Good Rocking Tonight

"Good Rocking Tonight"
Song by Roy Brown
Released	1947
Recorded	June 1947
Genre	Jump blues
Writer(s)	Roy Brown
Composer(s)	Roy Brown
Language	English

"Good Rocking Tonight" was originally a jump blues song released in 1947 by its writer, Roy Brown^[1] and was covered by many other recording artists. The song includes the memorable refrain, "Well I heard the news, there's good rocking tonight!" The song anticipated elements of rock and roll music.^[2]

Original version

Brown had first offered his song to Wynonie Harris, who turned it down. He then approached Cecil Gant later that night, but after hearing Brown sing, Gant made a 2:30 AM phone call to Jules Braun, the president of DeLuxe Records. After Roy Brown sang his song over the phone, Braun asked Brown to sing it a second time. He then told Gant, "Give him fifty dollars and don't let him out of your sight."^[3]

Five weeks later, Brown recorded the song for DeLuxe Records. Only after Brown's record had gained traction in New Orleans did Harris decide to cover it. Harris's version was even more energetic than Brown's original version, featuring black gospel style handclapping. This may have contributed to the composition's greater success on the national R&B chart. Brown's original recording hit #13 of the Billboard R&B chart, but Harris' record became a #1 R&B hit and remained on the chart for half a year.^[4] Brown's single would re-enter the chart in 1949, peaking at #11.

Harris had a reputation for carousing, and sometimes forgot lyrics. His "Good Rockin'" recording session largely followed Brown's original lyrics, but by the end, he replaced the last section with a series of raucous "hoy hoy hoy!" interjections, a commonly used expression in jump blues tunes of the time, going back to 1945's "The Honeydripper" by Joe Liggins.

The song is a primer of sorts on the popular black music of the era, making lyrical reference to Sweet Lorraine, Sioux City Sue, Sweet Georgia Brown, Caldonia, Elder Brown, and Deacon Jones. All of these characters had figured prominently in previous hit songs. The song has also been credited with being the most successful record to that point to use the word "rock" not as a euphemism for sex, but as a descriptive for the musical style, a connection which would become even clearer in 1954 when a version of "Good Rockin' Tonight" became Elvis Presley's second-ever single.

While Brown missed out on the biggest hit version of his song, its success kicked off his own career, which included two #1 R&B hits. In 1949, he released "Rockin' at Midnight", a sequel to "Good Rockin' Tonight." It reached #2 on the R&B chart, where it remained for a month.^[5]

Covers

Elvis Presley version

"Good Rockin' Tonight"
Single by Elvis Presley
from the album A Date with Elvis
B-side	"I Don't Care If the Sun Don't Shine"
Released	September 1954[6]
Format	Single
Recorded	September 10, 1954[6]
Genre	Rockabilly
Length	2:14
Label	Sun
Writer(s)	Roy Brown
Producer(s)	Sam Phillips
Elvis Presley singles chronology
"That's All Right" (1954) "Good Rockin' Tonight" (1954) "You're a Heartbreaker" (1954)

"Rockin' at Midnight"
Single by The Honeydrippers
from the album The Honeydrippers: Volume One
Released	1984
Format	Single
Recorded	March 1984, Atlantic Studios, New York, NY
Genre	Rock and roll, rockabilly
Length	6:00
Label	Es Paranza/Atlantic Records 90265
Writer(s)	Roy Brown
Producer(s)	Nugetre and The Fabulous Brill Brothers (Robert Plant & Phil Carson)

In 1954, "Good Rockin' Tonight" was the second Sun Records release by Elvis Presley, along with "I Don't Care if the Sun Don't Shine" on the flip side.^[7][8] Presley and his bandmates hewed closer to the original Roy Brown version, but omitted the lyrics' by-then-dated roster of names in favor of a simpler, more energetic "We're gonna rock, rock, rock!" Described as "a flat-out rocker" country radio programmers blanched, and older audiences were somewhat mystified. A live show broadcast from Houston DJ Bill Collie's club documented that the crowd "barely responded" to the song. "Blue Moon of Kentucky", the uptempo version of the Bill Monroe classic, has "the fans go stark raving nuts with joy". Both sides of this second record featuring "Elvis Presley, Scotty and Bill" "stiffed".."^[9]

The song was used for the biopic Elvis, which starred Jonathan Rhys-Meyers as Presley; it was used for a montage sequence where he is performing at the Louisiana Hayride in 1954.

Sales and certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/Sales
United States (RIAA)[10]	Gold	500,000^^
^^shipments figures based on certification alone

Other versions

• Carl Perkins in 1958 on his album "Whole Lotta Shakin'".
• Link Wray in 1965 under the name "Good Rockin' Tonight".
• Paul McCartney recorded the song for the Unplugged (The Official Bootleg) album.
• Montrose recorded the song for their 1973 self-titled debut album.
• Bruce Springsteen performed the song during his 1978 Darkness Tour, usually as the opening number. He also occasionally performed the song on The River Tour in 1980-81.^[11] Springsteen performed the song for the first time in 27 years in 2008 on the Magic Tour.
• A Gene Summers cover version of "Good Rocking Tonight" was included on a French compilation album The Big Beat Show issued by Big Beat Records (BBR1000) in 1981.
• Contraband, an all-star hard rock group recorded their version of the song for their debut self-titled album in 1991.
• Ricky Nelson recorded the song for his 1958 album Ricky Nelson.
• Lonnie Lee recorded the song for his 1993 album Don't Look Back; his version is a more guitar-based rock 'n' roll version.
• Wes Paul Gerrard features this song heavily in his live performances, often opening up with it in his second set. He will record the song in his new Manchester to Memphis album which he is recording at Sun Studio, Memphis, Tennessee in May 2010.
• Little Willie Littlefield recorded a version for his 1982 album Houseparty.
• Other cover versions of the song include Buddy Holly, Les Chaussettes Noires, The Treniers, Pat Boone, James Brown, Dread Zeppelin, Montrose (whose version was covered by Diamond Head), Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen, Kevin DuBrow, and Jerry Lee Lewis.^[12]
• The Doors recorded a version for their 1972 album Full Circle under the title "Good Rockin'".
• A recording of a 9-year-old Raul Seixas singing to "Good Rocking Tonight" appears as the intro to his debut album, Krig-ha, Bandolo!.

References

1. Nick Tosches, Country: The Twisted Roots of Rock 'n' Roll (Da Capo Press, 1996), 51.
2. "Morgan Wright's HoyHoy.com: The Dawn of Rock 'n Roll". Hoyhoy.com. 1954-05-02. Retrieved 2012-03-04.
3. Lauterbach, Preston, The Chitlin' Circuit and the Road to Rock N Roll, W.W. Norton, 2011, pg. 142-143
4. Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 246.
5. Roy Brown's "Good Rockin' Tonight" Retrieved July 2, 2012.
6. Jorgensen, Ernst (July 1998). Elvis Presley: A Life in Music. New York: St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0-312-18572-3. OCLC 38168234.
8. Gary Dowell, Isaiah Evans, James L. Halperin, Kim Jones, and Ivy Press, Heritage Music and Entertainment Dallas Signature Auction Catalog #634 (Heritage Capital Corporation, 2006), 167.
9. The Blue Moon Boys - The Story of Elvis Presley's Band. Ken Burke and Dan Griffin. 2006. Chicago Review Press. pages 45,46. ISBN 1-55652-614-8
10. "American single certifications – Elvis Presley – Good Rocking Tonight". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Single, then click SEARCH
11. Barker, Derek (2009). Liner notes to Bruce Springsteen's Jukebox: The Songs that Inspired the Man [CD]. Chrome Dreams.
12. Jerry Lee Lewis, The 20 Most Requested Retrieved July 1, 2012.