"Rock with the Caveman" is the debut single by

Tommy Steele Sir Thomas Hicks (born 17 December 1936), known professionally as Tommy Steele, is an English entertainer, regarded as Britain's first teen idol and rock and roll star. After being discovered at the 2i's Coffee Bar in Soho, London, Steele reco ...

and the Steelmen, released in October 1956. It peaked at number 13 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

, making it one of the first

British rock and roll British rock and roll, or sometimes British rock 'n' roll, is a style of popular music based on American rock and roll, which emerged in the late 1950s and was popular until the arrival of beat music in 1962. It was important in establishing Brit ...

records to chart.

Background and recording

Steele was discovered by

Lionel Bart Lionel Bart (1 August 1930 – 3 April 1999) was a British writer and composer of pop music and musicals. He wrote Tommy Steele's "Rock with the Caveman" and was the sole creator of the musical '' Oliver!'' (1960). With ''Oliver!'' and his work ...

and along with Mike Pratt the three formed a group known as the Cavemen. After being seen by Decca Records' A&R representative

Hugh Mendl Hugh Rees Christopher Mendl (6 August 1919, London – 7 July 2008) was a British people, British record producer, A&R representative, and manager who worked for Decca Records for over 40 years. Mendl attended Radley College and then University Co ...

, Steele was signed to Decca. "Rock with the Caveman" was originally a comedy number, described by Steele as "a joke, a spoof, the sort of thing

Monty Python Monty Python (also collectively known as the Pythons) were a British comedy troupe who created the sketch comedy television show '' Monty Python's Flying Circus'', which first aired on the BBC in 1969. Forty-five episodes were made over four ...

might have done". It was Steele's first recording, recorded at

Decca Studios Decca Studios was a recording facility at 165 Broadhurst Gardens, West Hampstead, North London, England, controlled by Decca Records from 1937 to 1980. The building was once West Hampstead Town Hall, and had been converted to a recording studio b ...

on 24 September 1956, produced by Mendl with engineer Arthur Lilley. Steele was backed by a number of well-known jazz session musicians, including pianist Dave Lee from Johnny Dankworth's band and tenor saxophonist

Ronnie Scott Ronnie may refer to: *Ronnie (name), a unisex pet name and given name * "Ronnie" (Four Seasons song), a song by Bob Gaudio and Bob Crewe *"Ronnie," a song from the Metallica album '' Load'' *Ronnie Brunswijkstadion, an association football stadium ...

. After the success of "Rock with the Caveman", Steele was dubbed "Britain's

Elvis Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the " King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. His ener ...

" and only a month later was voted one of the top-ten British singers in a ''

New Musical Express ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'' poll. After his follow-up single "Doomsday Rock" failed to chart, Steele topped the chart with "

Singing the Blues "Singing the Blues" is a popular song written by Melvin Endsley and published in 1956. The song was first recorded and released by Marty Robbins in 1956. It is not related to the 1920 jazz song "Singin' the Blues" recorded by Frank Trumbauer ...

". A live version of "Rock with the Caveman", recorded at London's Conway Hall the night before Steele's twentieth birthday, features on his first album '' Tommy Steele Stage Show'', released in March 1957.

Release and reception

The single was reported to have sold 25,000 copies in its first week of release. Writing under his Alley Cat pseudonym, Maurice Kinn of the ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'' felt "Rock with the Caveman" lacked "the essential authentic flavour" of American

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from Africa ...

and praised "Ronnie Scott's driving tenor-sax playing" as the record's best feature. Among retrospective reviews, Bruce Eder of

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 databas ...

considered "Rock with the Caveman" "a curiously bland, formulaic effort at rock & roll, its use of the word "rock" in the lyrics more than its style identifying it, though

teele Teele is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Arthur Teele (1946–2005), American lawyer and politician * Jack Teele (1930–2017), American football executive and sportswriter * Stanley F. Teele (1906–1967), American academi ...

and the band do play hard". Writing in ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'', Bob Stanley described the song as "charming and gawky, midway between a raucous tribute to rock’n’roll and a cartoonish parody".

Track listing

7": Decca / F 10795 # "Rock with the Caveman" – 1:53 # "Rock Around the Town" – 1:52

Personnel

According to Sebastian Lassandro; *

– vocals, guitar *

– tenor saxophone * Benny Green – saxophone *

Major Holley Major "Mule" Holley Jr. (July 10, 1924 – October 25, 1990) was an American jazz upright bassist. Biography Holley was born in Detroit, Michigan, United States. He attended the prestigious Cass Technical High School in Detroit. Holley played ...

– upright bass * Bert Weedon – electric guitar * Dave Lee – piano * Kirk Dunning – drums

Charts

References

{{authority control 1956 songs 1956 debut singles Tommy Steele songs Decca Records singles Songs written by Lionel Bart