During the early 1980s, songwriter Larry Cordle was living in the small Eastern Kentucky town of Paintsville. He was a CPA by day and a musician by night. Cordle worked three nights a week in the house band at a small club in Hazard, Kentucky, about 70 miles away. Coming home late one night, he passed the road sign where he turned off Route 40 to go to his house. It was the time when the song title “Highway 40 Blues” popped into his head. He pulled over to the side of the road and wrote the first verse right then and there. The next day, he sat down and wrote the other two verses. He had the melody already in his head. He ended up writing the entire song without ever picking up a guitar.

Cordle was friends with both Ricky Skaggs. Skaggs was already starting to make some inroads in the country music industry. His growing popularity prompted Cordle to consider giving the music business a try as well. The three men started performing at area clubs. Although Cordle was a friend of Skaggs, he intimidated Larry enough that he decided that he probably should just stick with songwriting.

Ricky Skaggs was singing with Emmylou Harris by that time but hadn’t come into his own as an artist quite yet.  He took Cordle’s “Highway 40 Blues” and made an original recording of it in 1980. His version was more of a bluegrass cut, featuring dobro, banjo, and lead guitar. Skaggs told Cordle:

“If I ever get a recording deal with a major label, I’m going to record a lot of your songs, and do a re-cut of ‘Highway 40 Blues’”.

They both had a good laugh, thinking it was a long shot for either of them.

Success of Ricky Skaggs’ Song

The “long shot” proved fruitful for Skaggs. However, he signed with Columbia in 1981 and immediately started cranking out top hits under the “Epic” banner. He made good on his promise to re-record Larry Cordle’s “Highway 40 Blues,” buoyed with hot steel guitar licks this time. It scored his fifth No. 1 hit with the song.

Although Cordle had written “Highway 40 Blues” about a small state highway in Eastern Kentucky, most people associate it with Interstate 40, the main east/west route running through Nashville.  After its chart run, the song remained popular with Ricky’s concert crowds for years because of its fast-tempo nature, a great “jamming” song. Skaggs now devotes his live shows to mostly bluegrass music. He still performs “Highway 40 Blues” in concert in its bluegrass form as it was originally recorded back at the dawn of Ricky’s career.