While browsing in my local library I came across "20 th Century Boy " the Marc Bolan Story by Mark Paytress. I thought I'd share this quote with you:
""...it must have taken place in January 1965 ....He recorded "Blowin in the Wind", "The Road I'm on Gloria"...""
"""..."The Road I'm on Gloria"... is another non-original discovered by Marc on the back of an unsuccessful Dion single. Although best known for pre-Beatles hits like "Teenager in Love" ,"Runaround Sue" and "The Wanderer" the American singer underwent a dramatic image change in 1963 and for ","The Road I'm on Gloria" issued in March 64 his full blown pop style had given way to a more intimate backing of an acoustic guitar and harmonica. Once again the song employed a simple 3 chord trick, though the subject matter was far removed from protest. Mark often ruminated on the topic of fate and destiny in a song as his career began to unfold, but even his imagination would have been stretched by the prophetic lines he sang at its outset. "The Road I'm on gal won't run me home " went the chorus to the object of his affections ,Gloria"".
"The song carries with it the full sense of foreboding but technically the performance was unexceptional. The harmonica playing makes Dylan sound like Larry Adler and there is a considerable stumbling over the picked introduction , which also caused problems as the song fades away.. Mark set the tempo at a brisker pace then Dions original, and while he took the easy option to strum rather than pick his way through the verses (he dropped the last 2) its obviously the hand of an amateur. Most interesting is the voice , which strives for a maturity beyond its years , but rarely achieves the sense of grief contained in Dions original"
According to the appendices a scratchy version of the original acetate was issued on a single in 1990 but since then the studio masters including 3 takes of "Gloria" have been discovered and will eventually be released. I haven't heard any version yet , but I'm on a promise of a tape sometime.
For those not familiar with his work, Bolan lead UK glam rock 70's group T Rex with a string of No. 1's in UK and Europe. I don't think he did so well in the states, but no doubt someone will correct me if I'm wrong.
I think that there's some implied irony in the above quote because Bolans wifes name was Gloria. He died when the car being driven by his wife hit a tree.