Mar 19, 20222 min read

I Hear You Knocking - Dave Edmonds (1971) 3/19/22

It's a sad, but fairly well known fact that in the early days of rock and roll, many songs by black artists were co-opted by white singers, who made a lot of money thanks to radio's (and to a lesser extent TV's) policy of segregating "black music from white music on the air.

Examples: Pat Boone made a career out of taking the soul out of songs by Fats Domino ("Ain't That a Shame"), Little Richard ("Tutti Frutti"), and others...and as for TV, I'll direct you to the musical "Hairspray."

Dave Bartholomew was a trumpeter who had his fingers into rhythm and blues, big band, swing music, rock and roll, New Orleans jazz, and Dixieland. He's a member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as well as the Songwriters Hall of Fame for his massive influence on black music,

In fact, he wrote "Ain't That a Shame" and several other classics... including today's "Great Song of 1971," which was originally a "Great Song of the '50s."

Dave wrote "I Hear You Knocking" for Smiley Lewis, who took the song to #2 on the Rhythm and Blues Chart in1955. Of course, you've probably never heard his version (check the link below), and you've probably never heard the "safe white version", recorded by actress Gale Storm, either. Nothing persona against Gale--her version went to #3 on the Top 40, selling a million copies. But it effectively kept Smiley off the radio on white stations...and pretty much stalled his career.

In 1971, Welsh singer/guitarist Dave Edmonds re-imagined "I Hear You Knocking" as what critics called a "rocker with a mechanical beat and an out-of-phase vocal." John Lennon called it "a simple rock song," and told Rolling Stone Magazine that he loved it!

The Edmonds version--which was different, but far closer to Smiley's version than Gale Storm could ever imagine--became a Top 5 record in 8 countries, including #1 in the UK, Ireland and South Africa, #3 in Canada, and #4 in the US.

Unfortunately, Smiley wasn't around to hear it--he died at 53 in 1966, but Dave Bartholomew lived to be 100 years old, passing away in 2019. It's a good bet that he was gratified, not only because his song was a hit again...but that radio and TV have long been integrated, and his induction in the Rock & Roll and Songwriters Halls of Fame were proof that his music eventually helped make that happen.

"I Hear You Knocking"

Dave Edmonds (1971):