"Knock on Wood" is a song by Eddie Floyd and Steve Cropper released as a single by Floyd in 1966. The song was later covered by other artists, most notably Amii Stewart in 1979. Stewart's disco version was the most successful on weekly music charts.
"Knock On Wood" was written in the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee (now The National Civil Rights Museum). Steve Cropper has stated in interviews that there was a lightning storm the night that he and Eddie wrote the song, hence the lyrics 'It's like thunder, lightning, The way you love me is frightening'. The song was based on another song co-written by Cropper, the Wilson Pickett version of "In the Midnight Hour" (1965), having the same chord progression "only played in reverse".
According to Floyd, "Knock On Wood" was initially written for Otis Redding. However, Stax label manager Jim Stewart turned down the idea of Redding recording the song. Both sides of the single were recorded on July 13, 1966 at Stax Records house studio in Memphis, Tennessee, with Stax's house band Booker T. & the M.G.'s (Cropper on guitar, Donald "Duck" Dunn on bass, Al Jackson Jr. on drums, Booker T. Jones on keyboards), Isaac Hayes on piano and Wayne Jackson on trumpet. Stewart produced the session.
"Knock on Wood" was released as a single by Stax on July 25, 1966, featuring "Got to Make a Comeback" on the B-side. His recording peaked at number 28 on the Billboard Hot 100 and spent one week at number 1 on the Soul Singles chart. Floyd's version earned a Gold certification from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on July 17, 1995. The song became the title track for Floyd's debut album, released on January 26, 1967.
David Bowie's live performance of the song was released as a single in several countries in 1974. The single, taken from Bowie's live album David Live, reached the top ten in the UK. The B-side, "Panic in Detroit", was not included on that album, but was from the same concert. It was added to the 2005 release of the album.
American disco and soul singer Amii Stewart released a disco version of "Knock on Wood" in 1978. It reached number one on the US charts in April 1979; it also made it to the soul singles and disco charts, becoming the best-known version of the song. This recording was co-produced by Simon May. It reached the top 10 twice in the UK, first in 1979 (peaking at number 6) and again in a remixed version in 1985 (peaking at number 7).
The song earned a gold certification on March 22, 1979, and then a platinum certification on August 1 the same year from the RIAA when the single sold one or two million units. It would become one of the "anthems for the gay community". Stewart's rendition of the song earned her a Grammy Award nomination for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance at the 22nd Annual Grammy Awards in 1980. It was featured prominently in the video game The Warriors, as well as the trailers for the Walt Disney Pictures 1997 live-action film Mr. Magoo, starring Leslie Nielsen, and the 1998 film The Big Lebowski.
Buddy Guy performed the song numerous times, one of which is included in his live 1968 album This Is Buddy Guy! At the ninety-minute Bradley Center concert in January 31, 1992, he performed the song for fifteen minutes as the concert's finale. At a February 1992 concert in the Students' Union Building of the University of Alberta, he also performed the song with a wireless transmitter among the audience for twenty minutes. One of band members at the University concert was bassist Greg Rzab. Guy's another song performance at the Blues Music Festival '92 (August 28, 1992) lasted ten minutes while he walked around the audience in the Marcus Amphitheater (Milwaukee).
Cher recorded her version for her 1976 album I'd Rather Believe in You. Boston Globe critic Christopher Muther in 2019 ranked this version number 16 out of his 25 favorite cover songs by Cher, calling it "a shockingly good disco-funk interpretation".
Razzy Bailey's version (1984) peaked at number 29 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart on the week ending September 29, 1984, the version's ninth week. Toots Hibbert's reggae version, recorded for his album Toots in Memphis (1988), debuted and peaked at number 43 on the New Zealand Singles Chart on the week ending April 9, 1988.
The Blues Brothers performed the song live in Montreux in 1990 and at a faster pace than Floyd's original recording; the performance was recorded into the band's 1990 live album. Among the band members at the concert were Eddie Floyd (as the lead singer) and Steve CropperâÂÂboth the song's writersâÂÂand bassist Donald "Duck" Dunn.
Michael Bolton covered it for his 1992 album '. The Milwaukee Sentinel music critic Dave Tianen wrote that, in Timeless, Bolton's renditions of classic songs, like this song, are "almost identical to the original" and called them "more an impression than an interpretation." Tianen further wrote, "Classic performances by definition aren't easily surpassed."
A singer Mary Griffin recorded her disco/dance version for the 1998 film 54; Griffin's recording was released that same year as a promotional single. The Billboard magazine noted in 1998 that Stewart's version is "tough" to render, but it praised Griffin's "vocal prowess, attitude, and range of a true ingenuine" in spirit of Stewart's version, especially in the "movie mix" track of the promo-only release.
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