Knock on Wood (song)

"Knock On Wood"
Single by Eddie Floyd
from the album Knock On Wood
B-side	"Got to Make a Comeback"
Released	September 1966
Format	7" single
Recorded	1966
Genre	Soul
Length	3:05
Label	Stax Records S-194
Writer(s)	Eddie Floyd, Steve Cropper
Producer(s)	Steve Cropper
Certification	Gold (U.S.)
Eddie Floyd singles chronology
"Things Get Better" (1966) "Knock On Wood" (1966) "Raise Your Hand" (1967)

"Knock on Wood"
Single by David Bowie
from the album David Live
Released	1974
Genre	Blues rock
Length	3:08
David Bowie singles chronology
"1984" (1974) "Knock on Wood" (1974 - UK) "Rock 'n' Roll with Me" (1974 - US)

"Knock on Wood"
Single by Amii Stewart
from the album Knock on Wood
B-side	"When You Are Beautiful"
Released	January 1979
Recorded	1978
Genre	Disco[1]
Length	6:11
Producer(s)	Barry Leng
Certification	Platinum (U.S.)
Amii Stewart singles chronology
"You Really Touched My Heart" (1977) "Knock on Wood" (1979) "Light My Fire" (1979)

"Knock on Wood" is a 1966 hit song written by Eddie Floyd and Steve Cropper and originally performed by Floyd.^[2] His recording peaked at number 28 on the Billboard Hot 100 and spent one week at number 1 on the Soul Singles chart.^[3] The song was written in the Lorraine Motel 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 and lightning, The way you love me is frightening'.

The song has been frequently covered, first by Otis Redding and Carla Thomas in 1967. The American Breed covered it on their 1967 debut album, The American Breed. There have also been charting singles by David Bowie (1974), Amii Stewart (1979), Razzy Bailey (1984), Eric Clapton (1985), and Safri Duo featuring Clark Anderson (2004). The German techno band Scooter made a half-cover of the song, entitled "The Avenger's Back", on their 2004 album Mind the Gap. The song is also featured in the movie "Satisfaction", as performed by Justine Bateman and the Mystery.

Covers

David Bowie

David Bowie's 1974 single is taken from the live album David Live. "Panic in Detroit" was not on the album but was from the same concert. It was added to the 2005 release of that album.

1. "Knock on Wood" (Floyd, Cropper) — 3:03
2. "Panic in Detroit" (Bowie) — 5:52

Chart (1974)	Peak position
Irish Singles Chart[4]	4
Norway (VG-lista)[5]	10
UK (Official Charts Company)[6]	10

Personnel

• David Bowie – vocal
• Earl Slick – guitar
• Herbie Flowers – bass
• Michael Kamen – keyboards
• Tony Newman – drums
• David Sanborn, Richard Grando – saxophone
• Pablo Rosario, Gui Andrisano, Warren Peace – backing vocals
• Tony Visconti – producer

Amii Stewart cover

The most successful version of "Knock on Wood" was recorded by Amii Stewart, who made a disco version of the song in 1979. It was Stewart's debut single and reached number one in the U.S. charts in April 1979; it also made it to the soul singles and disco charts, becoming the best-known version of the song.^[1] 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). Stewart's version was also featured in the 1998 film The Last Days of Disco. It became a platinum record.

Chart performance

Chart (1979) Peak position Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[7] 6 Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[8] 20 Canadian RPM Adult Contemporary[9] 1 Canadian RPM Disco Singles[10] 1 Canadian RPM Top Singles[11] 1 France (SNEP)[12] 2 Germany (Official German Charts)[13] 13 Irish Singles Chart[4] 15 Italy (FIMI)[14] 2 Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[15] 7 Netherlands (Single Top 100)[16] 10 New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[17] 3 South African Chart[18] 9 Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[19] 5 Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[20] 2 UK (Official Charts Company)[21] 6 U.S. Billboard Hot 100[22] 1 U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Club Play[22] 5 U.S. Billboard Hot R&B Singles[22] 6 U.S. Cash Box Top 100 [23] 1 Chart (1985) Knock on Wood/Light my Fire (Remix) Peak position Belgium (Ultratop 50)[24] 32 UK (Official Charts Company)[21] 7 Irish Singles Chart[4] 6 Chart (1999) Knock on Wood '99 Peak position France (SNEP)[12] 73 Year-end charts Chart (1979) Rank Australia [25] 9 Canada 5 New Zealand [26] 12 UK [27] 70 U.S. Billboard Hot 100 [28] 22 U.S. Cash Box [29] 20 Larry Carlton Larry Carlton covered this song for his album, Discovery in 1986.[30] Guy Sebastian In August 2007, Australian soul singer Guy Sebastian recorded a tribute version of "Knock on Wood" at Ardent Studios in Memphis, Tennessee for his album of soul classics The Memphis Album. Steve Cropper played on and produced this track with many of the original members of the Stax House Band including Donald "Duck" Dunn, Lester Snell, Steve Potts. Razzy Bailey In 1984, a version by Razzy Bailey made number 29 on Hot Country Songs. It was Bailey's last top-40 country hit. Eric Clapton Eric Clapton covered this song in his album Behind the Sun in 1985. References Whitburn, Joel (2004). Hot Dance/Disco: 1974-2003. Record Research. p. 246. http://staxrecords.free.fr/slist.htm Stax singles Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942–2004. Record Research. p. 208. "Knock on wood and Knock on Wood/Light my Fire (Remix) in Irish Chart". IRMA. Retrieved 1 June 2013. Only results when searching "Knock on wood" "Norwegiancharts.com – David Bowie – Knock On Wood". VG-lista. "1974 Top 40 Official UK Singles Archive - 12th October 1974". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 4 July 2013. "Austriancharts.at – Amii Stewart – Knock On Wood" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. "Ultratop.be – Amii Stewart – Knock On Wood" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. "Knock on wood in Canadian Adult Contemporary Chart". Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 4 June 2013. "Knock on wood in Canadian Disco Singles Chart". Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 4 June 2013. "Knock on wood in Canadian Singles Chart". Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 1 June 2013. "Knock on wood and Knock on wood '99 in French Chart" (in French). Dominic DURAND / InfoDisc. 5 July 2013. Retrieved 5 July 2013. You have to use the index at the top of the page and search "Ammi Stewart" "Offiziellecharts.de – Amii Stewart – Knock On Wood". GfK Entertainment Charts. "The best-selling singles of 1979 in Italy". HitParadeItalia (it). Retrieved 1 June 2013. 11. Knock on wood - Amii Stewart [#2] "Nederlandse Top 40 – Amii Stewart search results" (in Dutch) Dutch Top 40. "Dutchcharts.nl – Amii Stewart – Knock On Wood" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. "Charts.org.nz – Amii Stewart – Knock On Wood". Top 40 Singles. John Samson. "Knock on wood in South African Chart". Retrieved 1 June 2013. "Swedishcharts.com – Amii Stewart – Knock On Wood". Singles Top 100. "Swisscharts.com – Amii Stewart – Knock On Wood". Swiss Singles Chart. "Amii Stewart". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 1 June 2013. "Knock on Wood awards on Allmusic". Allmusic. Retrieved 1 June 2013. http://50.6.195.142/archives/70s_files/19790421.html "Knock on Wood/Light my Fire (Remix) in Belgian Chart". Ultratop and Hung Medien. Retrieved 1 June 2013. http://australian-charts.com/forum.asp?todo=viewthread&id=35092 http://nztop40.co.nz/chart/?chart=3868 http://www.uk-charts.top-source.info/top-100-1979.shtml http://www.musicoutfitters.com/topsongs/1979.htm http://50.6.195.142/archives/70s_files/1979YESP.html Discovery: Overview: allmusic.com External links Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics