"Rock with the Caveman" is the debut single by Tommy Steele and the Steelmen, released in October 1956. It peaked at number 13 on the UK Singles Chart, making it one of the first British rock and roll records to chart.[3]
| "Rock with the Caveman" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Tommy Steele and the Steelmen | ||||
| B-side | "Rock Around the Town" | |||
| Released | 12 October 1956[1] | |||
| Recorded | 24 September 1956[2] | |||
| Studio | Decca Studios, London | |||
| Genre | Rock and roll | |||
| Length | 1:53 | |||
| Label | Decca | |||
| Songwriter(s) |
| |||
| Producer(s) | Hugh Mendl | |||
| Tommy Steele and the Steelmen singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
Background and recording
editSteele was discovered by Lionel Bart and along with Mike Pratt the three formed a group known as the Cavemen. After being seen by Decca Records' A&R representative Hugh Mendl, Steele was signed to Decca. "Rock with the Caveman" was originally a comedy number, described by Steele as "a joke, a spoof, the sort of thing Monty Python might have done".[4] It was Steele's first recording, recorded at Decca Studios on 24 September 1956, produced by Mendl with engineer Arthur Lilley. Steele was backed by a number of well-known jazz session musicians, including pianist Dave Lee from Johnny Dankworth's band and tenor saxophonist Ronnie Scott.[2]
After the success of "Rock with the Caveman", Steele was dubbed "Britain's Elvis" and only a month later was voted one of the top-ten British singers in a New Musical Express poll.[5] After his follow-up single "Doomsday Rock" failed to chart, Steele topped the chart with "Singing the Blues".[3] A live version of "Rock with the Caveman", recorded at London's Conway Hall the night before Steele's twentieth birthday, features on his first album Tommy Steele Stage Show, released in March 1957.[6]
Release and reception
editThe single was reported to have sold 25,000 copies in its first week of release.[7]
Writing under his Alley Cat pseudonym, Maurice Kinn of the NME felt "Rock with the Caveman" lacked "the essential authentic flavour" of American rock and roll and praised "Ronnie Scott's driving tenor-sax playing" as the record's best feature.[8]
Among retrospective reviews, Bruce Eder of AllMusic considered "Rock with the Caveman" "a curiously bland, formulaic effort at rock & roll, its use of the word "rock" in the lyrics more than its style identifying it, though [Steele] and the band do play hard".[5] Writing in The Times, Bob Stanley described the song as "charming and gawky, midway between a raucous tribute to rock’n’roll and a cartoonish parody".[9]
Track listing
edit7": Decca / F 10795
- "Rock with the Caveman" – 1:53
- "Rock Around the Town" – 1:52
Personnel
editAccording to Sebastian Lassandro;[10]
- Tommy Steele – vocals, guitar
- Ronnie Scott – tenor saxophone
- Benny Green – saxophone
- Major Holley – upright bass
- Bert Weedon – electric guitar
- Dave Lee – piano
- Kirk Dunning – drums
Charts
edit| Chart (1956) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| UK Singles (OCC)[3] | 13 |
| UK Record Mirror Top 20[11] | 11 |
References
edit- ^ Bragg, Billy (30 May 2017). Roots, Radicals and Rockers: How Skiffle Changed the World. Faber & Faber. p. 209. ISBN 978-0-571-32776-8.
- ^ a b "Rock with the Caveman". www.skidmore.edu. Retrieved 12 February 2022.
- ^ a b c "Tommy Steele: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company.
- ^ Napier-Bell, Simon (2002). Black Vinyl, White Powder. Ebury. p. 6. ISBN 978-0-09-188092-7.
- ^ a b Eder, Bruce. "Tommy Steele Biography, Songs, & Albums". AllMusic. Retrieved 12 February 2022.
- ^ Lassandro, Sebastian (2021). Tommy Steele: A Lifetime in the Spotlight. Fonthill Media. Retrieved 15 November 2022.
- ^ Gilmore, Eddy (22 April 1957). "Britain's answer to Elvis to make more money than Prime Minister". Fort Worth Star-Telegram: 7. Retrieved 27 November 2022.
- ^ "Tail Pieces by the Alley Cat" (PDF). NME: 16. 12 October 1956. Retrieved 16 November 2022.
- ^ Stanley, Bob. "How Tommy Steele, Britain's biggest pin-up, was savaged by the teenage mob". The Times. Retrieved 16 November 2022.
- ^ Biggane, Dan. "Q&A – Tommy Steele biographer Sebastian Lassandro". Vintage Rock. Retrieved 7 December 2022.
- ^ "The Second Ten". Record Mirror. 3 November 1956.