‘Don’t Try To Lay No Boogie-Woogie . . .’

 by whiteray

As I noted two and three weeks ago, I spent some time about more than ten years ago digging into the origins of the tune “Don’t Try To Lay No Boogie-Woogie On The King Of Rock ’N’ Roll,” which I first encountered via Long John Baldry and his 1971 album It Ain’t Easy. 

Written and recorded in 1970, as I noted, by a musician named Jeff Thomas, the song ended up covered by a number of musicians, including – as I noted in those posts here – the Minnesota band Crow and another early 1970s band, Gator Creek. Those covers, once I found them, left me pretty cold. Baldry’s propulsive version was my deal. 

According to rumor, Thomas – who had two other singles released on the Bell label, one in 1970 and another in 1973 – originally offered the song to Elvis Presley, who turned it down because, the rumors say, he didn’t want to actually call himself the king of rock ’n’ roll. I’ve read a few comments about the song from Thomas over the years, but I’m still not certain that’s true. 

Anyway, my digging ended up with a copy of Thomas’ original version of the tune on my 45 shelves. It’s not bad, but it ain’t Baldry.