I Hear You Knocking

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"I Hear You Knocking"
Single by Dave Edmunds (Rockpile)
from the album Rockpile
B-side "Black Bill"
Released November 1970
Format 7" 45 RPM
Genre Blues rock
Length 2:48
Label MAM
Writer(s) Dave Bartholomew, Pearl King
Producer(s) Dave Edmunds
Dave Edmunds (Rockpile) singles chronology

-- "I Hear You Knocking"
(1970)		 "Baby, I Love You"
(1973)

"I Hear You Knocking" (sometimes spelled "I Hear You Knockin'") is a popular rhythm and blues song with emphatic syncopation, written by Dave Bartholomew and Earl King (under the pen name Pearl King) and published in 1955. The original recording was made by Smiley Lewis, reaching #2 on the Billboard R&B singles chart in 1955.

The lyrics concern a former lover whose knocking at the door will not be answered. A similar lyrical theme appears in the earlier songs "Keep A-Knockin'" (1935) and "Open the Door, Richard" (1947), to which "I Hear You Knocking" may be considered an answer song.

The song was popularized in 1955 in a cover version by Gale Storm in a recording on Dot Records catalog number 15412, reaching #2 on the Billboard charts. The song reached #3 on the Cash Box Best-Selling Record chart.

A later recording by Welsh band Dave Edmunds Rockpile (only initial releases were also credited to the band)[1] reached #4 on the Billboard charts in 1971, and in the UK it took the coveted Christmas number one slot in 1970, topping the UK singles chart for six weeks.[2] This version is featured in the soundtrack of the 2013 film Rush.[3]

In an interview with John Lennon made shortly after the dissolution of The Beatles, Lennon told interviewer Jann Wenner that the Edmunds version was his favourite new recording.

There are also two versions of this song recorded by Alvin Lee. A live version in 1994 on the album 'Live in Vienna' and a studio version in 1995 on the album Nineteen Ninety four (also titled "I Hear You Rockin").

The song was also covered live by the British rock band Thunder, and can be found as a live B-side on their "Castles in the Sand" single, as well as by Shakin' Stevens.

"I Hear You Knocking" was included in the Broadway musical "Million Dollar Quartet," which opened in New York in April, 2010.[4] It was sung on Broadway by Elizabeth Stanley, as "Dyanne," a woman who in the show accompanies Elvis Presley to Sun Records Studio.[5] Elizabeth Stanley also covered the song on the "Million Dollar Quartet" original Broadway cast recording, copyright 2010 by MDQ Merchandising, LLC.[6]

Versions

See also

Preceded by
"Voodoo Child" by The Jimi Hendrix Experience		 UK number-one single
(Dave Edmunds' Rockpile version)
28 November 1970 (6 weeks) 		Succeeded by
"Grandad" by Clive Dunn

Notes

  1. ↑ Dave Edmunds Rockpile: I Hear You Knocking at Discogs (list of releases)
  2. ↑ The Official UK Charts Company - All the No 1's
  3. ↑ Jagernauth, Kevin (2013-08-28). "Watch: New Clip From 'Rush' Plus Details On The Soundtrack Which Includes David Bowie, Thin Lizzy & Hans Zimmer". IndieWire. Retrieved 2013-09-22. 
  4. ↑ Zielinski, Peter James. "Photo Coverage: Million Dollar Quartet Opens on Broadway". Posted: 12:04 PM; Monday, 12 April 2010.
  5. ↑ Gans, Andrew. "Foster and Stanley Will Join Original Chicago Quartet in Broadway's Million Dollar Quartet". Playbill.com: Posted 21 January 2010.
  6. ↑ MDQ Merchandising LLC (2010). "Song List" and "Performing Credits". In Million Dollar Quartet (p. 5) [CD booklet]. New York City: Avatar Studios; and Chicago: Chicago Recording Company.
UK Christmas number-one singles in the 1970s
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