Just a bit of BTR trivia.........on the sound track, the song was actually sung by Randy Sparks and not by Robert Mitchem.........
However Randy never released the song on his own......only Robert Mitchem did that
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Mitchum not only wrote it and sang it and released it as a 45. But he scored a big hit with it. However in the movie it was sung by Keely Smith.
It's not about the money. It's sending a message. Everything Burns -The Joker
The 1st time I heard the song was by The Planet Rockers (Sonny George vocals, Eddie Angel lead guitar), who had it out as a single in 1991 and on a CD comp, "26 CLASSIC TRACKS" a few years later, under the name "Thunder Road Rock".
I notice they changed a few of the lyrics. The last line of the last verse became...
"The Devil took the moonshine and the driver straight to hell"
Their recording was what made me seek out the movie in the first place!
By the way, Keely Smith (who at one point was married to Louis Prima) sang "Whipporwhill" in the movie. Randy Sparks (apparently) sang "Ballad of Thunder Road" over the opening credits. Mitchum's single was much faster-- The Planet Rockers (a rockabilly band), even more so.