
Makes you wonder what other colorful histories people will tell their grandchildren 60 years from now.
he made booze when the government said we couldn't have any in this "free" country of ours, I tip my hat to granpa
Unsavory? As far as I'm concerned as an Australian, your family is American Royalty with an interesting history like that! Good on ya mate! Like being a drover or cattleman out here. Did you know that in Australia, they are extremely proud if they are descendants of the outlaw Ned Kelly, or if they are descendants of prisoners brought out from England on the first fleet!
Robert also wrote 'poor whippoorwill', for the movie. I was 9 when the movie came out. WOW. I still love the movie, and the song!
Heard at first they were going to name the movie "The Whippoorwill" but later decided on Thunder Road.
Robert Mitchem was the real deal. In his youth, right after he arrived in L.A. he was considered one of the most dangerous guys in Hollywood. He played mostly tough guys so idiots in bars and restaurants were always picking fights. As far as I know he never lost.
You have to read "Them Ornery Mitchum Boys" I loved this book!!!! So much action adventure from growing up causing trouble in school running away etc.. So fun I wish they can make a movie!
Had a 45 rpm record of this as a kid.
Mine was purple label, "Columbia". I wore that one out as a young child. Fast forward to about 2001 or so, and a drummer friend that was playing with our outfit gifted me with a newer version "Columbia" with a red label. It was like brand new, and I was afraid to play it.
When my father was young he looked like Mitchum. They could have been twins. Handsome
My Daddy was a moonshiner who was never caught. He went from town to town to buy the vast amounts of sugar needed to make his brew. They watched out for people who bought a lot of sugar as that was indicative of someone running a moonshine still. He moved from county to county making and selling his moonshine. He never stayed in one place too long or he would have been caught. He was always extremely careful where he hid the copper coil as he thought that he wouldn't have been charged without them finding it. We were in his car at times when we were kids when they were chasing him but he always outran them. He did not consider the fact that if he went off the road at 90 mph that we would all probably have been killed. I was about 8 years old at the time and it was exciting when he got away from them but scary at the same time. He died in a car crash but he had given up moonshining by then. He was 53 when he died.
Wow
***** Hey Spirit, cool story, I'm sorry your father died that way and at such a young age. I loved those mountain roads when I was a kid. I'm in Greenville SC, and had cousins in Hendersonville NC, My older brother had a 53 Chevy that he would race at the A&H Dragstrip which was North of Hendersonville. A&H stood for Asheville / Hendersonville. Many times coming down the mountain on a Sunday night heading home he would get in a race with someone. They would turn their headlights off in order to see oncoming cars from around the curves,, ha ha yeah you're right very exciting but bout to sh$t my pants at the same time. I still remember spending several weekends with my cousins up there and watching ''Thunder Road'' on that huge black and white TV. About 6 years later,(68 - 69) I had 3 different friends that didn't know each other, but I knew their fathers. Many years prior these 3 guys were in the shine business themselves,, Pretty cool set up, 1 was in the asphalt paving business, 1 had a car lot and a small grocery store, the other one had a larger grocery store. ha ha ha plenty of sugar and trucks to haul it. Don't know how many years they did it but prison time put a stop to it.
+Spiritedcat Kitties Great personal story! Worth telling!
+David Rosamond a 53 chevy had a 6 banger what did he have
Wow
What a great actor and I love all his old movies and he was my idol in the 50's....bedroom eyes and that great dimple in his chin. Miss all the old greats from back there....too bad we all have to become old and leave this world. Thank you so much for posting this, I'll be back often just to be wistful.
I always loved this song and the movie. I was so in love with Robert Mitchum when I was a teen. Recently, a friend gave me a VHS copy of the movie. I will treasure it always. Thanks Mary.
My favorite movie and actor during my early teens also..I still love it today! Seems to me now to be of great historical value!
yep......mitchum was handsome devil........but still love the ones still looking for love.......fairer sex
Thunder Road the movie is on you tube ua-cam.com/video/B-vWQwYthM4/v-deo.html
yea he was a mans man, guys wanted to be just like him.
Proud to say I have this 45 rpm in my collection . He did a Fine job with the song and the movie .
thanks so much for posting this. when i was in third grade I thought this was the greatest song ever recorded. really fun to finally hear it again. my other great one back then was "the man who shot libert valance." also, "Lemon tree" by trini lopez. great memories. now all i need is a bananna flavored popsickle.
I grew up hearing my dad singing this and I love watching it and "the man who shot liberty valance. Enjoy watching he and John Wayne.
"Just outside of Bearden, where they made their fatal strike." I had a store in West Town Mall just outside of Bearden for 21 years. Great song and story!
The crash was on Bearden hill
@@deel2621 damn BAM !!!!!! and the devil waiting with handcuffs to take him to hell asap after living better electrically !!!
This a weird coincidence Phil Bearden used to sell illegal fireworks in front of our house when this song was on the radio.
What was the name of it?
Real pleasure to get home last night, open a few cans of beer, and view Thunder Road recorded on the DVR. Definite keeper.
Love this tune. I would love to hear someone like Junior Brown re-do again!
Perfect for Jr
Love the song, bought it at an antique store a few weeks back, love the movie also, we could not get the channel that it came out on, so I remember my older brothers and sister walking out to my aunts to watch it. Remember the blessing of the food, good bread good meat, gettin' late, let's eat.
Really well-done video. I just love Robert Mitchum, especially in THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER and the 1962 CAPE FEAR. I remember one scene in CAPE FEAR aboard the houseboat where the daughter is about to hit him with something and the bare-chested Mitchum simply exhales in such a way as to calmly say "Really? Just give up. That's not going to work." That one little exhale is worth more than all the over-the-top histrionics in the DeNiro/Scorsese version.
I am also an admirer of Mitchum's singing voice. He was not a trained singer, yet had a naturally wonderful rich voice. Just listen to THE BALLAD OF THUNDER ROAD or his singing in THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER, especially his haunting version of the hymn "Leaning on the Everlasting Arms," At the height of the Harry Belafonte Calypso craze, Mitchum released a great LP named "Calypso is Like So," and delivered some astonishingly realistic performances of Jamaican tunes.
I suppose Bob Mitchum was as good a singer as William Shatner but having said that Mtr. Mitchum was one super actor. I do believe all of his movies were well worth watching. One helluva fine actor and as movie critics have said greatly under-rated. I always enjoyed his appearances.
Very nice video! I was 13 when this movie and song came out. Boy I loved that song! I was singing this song in a dream this morning - HAHA! I hadn't even thought about this song - but me and my dad were singing it in my dream. :)
I remember those days back in McNairy country Tennessee when I was teenager
the first movie I ever saw, at the old M&T drive in, in Canton,GA. over 60 years ago but I still remember...
the song was called, in the movie as "Wipporwill" and sang as a soft ballad as the opening credits rolled. Haunting and beautiful.
Robert Mitchum's lyrics tell much of the plot to his movie Thunder Road. Mitchum produced the movie and introduced his son Jim in his first screen role.
The melody is an old Danish folk song titled 'Mor Jeg Skal Tisse" (Mom I gotta pee), one may suppose there is a connection.
I remember when this came out it was a special I don't think it was midnight for sure and evening 10 show it was jammed and when it was all over one of the guys in town Rollo slowly up the Church Hill and came roaring down and down shifted and I'm surprised you didn't hatch that thing it was so loud it was incredible what a night what a show what a memory
🍀
I'm from west Kentucky near the the Kentucky-Tennessee border, and what I love is every family has stories of people who ran shine. My family moved here from Indiana in the 70s, but I've been here my whole life and love it. Everyone talks about how their grandpa ran shine even though profit wasnt what it was during prohibition. Last I hear, shine is still made occasionally but sense whiskey is cheap and accessible, the demand for any shine under 160 proof just isnt there.
The video is prefectly in sync with the song. Definitely could have been a modern soundtrack movie music video! Thanks for sharing!!!! Mitchum was the best!!!
Very well done. I watched the film yesterday here on YT. It was quite enjoyable - interesting plot and fine acting - and featured his son, James, playing the role of his brother.
Being from Knoxville...this song means a lot to me. Kingston Pike, Maynardville, Bearden ....I can picture all these places. This took place 8 months before I was born. !
saw a small car show in Knoxville tenn downtown they had some rebuilt moon runners.
I didn't know that Mr. Mitchum had a good singing voice! I mainly remember him as Pug Henry in "Winds of War" and "War and Remembrance", when he was in his early 70's at the end of his professional acting career.
LAURA ANN CHARLOT Watch “Rachel and the Stranger” - wonderful film and Mitchum sings and plays guitar. (Also stars Loretta Young and William Holden)
My dad grew up as a sharecropper in Clay County KY, in the 20s, was driving tankers up until WW2 when he enlisted.
Wish he'd have lived to see this movie. Killed in a mill accident in summer,1957
Great movie, great song.
you really gotta wonder about the 86 people that disliked this....
they were looking for Springsteen.
Non smoker Karens
Idiots
@@0001nika Right On!!!!
They don't realize that Bob Mitchum created the title Thunder Road. Springsteen just borrowed it for his so-so song.
I went with my Dad and Uncle Allen to my first still when I was 8 years old circa 1953. It was up in the mountains around Rockwood, Tenn. We always kept a quart of moonshine in the back of refrigerator.
Standard fare of drive-ins around Orlando Florida while I was stationed there in the early and mid 60's....Colonial, Prairie Lake, Winter Park, those were the days - thanks for the post..
THIS IS THE FIRST MOVIE I CAN RECALL WATCHING ON TV AS A LITTLE BOY. IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN IT AND LOVE OLD HOT ROD MOVIES THIS IS THE BEST.
my mom sang this all the time to my she used to run shine and loved everything about it
My favorite movie ever, I actually have a vhs of it and watch it often....
No matter what is said about the song or movie, both are great no matter what
Yep, Bob could sing anything. Did a lot of Calypso music, in perfect dialect. Very talented stud-muffin!
Robert Mitchum was one cool dude. Catch "The Friends of Eddie Coyle". Awesome movie.
My first car in High School was a 57 Fairlane 500. 2 tone blue 312 T- Bird Engine. Power Windows. And yes I was Kool!!!😎
I just watched this movie on youtube. I saw it when I was 4 years old at the drive-in theater with my mom and dad in 1958.
Loved this movie since I seen it in 1960 and still do...
Love the lyrics of the song and still today the 57 Ford Fairlane is my all~time favorite automobile!!!
Bob was too cool and a great family guy, a poet, singer and awesome actor of couse. If you want a good read get "Them Ornery Mitchum Boys". I loved this book!!!! So much action adventure from growing up running away hopping on trains etc.. . I guarantee you will love it!
My mamaw use to sing this to me when I was a kid so happy I found the original song. Never heard it before
Great movie,great actor, great story.
Just watching Thunder Road on TCM brought back memories so wanted to hear Robert Mitchum sing the title song to the movie.. great as always.
I love these sort of old fashioned songs, they’re so dramatic! 🔥🌕❤️🔥🥃😇🔫⚡️ The story they tell, the creativity, and everything!
This song makes me feel powerful and masculine, not to mention smart as a whip and cunning! 🤨🧐
Haven't heard this song in a long time. Looked it up here after watching a documentary on youtube. A buddy of mine would order a gallon or two from a connection of his. Finally he had to give it up. The doctor asked him if he wants to live. He said yes.
Also IS a Great Movie! 🍿🎥
Mitchum was waaay cool.
here in oklahoma I don't run moon just do it to fuck with the ass hole police and the cock suck D A
pete pete waaay too cool describes him best 👍
Nobody cooler, not then, not now. Somebody missed the boat when they didn't make the movie with Paul Newman, Mitchum and Natalie Wood.
They don't make em like that anymore...yep..waaaay coool!
A lot of people never knew robert mitchum, did this song. It was a real hit.
I was in the Chevrolet place in the movie it was in Asheville N.C. and we had my dads pick up truck and drove up the ramp to the service department. Long live The Thunder Roads in North Carolina. Lay her down in the curves and hear the tires screatch......
Whenever I hear this song I think about thunder road from Carowinds. I never got to ride it, I wish it was still at the park. I hate that waterpark!
Moonshine helped me pay for my education! I'd bring it up from Tennessee and sell it in New Jersey!
@Peter Evans what a whiney snowflake you are!
My high school car was a "57 Ford and saw the movie many times. Worked at a gas station on Sundays and we played the record all day...
Mitchum was a big star, with his stoned eyes. Miss you.
That has to be a stand-up bass thumping the lines that carry this song. Good. Thanks for posting it, King of the noir'.
There's also a 49 or 50 Ford in the video. Great rockabilly!
It's a '50 Ford
I would love to hear the "Uncensored" version once again, some day. It went " That's all there is to tell, the Devil got the moonshine, and the Mountain boy got Hell. It was only played a few times in the late 50s. A friend who is long since passed, had a copy of the recording.
The original Text Williams version is on his greatest hits album if you can find it. Mitchum originally wrote it that way but changed the last verse because of the record company. Tex redid it but by then Mitchum recorded it himself with Duane Eddy's twangy uptempo guitar. So Texs version faded away.
@@wesleycook7687 I just found the recording you spoke of. Even though IT ALSO had the well know lyrics, THIS may be the one my friend had. The voices would be VERY similar, to a 8 or 9 year old boy, remembered through the fog of time. MANY THANKS FOR THE INFO!!! Be SAFE, Be WELL, and Be HAPPY!!!
"The Devil sent the moonshine and the mountain boy to Hell."
This is one of my favorite songs!!!❤
I remember enjoying this movie when I was 9 or 10.
I went to college not far from Cumberland Gap! Used to sit with my dad while he'd pick this song on the guitar and we'd sing it. Good memories.
I have a poster for "Thunder Road"in my man cave and a"Copperhead Road"sign on the man cave door.
This was the first movie and my favorite uncle took me and my sister and brothers.
I loved those old 1950 Ford's that he started driving in the start of the movie. I have owned three of them and hope to buy one more before I die Those flathead 8's were the smoothest motors ever made and now thing beats their sound.
One of my all time favorites! Movie and Song!!
Hey, I lived in Knoxville right off Kingston Pike....wow. psst...there is still 'shine up in 'ar hills!
How could anyone NOT like this video?
I like s"still shine up i 'ar hills!".Had it a cuple of times feom my brother-in-law, Martinville,Va.
My Dad grew up in moonshine country. He used to tell stories about all of these places. Cumberland Gap etc
Moonshine,moonshine to quench the devils thirst!
the law swore they'ed get'em but the devil got him first
That stand-up bass, the one thats walking all over town ? That 'thump' that the bassist is playing reminds one of how a flat-tire sounds when it blows out its gut,,that rhythmic slapping of concrete as the steering threatens to falter and
die amidst the unmistakable sounds of breaking for a curve at 200 mph while cramming the stick into a lower gear and hoping like hell that you didn't blow the head-gasket right up through the freaking hood.
I just love these old movies , sometimes I hear someone say i remember the old days but only 2 people can say that Adam and eve they were the only ones who knew a world without sin but us we know nothing but sins. I give thanks for Jesus
I was linked here by someone who said, "It's the melody to Musevisa / Mössens julafton'" Which it is, and it's very hard for me to take this seriously when I'm used to the song being sung by little mice celebrating Christmas! :-D
GREAT movie!
Rick Deevey, this is very COOL!!! Nice production. I have added it to my collection! Thank you!! ;-) שלום
On the reverse side of the 45 RPM Record containing the song of "The Ballad of Thunder Road" was the song "My Honey's Lovin' Arms" (Joseph Meyer - Herman Ruby)
I'd never heard this until 2000 & kept wondering "I know that voice. Who IS that?"
2/25/21:
I hadn't heard this recording in almost 60 years, but it was an earworm for me when I woke up this morning, so I had to find this to hear it, to get rid of it, which it did...
...but Mitchum's singing is a revelation here:
The tune goes in and out of parallel major and minor keys constantly, and his changing of modalities is pitch-perfect.
Just another reason to be impressed by Robert Mitchum, I guess (as if we needed another one)...
All part of why this song gave me the "scares" when I was five or so. I'd play the record over and over to hear the "Thunder, thunder, over thunder road" part in a happy sounding major, only to descend to Beelzebub on the "And there was moonshine, moonshine, to quench the Devil's thirst" in the scary sounding minor mode! I'd scare myself purposely, in the upstairs "front room" of our house! Over and over!
@@hugejohnson5011 Great memory!
@@tuxguys Thanks for reading that. Cheers!
Great Memories thanks for sharing