"Jailhouse Rock"
Single by Elvis Presley
from the EP Jailhouse Rock
B-side"Treat Me Nice"
ReleasedSeptember 24, 1957 (1957-09-24)
RecordedApril 30, 1957
StudioRadio Recorders, Los Angeles
Genre
Length2:35
LabelRCA Victor
SongwriterJerry Leiber and Mike Stoller
ProducerJeff Alexander
Elvis Presley singles chronology
"(Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear"
(1957) 		"Jailhouse Rock"
(1957) 		"Don't"
(1958)
Music video
"Jailhouse Rock" (audio) on YouTube
Audio sample
Jailhouse Rock
  • file
  • help

"Jailhouse Rock" is a rock and roll song recorded by American singer Elvis Presley for the film of the same name. It was written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. RCA Victor released the song on a 45 rpm single on September 24, 1957, and as a 78 rpm single in the UK, as the first single from the film's soundtrack EP. It reached the top of the charts in the U.S. and the top 10 in several other countries. The song has been recognized by the Grammy Hall of Fame, the American Film Institute, and others.

Characters and themes

Some of the characters named in the song are real people. Shifty Henry was a well-known Los Angeles musician, not a criminal. The Purple Gang was a real mob. "Sad Sack" was a U.S. Army nickname in World War II for a loser, which was also the name of a popular comic strip and comic book character.[1]

According to Rolling Stone, Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller's "theme song for Presley's third movie was decidedly silly, the kind of tongue-in-cheek goof they had come up with for The Coasters. Presley, however, sang it as straight rock & roll, overlooking the jokes in the lyrics (like the suggestion of gay romance when inmate Number 47 tells Number 3, 'You're the cutest jailbird I ever did see') and then introducing Scotty Moore's guitar solo with a cry so intense that the take almost collapses."[2] Gender studies scholars cite the song for "its famous reference to homoerotics behind bars",[3] while music critic Garry Mulholland writes, "'Jailhouse Rock' was always a queer lyric, in both senses."[4] Douglas Brode writes of the filmed production number that it's "amazing that the sequence passed by the censors".[5]

Releases and chart performance

The single, with its B-side "Treat Me Nice" (another song from the film's soundtrack) was a US number one hit on the Billboard Hot 100 for seven weeks in the fall of 1957, and a UK number one hit for three weeks early in 1958.[6] In addition, "Jailhouse Rock" spent one week at the top of the US country charts,[7] and reached the number one position on the R&B charts.[8]

Also in 1957, "Jailhouse Rock" was the lead song in an EP (extended play single) titled Jailhouse Rock, together with other songs from the film, namely "Young and Beautiful", "I Want to Be Free", "Don't Leave Me Now" and "(You're So Square) Baby I Don't Care" (but with "Treat Me Nice" omitted). It topped the Billboard EP charts, ultimately selling two million copies and earning a double-platinum RIAA certification.

Personnel

Credits sourced from AFM union contracts and label records.[9]

The Blue Moon Boys
The Jordanaires
Additional musician and production staff

Legacy

Rolling Stone magazine included "Jailhouse Rock" at number 67 on its list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time[10] and it was named one of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll. In 2004, it finished at number 21 on AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs survey of top tunes in American cinema. On November 27, 2016, the Grammy Hall of Fame announced its induction, along with that of another 24 songs.[11] In 2019, the song ranked number 31 on Spanish radio station Rock FM 500's list of "Five Hundred Rockers of All Time", ahead of any other song of the 1950s. By 2006, numerous scholars would accept that the song's line about prisoner "number 47" being attracted to prisoner "number 3" was a reference to homoeroticism.[12][13]

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (1957–1958) Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[14] 3
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[15] 8
Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)[16] 7
South Africa (Springbok) 1
UK Singles (OCC)[17] 1
US Billboard Hot 100[18] 1
US Billboard Best Sellers in Stores[19] 1
US Billboard Most Played by Jockeys[19] 1
US Billboard Most Played Country & Western Singles[19] 3
US Billboard Most Played Rhythm and Blues Singles[19] 1
US Billboard Top Selling Country & Western Singles[18] 1
US Billboard Top Selling Rhythm and Blues Singles[18] 1
US Cash Box Magazine Top Country & Western Singles[19] 1
Chart (1971) Peak
position
UK Singles (OCC)[20] 42
Chart (1974) Peak
position
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia)[21] 9
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[22] 4
Chart (1977) Peak
position
UK Singles (OCC)[23] 44
Chart (2005) Peak
position
Ireland (IRMA)[24] 23
France (SNEP)[25] 87
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[22] 19
Scotland Singles (OCC)[26] 1
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[27] 37
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[28] 96
UK Singles (OCC)[29] 1

Year-end charts

Chart (1957) Position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[14] 22
US Billboard (Best Sellers in Stores)[30] 16
US Singles (Cash Box)[31] 11
Chart (1958) Position
South Africa (Springbok)[32] 11
Chart (2005) Position
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[33] 134

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[34] Gold 45,000‡
Germany (BVMI)[35] Gold 300,000‡
Italy (FIMI)[36] Gold 35,000‡
New Zealand (RMNZ)[37] Platinum 30,000‡
Spain (Promusicae)[38] Gold 30,000‡
United Kingdom (BPI)[39] Platinum 600,000‡
United States (RIAA)[40] 2× Platinum 2,000,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

See also

References

  1. "A Short History of 'Retcon'". Merriam-webster.com.
  2. "Jailhouse Rock". In Rolling Stone, December 9, 2004.
  3. Philip Brett, Elizabeth Wood and Gary Thomas, Queering the Pitch: The New Gay and Lesbian Musicology (Routledge, 2006), p. 363.
  4. Garry Mulholland, Popcorn: Fifty Years of Rock'n'Roll Movies (Orion Books, 2010).
  5. Douglas Brode, Elvis Cinema and Popular Culture (McFarland & Co., 2006), p. 46.
  6. Rice, Jo (1982). The Guinness Book of 500 Number One Hits (1st ed.). Enfield, Middlesex: Guinness Superlatives Ltd. p. 34. ISBN 0-85112-250-7.
  7. Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Country Hits: 1944–2006, Second edition. Record Research. p. 272.
  8. Billboard November 4, 1957, page 58.
  9. "Elvis Presley Recording Sessions". keithflynn.com.
  10. "The RS 500 Greatest Songs of All Time". Rollingstone.com. December 11, 2003. Archived from the original on October 23, 2012.
  11. Kreps, Daniel (November 29, 2016). "Nirvana, Bowie, R.E.M. Songs Among Grammy Hall of Fame's 2017 Inductees". Rollingstone.com.
  12. Brett, Phillip; Wood, Elizabeth; Thomas, Gary C. (2006). Queering the Pitch: The New Gay and Lesbian Musicology. Taylor & Francis. p. 363.
  13. Etti, Jacob. "What Do the Lyrics to Elvis Presley's "Jailhouse Rock" Mean?". americansongwriter.com.
  14. Kent, David (2005). Australian Chart Book: 1940–1969: the Hit Songs and Records from Thirty Years of Specially Compiled Charts. Australian Chart Book Limited. ISBN 9780646444390.
  15. "Elvis Presley – Jailhouse Rock" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved March 3, 2013.
  16. "Elvis Presley: Jailhouse Rock" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat. Retrieved March 3, 2013.
  17. "Official Singles Chart on 30/1/1958 – Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 3, 2016.
  18. "Elvis Presley – Awards". AllMusic.
  19. Joel Whitburn's top pop singles 1955–2006. Record Research. January 8, 2008. ISBN 9780898201727.
  20. "Official Singles Chart on 11/12/1971 – Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 3, 2016.
  21. "Elvis Presley – Jailhouse Rock" (in French). Ultratop 50. Retrieved March 3, 2013.
  22. "Elvis Presley – Jailhouse Rock" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved March 3, 2013.
  23. "Official Singles Chart on 3/9/1977 – Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 3, 2013.
  24. "Chart Track: Week 1, 2005". Irish Singles Chart. Archived from the original. Retrieved March 3, 2013.
  25. "Elvis Presley – Jailhouse Rock" (in French). Le classement de singles. Retrieved March 3, 2013.
  26. "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart on 15/1/2005 – Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved July 8, 2018.
  27. "Elvis Presley – Jailhouse Rock". Singles Top 100. Retrieved March 3, 2013.
  28. "Elvis Presley – Jailhouse Rock". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved March 3, 2013.
  29. "Official Singles Chart on 15/1/2005 – Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 3, 2013.
  30. "Billboard Top 50 – 1958". Billboard. Longbored Surfer. 1958. Archived from the original on June 23, 2013.
  31. "The CASH BOX Year-End Charts: 1958". Cash Box Magazine. 1958. Archived from the original on September 24, 2011.
  32. "Top 20 Hit Singles of 1959". Rock.co.za.
  33. "The Official UK Singles Chart 2005" (PDF). UKChartsPlus.
  34. "Danish single certifications – Elvis Presley – Jailhouse Rock". IFPI Danmark.
  35. "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Elvis Presley; 'Jailhouse Rock')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie.
  36. "Italian single certifications – Elvis Presley – Jailhouse Rock" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana.
  37. "New Zealand single certifications – Elvis Presley – Jailhouse Rock". Radioscope. Type Jailhouse Rock in the "Search:" field and press Enter.
  38. "Spanish single certifications – Elvis Presley – Jailhouse Rock". El portal de Música. Productores de Música de España.
  39. "British single certifications – Elvis Presley – Jailhouse Rock". British Phonographic Industry. Select singles in the Formats field. Type Jailhouse Rock Elvis Presley in the "Search:" field.
  40. "American single certifications – Elvis Presley – Jailhouse Rock". Recording Industry Association of America.