"Rock Me" is a song by the Canadian-American

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard ...

band Steppenwolf. It was released on their 1969 album ''

At Your Birthday Party ''At Your Birthday Party'' is the third studio album by Canadian-American rock band Steppenwolf. The album was released in March 1969, by ABC Dunhill Records. Background It was the first Steppenwolf album to feature bass player Nick St. Nich ...

''. It was written by the band's lead singer John Kay, and was the band's fifth American single release. The song was produced by

Gabriel Mekler Gabriel Mekler (2 December 1942 – 4 September 1977) was an American songwriter, musician, and record producer who attained fame in the 1960s, helming albums for Steppenwolf, Three Dog Night, and Janis Joplin. He also collaborated with R&B sing ...

and released as a single in 1969, originally as the B-side to "Jupiter's Child", but the sides were later flipped. It peaked at #10 on the

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...

on April 19, 1969 and #6 on both WLS and WCFL. It was both

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

's and Cashbox's top debut the week of March 1, 1969. The song is considered the highlight of the album though it had been released for the soundtrack well ahead of the album. The song followed on the heels of the band's two 1968 hits, "

Born to Be Wild "Born to Be Wild" is a song written by Mars Bonfire and first performed by the band Steppenwolf. The song is often invoked in both popular and counter culture to denote a biker appearance or attitude. It is most notably featured in the 1969 fi ...

" which peaked at #2 and " Magic Carpet Ride" which peaked at #3. ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', was an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' particularly praised the "pulverizing vocal performance."

Dave Grusin Robert David "Dave" Grusin (born June 26, 1934) is an American composer, arranger, producer, jazz pianist, and band leader. He has composed many scores for feature films and television, and has won numerous awards for his soundtrack and record w ...

used the song when he scored the 1968

psychedelic Psychedelics are a subclass of hallucinogenic drugs whose primary effect is to trigger non-ordinary states of consciousness (known as psychedelic experiences or "trips").Pollan, Michael (2018). ''How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of ...

sex farce movie ''

Candy Candy, also called sweets (British English) or lollies (Australian English Australian English (AusE, AusEng, AuE, AuEng, en-AU) is the set of varieties of the English language native to Australia. It is the country's common language an ...

'', in which it is the culmination to the soundtrack. Steppenwolf performed the song on the January 5, 1969, episode of ''

The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour ''The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour'' was an American comedy and variety show television series hosted by the Smothers Brothers and initially airing on CBS from 1967 to 1969. The series was a major success, especially considering it was sched ...

'' and on the German ''

Beat-Club ''Beat-Club'' is a West German music programme that ran from September 1965 to December 1972. It was broadcast from Bremen, West Germany on ''Erstes Deutsches Fernsehen'', the national public TV channel of the ARD, and produced by one of its m ...

.'' The song later appeared in the band's live albums '' Live at 25'' released in 1995 and '' Live in Louisville'' released in 2004 as well as all of the band's compilation albums. Way Back Attack ranks it #31 on its list of the Top 100 Psychedelic Hits of 1966–1969. In his book ''Die at the Right Time!: A Subjective Cultural History of the American Sixties,'' Erik v. d. Luft noted the surprising theme from the all-male band, fronted by John Kay's gruff voice "complaining that a woman was being objectified for sex." ''Cash Box'' described the original A-side, "Jupiter's Child" as sounding "steel-hard on the sole basis of the distinctive lead vocal and smouldering instrumentation" despite a relatively slow tempo.

Chart history

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{Steppenwolf 1969 singles Steppenwolf (band) songs 1969 songs ABC Records singles Dunhill Records singles