The very talented blues balladeer Percy Mayfield wrote "Hit the Road Jack". An auto accident in 1952 left him severely injured and limited his concerts but not his songwriting. Listen to the demo.

In 1961 Ray Charles recorded the classic with the Raelettes' Margie Hendricks and took the tune to the top of the charts.

Calgary group, The Stampeders (Rich Dodson, Ronnie Kim and Kim Berly) with Wolfman Jack recorded the album "Steamin'" which included "Hit the Road Jack" in 1975 and got into Canadian top five and the American top forty.