Ride a White Swan
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| “Ride a White Swan” | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by T. Rex | |||||
| B-side | Summertime Blues | ||||
| Released | 1970 | ||||
| Genre | Rock | ||||
| Length | 2:31 (single version) | ||||
| Label | Reprise | ||||
| Writer(s) | Marc Bolan | ||||
| Producer | Tony Visconti | ||||
| T. Rex singles chronology | |||||
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"Ride a White Swan" is a song by the British glam rock act T. Rex which became their first hit single in 1970. Like all of the band's songs, it was written by the group's singer, guitarist and founder Marc Bolan.
Bolan had just decided to make the transition from basing his band's sound around an acoustic guitar to an electric one, having previously released a number of albums and singles with this style of music, to limited appeal. At the same time, he shortened the group's name from Tyrannosaurus Rex to the more manageable T. Rex, and replaced wayward percussionist Steve Peregrin Took with Mickey Finn.
"Ride a White Swan", a simple four-stanza lyric with the second repeated as the fourth, was written in the high-rise apartment Bolan shared with his wife June. He immediately rang producer Tony Visconti to organise a studio session, and the song, which was brimming with mythological references, was recorded on July 1 1970. It was little more than two minutes long and contained four layered guitar tracks, without bass or drums.
The song was released as a single on October 24. T. Rex had appeared in the lower reaches of the UK Top 40 on two previous occasions, but were little-known among music fans. The progress of "Ride a White Swan" was slow but steady; it entered the Top 40 on October 31 but it wasn't until 11 weeks later — on January 23, 1971 — that it reached a peak position of No.2. It was ultimately a novelty record by Dad's Army actor Clive Dunn — "Grandad" — which stopped "Ride a White Swan" from completing its climb to the top. The climb was made all the more remarkable by the song dropping a whole six places out of the Top 10 in the week leading up to Christmas 1970, only to find a second wind in the New Year.
Bolan performed the song on television alone, as there was no discernible sound other than that of a guitar and his own vocals to warrant an appearance by Finn. For one performance 6 years after its first release, on ITV's Supersonic in 1976, he was memorably standing in a large swan model and the corkscrew hair was gone. Also unusual was that he wasn't holding a guitar.
"Ride a White Swan" made Bolan a star and boosted T-Rex's fame and reputation, and the follow-up single "Hot Love" went to No. 1 for six weeks as the phenomenon of glam rock took hold. At this point Bolan brought Finn into the public eye and also introduced bassist Steve Currie and, prior to the next single and a major tour, recruited drummer Bill Legend to complete the line-up which remains the representation of T. Rex's halcyon era. The band would ultimately enjoy four No. 1 singles and four No. 2 singles in the UK by the end of 1972 before petering out.
When Bolan died in a car crash in 1977, a mourner paid tribute to Bolan by laying a large swan made of flowers among the floral tributes on display at Golders Green crematorium in London, where his funeral was held.
"Ride a White Swan" has been covered by numerous acts, with perhaps a reggae-like version by supermodel Naomi Campbell during her brief attempt at a recording career being the most infamous and maligned.
The song is one of many T.Rex tracks which feature in the film Billy Elliot.
