Promised Land

Elvis recorded Chuck Berry’s song in 1973 and it peaked at 14 on the American charts. The song, which Berry wrote in prison after being arrested for transporting a young girl into the States in 1962, based it's melody on an old American folk song called ‘Wabash Cannonball.’

The song’s original title was ‘The Great Rock Island Route’ and the Wabash Cannonball was an express train that ran on the line. The Great Island Route was also known as the ‘Rock Island Line,’ which was the name for a song most synonymous with skiffle artist Lonnie Donegan.

As well as being recorded by artists including Bing Crosby, Lonnie Donegan and Woody Guthrie, the song also is often sung by College sports teams in the South and dates back to circa the late 1870’s and early 1880’s - Jesse Rogers used the melody for his song ‘Jukebox Cannonball’ in 1951 and ‘Big Wheel Cannonball’ by Dixie Curless was also based on the in more recent years.

When the theme park ‘Opryland USA’ was still in use, a rollercoaster shared a name with the song and there is now a railroad named after it; ‘Wabash Railroad.’ It’s route was also retraced by historians and railroad enthusiasts in 2013.

‘Promised Land’s’ lyrics were about a poor boy travelling to Los Angeles and the states in Southern America which he passes through on his journey. In 1975, ‘Johnny Hallyday’ put French lyrics to the song and it managed to hit number one - the song has also been covered by Jerry Lee Lewis, Meat Loaf and Dave Edmunds.