"Rock Steady" is a song written and performed by Aretha Franklin and released in 1971, from the album ''

Young, Gifted and Black ''Young, Gifted and Black'' is the eighteenth studio album by American singer-songwriter Aretha Franklin, released in early 1972, by Atlantic Records. The album climbed to #2 on ''Billboards R&B albums survey and peaked at #11 on the main ...

''. The single reached the #9 spot on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 charts that same year. It also peaked at #2 on the Best Selling Soul Singles chart. The original A-side, a rendition of the song "

Oh Me Oh My (I'm a Fool for You Baby) "Oh Me Oh My (I'm a Fool for You Baby)" is the title of a Top 30 hit single for Lulu which was recorded in September 1969 in the Muscle Shoals Sound Studio sessions for Lulu's Atco Records album debut '' New Routes''. The song has been most notab ...

", peaked at #73 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #9 on the Best Selling Soul Singles chart.

Personnel

* Aretha Franklin – lead vocals, piano * Donny Hathaway – electric piano, organ * Bernard Purdie – drums *

Cornell Dupree Cornell Luther Dupree (December 19, 1942 – May 8, 2011) was an American jazz and R&B guitarist. He worked at various times with Aretha Franklin, Bill Withers, Donny Hathaway, King Curtis and Steve Gadd, appeared on David Letterman,

– guitar *

Richard Tee Richard Edward Tee (born Richard Edward Ten Ryk; November 24, 1943 – July 21, 1993) was an American pianist, studio musician, singer and arranger, who had several hundred studio credits and played on such notable hits as "In Your Eyes", " Sl ...

– organ * Chuck Rainey – bass guitar * The Sweethearts of Soul (Brenda Bryant, Margaret Branch, Pat Smith) — backing vocals *

Robert Popwell Robert Lee "Pops" Popwell (December 29, 1950 – November 27, 2017) was an American jazz-funk bass guitarist and percussionist. Career Known as "Pops", he played with The Young Rascals, The Crusaders and the Macon Rhythm Section. The Young Rasc ...

Dr. John Malcolm John Rebennack Jr. (November 20, 1941 – June 6, 2019), better known by his stage name Dr. John, was an American singer and songwriter. His music encompassed New Orleans blues, jazz, funk, and R&B. Active as a session musician from ...

– percussion *

The Memphis Horns The Memphis Horns were an American horn section, made famous by their many appearances on Stax Records. The duo consisted of Wayne Jackson (November 24, 1941 – June 21, 2016) on trumpet and Andrew Love (November 21, 1941 - April 12, 2012) on ...

** Wayne Jackson – trumpet ** Andrew Love – tenor saxophone *

Gene Paul Gene William Paul (born August 20, 1944) is an American audio recording / mixing / mastering engineer, producer and musician. He was an engineer at Atlantic Recording Studios during their famed 1960s–80s period and is currently the chief mas ...

–

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the limit ...

* Jerry Wexler –

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

Tom Dowd Thomas John Dowd (October 20, 1925 – October 27, 2002) was an American recording engineer and producer for Atlantic Records. He was credited with innovating the multitrack recording method. Dowd worked on a veritable "who's who" of recording ...

– horn arrangement, production *

Arif Mardin Arif Mardin (March 15, 1932 – June 25, 2006) was a Turkish-American music producer, who worked with hundreds of artists across many different styles of music, including jazz, rock, soul, disco and country. He worked at Atlantic Records for o ...

– production

Chart positions

Cover versions

* The earliest cover was a reggae version recorded by The Marvels on the Pama Supreme label c/w Be My Baby in 1971 * The first known cover of the song was in 1972 by Sweet Salvation who recorded a whip-snapping cover for their sole eponymous album. *

The Jackson Sisters The Jackson Sisters (not to be confused with the Cincinnati Jackson Sisters, nor the siblings to American soul group The Jackson Five) were an American soul and disco family group in the 1970s, formed in 1971. The group hailed from Compton, Ca ...

recorded a cover of the song in 1976 for their eponymous album. * In 1987, a house version of the song was recorded by singer Dalis and released on

Trax Records Trax Records is an American independent record label based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. It played a major part in the development of house music. History Larry Sherman was originally a collector of vintage jukeboxes, and, frustrated ...

. * Patti Austin covered the song on her 1994 album ''That Secret Place''. *

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. T ...

released a version on his 2007 live album, ''

Indigo Nights ''Indigo Nights'' is a live album by Prince, mainly comprising songs played live during some of the aftershows at the indigO2 night club in London in 2007. It contains nine live versions of previously released Prince songs, four cover songs, on ...

''. The song features

Beverley Knight Beverley Knight (born Beverley Anne Smith, 22 March 1973) is an English recording artist and musical theatre actress. She released her first album, '' The B-Funk'', in 1995. Heavily influenced by American soul music icons such as Sam Cooke an ...

. * In 2008 the song was sampled by Japanese R&B singer

Namie Amuro Namie Amuro ( ; ja, 安室奈美恵, Amuro Namie, label=none; born September 20, 1977) is a Japanese former recording artist, producer, songwriter, dancer, model, actress and entrepreneur who was active between 1992 and 2018. A leading figure of ...

in her own song, "Rock Steady". *

Richard Elliot Richard Elliot (born January 16, 1960) is a Scottish-born American saxophonist. He was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Album at the 56th Annual Grammy Awards for '' Summer Horns''. Career Elliot started out as a member ...

also covered this song as an

instrumental An instrumental is a recording normally without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through semantic widening, a broader sense of the word song may refer to inst ...

in 2010 off his album, which was also titled ''Rock Steady''. Aretha's vocals were replaced by Rich's saxophone. *

Dawn Robinson Dawn Sherrese Robinson (born November 24, 1966 or 1968) is an American singer best known as a founding member of the R&B/pop group En Vogue, one of the world's best-selling girl groups of all time. Following her departure from En Vogue, Robinson ...

of the group

En Vogue En Vogue is an American vocal girl group whose original lineup consisted of singers Terry Ellis, Dawn Robinson, Cindy Herron, and Maxine Jones. Formed in Oakland, California, in 1989, En Vogue reached No. 2 on the US Hot 100 with the single ...

did a solo cover of the song on 1998's ''Dr. Dolittle'' soundtrack. * The song is used as a diegetic track in '' Driver: San Francisco''. * Rap group People Under the Stairs mention the song in their song " The Next Step II". *

Daryl Hall and John Oates Daryl Hall and John Oates, commonly known as Hall & Oates, are an American pop rock duo formed in Philadelphia in 1970. Daryl Hall is generally the lead vocalist; John Oates primarily plays electric guitar and provides backing vocals. The two ...

covered the song on their 2004 album ''

Our Kind of Soul ''Our Kind of Soul'' is the seventeenth studio album by Hall & Oates, released in 2004. This album contains three original tracks and 14 covers of soul hits of the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. The album is mostly acoustic with some electric guitar ...

''. * Regina Love covered the song in ''

The Voice (U.S. season 9) The ninth season of the American Reality television, reality talent show ''The Voice (American TV series), The Voice'' premiered on September 21, 2015 on NBC. Adam Levine, Blake Shelton, and Pharrell Williams returned as coaches for the season. Gwe ...

''. * In 2012, Christine Anu covered the song on her album, '' Rewind: The Aretha Franklin Songbook''. *Rap duo

EPMD EPMD is an American hip hop duo from Brentwood, New York. The duo's name is a concatenation of the members' names "E" and "PMD" or an acronym for "Erick and Parrish Making Dollars", referring to its members: emcees Erick Sermon ("E" a.k.a. ...

sampled the beat and Franklin's lyrics (more pronounced on the remix) for their 1989 single " I'm Housin" from their debut LP '' Strictly Business''. *Spanish rock rap band Def Con Dos sampled the horn section of the song's chorus on their song " Promiscuidad".

Usage in media

*The song was heard in the 2017 American comedy-drama film ''

The Upside ''The Upside'' is a 2017 American comedy-drama film directed by Neil Burger, written by Jon Hartmere. It is a remake of the French 2011 film '' The Intouchables'', which was itself inspired by the lives of Abdel Sallou and Philippe Pozzo di Borg ...

''. *The song was used as an introduction to

Ellen DeGeneres Ellen Lee DeGeneres ( ; born January 26, 1958) is an American comedian, television host, actress, writer, and producer. She starred in the sitcom ''Ellen'' from 1994 to 1998, which earned her a Primetime Emmy Award for " The Puppy Episode". Sh ...

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fi ...

stand-up comedy special, '' Relatable''.

External links

* – session details

References

{{Authority control 1971 singles Aretha Franklin songs Funk songs Songs written by Aretha Franklin Prince (musician) songs Song recordings produced by Arif Mardin Song recordings produced by Tom Dowd Song recordings produced by Jerry Wexler 1971 songs Atlantic Records singles