Jeepster (song)
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| "Jeepster" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Cover of the original 7" single | ||||
| Single by T. Rex | ||||
| from the album Electric Warrior | ||||
| B-side | "Life's a Gas" | |||
| Released | 5 November 1971 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 4:12 | |||
| Label | Fly | |||
| Songwriter | Marc Bolan | |||
| Producer | Tony Visconti | |||
| T. Rex singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
"Jeepster" is a song by English glam rock band T. Rex. It was released on 5 November 1971 by record label Fly as a single from the group's sixth studio album (and second as T. Rex) Electric Warrior. The B-side, "Life's a Gas", is taken from the same album. Several artists have recorded cover versions of it. Both of the single's tracks were written by Marc Bolan[4] and produced by Tony Visconti.[5]
The music (and first couple of lines) of "Jeepster" is based on a Howlin' Wolf blues song called "You'll Be Mine," which was written by Willie Dixon. In interviews, T. Rex leader Marc Bolan acknowledged that he "lifted it from a Howlin' Wolf song."[6]
Originally, "Jeepster" and "Life's a Gas" were pressed up together on 7-inch vinyl as a limited edition promotional disc for Electric Warrior. The disc was upgraded to a fully promoted single with "Jeepster" as the A side on 5 November 1971 by record label Fly. The single peaked at number 2 in the UK Singles Chart,[7] and was controversial in that Fly Records promoted the song to hit status without singer Marc Bolan's prior permission, Bolan having just left Fly for EMI, which had given him control of his own label T. Rex Wax Co. Records.[8] The song reached number 28 in Australia[9] and number 73 in Canada.[10] It was beaten to number 1 in the UK Singles Chart by "Coz I Luv You" by Slade for its first week at number 2 before being blocked from the top place by "Ernie (The Fastest Milkman in the West)" by Benny Hill for the remaining four weeks.
"Jeepster" is widely regarded as one of the band's best songs. Billboard and Paste ranked the song number three and number one, respectively, on their lists of the top 10 T. Rex songs.[11][12]
Personnel
T. Rex
- Marc Bolan – lead vocals, guitar
- Mickey Finn – congas, bongos
- Steve Currie – bass
- Bill Legend – drums
Television
Bolan was a guest on the BBC Television show Cilla in January 1973. He and Cilla Black sang an acoustic version of "Life's a Gas".[13][14][15]
