I bet you haven’t heard this one. It’s Ned Wright, singing Bobby Troup’s “(Get Your Kicks on) Route 66” in 1955 in Moscow as part of The Everyman’s Opera Concerto. It’s a lot jazzier than you might think it is.
Wright, by the way, was one of the first Americans allowed to perform behind the Iron Curtain, performing in Czechoslovakia and Romania as well.
Wright, an Ohio native, was best-known as being part of The Phoenix Singers during the 1960s and a member of the Belafonte Folk Singers. He died in 1981 at age 55.