| "Gear Jammer" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by George Thorogood & The Destroyers | ||||
| from the album Maverick | ||||
| Released | January 1985 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 4:33 | |||
| Label | EMI America | |||
| Songwriter(s) | George Thorogood | |||
| Producer(s) | Terry Manning | |||
| George Thorogood & The Destroyers singles chronology | ||||
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| Lyric Video | ||||
| "Gear Jammer Lyric Video" on YouTube | ||||
| Audio | ||||
| "Gear Jammer Audio" on YouTube | ||||
"Gear Jammer" is a rock song by American blues rock band George Thorogood and the Destroyers,released on their 1985 album Maverick by EMI America Records. [1] [2] It was written by George Thorogood. [3] The song is often considered one of their best,and is often played live. [4]
Gear Jammer started out as an instrumental jam session,both Terry Manning [5] and the Destroyers liked the song,so Thorogood came up with the lyrics for it. [6] Thorogood later said that "Gear jammer is a slang term for a trucker,and it had a kind of cool vibe about it. I started putting some words together in my head,and I came up with the riff at the start." [1]
Thorogood said the title "Gear Jammer" came from a Johnny Cash song. [6]
Gear Jammer was released as the lead single from their sixth studio album Maverick, [7] as a 12-inch single. [8] The song debuted at No. 46, [9] and peaked at No. 26 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. [10] [11] The song was included on several live and compilation albums. [12]
Gear Jammer was received positively by critics. Tim Peacock of uDiscover Music described the song as a "tour de force truck drivin’anthem". [13] Fidel Bessera of Blues Rock Review calls the song a "hard-hitting bluesy rocker". [4]
| Chart (1985) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks [10] | 26 |