This is about the Leiber/Wheeler song recorded by the Cashes and by others. For the Lucinda Williams song, see Car Wheels on a Gravel Road

Car Wheels on a Gravel Road

Car Wheels on a Gravel Road is the 1998 album by singer-songwriter and guitarist Lucinda Williams, her fifth professional release. Issued by Mercury/Polygram Records, it was recorded in Nashville and Canoga Park, California...

.

"Jackson" is a song, written in 1963 by Jerry Leiber and Billy Edd Wheeler

Billy Edd Wheeler

Billy Edward "Edd" Wheeler is an American songwriter, performer, writer and visual artist. He has written songs performed by over 90 different artists including Judy Collins, Jefferson Airplane, Bobby Darin, The Kingston Trio, Johnny Cash, Neil Young, Kenny Rogers, Hazel Dickens, and Elvis Presley...

, about a married couple who find (according to the lyrics) that the "fire" has gone out of their relationship. The song relates the desire of both partners to travel to a city named "Jackson" where they each expect to be welcomed as someone far better suited to the city's lively night life than the other is.

Background

Actress Gaby Rodgers

Gaby Rodgers

Gaby Rodgers is a German-American actress, theater director, and journalist. Although she worked extensively as a television actress in the 1950s, she is best-remembered as an actress for her role as the villainous Lily Carver...

 is cited as co-author of "Jackson", because Jerry Leiber used his then-wife's name as a pseudonym in writing the song with Wheeler. First recorded in 1963 by co-authour Billy Edd Wheeler, he explains the evolution of the song, and Lieber's contribution:

'Jackson' came to me when I read the script for Edward Albee

Edward Albee

Edward Franklin Albee III is an American playwright who is best known for The Zoo Story , The Sandbox , Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? , and a rewrite of the screenplay for the unsuccessful musical version of Capote's Breakfast at Tiffany's . His works are considered well-crafted, often...

's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf (I was too broke to see the play on Broadway)...When I played it for Jerry [Leiber], he said 'Your first verses suck,' or words to that effect. 'Throw them away and start the song with your last verse, "We got married in a fever, hotter than a pepper sprout."' When I protested to Jerry that I couldn't start the song with the climax, he said, 'Oh, yes you can.' So I rewrote the song and thanks to Jerry's editing and help, it worked. I recorded the song on my first Kapp Records

Kapp Records

Kapp Records was an independent record label started in 1954 by David Kapp, brother of Jack Kapp . David Kapp founded his own label after stints with Decca Records and RCA Victor Records. Kapp licensed its records to London Records for release in the UK.In 1967, David Kapp sold his label to MCA Inc...

 album, with Joan Sommer, an old friend from Berea, Kentucky, singing the woman's part. Johnny Cash learned the song from that album, A New Bag of Songs, produced by Jerry and Mike.

Notable covers

The song appeared on The Kingston Trio

The Kingston Trio

The Kingston Trio is an American folk and pop music group that helped launch the folk revival of the late 1950s to late 1960s. The group started as a San Francisco Bay Area nightclub act with an original lineup of Dave Guard, Bob Shane, and Nick Reynolds...

 album Sunny Side!

Sunny Side!

Sunny Side! is an album by the American folk music group The Kingston Trio, released in 1963 . It reached number 7 on the Billboard Pop Albums chart. The lead-off single was "Desert Pete" b/w "Ballad of the Thresher"...

, released in 1963. Since the dialogue in this version is between father and son, the lyrics differ slightly from later recorded versions.

Nancy Sinatra

Nancy Sinatra

Nancy Sandra Sinatra is an American singer and actress. She is the daughter of singer/actor Frank Sinatra, and remains best known for her 1966 signature hit "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'"....

 and Lee Hazlewood

Lee Hazlewood

Lee Hazlewood , born Barton Lee Hazlewood was an American country and pop singer, songwriter, and record producer, most widely known for his work with guitarist Duane Eddy during the late 1950s and singer Nancy Sinatra in the 1960s.Hazlewood had a distinctive baritone voice that added an ominous...

 released a version in July of 1967, reaching #14 on the US Charts

Billboard Hot 100

The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...

 that year. The song was featured in Nancy Sinatra's 1967

1967 in television

The year 1967 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1967.For the American TV schedule, see: 1967-68 American network television schedule.-Events:...

 TV special: Movin' With Nancy

Movin' With Nancy

Movin' With Nancy was a television special featuring Nancy Sinatra in a series of musical vignettes featuring herself and other artists. Produced by Nancy's production company, Boots Enterprises, Inc., and sponsored by Royal Crown Cola, the show was originally broadcast on the NBC television...

.

Johnny Cash

Johnny Cash

John R. "Johnny" Cash was an American singer-songwriter, actor, and author, who has been called one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century...

 and June Carter released a version in September of 1967, reaching #2 on the US Country

Hot Country Songs

Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States.This 60-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly mostly by airplay and occasionally commercial sales...

 charts and winning a Grammy Award in 1968 for Best Country & Western Performance Duet, Trio or Group. This version was reprised by Joaquin Phoenix

Joaquin Phoenix

Joaquin Rafael Phoenix , formerly credited as Leaf Phoenix, is an American film actor. He was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and his family returned to the continental United States four years later...

 and Reese Witherspoon

Reese Witherspoon

Laura Jeanne Reese Witherspoon , better known as Reese Witherspoon, is an American actress and film producer. Witherspoon landed her first feature role as the female lead in the film The Man in the Moon in 1991; later that year she made her television acting debut, in the cable movie Wildflower...

, performing as Johnny Cash and June Carter, in the 2005

2005 in film

- Highest-grossing films :Please note that following the tradition of the English-language film industry, these are the top-grossing films that were first released in the United States in 2005...

 film Walk the Line

Walk the Line

Walk the Line is a 2005 American biographical drama film directed by James Mangold and based on the early life and career of country music artist Johnny Cash...

.

Additional covers

Jenny Morris and INXS

INXS

INXS are an Australian rock band, formed as The Farriss Brothers in 1977 in Sydney, New South Wales. Mainstays are Garry Gary Beers on bass guitar, Andrew Farriss on guitar/keyboards, Jon Farriss on drums, Tim Farriss on lead guitar and Kirk Pengilly on guitar/sax...

 also recorded a version in 1983.

The Pleasure Barons, a project featuring Mojo Nixon

Mojo Nixon

Mojo Nixon is an American musician, known for playing psychobilly music...

, Dave Alvin

Dave Alvin

Dave Alvin , is a guitarist, singer and songwriter. He has been one of the leading proponents of 'roots' or 'American' music, bringing together elements of rock-and-roll, blues, rural and tejano music....

 and Country Dick Montana

Country Dick Montana

Country Dick Montana was a musician best known as a member of the Beat Farmers...

, covered the song on the 1993 album, Live in Las Vegas.

The song was also covered by British band Brakes

Brakes (band)

Brakes is a four member band from Brighton, England. The group formed in 2003. It consists of Eamon Hamilton , Thomas White , Marc Beatty , and Alex White .-Biography:Brakes formed in 2003, when Thomas White and Alex White of The Electric Soft Parade saw Eamon Hamilton perform...

 (as a duet with Liela Moss of The Duke Spirit

The Duke Spirit

The Duke Spirit are an English rock band based in London. Their sound has been seen as a melding of many influences ranging from the alternative noise of 1980s/90s guitar bands such as My Bloody Valentine, Sonic Youth and Spacemen 3, the tremulous rock n roll of bands such as The Gun Club and The...

) on their debut 2005 album, Give Blood

Give Blood (Brakes album)

Give Blood is the debut album from the Brighton-based band, Brakes. The album was recorded onto 2" tape and mixed onto 1/4" tape in January 2005. Brakes and their 22-year old producer, Iain Gore, also removed all computer screens from the studio for the week and all the tracks were recorded live,...

.

Country music parodist Cledus T. Judd

Cledus T. Judd

Barry Poole is an American country music artist who records under the name Cledus T. Judd. Known primarily for his parodies of popular country music songs, he has been called the "Weird Al" Yankovic of country music, and his albums are usually an equal mix of original comedy songs and parodies...

 recorded a parody called "Jackson (Alan That Is)" on his 1996 album I Stoled This Record

I Stoled This Record

I Stoled This Record is the second album from country music parodist Cledus T. Judd. His highest-selling album to date, it has been certified gold in the United States, although none of its singles charted...

. The parody deals with a man who is frustrated over his wife's obsession with Alan Jackson

Alan Jackson

Alan Eugene Jackson is an American country music singer, known for blending traditional honky tonk and mainstream country sounds and penning many of his own hits. He has recorded 13 studio albums, 3 Greatest Hits albums, 2 Holiday albums, 1 Gospel album and several compilations, all on the Arista...

; the parody also includes snippets from Alan's 1994 song "Chattahoochee

Chattahoochee

- Places :*Chattahoochee River, a river in Georgia, Alabama, and Florida*Chattahoochee, Florida, a town in Gadsden County, Florida*Chattahoochee County, Georgia, a county in the Columbus, Georgia, metropolitan area...

".

The band Pansy Division

Pansy Division

Pansy Division is an American punk rock band that formed in San Francisco, California in 1991. Featuring primarily gay musicians and focusing mostly on gay-related themes, Pansy Division is one of the more melodic-oriented bands to emerge from the "queercore" movement that began in the 1980s.-Early...

 also did a parody cover for their 1995 album Pile Up.

A Finnish version was recorded by Carola & Lasse - Mä lähden stadiin (1967).

A Swedish language version by Towa Carson

Towa Carson

Towa Carson , born on 31 March 1936 in Eskilstuna, Sweden, is a Swedish schlager singer. She debuted in 1954 and had the most success in the 1950s and 1960s, when she recorded many duets with Lasse Lönndahl...

 and Mats Olsson uses the Swedish place Laxå

Laxå

Laxå is a locality and the seat of Laxå Municipality, Örebro County, Sweden with 3,307 inhabitants in 2005.-History:The town was founded in the mid-19th century when the main line railway between Gothenburg and Stockholm was built in 1883. Laxå is situated exactly 226 km from both those...

 (1967).

Warren Zevon

Warren Zevon

Warren William Zevon was an American rock singer-songwriter and musician noted for including his sometimes sardonic opinions of life in his musical lyrics, composing songs that were sometimes humorous and often had political or historical themes.Zevon's work has often been praised by well-known...

 sang this tune as as a duet with Jill Sobule

Jill Sobule

Jill Sobule is an American singer-songwriter best known for the 1995 single "I Kissed a Girl", and "Supermodel" from the soundtrack of the 1995 film Clueless...

 on his Spring 2000 tour.

Yet another cover was released in 2002 by Hem

Hem (band)

Hem is an indie folk-rock band from New York City, United States. Band members include Sally Ellyson , Dan Messé , Gary Maurer , Steve Curtis , George Rush , Mark Brotter , Bob Hoffnar , and Heather Zimmerman .-Band history:In 1999,...

 on their EP, I'm Talking With My Mouth

I'm Talking With My Mouth

I'm Talking With My Mouth is an EP by indie folk band Hem. It consists of five cover songs and was sometimes included with pressings of their debut album, Rabbit Songs.-Track listing:...

, and then on their 2004 album, Eveningland

Eveningland

Eveningland is the second album by indie folk group Hem. It was released on Rounder Records after a delay caused by the folding of the Dreamworks music division...

. This version of the song has a different mood entirely from the famous Johnny & June recording; instead of sassy and uncaring, this recording is slow, sad, and regretful.

Die Toten Hosen

Die Toten Hosen

Die Toten Hosen is a German punk band from Düsseldorf. They have enjoyed decades-long mass appeal in Germany.The band's name literally means "The Dead Pants" in English, although the phrase "tote Hose" is a German expression meaning "nothing going on" or "boring"...

 has covered the song.

Johnny Cash sang a duet with Miss Piggy

Miss Piggy

Miss Piggy is a Muppet character who was primarily played by Frank Oz on The Muppet Show. In 2001, Eric Jacobson began performing the role, although Oz did not officially retire until 2002....

 when he appeared on The Muppet Show

The Muppet Show

The Muppet Show is a British television programme produced by American puppeteer Jim Henson and featuring Muppets. After two pilot episodes were produced in 1974 and 1975, the show premiered on 5 September 1976 and five series were produced until 15 March 1981, lasting 120 episodes...

as part of a medley

Medley (music)

In music, a medley is a piece composed from parts of existing pieces, usually three, played one after another, sometimes overlapping. They are common in popular music, and most medleys are songs rather than instrumental. A medley which is a remixed series is called a megamix, often done with tracks...

 with "Orange Blossom Special

Orange Blossom Special (song)

The fiddle tune "Orange Blossom Special", about the passenger train of the same name, was written by Ervin T. Rouse in 1938. The original recording was created by Ervin and Gordon Rouse in 1939. It is considered the best known fiddle tune of the twentieth century and is often called simply The...

" also being included.
R.E.M. recorded an abbreviated take of this song in a widely-bootlegged acoustic in-studio session, notable for Michael Stipe's mid-song exhortation: "Maybelle Carter, jump in there!" followed by Mike Mills' retort "Don't call ME Maybelle" followed by Stipe's "I'll call you Maybelle!"

Tributes

Pepper Sprout, a Midwestern

Cuisine of the Midwestern United States

Midwestern cuisine is a regional cuisine of the American Midwest. It draws its culinary roots most significantly from the cuisines of Central, Northern and Eastern Europe, and is influenced by regionally and locally grown foodstuffs and cultural diversity....

 gourmet

Gourmet

Gourmet is a cultural ideal associated with the culinary arts of fine food and drink, or haute cuisine, which is characterised by elaborate preparations and presentations of large meals of small, often quite rich courses...

 restaurant in Dubuque, Iowa

Dubuque, Iowa

Dubuque is a city in and the county seat of Dubuque County, Iowa, United States, located along the Mississippi River. In 2010 its population was 57,637, making it the ninth-largest city in the state and the county's population was 93,653....

, was named after the lyrics in "Jackson."