Promised Land (song)

"Promised Land" is a song originally recorded by Chuck Berry in 1965 (called "The Promised Land") and covered by Elvis Presley on December 15 and December 16,1973. Presley's version of "Promised Land" was released as a single on September 27, 1974. It peaked at number 14 on the charts in the fall of 1974.

The singer tells of his journey from Norfolk, Virginia to the "Promised Land," California, mentioning cities stopped in along the way.

The Presley version was used in the soundtrack of the 1997 motion picture, "Men in Black".

Other notable performances include a Top 5 country hit for Freddy Weller and a live 1979 performance by Bill Haley & His Comets with vocals by former Sha Na Na member Mal Gray. It was recorded by country singer Billy "Crash" Craddock on his album Live! Canadian-American rock group The Band recorded "Promised Land" for their sixth studio LP Moondog Matinee, released in 1973.

The Grateful Dead covered this song extensively from 1972 to 1995, sung by rhythm guitarist Bob Weir. It was often used to open or close a set. The Dead included other Berry tunes in its repertoire, including Johnny B. Goode and Around and Around.

Meat Loaf performed this song regularly throughout the early 80's. after finishing his "Johnny B. Goode" covers of the late 70's he moved onto this Berry classic as well. He recorded it for his "Midnight at the Lost and Found" album and also used it to promote it. He sang it on "Saturday Night Live" in 1982 and stopped its tour set list run when he started touring for the "Bad Attitude" album.

Swamp rock legend Johnnie Allan released a cajun version of 'Promised Land' in 1971 in the US and 1974 in the UK.

James Taylor also recorded a version that was released on his 1974 album "Walking Man".