| "Travelin' Man" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Travelin' Man by Ricky Nelson | ||||
| Single by Ricky Nelson | ||||
| from the album Rick Is 21 | ||||
| A-side | "Hello Mary Lou"[1] | |||
| Released | April 1961 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 2:24 | |||
| Label | Imperial Records #5741 | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Jerry Fuller | |||
| Producer(s) | Joe Johnson (Challenge Records) | |||
| Ricky Nelson singles chronology | ||||
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"Travelin' Man" is an American popular song, best known as a 1961 hit single sung by Ricky Nelson. Singer-songwriter Jerry Fuller wrote it with Sam Cooke in mind, but Cooke's manager was unimpressed and did not keep the demo, which eventually wound up being passed along to Nelson. His version reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was released as a double A-side with "Hello Mary Lou", which reached No. 9 on the same chart.[1] In the United Kingdom, "Travelin' Man", coupled with "Hello Mary Lou", reached No. 2, becoming Nelson's biggest UK hit. Nelson is accompanied on the recording by the vocal quartet, The Jordanaires. Fans of the Seattle Supersonics probably remember the song being played at their team's home games whenever a player from the visiting team committed a traveling violation, thus turning the ball back over to the Supersonics.
- ^ a b Whitburn, Joel (1992). Fred Weiler (ed.). The Billboard Book of USA Top 40 Hits (5 ed.). Guinness. p. 329.
- ^ a b Breihan, Tom (March 27, 2018). "The Number Ones: Ricky Nelson's "Travelin' Man"". Stereogum. Retrieved June 9, 2023.
Musically, too, ["Travelin' Man" is] top-shelf early-'60s pop...The Jordanaires...flesh things out with doo-wop panache.