"Cocaine" | |
---|---|
Single by J. J. Cale | |
from the album Troubadour | |
A-side | "Hey Baby" |
Released | 1977 |
Genre | Blues rock |
Length | 2:48 |
Label | Shelter |
Songwriter(s) | J. J. Cale |
Producer(s) | Audie Ashworth |
Audio | |
"Cocaine" by J.J. Cale on YouTube |
"Cocaine" is a song written and recorded in 1976 by singer-songwriter J. J. Cale. The song was popularized by Eric Clapton after his version was released on the 1977 album Slowhand . J. J. Cale's version of "Cocaine" was a number-one hit in New Zealand for a single week and became the seventh-best-selling single of 1977.
Personnel
Chart (1977–1979) | Peak position |
---|---|
Australia (Kent Music Report) [1] | 45 |
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40) [2] | 5 |
Germany (Official German Charts) [3] | 22 |
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ) [4] | 1 |
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan) [5] | 10 |
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade) [6] | 2 |
"Cocaine" | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Single by Eric Clapton | ||||
from the album Slowhand | ||||
A-side | "Lay Down Sally" | |||
Released | 11 November 1977 [7] | |||
Genre | Classic rock | |||
Length | 3:41 | |||
Label | Polydor | |||
Songwriter(s) | J. J. Cale | |||
Producer(s) | Glyn Johns | |||
Eric Clapton singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
Audio | ||||
"Cocaine" by Eric Clapton on YouTube | ||||
Live video | ||||
"Cocaine" (2007 live) by Eric Clapton on YouTube | ||||
"Cocaine" (2015 live) by Eric Clapton on YouTube |
Glyn Johns produced the Clapton recording,which was released on the 1977 album Slowhand . It was also released as the B-side for "Lay Down Sally".
A live version of "Cocaine" from the album Just One Night charted on the Billboard Hot 100 as the B-side of "Tulsa Time",which was a No. 30 hit in 1980. "Cocaine" was one of several of Cale's songs recorded by Clapton,including "After Midnight" and "Travelin' Light". AllMusic critic Richard Gilliam called it "among [Clapton's] most enduringly popular hits" and noted that "even for an artist like Clapton with a huge body of high-quality work,'Cocaine' ranks among his best." [8]
Clapton described the song as an anti-drug song intended to warn listeners about cocaine's addictiveness and deadliness. He called the song "quite cleverly anti-cocaine",noting: [9]
It's no good to write a deliberate anti-drug song and hope that it will catch. Because the general thing is that people will be upset by that. It would disturb them to have someone else shoving something down their throat. So the best thing to do is offer something that seems ambiguous—that on study or on reflection actually can be seen to be "anti"—which the song "Cocaine" is actually an anti-cocaine song. If you study it or look at it with a little bit of thought ... from a distance ... or as it goes by ... it just sounds like a song about cocaine. But actually, it is quite cleverly anti-cocaine.
Because of its ambiguous message, Clapton did not perform the song in many of his concerts; over the years, he has added the lyrics 'that dirty cocaine' in live shows to underline the anti-drug message of the song. [10] [11] A live version of the song does appear on Clapton's 1982 hits compilation Time Pieces .
Chart (1980) | Peak position |
---|---|
Canada Top Singles ( RPM ) [12] | 3 |
Netherlands (Dutch Tip 40) [13] | 14 |
US Billboard Hot 100 [14] | 30 |
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Canada (Music Canada) [15] | Gold | 75,000^ |
Denmark (IFPI Danmark) [16] | Gold | 45,000‡ |
Italy (FIMI) [17] | Gold | 25,000‡ |
Netherlands (NVPI) [18] | Platinum | 150,000^ |
United Kingdom (BPI) [19] | Silver | 200,000‡ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. |
Eric Patrick Clapton is an English rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. He ranked second in Rolling Stone's list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" and fourth in Gibson's "Top 50 Guitarists of All Time". He was named number five in Time magazine's list of "The 10 Best Electric Guitar Players" in 2009. In 2023, Rolling Stone named Clapton the 35th best guitarist of all time.
Slowhand is the fifth solo studio album by Eric Clapton. Released on 25 November 1977 by RSO Records, and titled after Clapton's nickname, it is one of his most commercially and critically successful studio albums. Slowhand produced the two hit singles "Lay Down Sally" and "Wonderful Tonight", reached various international music charts and was honoured with numerous awards and recording certifications. In 2012, a deluxe edition was released to celebrate the album's 35th anniversary.
John Weldon "J. J." Cale was an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. Though he avoided the limelight, his influence as a musical artist has been acknowledged by figures such as Neil Young, Mark Knopfler, Waylon Jennings, and Eric Clapton, who described him as one of the most important artists in rock history. He is one of the originators of the Tulsa sound, a loose genre drawing on blues, rockabilly, country, and jazz.
Timepieces: The Best of Eric Clapton is a greatest hits album by British musician Eric Clapton. The album was originally released by RSO/Polydor Records in April 1982. The following year a second volume, Time Pieces Vol.II Live in the Seventies, was released by the label. The album has been reissued several times and has been awarded certifications in several regions. Billboard reported the album sold more than 13,400,000 copies worldwide.
"I Shot the Sheriff" is a song written by Jamaican reggae musician Bob Marley and released in 1973 with his band the Wailers.
The Cream of Eric Clapton is a greatest hits album by English guitar player Eric Clapton. It includes work from two of his bands, Cream, and Derek and the Dominos as well as his solo work. It was released in 1987 in the UK.
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"After Midnight" is a rock song by J. J. Cale, first released in 1966. Eric Clapton later covered it for his eponymous album, released in 1970. Clapton's rendition became a success, prompting Cale to re-record the song for his own 1971 album Naturally. In 1987, Clapton later re-recorded the song for a Michelob beer commercial and then released the re-recording as a single. "After Midnight" has been considered one of Clapton's signature songs throughout his career. Other artists covered the song in later years.
Troubadour is the fourth studio album by J. J. Cale. Eric Clapton covered the song "Cocaine" on his 1977 album Slowhand, turning it into one of his biggest hits.
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The Cream of Clapton is an Eric Clapton compilation album released in 1995. Additionally, the European and U.S.-versions have a different track listings. The European version had already been released as The Best of Eric Clapton in 1991, though without the track "I Can't Stand It".
"Call Me the Breeze" is a rock song by J. J. Cale. It first appeared on his 1972 debut album, Naturally, as the opening track. The song consists of a 12-bar blues guitar shuffle and features the early use of a drum machine.
"Lay Down Sally" is a song performed by Eric Clapton, and written by Clapton, Marcy Levy, and George Terry. It appeared on his November 1977 album Slowhand, and reached No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
Story is a compilation album by Eric Clapton.
The Breeze: An Appreciation of JJ Cale is a collaborative studio album featuring Eric Clapton and a host of other musicians. It consists of covers of songs by J. J. Cale, who had died the previous year. It was named after Cale's 1972 single "Call Me the Breeze". It was produced by Clapton and Simon Climie. The guests invited on the album include Tom Petty, Mark Knopfler, Willie Nelson and John Mayer.
Slowhand at 70 – Live at the Royal Albert Hall is a November 2015 album by Eric Clapton recorded live at the Royal Albert Hall on 21 May 2015 during his "70th Birthday Celebration" tour. A film of the concert was released on 14 September 2015 via cinema broadcasting in various territories. The cinema release included a report on Clapton's history at the Royal Albert Hall. A DVD, Blu-ray, compact disc and gramophone record release of the performance was released on 13 November 2015.
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