Gale Storm might have dialed it in, but Dave Edmunds’ version is no phoney.
Kronomyth 0.1: The knock heard round the world.
The best rock and roll songs always have a gimmick, whether it’s a low voice, a killer chorus or just a weird sound you can’t put your finger on. Two years earlier, Dave Edmunds and Love Sculpture rattled the radio with their rock interpretation of Khachaturian’s “Sabre Dance.” So when the time came to release a solo single, Edmunds returned to rock & roll revisionism for a unique version of the Gale Storm hit, I Hear You Knocking (although Smiley Lewis and not Storm is namechecked in the song).
Recording his vocals through a telephone line, the song had a great gimmick working for it and sounded like almost nothing else in 1970. (Edmunds would go on to be the Todd Rundgren of rockabilly: a multi-instrumentalist and painstaking producer who spent more time behind the boards than behind the microphone.) The B side, Black Bill, is an instrumental that features Edmunds on organ and sounds like a lost oldie rather than a new original.
Original 7-inch single version
A1. I Hear You Knocking (Pearl King/Dave Bartholomew) (2:48)
B1. Black Bill (Dave Edmunds) (3:05)
The Players
Produced by Dave Edmunds.
The Plastic
Released on 7-inch single in November 1970 in the UK (MAM, MAM-1), the US (MAM, 45-2601), Australia (MAM, MAM-9327), Canada (MAM, MAM-3601), Japan (MAM, TOP-1582) and New Zealand (Decca, DEC-525) with regional picture sleeve. Reached #1 on the UK charts (charted on November 21, 1970 for 14 weeks) and #4 on the US charts.
- Re-issued on 7-inch single in the UK (Blueprint, BLU-2010).
