Hit the Highway is the third studio album by the Scottish folk rock duo The Proclaimers, released in March 1994 by Chrysalis Records. It took them six years to follow their second album, Sunshine on Leith. The album included three singles: "Let's Get Married", "What Makes You Cry?" and "These Arms of Mine". It topped the charts in Scotland, debuting in the top-10 in the UK while also charting in Austria, Canada and Sweden.

Hit the Highway
Studio album by The Proclaimers
Released	22 March 1994
Recorded	1993–1994
Studio	Chipping Norton Recording Studios
Genre	Rhythm and blues[1] rock and roll[1]
Length	42:34
Label	Chrysalis Parlophone (re-release)
Producer	Pete Wingfield, The Proclaimers
The Proclaimers chronology
Sunshine on Leith (1988) Hit the Highway (1994) Persevere (2001)
Singles from Hit the Highway
"Let's Get Married" Released: February 1994 "What Makes You Cry?" Released: 1994 "These Arms of Mine" Released: 1994

Music

Style and sound

In a review of Hit the Highway, People observed that the band "play back-to-basics, acoustic rock and roll and R&B",[1] further remarking that, despite the band being Scottish, "you can't find music more American" and that the record "invokes [...] legends like [Buddy] Holly and Otis Redding".[1] Joe Stevens of The Daily Pennsylvanian described the music as "heavily influenced by blues and soul" and "almost a throw-back to '60s pop".[2]

Themes

Hit the Highway included spiritually-angled lyrics,[3][4] such libretto questioning organised religion ("I Want To Be A Christian"). On the album's religious dimension, Charlie Reid commented, "There's a belief in God, that's for sure [...] I'm very unsure about religion, I'm suspicious of it and I certainly couldn't call myself a Christian as such. But I'm very interested in religion, in trying to reach God in whatever way you do it."[3] Other songs on Hit the Highway narrated matrimony.[4]

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[5]
Rolling Stone	[4]

Hit the Highway received a mixed critical reception. AllMusic's Daevid Jehnzen described the album as "strong" and as having "many fine songs", but arraigned its lack of a "knockout single".[5] Peter Galvin of Rolling Stone was more positive, remarking that the band "reinforce their passionate beliefs with music that is almost anthem-like in its fervor". However, he criticized the band's convictions as having come off "a bit too vehemently".[4]

Track listing

Personnel

Adapted from the liner notes of Hit the Highway.[6]

The Proclaimers

• Craig Reid – vocals, tambourine (1–4, 8)
• Charlie Reid – vocals, acoustic guitar (1, 3–12), electric guitar (2)

Additional musicians

• Stuart Nisbet – acoustic guitar (1, 2, 6, 7), electric guitar (1, 2, 4–8), mandolin (5, 7, 12), steel guitar (5)
• Tim Renwick – acoustic guitar (3–5), electric guitar (1, 3, 4), electric slide guitar (7)
• Jerry Donahue – acoustic guitar (9, 11), electric guitar (9, 11, 12)
• Bobby Valentino – fiddle (12)
• Pete Wingfield – keyboards (1, 3, 6, 9, 11), piano (5, 7, 8, 10), Hammond C3 (2, 7)
• Pete Thomas – baritone saxophone (3, 4, 8), tenor sax (3, 4, 6, 8)
• Raul D'Oliveira – trumpet (4, 8)
• Vince Sullivan – trombone (4, 8)
• Martin Ditcham – percussion (9, 11)
• Kevin Wilkinson – drums (1, 2, 4–7)
• Dave Mattacks – drums (3, 8, 9, 11, 12)
• Iain Bruce – bass guitar (1, 2, 4–7)
• Phil Cranham – bass guitar (3, 8, 11, 12), fretless bass guitar (9)

Production

• Pete Wingfield – producer
• Barry Hammond – engineering
• Geoff Pesche – mastering (The Townhouse)

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Certifications

Release history

A two-CD Collectors Edition of the album was issued in the UK by Chrysalis in 2011, with a remastered version of the studio album and a bonus disc containing B-sides, live-versions and a BBC Radio session track.[13] In 2017, the album was re-released in Europe on vinyl by Parlophone Records.[13]

Notes