Flying Burrito Brothers – Six Days on the Road

I got ten forward gears and a sweet Georgia overdrive
I’m taking little white pills and my eyes are open wide

I love this song so much. The first time I remember hearing it was in the Gimme Shelter film and the Flying Burrito Brothers were playing it before all hell broke loose. This is country music that I can get into.

I’ve heard this song by dozens of other artists. I’ve heard country and rock versions…and country/rock versions of it.  This song was originally written by Carl Montgomery and Earl Green, and originally performed by Dave Dudley, becoming Dudley’s first hit at #2 on the Country chart. It is often referenced as one of the first trucker songs.

In 1963 the Grand Ole Opry star Jimmy C. Newman let Dudley hear a demo for ‘Six Days on the Road’. It was an up-tempo song, it was a departure from the ballads Dudley had specialized in, and he was initially reluctant to record it. At the session in 1963 for ‘Six Days on the Road’, produced by Shelby Singleton at Kay Bank Studios, in Minneapolis, MN, the song was recorded unrehearsed and nailed on the second take. The release, on the independent Minneapolis label Golden Wing Records, led Mercury Records to sign him in Nashville.

Taj Mahal and Steve Earle did great versions of it as well.

The studio version came out on Hot Burritos Anthology released in 2000. A live version came out in 1972 that was on the Last of the Red Hot Burritos live album. By this time Gram Parson had left for a solo career and Bernie Leadon left for The Eagles. Chris Hillman was the only original member left. He left in late 1971 and A&M released this album and dropped the band.

According to Secondhandsongs.com …the song has 126 versions. Not too bad for a truck driver country song.

Dave Dudley on the recording session: “I went to make three songs, it took all the money I had to do it. We weren’t planning on a fourth song, but we found out we had 35 or 40 minutes of time left. So I gave the lyrics to the girl, and while she was typing it, we were learning it. We practiced it once, and on the second time through we got it.”

Six Days On The Road

Well, I pulled out of Pittsburgh rolling down the Eastern seaboard
I got my diesel wound up and she’s a running like never before
There’s a speed zone ahead alright but
I don’t see a cop in sight
Six days on the road and I’m gonna make it home tonight
I got ten forward gears and a George Overdrive
I’m takin’ little white pills and my eyes are opened wide
I just passed a Jimmy and White
I been passing everything in sight
Six days on the road and I’m gonna make it home tonight

Well, it seems like a month since I kissed my baby goodbye
I could have a lotta women but I’m not like some other guys
I could find me one to hold me tight
But I could never make believe it’s alright
Six days on the road and I’m gonna make it home tonight

The FBI is checkin’ on down the line
Well, I’m a little overweight but my log books way behind
But nothing bothers me tonight
I’m gonna dodge all the scales alright
Six days on the road and I’m gonna make it home tonight

My rigs a little old but that don’t mean she’s slow

There’s a good flame blowing from her smoke stack
Black as coal
Well, my home town’s coming in sight
And if you think I’m happy you’re right
Six days on the road and I’m gonna make it home tonight

…

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Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, Alternative music, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player. Not the slightest bit interested in politics at all.

58 thoughts on “Flying Burrito Brothers – Six Days on the Road”

  1. I’m not sure why I didn’t listen to The Flying Burrito Brothers much back then. I love the Taj Mahal version with the great Jesse Ed Davis on guitar. I’m not sure who wrote out the lyrics, but it’s not the FBI, but the ICC (interstate Commerce Commission) that regulated trucking and would be “checking on down the line” and would care about your logbook.

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    1. Yes I posted the Taj Mahal version first a long time ago…his version is great.
      I have a friend who is a truck driver…his dad drove in the 70s….a lot of stories about how they would manipulate books and everything else to stay legal…and it was promoted by companies.

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    2. You motivated me to go listen to Taj Mahal again, as I didn’t realize Jesse Ed Davis was on guitar. Sounds great. About crackin’ down on truckers, the DOJ’s ATF might be “checking on down the line” also if they thought any of those items were on board.

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  2. That’s a version of the song I had not heard! I’m partial to Steve Earle so that would be my go to for sure. Very interesting back story, so often great songs sneak themselves in somehow.

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    1. The reason this is the version I knew is because of the Gimme Shelter film…I have a soft spot for that early seventies late sixties country rock…I like Steve Earles also….in fact I almost posted his version but I haven’t done a Burrito song in a long time.

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      2. Oh….the first time I posted this song…it was the Taj Mahal version…that might be the best version of it….well to me.

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      3. I saw several recordings on YouTube, Live at Bear’s Lair, Berkeley, CA, 8/1/1969 – Live at Family Dog, San Francsico, CA, 8/28/1969 and Grateful Dead Live at Fillmore East on 04-27-1971, but this is them backing the New Riders.

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  4. A good live version. Who was on fiddle? The country band I played in back in the 80s did this song. Our lead guitar player taught himself to play pedal steel and he loved playing this tune. Too bad Leadon and Parsons left, that was a killer lineup for a band.

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    1. I think it’s Byron Berline playing it if I’m not mistaken but I wouldn’t swear on it.
      I wish Leadon would have stayed with them…yea I’m not much of an Eagles fan. Parsons just couldn’t fit with any band I don’t think. His stay in the Byrds and FBB were both short.

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      1. Now you’re getting into my kitchen. I love this band. Chris Hillman makes so uch good music. He deserves so much credit for making this music accessible and you and Phil are correct (i think) that is Byron Berline. Just listening to him the other day. Cuts like this is why I like you Max.

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      2. Thanks CB…I mean it has to grab you right away…”Well, I pulled outta Pittsburgh
        a-rollin’ down that eastern seaboard” that is just awesome to me. Love the steel also in this.

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      3. The steel is great. The Burritos were good. Grams first album really gave me a big push into finding all the treasures in that genre of music. Haggard and the others. I told you this before that Rich Grech was my portal into this music.

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      6. Thanks CB….I’ll check that out. As far as Parsons with the Flying Burrito Brothers…Hot Burrito #1 remains one of my favorite country songs.

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    1. This is one of my favorite country songs…I just love the rhythm of it. Taj Mahal and Steve Earle do great versions of it also… I’ll be commenting off and on….the dang water heater went out…getting things ready for someone to come over and help. Commenting in between.

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      2. I’ve been out turning off the water and still draining what is left in the tank…a person I know should be here at anytime.

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      4. lol…. 7 hours later! We would connect new fittings to the old copper….all of them but one was fine…but that one…we had to take it off 3 times before it all worked.

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  6. Hi y’all, I guess it’s official. The country ghosts finally got the better of me and I’ve turned into a hillbilly! 🙂

    I love, love, love that song including that rendition, but my favorite is the Dave Dudley version. I just think it’s ultra-cool and nicely swings!

    Also a great example of how country tunes can tell a great and relatable story. I mean there’s no way listening and not thinking, ‘yeah, get that diesel going, man, and screw the highway patrol!

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    1. LOL…it’s not a bad place to be if this is the music.
      I was telling someone that my friend is a truck driver and his dad was in the 70s…it was a different world then and yes…those little white pills at truck stops were ate a lot. They drove way more at that time.

      The Flying Burrito Brothers have some great songs…and one of my favorite country songs… Hot Burrito #1 with Gram Parson…a great song and cool video.

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      1. Totally with you on The Flying Burrito Brothers. Based on what I’ve heard, I absolutely love their sound. BTW, Steve Earle’s cover of “Six Days On the Road” is pretty cool as well.

        Did you know Tom Petty covered the tune as well, with Mudcrutch? It’s pretty good!

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      2. Yes and I love his version! He did a lot of cool covers like Green Onions and others. I was going to do the Steve Earle version but I wanted to cover the FBB.

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      3. I guess it speaks for itself when so many great artists cover a tune! And, yes, Tom appreciated great music written by others, and he and the Heartbreakers were a killer cover band. If you don’t know it already, check out the Nov. 2009 box-set “The Live Anthology”, which is packed with terrific covers in addition to great originals.

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      6. I got to see Roger McGuinn once…and I loved it. I always wanted to see him again.
        HIs last tour…Bailey and I talked about it and didn’t go…I’ll always regret that.

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      7. McGuinn who was all by himself on acoustic (so good!) and Tom Petty saved the night. Bob Dylan was a bitter disappointment, which was largely due to my completely naive expectation that he’d do something similar to “Before the Flood.” Fatally, I had listened to that great live album multiple times leading up to the show, so I would know the songs. Well, Bob had different plans!

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      8. That was the same with me….it was in 1988 I think…just on a acoustic 12 string.
        With Bob you have to know his catalog lol…no greatest hits with him

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      14. Oh I did…I found a guy to help…Bailey and I wasn’t confident enough…plus there was too much old copper plumbing to deal with…we learned a lot though.

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      17. You’re a wise man, Max! 🙂

        A little while ago, I kind of randomly decided to visit the website of The Rolling Stones. For their 60th anniversary, they’re promoting a bunch of live albums there.

        One’s called “Live At The El Mocambo”, which captures material from two gigs at that Toronto venue from March 1977. They released it in May last year.

        Kinda fun but I think I’m gonna call it a night now!

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  10. Searching for this track on Deezer, I found that it has been covered by numerous artists. I also found that I have it in my own collection and didn’t realise it – by Taj Mahal and also by Mudcrutch (Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers to be).

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  11. When it comes to the Burritos, it is this, the third album and the first without Parsons, that I consider my favorite. I think it was here that Hillman realized he could lead a band, and this and Desert Rose Band are proof of that fact. I also love the addition of Rick Roberts as a vocalist.

    Roberts did two solo albums and I wish I could say I was impressed with them as I am with what he does here. But he is so good here.

    As for the Desert Rose Band, John Jorgesson is a treasure and I love what they did with Hiatt’s “She Don’t Love Nobody.”

    Yeah, Hillman really came into his own with this and what he did later.

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