"Ro Ro Rosey" is a song written by

Van Morrison Sir George Ivan Morrison (born 31 August 1945), known professionally as Van Morrison, is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist whose recording career spans seven decades. He has won two Grammy Awards. As a teenager in t ...

that was written and recorded for

Bang Records Bang Records was created by Bert Berns in 1965 together with his partners from Atlantic Records: Ahmet Ertegun, Nesuhi Ertegun and Jerry Wexler. The first letters of their names (Bert, Ahmet, Nesuhi, Gerald) formed the label's name. Forming the ...

owner and producer

Bert Berns Bertrand Russell Berns (November 8, 1929 – December 30, 1967), also known as Bert Russell and (occasionally) Russell Byrd, was an American songwriter and record producer of the 1960s. His songwriting credits include " Twist and Shout", " Piec ...

and released on his 1967 album ''

Blowin' Your Mind! ''Blowin' Your Mind!'' is the debut studio album by Northern Irish musician Van Morrison, released in 1967. It was recorded 28–29 March 1967 and contained his first solo pop hit "Brown Eyed Girl". It was included by ''Rolling Stone'' as one o ...

''. It was also released as the follow up single to "

Brown Eyed Girl "Brown Eyed Girl" is a song by Northern Irish singer and songwriter Van Morrison. Written by Morrison and recorded in March 1967 for Bang Records owner and producer Bert Berns, it was released as a single in June of the same year on the Bang la ...

Writing and recording

"Ro Ro Rosey" was written and recorded for

owner and producer

on 28 March 1967 using the same musicians who recorded "Brown Eyed Girl."

Lyrics and music

The subject of the lyrics of "Ro Ro Rosey" is a 16 year old girl. Morrison biographer Clinton Heylin believes that this is the same teenage girl who is idealized in other of Morrison's 1960s songs such as "

Cyprus Avenue "Cyprus Avenue" is a song written by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison and included on his 1968 album ''Astral Weeks''. It refers to Cyprus Avenue, a residential street in Morrison's hometown of Belfast, Northern Ireland. In perfor ...

." In this song, the singer can remember when she was "the apple of iseye" but he no longer can see her much as she now lives "way up on the avenue of trees." When he now does get a chance to see her he becomes tongue-tied, only able to say "oh uh uh uh uh." The music uses a three chord structure and has a

Latin music Latin music ( Portuguese and es, música latina) is a term used by the music industry as a catch-all category for various styles of music from Ibero-America (including Spain and Portugal) and the Latino United States inspired by Latin Amer ...

feel, similar to other songs Morrison recorded for Berns.

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

critic Matthew Greenwald believes that the

riff A riff is a repeated chord progression or refrain in music (also known as an ostinato figure in classical music); it is a pattern, or melody, often played by the rhythm section instruments or solo instrument, that forms the basis or acc ...

imitates that of

Ritchie Valens Richard Steven Valenzuela (May 13, 1941 – February 3, 1959), known professionally as Ritchie Valens, was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. A rock and roll pioneer and a forefather of the Chicano rock movement, Valens was killed ...

' hit single " La Bamba." Morrison biographer Erik Hage describes the song as incorporating "psychedelic

fuzz guitar Distortion and overdrive are forms of audio signal processing used to alter the sound of amplified electric musical instruments, usually by increasing their gain, producing a "fuzzy", "growling", or "gritty" tone. Distortion is most commonly ...

." Morrison also plays harmonica on the song.

Reception

'' Billboard'' described the single as "an infectious folk rocker that should spiral up the charts in short order." '' Cash Box'' said that it's a "potent, funky foot-stomper" that should be "another winning item" for Morrison after the success of "Brown Eyed Girl." ''

Rolling Stone Magazine ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its cove ...

'' critic Dave Marsh described "Ro Ro Rosey" as being "remarkably erotic in the best blues tradition. On the other hand, Hage describes it as being "an unremarkable rocker brimming with sexual

double entendre A double entendre (plural double entendres) is a figure of speech or a particular way of wording that is devised to have a double meaning, of which one is typically obvious, whereas the other often conveys a message that would be too socially ...

s." Greenwald describes it as a "fun track" but states that it is obvious that Morrison was already capable of writing better ones. Music critic

Johnny Rogan John Rogan (14 February 1953 – 21 January 2021) was a British author of Irish descent best known for his books about music and popular culture. He wrote influential biographies of the Byrds, Neil Young, the Smiths, Van Morrison and Ray Davies. ...

describes it as an "innocuous rock-blues piece." The song was released as the follow-up single to Morrison's hit "

." The b-side of the single was a track that was not included on ''Blowin' Your Mind'' called "Chick-A-Boom," which Morrison biographer

Clinton Heylin Clinton Heylin (born 8 April 1960) is an English author who has written extensively about popular music and the work of Bob Dylan. Education Heylin attended Manchester Grammar School. He read history at Bedford College, University of London, ...

disparaged for silly lyrics such as "I'm going away but I'm coming back/With a ginger cat/What d'ya think of that." The single version of "Ro Ro Rosey" differed from the album version by overdubbing female singers. The "Ro Ro Rosey" single did not replicate the chart success of "Brown Eyed Girl." The song has been re-released on many of Morrison's compilation albums, particularly those documenting his Bang Records recording sessions.

References

{{Van Morrison singles 1967 songs Van Morrison songs Songs written by Van Morrison Song recordings produced by Bert Berns 1967 singles Bang Records singles