Rock 'n' Roll With Me
Encyclopedia
"Rock 'n' Roll With Me" is a song written by David Bowie
and Warren Peace
that first appeared on the Bowie's Diamond Dogs
album in April 1974. A version recorded during the Diamond Dogs tour the same year was released on the album David Live
.
While the song "Knock on Wood
" from David Live was issued as a single in the UK, "Rock 'n' Roll With Me" was chosen for release as the US single in response to Donovan
's recent cover version. The B-side in each case was another live recording from the Diamond Dogs tour, "Panic in Detroit", originally from Aladdin Sane
(1973).
Like "Rebel Rebel
", the lead single from Diamond Dogs, "Rock 'n' Roll With Me" was conceived as part of a never-produced Ziggy Stardust musical in 1973. It has been described as "one of Bowie's least self-conscious love songs" and a foretaste of the R&B
balladry on Young Americans
(1975).
David Bowie
David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
and Warren Peace
Warren Peace
Warren Peace is a pseudonym for Geoffrey Alexander MacCormack , an English vocalist, composer and dancer best known for his work with David Bowie in the 1970s.-Musical career:...
that first appeared on the Bowie's Diamond Dogs
Diamond Dogs
Diamond Dogs is a concept album by David Bowie, originally released by RCA Records in 1974. Thematically it was a marriage of the novel Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell and Bowie's own glam-tinged vision of a post-apocalyptic world...
album in April 1974. A version recorded during the Diamond Dogs tour the same year was released on the album David Live
David Live
David Live is David Bowie’s first official live album, originally released by RCA Records in 1974. Recorded on the initial leg of Bowie’s US tour supporting Diamond Dogs in July of that year , it has been cited as one of the best live...
.
While the song "Knock on Wood
Knock on Wood (song)
"Knock on Wood" is a hit 1966 song written by Eddie Floyd and Steve Cropper and originally performed by Eddie Floyd. The Eddie Floyd version peaked at number twenty-eight on the Hot 100, and spent one week at number one on the soul singles....
" from David Live was issued as a single in the UK, "Rock 'n' Roll With Me" was chosen for release as the US single in response to Donovan
Donovan
Donovan Donovan Donovan (born Donovan Philips Leitch (born 10 May 1946) is a Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist. Emerging from the British folk scene, he developed an eclectic and distinctive style that blended folk, jazz, pop, psychedelia, and world music...
's recent cover version. The B-side in each case was another live recording from the Diamond Dogs tour, "Panic in Detroit", originally from Aladdin Sane
Aladdin Sane
Aladdin Sane is the sixth album by David Bowie, released by RCA Records in 1973 . The follow-up to his breakthrough The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, it was the first album Bowie wrote and released as a bona fide rock star...
(1973).
Like "Rebel Rebel
Rebel Rebel
"Rebel Rebel" is a song by David Bowie, released in 1974 as a single and on the album Diamond Dogs. Cited as his most-covered track, it was effectively Bowie's farewell to the glam movement that had made him a star.-Music and lyrics:...
", the lead single from Diamond Dogs, "Rock 'n' Roll With Me" was conceived as part of a never-produced Ziggy Stardust musical in 1973. It has been described as "one of Bowie's least self-conscious love songs" and a foretaste of the R&B
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
balladry on Young Americans
Young Americans (album)
Young Americans, released in 1975, shows off David Bowie’s 1970’s shift to his “obsession” with soul music . For this album, Bowie let go of the influences he had drawn from in the past, replacing them with sounds from “local dance halls”, which, at the time, were blaring with “…lush strings,...
(1975).
Track listing
- "Rock 'n' Roll With Me" (lyrics by David BowieDavid BowieDavid Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
; music by Bowie, Warren PeaceWarren PeaceWarren Peace is a pseudonym for Geoffrey Alexander MacCormack , an English vocalist, composer and dancer best known for his work with David Bowie in the 1970s.-Musical career:...
) – 4:15 - "Panic in DetroitPanic in Detroit"Panic in Detroit" is a song written by David Bowie for the album Aladdin Sane in 1973. Bowie based it on friend Iggy Pop's descriptions of revolutionaries he had known as a youth in Michigan. It is also interpreted as being written about the 1967 Detroit riots...
" (Bowie) – 5:41
Production credits
- Producers:
- Tony ViscontiTony ViscontiAnthony Edward Visconti is an American record producer and sometimes a musician or singer.Since the late 1960s, he has worked with an array of performers; his lengthiest involvement with any artist is with David Bowie: intermittently from Bowie's 1969 album Space Oddity to 2003's Reality, Visconti...
- Tony Visconti
- Musicians:
- David BowieDavid BowieDavid Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
: vocals - Earl SlickEarl SlickEarl Slick is a guitarist best known for his collaborations with David Bowie, Jim Diamond and Robert Smith, although he has also worked with other artists , John Waite, and even released some solo recordings.In the early 1970s, Earl Slick gained his...
: guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with... - Herbie FlowersHerbie FlowersHerbie Flowers is an English musician specialising in bass guitar, double-bass and tuba. He is noted as a member of Blue Mink, T...
: bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick.... - Michael KamenMichael KamenMichael Arnold Kamen was an American composer , orchestral arranger, orchestral conductor, song writer, and session musician.-Background:...
: keyboardsKeyboard instrumentA keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments... - Tony NewmanTony Newman (drummer)Richard Anthony 'Tony' Newman is an English rock drummer. He was at various times a member of the bands Sounds Incorporated, May Blitz, Three Man Army and T...
: drumDrumThe drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments, which is technically classified as the membranophones. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a shell and struck, either directly with the player's hands, or with a...
s - David SanbornDavid SanbornDavid Sanborn is an American alto saxophonist. Though Sanborn has worked in many genres, his solo recordings typically blend jazz with instrumental pop and R&B. He released his first solo album Taking Off in 1975, but has been playing the saxophone since before he was in high school...
: saxophoneSaxophoneThe saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846... - Richard Grando: saxophone
- Pablo Rosario: backing vocalsBacking vocalistA backing vocalist or backing singer is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists...
- Gui Andrisano: backing vocals
- Warren PeaceWarren PeaceWarren Peace is a pseudonym for Geoffrey Alexander MacCormack , an English vocalist, composer and dancer best known for his work with David Bowie in the 1970s.-Musical career:...
: backing vocals
- David Bowie
Live versions
- The same version released on single and David LiveDavid LiveDavid Live is David Bowie’s first official live album, originally released by RCA Records in 1974. Recorded on the initial leg of Bowie’s US tour supporting Diamond Dogs in July of that year , it has been cited as one of the best live...
also appeared on the Dutch release Rock Concert. Another live recording from the 1974 tour was released on the semi-legal album A Portrait in Flesh.
Cover versions
- DonovanDonovanDonovan Donovan Donovan (born Donovan Philips Leitch (born 10 May 1946) is a Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist. Emerging from the British folk scene, he developed an eclectic and distinctive style that blended folk, jazz, pop, psychedelia, and world music...
– Released only as a single a-side (b/w "Divine Daze of Deathless Delight", September 1974, Epic EPC 2661). This was also issued on the BOOTLEG album Old Fashioned Picture Book (see online .... Donovan Bootlegs and Rarities), and on the compilation album Oh! You Pretty ThingsOh! You Pretty Things"Oh! You Pretty Things" is a song written by David Bowie in 1971 for the album Hunky Dory. It opens with only Rick Wakeman's piano and Bowie's vocal, before entering the catchy refrain. The simple piano style is often compared to The Beatles' "Martha My Dear"...
, which is composed of early cover versions of Bowie's work. - Scream - Hero: The Main Man Records Tribute to David Bowie (2007)
- Kenny Miller – Single (1975)
- The Killers occasionally played a snippet with their song "My List" sometimes during their warm-up tour in 2006.
- Max LorentzMax LorentzMax Lorentz is a Swedish musician, songwriter and producer.He has also worked as a session-musician with artists including Ulf Lundell, Sanne Salomonsen, E-Type, Eldkvarn, Grymlings, Pugh Rogefeldt and Magnus Lindberg, and has hosted the Swedish TV shows Max, Live Show and Musikmatchen, and...
- Kiss You in the Rain - Max Lorentz sings David BowieKiss You In The Rain - Max Lorentz Sings David BowieKiss You In The Rain - Max Lorentz Sings David Bowie is the fifth album from Swedish artist Max Lorentz.The record was released on CD on the 8th of june 2011 on PB8 Records....
(2011)