Jeepster (song)

"Jeepster"
Cover of the original 7" single
Single by T. Rex
from the album Electric Warrior
B-side	"Life's a Gas"
Released	5 November 1971 (1971-11-05)
Format	7" single
Genre	Glam rock
Label	Fly
Writer(s)	Marc Bolan
Producer(s)	Tony Visconti
singles chronology
"Get It On" (1971) "Jeepster" (1971) "Telegram Sam" (1972)

"Jeepster" is a song by English glam rock act T. Rex. It was released on 5 November 1971 by record label Fly as a single from the group's sixth studio album (and second as T. Rex) Electric Warrior. The B-side, "Life's a Gas", is taken from the same album.

Release

"Jeepster" was released as a single on 5 November 1971 by record label Fly. The single peaked at No. 2 in the UK Singles Chart,^[1] and was controversial in that Fly Records released the song without singer Marc Bolan's prior permission, Bolan having just left Fly for EMI, which had given him control of his own label T. Rex Wax Co. Records.^[2]

Content

The music and rhythm are similar to that of the Howlin' Wolf song "You'll Be Mine", written by Willie Dixon. In interviews, Marc Bolan has acknowledged that he "lifted it from a Howlin' Wolf song". "Jeepster" has also similarities with Roy Orbison's song "You're My Baby" (written by Johnny Cash).

Cover versions

• Former Marillion singer Fish covered the song as one of his personal favourites for his album Songs from the Mirror, released in 1993.^[3]
• American rock supergroup Hollywood Vampires, formed in 2015 by Alice Cooper, Johnny Depp and Joe Perry to honor the music of the rock stars who died from excess in the 1970s, included the song on their 2015 debut album Hollywood Vampires to commemorate Marc Bolan's death on 16 September 1977.

References

External links

• "Jeepster" at Discogs (list of releases)