Travelin' Man - Ricky Nelson - MP3 instrumental karaoke

Songwriter Jerry Fuller played around with the now-dated expression of a 'girl-in-every-port' on this toe-tapping pop pick, which was first brought to life by teen idol Ricky Nelson in 1961. Although Sam Cooke was Jerry Fuller's first choice of singer for the song, Ricky Nelson's placing proved fortuitous and he topped the Billboard Hot 100 with his version of "Travelin' Man," adding doo wop-tinged backing vocal support from Elvis Presley's backing singers, The Jordanaires. Littered with problematic racial stereotypes and rooted in a decidedly anti-feminist message that glamorizes womanising, "Travelin' Man" certainly hasn't aged well. However, it holds historical significance in having conceived the world's first-ever music video (Ricky Nelson's dad Ozzie Nelson pieced together a film to accompany the track). US country artist Jacky Ward released a cover "Travelin' Man" two decades later, and it landed at number 32 on the US country chart in 1982, three years before Ricky Nelson's death in a plane crash on New Year's Eve, 1985.