Steamroller Blues Explained

Steamroller Blues
Type:	song
Artist:	James Taylor
Album:	Sweet Baby James
Released:	1970
Recorded:	December 1969
Studio:	Sunset Sound
Genre:	Blues
Length:	2:57
Label:	Warner Bros.
Producer:	Peter Asher

Steamroller Blues
Cover:	Elvis Steamroller Blues PS.jpg
Type:	single
Artist:	Elvis Presley
Album:	Aloha from Hawaii via Satellite
B-Side:	Fool
Released:	March 4, 1973
Recorded:	January 14, 1973
Venue:	H.I.C. Arena, Honolulu
Genre:	Blues
Label:	RCA Victor
Prev Title:	Separate Ways
Prev Title2:	Always on My Mind
Prev Year:	1972
Next Title:	Raised on Rock
Next Year:	1973

"Steamroller Blues" (a.k.a. "Steamroller"), is a blues parody written by James Taylor, that appeared on his 1970 album Sweet Baby James. It was intended to mock the inauthentic blues bands of the day. The song later appeared on two of Taylor's compilation albums and has been recorded by a variety of other artists.

Origin and recording

Rock journalist David Browne wrote that "[d]uring the Flying Machine days in the Village, Taylor had heard one too many pretentious white blues bands and wrote 'Steamroller' to mock them."^[1] Rolling Stone Album Guide critic Mark Coleman, said Taylor's song "effectively mocks the straining pomposity of then-current white bluesmen."^[2]

Taylor and Danny Kortchmar, both playing electric guitars, laid down the track in one night at Sunset Studios, the rhythm section being added later. A tight budget and production schedule forced Taylor to record the song despite suffering from a head cold.^[3]

The song was included on Taylor's diamond-selling Greatest Hits 1976 compilation using a live version recorded in August 1975 at the Universal Amphitheatre in Los Angeles. Another performance, from 1992, was included on his 1993 album (LIVE). The profanity in the earlier release was missing from the latter.^{[4] [5]}

Cover versions

• During the 1970s, Elvis Presley added "Steamroller Blues" to his concert repertoire and included it on his live album . Presley also released it as a single in March 1973 with "Fool" as its flipside track, and the song reached number 17 on the Billboard U.S. pop singles chart,^[6] number 10 on the Cash Box top pop singles chart and number 16 on the Record World singles chart. It was later included on Presley's 2007 compilation The Essential Elvis Presley. A newly orchestrated version was included on the 2015 album If I Can Dream with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. This song resulted in Elvis' last 3 entries at number 1 on a major charting format. The "Aloha From Hawaii" double LP peaked at number 1 on the Billboard and Cash Box Albums Charts. The single, "Steamroller Blues", taken from the "Aloha From Hawaii" LP, peaked at number 1 on Record World Single Chart. In addition, the "Aloha" LP produced Elvis' final number 1 across the 4 major US charting categories (Billboard, Billboard Country, Cash Box, Cash Box Country). Record World called it "a lively interpretation of the James Taylor tune [that] should roll up sales quickly and say 'aloha' to the charts."^[7]
• Merry Clayton included a version of the song on her 1971 eponymous album, titling it simply "Steamroller".^[8]
• Taylor's song was recorded by country music singer Billy Dean and appeared on his 1993 album Fire in the Dark.^[9]

Popular culture

• Isaac Hayes performed the song on an episode of The A-Team.

Notes and References

1. Book: Browne, David . 2011 . Fire and Rain: The Beatles, Simon & Garfunkel, James Taylor, CSNY and the Lost Story of 1970 . Cambridge, Mass. . Da Capo Press . 9780306818509 . 782901010 . 62.
2. Book: The Rolling Stone Album Guide. 3rd. Coleman, M.. 293. DeCurtis, A. . Henke, J. . George-Warren, H.. 1992. Straight Arrow Publishers. 0679737294. The Rolling Stone Album Guide.
3. Book: Browne, David . 2011 . Fire and Rain: The Beatles, Simon & Garfunkel, James Taylor, CSNY and the Lost Story of 1970 . Cambridge, Mass. . Da Capo Press . 9780306818509 . 782901010 . 63.
4. Web site: Is new Best of James Taylor censored?.
5. Web site: Rothar's BLOG: James Taylor Has Censorship in His Mind.
6. Book: Whitburn, Joel . Joel Whitburn

   . Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles, 14th Edition: 1955-2012 . Joel Whitburn . 2013 . Record Research . 673.

7. Record World. April 7, 1973. 2023-03-23. Hits of the Week. 1.
8. Web site: SecondHandSongs.com. SecondHandSongs .
9. Web site: www.allmusic.com. allmusic.com. August 23, 2022.