"The House That Jack Built" is a song written by

Alan Price Alan Price (born 19 April 1942) is an English musician. He was the original keyboardist for the British band the Animals before he left to form his own band the Alan Price Set. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994 as a m ...

and recorded by the Alan Price Set. It was Price's first self-composed single, as well as his first self-produced recording. Released by

Decca Decca may refer to: Music * Decca Records or Decca Music Group, a record label * Decca Gold, a classical music record label owned by Universal Music Group * Decca Broadway, a musical theater record label * Decca Studios, a recording facility in We ...

, the song reached number four 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 ...

in September 1967. It was included on the Alan Price Set's second album ''A Price on His Head'' (1967).

Background and composition

The song was significant in Price's artistic development; while his previous singles had been compositions by outside writers such as

Randy Newman Randall Stuart Newman (born November 28, 1943) is an American singer-songwriter, arranger, composer, and pianist known for his Southern American English, Southern-accented singing style, early Americana (music), Americana-influenced songs (often ...

, Price wrote, arranged and produced "The House That Jack Built". Price funded the song's recording with the profits of his previous hit "

Simon Smith and the Amazing Dancing Bear "Simon Smith and the Amazing Dancing Bear" is a song written by Randy Newman, about a sincere young man of modest means named Simon Smith who entertains affluent ("well-fed") diners with his dancing bear. A recording by the Alan Price Set reached ...

" and published it through his own Alan Price Music Limited. Lyrically, the song concerns the bizarre hobbies of people living in one house. Having composed the melody first, Price struggled with the lyrics and resolved to make them "as ridiculous as possible", describing the final lyric as "really just nonsense poetry about all the daft things that people do". Penny Valentine of ''

Disc and Music Echo ''Disc'' was a weekly British popular music magazine, published between 1958 and 1975, when it was incorporated into ''Record Mirror''. It was also known for periods as ''Disc Weekly '' (1964–1966) and ''Disc and Music Echo '' (1966–1972). ...

'' believed the song to be about an asylum, while Keith Altham of ''

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 ...

'' implied it was a comment on

hippies A hippie, also spelled hippy, especially in British English, is someone associated with the counterculture of the 1960s, originally a youth movement that began in the United States during the mid-1960s and spread to different countries around ...

and

counterculture A counterculture is a culture whose values and norms of behavior differ substantially from those of mainstream society, sometimes diametrically opposed to mainstream cultural mores.Eric Donald Hirsch. ''The Dictionary of Cultural Literacy''. Hou ...

. To provide a "different sounding solo", Price added a speeded-up saxophone solo to the recording. This was commented on by Crotus Pike in his 1968 article on sound effects in pop for ''

Beat Instrumental ''Beat Instrumental'' was a UK monthly pop and rock magazine. Founded by Sean O'Mahony (aka Johnny Dean) and first published in May 1963 as ''Beat Monthly'', it became ''Beat Instrumental Monthly'' with issue 18 and ''Beat Instrumental'' from i ...

'', commenting: "It's amazing the different sound which you can get purely by altering the speed of a recording."

Release

"The House That Jack Built", backed with "Who Cares", was released by

on 28 July 1967. The song reached number four on the

in September 1967, ultimately spending ten weeks on the chart. The Alan Price Set appeared on the 24 August edition of ''

Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British Record chart, music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show ...

'' to promote "The House That Jack Built". The song received enhanced publicity when, in the same edition, its backing track was played in error during the Jimi Hendrix Experience's appearance. The error exposed the programme's use of backing tracks, considered a "carefully guard secret", and displeased Hendrix who found miming " Burning of the Midnight Lamp" "difficult enough as it is".

Reception

Among contemporary reviews, Penny Valentine of ''

'' considered it not one of Price's best singles, but felt "it grows on you with listening" and referred to Price as "doing a

Marlon Brando Marlon Brando Jr. (April 3, 1924 – July 1, 2004) was an American actor. Considered one of the most influential actors of the 20th century, he received numerous accolades throughout his career, which spanned six decades, including two Academ ...

by writing, producing and arranging the record himself".

Chris Welch Chris Welch (born 12 November 1941) is an English music journalist, critic, and author who is best known for his work from the late 1960s as a reporter for ''Melody Maker'', ''Musicians Only'', and ''Kerrang!''. He is the author of over 40 mu ...

of ''

Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. It was founded in 1926, largely as a magazine for dance band musicians, by Leicester-born ...

'' described the song as "a cleverly original and compulsively listenable story about a house filled with nutty people". Michael Beale for '' Birmingham Evening Mail and Despatch'' praised "the amusing, catchy lyrics and foot-tapping instrumental accompaniment".

Notes

References

1967 singles Alan Price songs 1967 songs Decca Records singles {{DEFAULTSORT:House That Jack Built (Alan Price song)