"Fooled Around and Fell in Love" is a song written and performed by

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

guitarist Elvin Bishop with Mickey Thomas on lead vocals. It appeared on his 1975 album, ''Struttin' My Stuff'', and was released as a single the following year.

Background

Bishop does not sing lead vocals on the track. He felt that his gravelly voice would not do the song justice; he invited vocalist Mickey Thomas, who was a background singer in his band at the time, to sing it. It peaked at #3 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 singles chart in May 1976. The record was certified gold by the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

on June 23, 1976. In Canada, the song reached #22 on the singles chart and #8 on the Adult Contemporary chart. The single reached #3 in the

New Zealand Singles Chart The Official New Zealand Music Chart ( mi, Te Papa Tātai Waiata Matua o Aotearoa) is the weekly New Zealand top 40 singles and albums charts, issued weekly by Recorded Music NZ (formerly Recording Industry Association of New Zealand). The Music ...

. Based on his work with Bishop, Thomas was invited to become the lead singer for

Jefferson Starship Jefferson Starship is an American rock band from San Francisco, California, formed in 1974 by a group of musicians including former members of Jefferson Airplane. Between 1974 and 1984, they released eight gold or platinum-selling studio albu ...

(which would later evolve into simply

Starship A starship, starcraft, or interstellar spacecraft is a theoretical spacecraft designed for interstellar travel, traveling between planetary systems. The term is mostly found in science fiction. Reference to a "star-ship" appears as early as 188 ...

In popular culture

The song is featured in the films ''

Queens Logic ''Queens Logic'' is a 1991 American ensemble coming-of-age comedy-drama film from Seven Arts Pictures starring Kevin Bacon, Linda Fiorentino, Joe Mantegna, Jamie Lee Curtis, John Malkovich, Ken Olin, Chloe Webb and Tom Waits. It was directed by ...

'' (1991), '' Illtown'' (1996), '' Boogie Nights'' (1997), ''

Summer of Sam ''Summer of Sam'' is a 1999 American crime thriller film about the 1977 David Berkowitz (Son of Sam) serial murders and their effect on a group of fictional residents of an Italian-American neighborhood in The Bronx in the late 1970s. The kille ...

'' (1999), '' Big Daddy'' (1999), ''

According to Spencer ''According to Spencer'' is a 2001 romantic comedy film directed by Shane Edelman and starring Jesse Bradford, Mia Kirshner, David Krumholtz, Adam Goldberg, and Brad Rowe. Plot The film is centered on Spencer ( Bradford), who moves to Los Ang ...

'' (2001), ''

The Devil's Rejects ''The Devil's Rejects'' is a 2005 black comedy horror film written, produced and directed by Rob Zombie, and is the second film in the ''Firefly'' film series, serving as a sequel to his 2003 film ''House of 1000 Corpses''. The film is centere ...

'' (2005), ''

The Family Stone ''The Family Stone'' is a 2005 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Thomas Bezucha. Produced by Michael London and distributed by 20th Century Fox, it stars an ensemble cast, including Diane Keaton, Craig T. Nelson, Dermot Mulrone ...

'' (2005), ''

Invincible Invincible may refer to: Film and television * ''Invincible'' (2001 drama film), a drama by Werner Herzog about Jewish cabaret during the rise of Nazism * ''Invincible'' (2001 TV film), a fantasy / martial arts TV movie starring Billy Zane ...

'' (2006), ''

The Education of Charlie Banks ''The Education of Charlie Banks'' is a 2007 American drama film directed by Fred Durst, produced by Straight Up Film's Marisa Polvino and starring Jesse Eisenberg, Jason Ritter, Eva Amurri, Gloria Votsis, and Chris Marquette. It had its world pre ...

'' (2007), ''

Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay ''Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay'' is a 2008 American buddy stoner comedy film written and directed by Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg. The sequel to ''Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle'' (2004), it is the second installment in the ...

'' (2008), ''

Stand Up Guys ''Stand Up Guys'' is a 2012 American black comedy crime film directed by Fisher Stevens and starring Al Pacino, Christopher Walken, and Alan Arkin. The film was released in North America on February 1, 2013. "Stand up guy" is an American phrase ...

'' (2012), '' Lovelace'' (2013), ''

Guardians of the Galaxy The Guardians of the Galaxy is a fictional superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. It may more specifically refer to: Comic book teams * Guardians of the Galaxy (1969 team), the original 31st-century team fr ...

'' (2014) and '' Handsome: A Netflix Mystery Movie'' (2017).

Style

In their 1990 essay "Rock and Sexuality",

Simon Frith Simon Webster Frith (born 1946) is a British sociomusicologist and former rock critic who specializes in popular music culture. He is Tovey Chair of Music at University of Edinburgh. Career As a student, he read PPE at Oxford and earned ...

and Angela McRobbie offer the song as one which "lyrically captures" their idea of an essential distinction in rock music between "cock rock" and "teeny bop".

Personnel

* Mickey Thomas: lead and backing vocals * Elvin Bishop: lead guitar * Johnny 'V' Vernazza: Lead and rhythm guitar, dueling guitar leads with Elvin, backing vocals. *

Philip Aaberg Philip Aaberg (born April 8, 1949) is an American pianist and composer. He gained international recognition through a series of successful piano recordings released on Windham Hill Records. Although classically trained, Aaberg incorporates clas ...

: piano * Mike Keck: organ *

Donny Baldwin Donald Baldwin (born June 22, 1950/1951) is an American drummer best known as a member of Jefferson Starship (1982–1984; 2008–present) and its continuation Starship (1984–1989). Early life Baldwin was raised in Palo Alto, California. He at ...

: drums, percussion * Michael Brooks: bass *

Bill Szymczyk William Frank Szymczyk (; born February 13, 1943) is an American music producer and technical engineer best known for working with rock and blues musicians, most notably the Eagles in the 1970s. He produced many top albums and singles of th ...

: producer * Reni Slais: backing vocals

Chart performance

Weekly charts

;Elvin Bishop ;Julian Laxton Band

Year-end charts

Cover versions

*In 1978, the Julian Laxton Band from South Africa reached #13 there. *In 1985,

T. G. Sheppard William Neal Browder (born July 20, 1944) is an American country music singer-songwriter, known professionally as T. G. Sheppard. He had 14 number-one hits on the US country charts between 1974 and 1986, including eight consecutive number ones ...

had a #21 country hit with a cover. A music video was also produced and has aired on CMT, TNN and

GAC GAC or Gac may refer to: Companies and organisations * GAC Group, a Chinese automotive company based in Guangzhou, Guangdong * GAC Ireland, an Irish bus manufacturer established with Bombardier (1980–1986) * Games Administration Committee, ...

. *In 2019,

Miranda Lambert Miranda Leigh Lambert (born November 10, 1983) is an American country singer and guitarist. Born in Longview, Texas, she started out in early 2001 when she released her self-titled debut album independently. In 2003, she finished in third place o ...

released a track featuring her Roadside Bars & Pink Guitars Tour support acts Maren Morris, Ashley McBryde,

Tenille Townes Tenille Nicole Townes (born Nadkrynechny; January 20, 1994) is a Canadian country music singer from Grande Prairie, Alberta. In 2011, at the age of 17, she was nominated for a Canadian Country Music Award for Female Artist of the Year. Biograp ...

Elle King Tanner Elle Schneider (born July 3, 1989), known professionally as Elle King, is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. Her musical style was influenced by country, rock and blues. In 2012, King released her debut EP, '' The Elle King ...

and

Caylee Hammack Caylee Anna Hammack (born March 19, 1994) is an American country music singer and songwriter. She is signed to Capitol Records Nashville and released her debut album '' If It Wasn't for You'' on August 14, 2020. Early life Hammack started play ...

. It won the

Academy of Country Music Award The Academy of Country Music (ACM) was founded in 1964 in Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, sta ...

for Vocal Event of the Year and was nominated for the Country Music Association Award for Musical Event of the Year. * Rod Stewart released his Still the Same... Great Rock Classics of Our Time album in 2006 which contains his rendition of the song.

References

External links

* {{authority control 1975 songs 1976 singles 1985 singles T. G. Sheppard songs Columbia Records singles Capricorn Records singles Song recordings produced by Bill Szymczyk