![]() ![]() Whereas Lewis's original recording is a piano-driven R&B piece with a 12/8 shuffle feel, Edmunds' version features prominent guitar lines and a stripped-down, straight-quaver rock-and-roll approach. Recording Įdmunds recorded the song at Rockfield Studios in Monmouthshire. You could use the same backing track for both songs. I thought, "hang on", the two songs have identical format. Then an album of Smiley Lewis was released on United Artists in Britain, and they played "I Hear You Knocking" on the radio in Britain while I was driving along. He had originally planned to record a cover of " Let's Work Together" by Wilbert Harrison, but had to reconsider when he heard a version that had been recorded by Canned Heat. Welsh singer and guitarist Dave Edmunds recorded "I Hear You Knocking" in 1970. Dave Edmunds version "I Hear You Knocking" In 1961, Bartholomew produced Fats Domino's remake of the song. English singer Jill Day also recorded the song in 1956, as did Connie Francis in 1959. Bartholomew believed her version "killed his record" blues researcher Bill Dahl added, "Storm swiped his thunder for any crossover possibilities with her ludicrous whitewashed cover of the plaintive ballad." The experience reportedly led Bartholomew to refer to Lewis as a "'bad luck singer', because he never sold more than 100,000 copies of his Imperial singles". Her cover version reached number two on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, number three on the Cash Box Best-Selling Record chart and became a gold record. First cover versions Īlso in 1955, actress and pop singer Gale Storm recorded "I Hear You Knockin'" for Dot Records. It entered Billboard's R&B charts on September 3, where it spent eighteen weeks and reached number two. "I Hear You Knocking" was released as a single by Imperial Records in 1955. I hear you knockin', go back where you been I hear you knockin', but you can't come in Now you're comin' back knockin' on my door The lyrics echo some of the lines from the earlier songs: Instrumentally, the song is dominated by piano triplets in the style of Fats Domino, played by Huey "Piano" Smith. It has been notated in 4/4 time in the key of C with a moderate tempo. "I Hear You Knocking" uses a modified twelve-bar blues arrangement, in which the progression to the IV chord is repeated: I He claims that he wrote it "in the backseat of a car coming out of San Francisco". Bartholomew is listed as the producer and songwriter, along with Pearl King (a Bartholomew pseudonym the maiden name of his wife). Smiley Lewis recorded "I Hear You Knocking" with Dave Bartholomew's band at J&M Studios in New Orleans, owned by Cosimo Matassa. īeginning with his signing by the Los Angeles–based Imperial Records in 1950, Smiley Lewis was one of the main proponents of the emerging New Orleans rhythm and blues style, along with Fats Domino, Lloyd Price, Dave Bartholomew, and Professor Longhair. Mayo Williams were later credited as songwriters. Penniman", Richard's legal name, although Bert Mays and J. In 1957, Little Richard recorded it with the songwriter listed as "R. However, when popular jump blues bandleader Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five recorded the song as " Keep A-Knockin'" in 1939, the single's credits listed "Mays-Bradford" (Bert Mays and Perry Bradford). None of these early singles listed a songwriter or composer. Mays (1928) "Keep On Knocking", by Lil Johnson (1935) "Keep a Knocking", by Milton Brown & His Brownies (1936) and "Keep Knocking (But You Can't Come In)", by Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys (1938). It was followed by songs that used similar phrases, including "You Can't Come In", by Bert M. James "Boodle It" Wiggins recorded an upbeat piano blues in 1928 titled "Keep A Knockin' An You Can't Get In" which repeated the title in the lyrics. Several earlier blues and R&B songs use lyrics similar to "I Hear You Knocking". Subsequently, numerous artists have recorded it, including Welsh singer and guitarist Dave Edmunds, whose version reached number one in the UK Singles Chart for six weeks in 1970 and was in the top 10 in several other countries. "I Hear You Knocking" reached number two on the Billboard R&B singles chart in 1955, making it Lewis's most popular and best-known song. ![]() The lyrics tell of the return of a former lover who is rebuffed. New Orleans rhythm and blues singer Smiley Lewis first recorded the song in 1955. " I Hear You Knocking" (or " I Hear You Knockin'") is a rhythm and blues song written by Dave Bartholomew. Not to be confused with the Lazy Lester song by the same name. ![]()
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