"Rock and Roll Heaven" is a song written by Alan O'Day and Johnny Stevenson, popularized by The Righteous Brothers. It is a paean to several deceased singers such as Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, and Otis Redding, and has been rewritten a number of times to include other singers. The song was first recorded by the band Climax in 1973 (co-writer Stevenson was the keyboard player for Climax, and the song was specifically written for the band's lead singer, Sonny Geraci),[1] but it failed to chart. It was then covered by The Righteous Brothers in 1974 and reached number three on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100.[2][3]
| "Rock and Roll Heaven" | |
|---|---|
 Side A of the Canadian single | |
| Single by Climax | |
| Released | 1973 |
| Genre | Rock and roll |
| Label | Rocky Road |
| Songwriter(s) | Alan O'Day, Johnny Stevenson |
| Producer(s) | Larry Cox |
The Righteous Brothers version
edit| "Rock and Roll Heaven" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Side A of the Dutch single | ||||
| Single by The Righteous Brothers | ||||
| from the album Give It to the People | ||||
| B-side | "I Just Wanna Be Me" | |||
| Released | May 1974 | |||
| Genre | Pop[4] | |||
| Label | Haven/Capitol | |||
| Songwriter(s) |
| |||
| Producer(s) | Dennis Lambert and Brian Potter | |||
| The Righteous Brothers singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
The Righteous Brothers recorded "Rock and Roll Heaven" a few weeks after they decided to reform the duo in 1974. They signed with Haven Records run by Dennis Lambert and Brian Potter and were given the song to record. Lambert and Potter rewrote a verse, updating the song to include Jim Croce and Bobby Darin who had died within three months of each other in late 1973.[5] According to Bill Medley, they were dubious about the song because they didn't think the song had the "old Righteous Brothers feel".[6] Nevertheless, it became a hit for them and quickly reached number three on the Billboard Hot 100. In Canada it spent three weeks at number four.[7]
Musicians and songs mentioned in Righteous Brothers version
edit- "Jimi gave us rainbows" refers to Rainbow Bridge by Jimi Hendrix.
- "Janis took a piece of our hearts" refers to the recording of "Piece of My Heart" by Big Brother and the Holding Company featuring Janis Joplin.
- "Otis brought us all to the dock of the bay" refers to "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay" by Otis Redding.
- "Sing a song to light my fire. Remember Jim that way" refers to "Light My Fire" by The Doors which featured Jim Morrison.
- "Remember bad bad Leroy Brown, Hey Jimmy touched us with that song" refers to "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown" by Jim Croce.
- "Bobby gave us Mack the Knife" refers to Bobby Darin's recording of "Mack the Knife".
The lyrics involving Jim Croce and Bobby Darin replaced Climax's lyrics for Buddy Holly ("Peggy Sue") and Ritchie Valens ("Donna"), both of whom died in a plane crash that had already been commemorated by another hit song, Don McLean's "American Pie."
Also, in 1981, when the Righteous Brothers appeared for a one-song reunion on American Bandstand, they performed "Rock and Roll Heaven", and made it longer including new lyrics as tributes to Elvis Presley, John Lennon, and Keith Moon. The tribute to Moon was inserted between those for Redding and Morrison; the Presley tribute was the entire second verse, replacing those for Croce and Darin; and a new third verse memorialized Lennon, whose murder by Mark David Chapman on 8 December 1980 was mentioned by the line "Now we've lost John Lennon in the cruelest way".
It was rewritten with new lyrics in 1991 to mourn the passing of Elvis Presley ("Love Me Tender"), John Lennon ("Give Peace a Chance"), Roy Orbison ("Oh, Pretty Woman"), Jackie Wilson ("Higher and Higher"), Ricky Nelson ("Lonesome Town"), Dennis Wilson ("Good Vibrations"), Marvin Gaye ("What's Going On"), Sam Cooke ("Wonderful World"), Cass Elliot ("Monday, Monday") who died a few months after the original version of the song was released, and Stevie Ray Vaughan. The rewritten song is included in compilation albums such as Reunion.[8]
In popular culture
editA line from the lyrics of the song is used as the title for Stephen King's short story "You Know They Got a Hell of a Band", set in a town called Rock and Roll Heaven.[9]
Chart performance
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Weekly chartsedit
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Year-end chartsedit
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References
edit- ^ "One hell of a hit now knocking at the gate". Billboard Magazine. July 14, 1973.
- ^ Sisario, Ben (7 November 2003). "Bobby Hatfield Dies at 63; Righteous Brothers Tenor". The New York Times. Retrieved 2016-10-08.
- ^ "The Righteous Brothers - Rock And Roll Heaven (Vinyl) at Discogs". Discogs.com. 2012-03-24. Retrieved 2016-10-08.
- ^ Breithaupt, Don; Breithaupt, Jeff (October 15, 1996). "Ewwwww!: Bad Taste". Precious and Few - Pop Music in the Early '70s. St. Martin's Griffin. p. 113. ISBN 031214704X.
- ^ Prato, Greg (15 June 2014). "Bill Medley of The Righteous Brothers". Songfacts.com.
- ^ Bill Medley (April 24, 2014). The Time of My Life: A Righteous Brother's Memoir. Da Capo Press. p. 102. ISBN 978-0306823169.
- ^ "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. Retrieved 2016-10-08.
- ^ "Righteous Brothers Reunion". Amazon. 1991.
- ^ Stephen J. Spignesi (August 1, 2003). The Essential Stephen King. Career Press. pp. 271–273. ISBN 978-1564147103.
- ^ Steffen Hung. "Forum - 1970 (ARIA Charts: Special Occasion Charts)". Australian-charts.com. Retrieved 2016-10-08.
- ^ "Top RPM Singles: Issue 5072a." RPM. Library and Archives Canada.
- ^ "The Righteous Brothers Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard.
- ^ Whitburn, Joel (1993). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961–1993. Record Research. p. 201.
- ^ "Cash Box Top 100 8/03/74".
- ^ "Top RPM Singles: Issue 3893a." RPM. Library and Archives Canada.
- ^ "Top 100 Hits of 1974/Top 100 Songs of 1974". Musicoutfitters.com. Retrieved 2016-10-08.
- ^ "Cash Box YE Pop Singles - 1974".
