Tag: Rock and Roll

No. 2 “Born to be Wild”

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The band Steppenwolf with a song some consider to be the first “Heavy Metal” tune, “Born to be Wild” peaked at #2 in 1968 for three weeks. The song was written by Mars Bonfire (Dennis Edmonton but born Dennis Eugene McCrohan). The Canadian songwriter and musician was in The Sparrows with his brother Jerry Edmonton who were from Dave’s (A Sound Day) hometown of Oshawa, Ontario. And a story there as well!

Jerry and other members of The Sparrows that also included lead singer John Kay and Goldy McJohn went on to form Steppenwolf. Kay, McJohn and Edmonton had moved from Oshawa to LA, placed an ad in the paper and recruited American guitar players Michael Monarch and Rushton Moreve. They formed the band without Mars Bonfire who went for a solo career, but they liked his song and I think he probably did all right with the royalty cheques.

Now the five piece band was complete and over the next five years they would sell 25 million records and post 13 songs on the Hot 100. The only other song in the top 10 was “Magic Carpet Ride” at #3. That and “Born to be Wild” both hit #1 in Canada.

They may have been born to be wild but it seems that “People Got to be Free”! Steppenwolf were stopped by the group know as The Rascals, who were #1 with that song for five weeks in 1968. That would be the last of three #1 hits for the Young Rascals/Rascals who posted several top 20 and top 100 hit songs from 1965 up to 1971.

Mars Bonfire would be the next to record “Born to be Wild” that has an impressive 150 versions.

The most recent cover is from Brat Pack in 2022.

Perhaps the most surprising cover is by the great Wilson Pickett from 1969.

No. 2 “Be My Baby”

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Ronnie Spector, what else can I say?

The Ronettes, “Be My Baby” (1963) was written by Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich and Phil Spector. While the song did chart #1 on Cash Box it stayed at #2 on Billboard and on the Canadian Charts. The song was blocked by the #1 “Sugar Shack” a million seller by Jimmy Gilmer and the Fireballs, admittedly a catchy tune, it was produced by Norman Petty who’s studio rose to fame with Buddy Holly and the Crickets. “Be My Baby” has been given high praise by The Beatles and Brian Wilson said it changed the way he wrote music. It was ranked the #1 “Girl Group” song by Billboard Magazine ahead of TLC’s “Creep” and “Will You Love Me Tomorrow?” by the Shirelles. A good example of where the #2 song has outlived the success of the #1 song.

While the song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame and the Ronettes are still well remembered this was their highest charting song. They had five more top 40 hits on the Hot 100 and a total of four on the R&B chart and five songs in the UK. Their last top 40 song was “Walking in the Rain” in 1964. However they picked up a great gig to open for The Beatles American tour in 1966 but cousin Elaine Mayes had to step in, they had not yet married but Phil Spector refused to let Ronnie join. Their popularity quickly declined and they split in 1967.

Andy Kim would reach #9 on the Hot 100 and #1 in Canada with his cover version in 1969.

The 1970’s Part 2- It’s Only Rock and Roll

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This is the first recording of “Old Time Rock and Roll” by George Jackson from 1976. Written by Jackson and R&B Artist Tom Jones III. The song was a demo sent to Bob Seger and was not released until 2010.
“Old Time Rock and Roll” by Bob Seger was on the Stranger In Town album from 1978. The lyrics were almost completely re-written by Seger who graciously did not take a writing credit.

There were so many great songs from the last half of the ’70’s with Rock and Roll in the title. As in the first part, this is not a comprehensive list but I think I listed most of them.

1975: It’s a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock ‘N’ Roll) by AC/DC, I Love Rock and Roll by The Arrows, Rock and Roll All Nite by Kiss, Too Old to Rock ‘n’ Roll: Too Young to Die by Jethro Tull

1976: Rock and Roll Never Forgets by Bob Seger, Rock and Roll Widow by Tom Snow, Rock and Roll Slave by Stephen Bishop, Rock and Roll Heart by Lou Reed

1977: The Blues Had a Baby and They Named It Rock and Roll by Muddy Waters, I Knew the Bride When She Used to Rock and Roll by Dave Edmunds, Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll by Ian Dury & The Blockheads

“Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll” written by Ian Dury and Blockhead member Chaz Jankel

1978: Rock n’ Roll is a Vicious Game by April Wine, I Will Rock and Roll with You by Johnny Cash

“I Will Rock and Roll with You” written and recorded by Johnny Cash

1979: Old Time Rock and Roll by Bob Seger is released as a single, Rock ‘n’ Roll High School by The Ramones, Rock and Roll Fantasy by Bad Company

Rock ‘n’ Roll High School by The Ramones who were featured in the 1979 Movie of the same name.

The Wild 1940’s-It’s Only Rock and Roll

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“Rock and Roll” by Wild Bill Moore from 1949. Written by Wild Bill Davis (no relation😉.

This and the next song are really Jump Blues tunes but you can certainly feel the elements that make them the precursors to Rock and Roll Songs. Now, it’s no secret that Rock and Roll was a euphemism for sex. But once Alan Freed took up the term to describe this new music he was playing, well you know the story.

Erline Harris with “Rock and Roll Blues” from 1949, she wrote this song and earned the nickname Erline “Rock and Roll” Harris.

This next clip is the only one I could find of the Goree Carter song “Rock and Roll” from 1949. People are talking over the song but you will be able to hear enough of it to know we are getting very close to genuine Rock and Roll. Goree was from Texas and he had T-Bone Walker playing guitar, you may remember I featured him in the Texas and West Coast Blues posts. You may make the same connection, it could very well have been from this song that Chuck Berry would take the guitar riff and make it famous.

Since I touched on it, we go off track a bit. The origin is from a Carl Hogan riff in a Louis Jordan Song “Ain’t That Just Like a Woman” from 1946.

If the link turns bad search for “Goree Carter Rock and Roll”

It’s Only Rock and Roll

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“It’s Only Rock’n’Roll (But I Like It)” the lead single from the album of the same name from 1974 by The Rolling Stones.

While Dave over at A Sound Day is doing a Rolling Stones theme for Turntable Talk right now, it has inspired me to do a series of my own. Not on the Rolling Stones but their song is a great lead off to songs with Rock and Roll in the title. No matter how you print it Rock ‘n Roll or Rock & Roll the song titles have to have those two words, “Rock” and “Roll”. And just as importantly the song has to have it’s roots or reference to Rock and Roll Music. So you won’t be hearing “Rock and Roll” by the Boswell Sisters from 1934 for example.

I also won’t feature “We Will Rock You” by Queen, “Crocodile Rock” by Elton John or even “Rock Around the Clock’ from Bill Haley. No, the songs have to say both “Rock, and Roll”, just like the Stones said.

I will have a chronological start to the list, so that means going back to the 1940’s, then there are a number of songs from the 50’s and then a smattering of songs throughout the decades since then. We all have some titles that come to mind I am sure, but there are dozens and dozens of songs with the words Rock and Roll. Not in the lyrics mind you, that may be a thousand songs or more.

We have some artists that have more than one Rock and Roll titled song to their credit, I found one Country singer that has three. I have my favourites, and there are one or two surprises perhaps. There are also many great covers of Rock and Roll titled songs, and not all of the songs come from the Rock genre, I mentioned one such song from a Folk Singer in a post earlier this year. This will not be a discussion on the first Rock and Roll song(s) nor a ranking of the which ones are the best.

There are 40 versions of the Rolling Stones song I started with, this includes some instrumentals and a few in different languages. Here is the latest cover from the CMA Awards in 2022 and it appears on the album, Stoned Cold Country – A 60th Anniversary Tribute to The Rolling Stones.

“It’s Only Rock ‘N’ Roll (But I Like It)” by Brothers Osborne & The War & Treaty

Not a Country fan? How about Mick and Tina?

In the coming days expect a song or two or three per post, maybe some covers and/or a little bit about the song itself. I most certainly won’t list all of them and if you would like to add your fav’s or discoveries, I would ask you to hold off until the last post of the series to avoid any ‘spoilers’. I will let you know when I’m done and I look forward to hearing those songs. I think I have about 30 song titles on my list!