This version is from Robert Mitchum's CD with Thunder Road on it.

He recorded at least two different versions that I know of..


BALLAD OF THUNDER ROAD
Recorded by Robert Mitchum
Written by Don Raye and Robert Mitchum


Verse 1
[Emi] Let me tell the story, I can tell it all
A-[B7]-bout the mountain boy who ran il-[Emi]-legal alcohol
His daddy made the whiskey, son, he drove the load
[B7] When his engine roared they called the [Emi] highway Thunder Road.

Verse 2
[E] Sometimes into Ashville, sometimes Memphis town
The [B7] revenuers chased him but they [E] couldn't run him down;
Each time they thought they had him, his engine would explode
[B7] He'd go by like they were standin' [E] still on Thunder Road.

Verse 3 [1st BRIDGE]
And there was [A] thunder, thunder [E] over Thunder Road
[B7] Thunder was his engine and white [Emi] lightning was his load;
And there was [Ami] moonshine, moonshine to [Emi] quench the devil's thirst
The [B7] law they swore they'd get him, but the [Emi] devil got him first.

Verse 4
[Emi] On the first of April, nineteen fifty-four
A [B7] federal man sent word he'd better [Emi] make his run no more;
He said two hundred agents was coverin' the state
Which-[B7]-ever road he tried to take they'd [Emi] get him sure as fate.

Verse 5
[E] "Son," his daddy told him, "Make this run your last.
Your [B7] tank is filled with hundred-proof, you're [E] all tuned up and gassed;
Now, don't take any chances, and if you can't get through,
I'd [B7] rather have you back again than [E] all that mountain dew."

Verse 6 [Repeat 1st BRIDGE]
And there was [A] thunder, thunder [E] over Thunder Road
[B7] Thunder was his engine and white [Emi] lightning was his load;
And there was [Ami] moonshine, moonshine to [Emi] quench the devil's thirst
The [B7] law they swore they'd get him but the [Emi] devil got him first.

Verse 7
[Emi] Roarin' out of Harlan, revvin' up his mill
He [B7] shot the gap at Cumberland and [Emi] screamed by Maynardville;
With T-men on his taillights, roadblocks up ahead
The [B7] mountain boy took roads that even [Emi] angels feared to tread.

Verse 8
[E] Blazin' right through Knoxville, out on Kingston Pike
Then [B7] right outside of Bearden, there they [E] made the fatal strike;
He left the road at ninety, that's all there is to say
The [B7] devil got the moonshine and the [E] mountain boy that day.

Verse 9 [FINAL BRIDGE]
And there was [A] thunder, thunder [E] over Thunder Road
[B7] Thunder was his engine and white [Emi] lightning was his load;
And there was [Ami] moonshine, moonshine to [Emi] quench the devil's thirst
The [B7] law they never got him 'cause the [Emi] devil got him first.

Tag:
[B7] law they never got him 'cause the [Emi] devil got him first.

Note that in verses 2, 5 and 8 there are no minor chords.
This submission by Zoomer and Gene.