Ease on Down The Road is a song used in The Wiz and all of its adaptations. Both the music and lyrics were written by composer Charlie E. Smalls. The song was an R&B re-interpretation of "Follow The Yellow Brick Road" and "We're Off to See the Wizard". The song was sung three times by Dorothy Gale, the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, and the Cowardly Lion as they wandered down the Yellow Brick Road. This song stands as the most remembered number in the production, partially because it frequently plays in commercials for different versions of it. The duet that Diana Ross and Michael Jackson recorded for the movie (in character as Dorothy and the Scarecrow, respectively) was number 41 on the 1978 U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and 17 in the U.S. Billboard Hot Soul Singles in the 70's.
History[]
Early versions[]
The earliest version of "Ease On Down the Road" was recorded by the Hues Corporation in 1974, for their second studio album Rockin' Soul. The song was performed by the original Baltimore cast of The Wiz at the Morris A. Mechanic Theatre in October 1974 which included Renee Harris as Dorothy, Charles Valentino as the Scarecrow, Ben Harney as the Tin Man, Ken Prymus as the Cowardly Lion, and Butterfly McQueen as the Queen of the Field Mice. From January 5, 1975, the song was performed by the new Broadway cast at the Majestic Theatre which included Stephanie Mills (Dorothy), Hinton Battle (Scarecrow), Tiger Haynes (Tin Man), and Ted Ross (Cowardly Lion), who also performed the song on the original 1975 cast album for The Wiz. The song was a number-one disco hit for five non-consecutive weeks in a disco studio group Consumer Rapport Recording. Produced by Stephen Y. Scheaffer and The Wiz musical arranger Harold Wheeler, the Consumer Rapport version hit the Billboard Soul Singles chart, peaking at #19 and the Hot 100 at #42.
Diana Ross and Michael Jackson's version[]
In 1977, "Ease on Down the Road" was recorded as a duet between Ross and Jackson and released as the theme song of the 1978 film adaptation of The Wiz. As with the rest of the music in the film, the film version of "Ease on Down the Road" was produced by Quincy Jones. The recording was one of Jackson's first collaborations with Quincy, who became his main producer during the late 1970s and 1980s.
Released as a single by MCA Records in late summer 1978, the song missed the U.S. Top 40 by one position, peaking at #41 on the Billboard Hot 100. It reached #17 on the Billboard Hot Soul Singles chart the same year. AllMusic's William Ruhlmann wrote that the duet between Jackson and Ross has "spectacular vocal firepower" and that it outperforms the 1975 version by Consumer Rapport. The recording also earned Jackson his first Grammy Award nomination with Ross (his previous two were with his family group, the Jacksons) in the category of Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal in 1979.
In 1980, Jackson was a guest on Kraft Salutes Disneyland's 25th Anniversary and, along with Disney characters (Mickey Mouse, The Seven Dwarves, Donald Duck, Pinocchio, Minnie Mouse, Chip 'n' Dale, Pluto, Winnie the Pooh, The Three Little Pigs, and Goofy), performed the song in a medley with the Disney signature song "When You Wish Upon a Star".
Tracks[]
Lyrics[]
Ease on down
Ease on down the road
Ease on down
Ease on down the road
Ease on down
Ease on down the road
Come on Dorothy,
Don't you carry nothing that might be a load
Come on
There it is!
Come on and ease on down, ease on down the road
Come on and ease on down, ease on down the road
Don't you carry nothing that might be a load
Come on, ease on down, ease on down the road
Come on, ease on down, ease on down the road
Come on, ease on down, ease on down the road
Don't you carry nothing that might be a load
Come on, ease on down, ease on down, down the road
Pick your left foot up
When your right foot's down
Come on legs keep movin'
Don't you lose no ground
You just keep on keepin'
On the road that you choose
Don't you give up walkin'
'Cause you gave up shoes, no
Ease on down, ease on down the road
Come on, ease on down, ease on down the road
Don't you carry nothing that might be a load
Come on, ease on down, ease on down the road
'Cause there maybe times
When you think you lost your mind
And the steps you're takin'
Leave you three, four steps behind
But the road you're walking
Might be long sometimes
You just keep on steppin'
And you'll be just fine, yeah
Ease on down, ease on down the road
Come on, ease on down, ease on down the road
Don't you carry nothing that might be a load
Come on, ease on down, ease on down the
Oh, there maybe times
When you wish you wasn't born
And you wake one morning
Just to find that your courage's gone
But just know that feeling
Only last a little while
You just stick with us
And we'll show you how to smile, yeah
Get 'em up, goin' down, ease on down
Get 'em up, goin' down, ease on down
Get 'em up, goin' down, ease on down
Get 'em up, get 'em up, ease on down the road
Get 'em up, goin' down, ease on down
Get 'em up, goin' down, ease on down
Get 'em up, goin' down, ease on down
Get 'em up, get 'em up, ease on down the road