"Cocaine" is a song written and recorded in 1976 by singer-songwriter
J. J. Cale. The song was popularized by
Eric Clapton
Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is often regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s list o ...
after his
cover version
In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song relea ...
was released on the 1977 album ''
Slowhand''. J. J. Cale's version of "Cocaine" was a number one hit in New Zealand for a single week and became the seventh best-selling single of 1977.
Charts
Eric Clapton version
Glyn Johns
Glyn Thomas Johns (born 15 February 1942) is an English musician, recording engineer and record producer.
Biography
Early history
Johns was born in Epsom, Surrey, England. He had three siblings, two older sisters and a younger brother, Andy ...
produced the Clapton recording, which was released on the 1977 album ''
Slowhand''. It was also released as the B-side for "
Lay Down Sally".
A live version of "Cocaine" from the album ''
Just One Night'' charted on the
''Billboard'' Hot 100 as the B-side of "
Tulsa Time
"Tulsa Time" is a song written by Danny Flowers, and recorded by American country music artist Don Williams. It was released in October 1978 as the first single from the album ''Expressions''. It was Williams' eighth number one on the country cha ...
", which was a No. 30 hit in 1980. "Cocaine" was one of several of Cale's songs recorded by Clapton, including "
After Midnight" and "Travelin' Light".
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Music ...
critic Richard Gilliam called it "among
lapton'smost enduringly popular hits" and noted that "even for an artist like Clapton with a huge body of high-quality work, 'Cocaine' ranks among his best."
Clapton described "Cocaine" as an anti-drug song intended to warn listeners about its addictiveness and deadliness. He called the song "quite cleverly anti-cocaine", noting:
Because of its ambiguous message, Clapton did not perform the song in many of his concerts; over the years, he has added the lyrics 'that dirty cocaine' in live shows to underline the anti-drug message of the song.
Charts
Certifications
See also
*
List of number-one singles in 1977 (New Zealand)
This is a list of number-one hit singles in 1977 in New Zealand, starting with the first chart dated 28 January 1977.
Chart
;Key
: – Single of New Zealand origin
Notes
* Number of number-one singles: 12
* Longest run at number-one: ...
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
1976 songs
1977 singles
J. J. Cale songs
Eric Clapton songs
Number-one singles in New Zealand
Polydor Records singles
Shelter Records singles
Song recordings produced by Glyn Johns
Songs about cocaine
Songs written by J. J. Cale