Released: January 17, 1969

Songwriter: Big Maybelle

Producer: Tom Dowd Jerry Wexler

[Verse]
I have got the blues for the highway
Rambling blues, I got to go
I better start running
Because walking for me is much too slow, oh, yes it is
I’m undecided whether to go or stay
It’s true I love you baby but I can not make it this way
Oh, baby, I just can’t make it this way, oh no, I can’t

[Bridge]
You have got me worried every night and day, oh yes, I do now
Well I’m just plain and tired sick of your funky ways
Yeah, hey, baby, yeah
Tell them about it
I understand you
Yeah, tell them about it, yeah, oh

[Outro]
So long baby, baby, goodbye
I’m going start rambling, going to be rambling till the day I die
Yeah, baby, gonna ramble ramble ramble ramble
Get into something until the day I die, yes I am
Oh, so long, oh, so long
Tell them about it, tell them about it right now
So long baby, oh yeah
Tell the story, rambling
I’m going to be rambling
Till the day I die, yeah, oh yeah
You got it baby, you got it
So long baby, oh

Aretha Franklin

Aretha Franklin is both a 20th and 21st century musical and cultural icon known simply by her first Aretha. She is the reigning and undisputed “Queen Of Soul” with a legacy that spans five decades. A native of Detroit, Michigan, Aretha began her career singing gospel at her father, minister C. L. Franklin’s church as a child. In 1960, at the age of 18, Aretha embarked on a secular career, recording for Columbia Records with modest success.

After moving to Atlantic Records in 1967, she released a steady string of US top ten hits through 1973 including “Spanish Harlem”, “Chain Of Fools”, “Baby I Love You”, “Since You’ve Been Gone”, “Daydreaming”, “The House That Jack Built”, “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman", ”Think“ and her first chart-topper “Respect” – a song that also won Aretha her first of 18 Grammys. During this time, several of her songs were also successful overseas.

By the mid-70s, Aretha’s commercial success waned and she left Atlantic for Clive Davis' Arista Records in 1980. Her 1982 song “Jump to It,” returned her to the top 40 for the first time in six years. 1985’s Who’s Zoomin' Who? got her back into the top 10 twice with its title track and “Freeway Of Love”. Four more songs reached the top 40 through 1986.