Rock 'n' Roll with Me

"Rock 'n' Roll With Me"
Single by David Bowie
from the album David Live
B-side	"Panic in Detroit"
Released	September 1974 (US)
Format	7" single
Recorded	Philadelphia, July 1974
Genre	Rock
Length	4:15
Label	RCA Records PB 10105 (US)
Writer(s)	David Bowie Warren Peace
Producer(s)	Tony Visconti
David Bowie singles chronology
"Knock on Wood" (1974 - UK) "Rock 'n' Roll with Me" (1974 - US) "Young Americans" (1975)
Diamond Dogs track listing "Rebel Rebel" (6) "Rock 'n' Roll With Me" (7) "We Are the Dead" (8)

"Rock 'n' Roll With Me" is a song written by David Bowie and Warren Peace and recorded in January 1974 that first appeared on Bowie's Diamond Dogs album, supposedly to address the artist's complex relation with his fans.^[1] A version recorded during the Diamond Dogs tour in July 1974 was released on the album David Live.

While the song "Knock on Wood" from David Live was issued as a single in the UK, "Rock 'n' Roll With Me" was chosen for release as the US single in response to Donovan's recent cover version.^[2] The B-side in each case was another live recording from the Diamond Dogs tour, "Panic in Detroit", originally from Aladdin Sane (1973).

Like "Rebel Rebel", the lead single from Diamond Dogs, "Rock 'n' Roll With Me" was conceived as part of a never-produced Ziggy Stardust musical in 1973.^[3] It has been described as "one of Bowie's least self-conscious love songs" and a foretaste of the R&B balladry on Young Americans (1975).^[4]

On 27 July 2016, a remastered version of the song was re-released as a promotional single from the upcoming box set 'Who Can I Be Now? [1974-1976]'.

Writing

The song was composed at Bowie's house located on Oakley Street, London, after Warren Peace (Geoff MacCormack) started playing chords on his piano. Bowie and Peace were inspired by Fats Domino and Little Richard, two rhythm and blues musicians they were listening to in their childhood.^[5]

Track listing

1. "Rock 'n' Roll With Me" (lyrics by David Bowie; music by Bowie, Warren Peace) – 4:15
2. "Panic in Detroit" (Bowie) – 5:41

Production credits

• Producers:
  • Tony Visconti
• Musicians (album version):
  • David Bowie: vocals, guitar
  • Earl Slick: acoustic guitar
  • Herbie Flowers: bass
  • Mike Garson: organ
  • Aynsley Dunbar: drums
  • Warren Peace: backing vocals, piano

Live versions

• The same version released on single and David Live also appeared on the Dutch release Rock Concert. Another live recording from the 1974 tour was released on the semi-legal album A Portrait in Flesh.

Cover versions

• Donovan – Released only as a single a-side (b/w "Divine Daze of Deathless Delight", September 1974, Epic EPC 2661). This was also issued on the BOOTLEG album Old Fashioned Picture Book (see online .... Donovan Bootlegs and Rarities), and on the compilation album Oh! You Pretty Things, which is composed of early cover versions of Bowie's work.
• Scream - Hero: The Main Man Records Tribute to David Bowie (2007)
• Kenny Miller – Single (1975)
• The Killers occasionally played a snippet with their song "My List" sometimes during their warm-up tour in 2006.
• Max Lorentz - Kiss You in the Rain - Max Lorentz sings David Bowie(2011)
• Enrique Seknadje, in "Diamond Dogs Revisited" (2014) : On Sound Cloud

References

1. Robert Hilburn (1971). "Bowie Finds His Voice", Melody Maker.
2. Nicholas Pegg (2000). The Complete David Bowie: pp.175-175
3. David Buckley (1999) Strange Fascination - David Bowie: The Definitive Story: p.140
4. Roy Carr & Charles Shaar Murray (1981). Bowie: An Illustrated Record: p.62
5. John Robinson (2014). "The Story of Diamond Dogs: Ziggy's last stand and the Dame's crazy year of 1974", Uncut.

External links