Jailhouse Rock (song)

For other uses, see Jailhouse Rock (disambiguation).

"Jailhouse Rock"
Song
B-side	"Treat Me Nice"

"Jailhouse Rock" is a song written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller that first became a hit for Elvis Presley. The song was released as a 45rpm single on September 24, 1957, to coincide with the release of Presley's motion picture, Jailhouse Rock. Composer Mike Stoller can be seen playing piano in the film presentation of the song.

The song as sung by Elvis Presley is #67 on Rolling Stone's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time and was named one of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll.

Releases and chart performance

The single, with its B-side "Treat Me Nice," was a US #1 hit for 7 weeks in the fall of 1957, and a UK #1 hit for three weeks early in 1958. In addition, "Jailhouse Rock" spent one week at the top of the country charts and reached the #2 position on the R&B charts.

Also in 1957, "Jailhouse Rock" was the lead song in an EP (extended play single), together with other songs from the film, namely "Young and Beautiful," "I Want to be Free," "Don't Leave Me Now," and "(You're So Square) Baby I Don't Care." It topped the Billboard EP charts, eventually selling an additional two million copies and earning another double-platinum RIAA certification.

In 2005, the song was re-released in the UK and reached #1 for a single week. The song, which is an example of simple verse form, eventually sold four million copies in the US, thus earning a Double Platinum certification by the RIAA. The video of the song by Elvis is known as the first music video.

Characters and themes

The main theme of the song is homosexuality in prison.

Some of the characters named in the song are real people. Shifty Henry was a well-known L.A. musician, not a criminal. The Purple Gang was a real mob. "Sad Sack" was a U.S. Army nickname in World War II for a loser, which also became the name of a popular comic strip and comic book character.

Possible inspiration

The song and the famous Elvis performance in the movie bear a remarkable resemblance to the theme and performance of a song called "Rock Around the Rockpile" from the movie The Girl Can't Help It, released one year earlier. In that performance, a villain played by Edmond O'Brien seeks to escape an assassination attempt by jumping on stage and singing the lyrics, "rock, rock, rock around the rockpile," while backed up by The Ray Anthony Band wearing striped inmate uniforms. O'Brien even includes some of the hip-swiveling and leg motions for which Elvis became famous. Reportedly, the producers had wanted Elvis for The Girl Can't Help It, but Elvis's manager Tom Parker had demanded too much money. Two uncredited composers on the film, Hugo Friedhofer and Lionel Newman, had also composed music for the Elvis classic movie, Love Me Tender, in the same year, 1956.

Covers and references

"Jailhouse Rock" was performed regularly in a medley along with many old rock and roll hits by Queen and was the opening song on Queen's 1980 North American tour for The Game. It was the last song in the motion picture The Blues Brothers. This song was featured on American Idol when Season 5 contestant Taylor Hicks performed it on May 9, 2006 and when Season 7 contestant Danny Noriega performed it on February 20, 2008. The song was also featured in Disney's animated film Lilo & Stitch during the ending credits. In an episode of Full House Jesse and Becky sing this song at their wedding reception. The song was included in the musical revue "Smokey Joe's Cafe".

The German rock band Spider Murphy Gang is named after one of the characters in the lyrics. In Stephen King's novel Christine, "Jailhouse Rock" is playing when the car runs down Buddy Repperton, one of the guys who smashed up the car at the garage.

American rock and roll revival act Sha Na Na performed "Jailhouse Rock" live at the Woodstock Festival in August 1969.

The Shadows did a (vocal) cover version of the B-side 'Treat Me Nice' in 1982.

Westlife performed the song for the medley part of their Where the Dreams Come True Tour.

Chris Brown covered the song at the 2007 Movie's Rock

Scratch Track added this song to their live performance of "Love Someone".

"Jailhouse Rock" has also been recorded by:

• The Residents
• Jerry Lee Lewis
• Miranda Lambert
• Merle Haggard
• Mötley Crüe
• Brownsville Station
• The Blues Brothers (This version was the ending song of the movie, performed with other musicians such as Ray Charles and Cab Calloway)
• Patti Smith
• ZZ Top
• The Animals
• Twisted Sister
• The Cramps
• Judy Nylon
• John Cougar Mellencamp (This version was included in the soundtrack for Honeymoon in Vegas)
• Michael Bolton
• Jeff Beck Group (featuring Rod Stewart and Ronnie Wood)
• Billy "Crash" Craddock
• Adriano Celentano
• Cliff Richard - at concerts
• ABBA with Olivia Newton-John and Andy Gibb
• Queen
• Frankie Lymon
• Danny Noriega
• Enrique Guzmán (in Spanish)
• Dean Carter (1967)
• Mind Garage recorded by Elvis Presley's sound engineer Tom Pick and Recording technician Roy Shockley in RCA's "Nashville Sound" studio, under the management of Chet Atkins.
• IBEX pre-Queen era band featuring Freddie Mercury on the recording Live In Liverpool
• Carl Perkins
• Eilert Pilarm
• Carrie Underwood
• Link Wray
• Marshall Chapman