"Keep On Running" is a song written and first recorded by Jackie Edwards. It became a hit in the UK for

The Spencer Davis Group The Spencer Davis Group were a British band formed in Birmingham in 1963 by Spencer Davis (guitar), brothers Steve Winwood (keyboards, guitar) and Muff Winwood (bass guitar), and Pete York (drums). Their best known songs include the UK numb ...

; their version reached number one in the charts.

Recordings

"Keep On Running" was written by Jamaican singer-songwriter Jackie Edwards, who as well as having been a singer, worked in the UK for

Island Records Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in 1959 by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in Jamaica, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, anothe ...

as a songwriter.Colin Larkin (1998) ''The Virgin Encyclopedia of Reggae'',

Virgin Books Virgin Books is a British book publisher 90% owned by the publishing group Random House, and 10% owned by Virgin Group, the company originally set up by Richard Branson as a record company. History Virgin established its book publishing arm ...

, The song was recorded by Edwards for his album ''Come on Home'', released in 1965, and he recorded it again in the mid-1970s for his album ''Do You Believe in Love''.

The Spencer Davis Group version

The song was recorded by

the Spencer Davis Group The Spencer Davis Group were a British band formed in Birmingham in 1963 by Spencer Davis (guitar), brothers Steve Winwood (keyboards, guitar) and Muff Winwood (bass guitar), and Pete York (drums). Their best known songs include the UK numb ...

and released as a single in November 1965 on

Fontana Records Fontana Records is a record label that was started in the 1950s as a subsidiary of the Dutch Philips Records. The independent label distributor Fontana Distribution takes its name from the label. History Fontana started in the 1950s as a sub ...

, backed with "High Time Baby".Strong, Martin C. (2002). ''The Great Rock Discography''. Canongate. . p. 265 At the time,

Chris Blackwell Christopher Percy Gordon Blackwell (born 22 June 1937) is an English businessman and former record producer, and the founder of Island Records, which has been called "one of Britain's great independent labels". According to the Rock and Roll H ...

, who produced the recording, was trying to establish his Island label in the UK and was managing the Spencer Davis Group. He was lent funding from Scala Brown Associates for the single by offering a sizable share of his label as security; the success of the single meant that he was quickly able to repay the loan.Scala, Mim (2009). ''Diary of a Teddy Boy: A Memoir of the Long Sixties'', Goblin, , p. 84 It was a number one hit on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top ...

in January 1966. In the United States it reached number 76. ;Personnel *

Steve Winwood Stephen Lawrence Winwood (born 12 May 1948) is an English musician, singer, and songwriter whose genres include blue-eyed soul, rhythm and blues, blues rock, and pop rock. Though primarily a keyboard player and vocalist prominent for his distin ...

–

lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featured ...

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of th ...

Spencer Davis Spencer Davis (born Spencer David Nelson Davies; 17 July 193919 October 2020) was a Welsh singer and musician. He founded The Spencer Davis Group, a band that had several hits in the 1960s including "Keep On Running", "Gimme Some Lovin'", and ...

–

rhythm guitar In music performances, rhythm guitar is a technique and role that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with other instruments from the rhythm section (e.g., drum kit, bass guitar) ...

, backing vocals *

Muff Winwood Mervyn "Muff" Winwood (born 15 June 1943, Erdington, Birmingham, England) is a British songwriter and record producer, and the older brother of Steve Winwood. Both were members of the Spencer Davis Group in the 1960s, in which Muff Winwood play ...

– bass guitar *

Pete York Peter York (born 15 August 1942 in Redcar, Yorkshire, England) is a British rock drummer who has been performing since the 1960s. Biography Born in Redcar, he attended the Nottingham High School and learnt to play the trumpet and snare dru ...

– drums,

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

This version was included in the soundtrack of the film '' Buster'' (1988) and was used during the film's opening sequence that saw

Buster Edwards Ronald Christopher "Buster" Edwards (27 January 1931 – 28 November 1994) was a British criminal who was a member of the gang that committed the Great Train Robbery. He had also been a boxer, and owned a nightclub and a flower shop. Early and ...

(

Phil Collins Philip David Charles Collins (born 30 January 1951) is an English singer, musician, songwriter, record producer and actor. He was the drummer and lead singer of the rock band Genesis and also has a career as a solo performer. Between 1982 an ...

) steal a suit from a shop window for a friend's funeral. The song was included on the cassette and vinyl formats of the soundtrack, but omitted from the CD version for "legal reasons". The song was also included in the 2007

romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a subgenre of comedy and slice of life fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount most obstacles. In a typica ...

Run Fatboy Run ''Run Fatboy Run'' is a 2007 comedy film directed by David Schwimmer, written by Michael Ian Black and Simon Pegg, and starring Pegg, Dylan Moran, Thandiwe Newton, Harish Patel, India de Beaufort and Hank Azaria. It was released in the United ...

'' directed by

David Schwimmer David Lawrence Schwimmer (born November 2, 1966) is an American actor, director and producer. He gained worldwide recognition for portraying Ross Geller in the sitcom ''Friends'', for which he received a Screen Actors Guild Award and a Primetim ...

John Alford version

A version of the song was a UK hit for John Alford in 1996, released as a double A-side with "If", and peaking at number 24.

Other versions

Several recordings in other languages were released internationally in early 1966. The US rock group The Outsiders released the song as the first track on their debut LP, Time Won't Let Me. The Spanish beat and rock group Los Salvajes created a version of this song, titled "Corre, Corre", in 1966. Patrick Samson and Les Phéniciens realized a cover in Italian titled ''Chi può dirmi'' (Who can tell me) (

Philips Koninklijke Philips N.V. (), commonly shortened to Philips, is a Dutch multinational conglomerate corporation that was founded in Eindhoven in 1891. Since 1997, it has been mostly headquartered in Amsterdam, though the Benelux headquarters i ...

, 373 741 BF) with lyrics by Maurizio Vandelli for the 1998 compilation ''Beat 600 - 60's & 70's golden nuggets tracks'' (

Mercury Records Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. In the United States, it is ...

, 565365 - 2). "Keep On Running" has also been recorded by other artists including

Robben Ford Robben Lee Ford (born December 16, 1951) is an American blues, jazz, and rock guitarist. He was a member of the L.A. Express and Yellowjackets and has collaborated with Miles Davis, Joni Mitchell, George Harrison, Larry Carlton, Rick Springf ...

(as the title track of his 2003 album),

The Romantics The Romantics are an American rock band formed in 1977 in Detroit. The band is often put under the banner of new wave and power pop. They were influenced by 1950s American rock and roll, Detroit's MC5, the Stooges, early Bob Seger, Motown R&B, ...

(on ''Live on Stage''), and Queen's drummer Roger Taylor, during the recording session of his second solo album ''

Strange Frontier ''Strange Frontier'' is the second album by the English musician Roger Taylor. This album includes two covers as well as a heavier sound than the previous album. Although Taylor again played most of the instruments himself (drums, guitars, bass ...

'' in 1984.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Keep On Running (Jackie Edwards Song) 1965 singles The Spencer Davis Group songs UK Singles Chart number-one singles 1965 songs Fontana Records singles Atco Records singles