Jailhouse Rock (song)

Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox song "Jailhouse Rock" is a rock and roll song recorded by American singer Elvis Presley for the film of the same name. It was written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. RCA Victor released the song on a 45 rpm single on September 24, 1957, and as a 78 rpm single in the UK, as the first single from the film's soundtrack EP. It reached the top of the charts in the U.S. and the top 10 in several other countries. The song has been recognized by the Grammy Hall of Fame, the American Film Institute, and others.

Characters and themes

File:Jailhouse Rock - Treat Me Nice ad - Cash Box 1957.jpg

Cashbox advertisement, October 5, 1957

Some of the characters named in the song are real people. Shifty Henry was a well-known Los Angeles 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 was also the name of a popular comic strip and comic book character.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

According to Rolling Stone, Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller's "theme song for Presley's third movie was decidedly silly, the kind of tongue-in-cheek goof they had come up with for The Coasters. Presley, however, sang it as straight rock & roll, overlooking the jokes in the lyrics (like the suggestion of gay romance when inmate Number 47 tells Number 3, 'You're the cutest jailbird I ever did see') and then introducing Scotty Moore's guitar solo with a cry so intense that the take almost collapses."<ref>"Jailhouse Rock". In Rolling Stone, December 9, 2004.</ref> Gender studies scholars cite the song for "its famous reference to homoerotics behind bars,"<ref>Philip Brett, Elizabeth Wood and Gary Thomas, Queering the Pitch: The New Gay and Lesbian Musicology (Routledge, 2006), p. 363.</ref> while music critic Garry Mulholland writes, "'Jailhouse Rock' was always a queer lyric, in both senses."<ref>Garry Mulholland, Popcorn: Fifty Years of Rock'n'Roll Movies (Orion Books, 2010).</ref> Douglas Brode writes of the filmed production number that it's "amazing that the sequence passed by the censors".<ref>Douglas Brode, Elvis Cinema and Popular Culture (McFarland & Co., 2006), p. 46.</ref>

Releases and chart performance

The single, with its B-side "Treat Me Nice" (another song from the film's soundtrack) was a US number one hit on the Billboard Hot 100 for seven weeks in the fall of 1957, and a UK number one hit for three weeks early in 1958.<ref name="500 Number One Hits">Template:Cite book</ref> In addition, "Jailhouse Rock" spent one week at the top of the US country charts,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> and reached the number one position on the R&B charts.<ref>Billboard November 4, 1957, page 58.</ref>

Also in 1957, "Jailhouse Rock" was the lead song in an EP (extended play single) titled Jailhouse Rock, 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" (but with "Treat Me Nice" omitted). It topped the Billboard EP charts, ultimately selling two million copies and earning a double-platinum RIAA certification.Template:Citation needed

Personnel

Credits sourced from AFM union contracts and label records.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The Blue Moon Boys

• Elvis PresleyTemplate:Snd lead vocals; acoustic rhythm guitar (uncertain)
• Scotty MooreTemplate:Snd electric lead guitar
• Bill BlackTemplate:Snd electric bass
• D. J. FontanaTemplate:Snd drums

The Jordanaires

• Gordon StokerTemplate:Snd backing vocals
• Hoyt HawkinsTemplate:Snd backing vocals
• Neal MatthewsTemplate:Snd backing vocals, double bass
• Hugh JarrettTemplate:Snd backing vocals

Additional musician and production staff

• Dudley BrooksTemplate:Snd piano
• Jeff Alexander – producer
• Thorne Nogar – engineer

Legacy

Rolling Stone magazine included "Jailhouse Rock" at number 67 on its list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and it was named one of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll. In 2004, it finished at number 21 on AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs survey of top tunes in American cinema. On November 27, 2016, the Grammy Hall of Fame announced its induction, along with that of another 24 songs.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2019, the song ranked number 31 on Spanish radio station Rock FM 500's list of "Five Hundred Rockers of All Time", ahead of any other song of the 1950s.Template:Citation needed

Charts

Weekly charts

Template:Single chartTemplate:Single chartTemplate:Single chart

Chart (1957–1958)	Peak position
Australia (Kent Music Report)<ref name=auscharts>Template:Cite book</ref>	3
South Africa (Springbok)	1
US Billboard Hot 100<ref name="allmusic">Template:Cite web</ref>	1
US Billboard Best Sellers in Stores<ref name="joel whitburn">Template:Cite book</ref>	1
US Billboard Most Played by Jockeys<ref name="joel whitburn"/>	1
US Billboard Most Played Country & Western Singles<ref name="joel whitburn"/>	3
US Billboard Most Played Rhythm and Blues Singles<ref name="joel whitburn"/>	1
US Billboard Top Selling Country & Western Singles<ref name="allmusic"/>	1
US Billboard Top Selling Rhythm and Blues Singles<ref name="allmusic"/>	1
US Cash Box Magazine Top Country & Western Singles<ref name="joel whitburn"/>	1

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Chart (1971)	Peak position

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Chart (1974)	Peak position

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Chart (1977)	Peak position

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Chart (2005)	Peak position

Year-end charts

Chart (1957)	Position
Australia (Kent Music Report)<ref name=auscharts/>	22
US Billboard (Best Sellers in Stores)<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>	16
US Singles (Cash Box)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	11
Chart (1958)	Position
South Africa (Springbok)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	11
Chart (2005)	Position
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	134

See also

• List of Top 25 singles for 1957 in Australia
• List of Billboard number-one rhythm and blues hits
• List of Billboard number-one singles of 1957
• Billboard year-end top 50 singles of 1957
• List of Cash Box Best Sellers number-one singles of 1957
• List of CHUM number-one singles of 1957
• List of number-one country singles of 1957 (U.S.)
• List of UK Singles Chart number ones of the 1950s
• List of UK Singles Chart number ones of the 2000s