"Jailhouse Rock" | ||||
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Single by Elvis Presley | ||||
from the album Jailhouse Rock | ||||
B-side | "Treat Me Nice" | |||
Released | September 24, 1957 | |||
Format | 45 rpm single, 78 rpm single | |||
Recorded | April 30, 1957, Radio Recorders, Hollywood, California | |||
Genre | Rock and roll, rockabilly | |||
Length | 2:35 | |||
Writer(s) | Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller | |||
Producer(s) | Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller | |||
Elvis Presley singles chronology | ||||
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"Jailhouse Rock" is a song written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller that first became a hit for Elvis Presley. The song was released as an RCA Victor 45rpm single on September 24, 1957, to coincide with the release of Presley's motion picture, Jailhouse Rock.
The song as recorded by Presley is #67 on Rolling Stone's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time and was named one of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll. In 2004, it finished at #21 on AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs survey of top tunes in American cinema. On 27 November 2016, the Grammy Hall of Fame announced its induction, along with that of another 24 songs.
Presley's performance of the song in the film, choreographed as a dance routine involving himself and a large group of male prisoners, was featured among other classic MGM musical numbers in the 1994 documentary That's Entertainment! III. The film version differs from the single version of the song, featuring backing instrumentation and vocals not heard on the record.
Some of the characters named in the song are real people. Shifty Henry was a well-known LA 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 also became the name of a popular comic strip and comic book character.