"Crazy on You" is a song by American

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

band

Heart The heart is a muscular Organ (biology), organ found in humans and other animals. This organ pumps blood through the blood vessels. The heart and blood vessels together make the circulatory system. The pumped blood carries oxygen and nutrie ...

from their debut studio album, ''

Dreamboat Annie ''Dreamboat Annie'' is the debut studio album by American rock band Heart. At the time, the band was based in Vancouver, British Columbia; the album was recorded in Vancouver and first released in Canada by the local label Mushroom Records in S ...

'' (1975). It was released in March 1976 as the album's third single in Canada and the album's debut single in the United States. It reached the top 25 in Canada and the top 35 in the US. It found more success in the Netherlands and Belgium where it peaked at number 2 and 13, respectively, in early 1977 after its release as the second single from ''Dreamboat Annie'' in those countries. It is considered one of Heart's signature songs as it is one of the most played tracks on classic rock radio stations in the US. The song was used in the soundtracks of the films ''

American Pop American popular music (also referred to as "American Pop") is popular music produced in the United States and is a part of American pop culture. Distinctive styles of American popular music emerged early in the 19th century, and in the 20th ...

'', '' Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle'', ''

Demolition Demolition (also known as razing and wrecking) is the science and engineering in safely and efficiently tearing down buildings and other artificial structures. Demolition contrasts with deconstruction (building), deconstruction, which inv ...

'', '' Captain Marvel'' and '' Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3''.

Description

Opening with an iconic acoustic guitar instrumental which is sometimes identified with Heart's acoustic piece "Silver Wheels", "Crazy on You" then turns into a fast-paced rock song that was the band's signature sound in their early years. "Crazy on You" attracted attention both for the relatively unusual combination of an acoustic guitar paired with electric guitars and the fact that the acoustic guitarist was a woman – a rarity in rock music during that time. According to co-writer and guitarist Nancy Wilson, who discussed it on an episode of the radio program ''

In the Studio with Redbeard ''In the Studio with Redbeard'' is a North American radio program, produced and hosted by Dallas, Texas, based rock and roll disc jockey Doug "Redbeard" Hill. The show is a weekly hour-long "rockumentary" interview with music program which look ...

'' that devoted an entire episode to the ''Dreamboat Annie'' album, the rapid acoustic rhythm part was inspired by

The Moody Blues The Moody Blues were an English rock band formed in Birmingham in May 1964. The band initially consisted of Graeme Edge (drums), Denny Laine (guitar/vocals), Mike Pinder (keyboards/vocals), Ray Thomas (multi-instrumentalist/vocals) and Clint W ...

's 1970 song "

Question A question is an utterance which serves as a request for information. Questions are sometimes distinguished from interrogatives, which are the grammar, grammatical forms, typically used to express them. Rhetorical questions, for instance, are i ...

". The guitar riff was created by Roger Fisher during recording sessions. The song's lyrics tell of a person's desire to forget all the problems of the world during one night of passion. During an interview on the television series '' Private Sessions'' in 2007,

Ann Wilson Ann Dustin Wilson (born June 19, 1950) is an American singer best known as the lead singer of the rock band Heart. Wilson has been a member of Heart since the early 1970s; her younger sister, Nancy Wilson, is also a member of the band. One o ...

revealed the song was written in response to the stress caused by the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

and social unrest in the United States in the early 1970s. The song was written while the band members were living in a small

A-frame An A-frame is a basic structure designed to bear a Structural load, load in a lightweight economical manner. The simplest form of an A-frame is two similarly sized Beam (structure), beams, arranged in an angle of 45 degrees or less, attached a ...

cottage in

Point Roberts, Washington Point Roberts is a Enclave and exclave#"Practical" enclaves, exclaves and inaccessible districts, pene-exclave of the US state of Washington (state), Washington on the southernmost tip of the Tsawwassen, British Columbia, Tsawwassen peninsula, s ...

, situated on the

Canada–United States border The international border between Canada and the United States is the longest in the world by total length. The boundary (including boundaries in the Great Lakes, Atlantic, and Pacific coasts) is long. The land border has two sections: Canada' ...

Release

Released in both Canada and the US in March 1976, "Crazy on You" peaked at number 25 on ''

RPM Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or r⋅min−1) is a unit of rotational speed (or rotational frequency) for rotating machines. One revolution per minute is equivalent to hertz. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 def ...

''s Top Singles chart in Canada in May of that year and at number 35 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 the following month. It remains one of Heart's

signature song A signature (; from , "to sign") is a depiction of someone's name, nickname, or even a simple "X" or other mark that a person writes on documents as a proof of identity and intent. Signatures are often, but not always, handwritten or styliz ...

s and is still a staple on North American

classic rock Classic rock is a radio format that developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, it comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the early-1990s, primarily focusing on comm ...

radio stations. The track received heavy airplay on FM Album-Oriented Rock stations, which drove sales of the parent album. Chicago-based radio station

WLS-AM WLS (890 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station in Chicago, Illinois. Owned by Cumulus Media, through licensee Radio License Holdings LLC, the station airs a talk radio format. WLS studios are in the NBC Tower on North Columbus Drive in the city ...

, a current hit radio station where the song received heavy airplay, ranked "Crazy on You" as the 30th biggest song of 1976. It reached number three on the station's survey of August 7, 1976. After the success of "Crazy on You", "Magic Man" was released in the US and re-released in Canada, particularly in parts of Canada where it had not received much radio airplay before. In the Netherlands, "Crazy on You" was released in February 1977 as the second single off ''Dreamboat Annie'' after "Magic Man" and rose to number 2 and 4 on the two charts in the country. It also ascended to number 13 in neighboring Belgium. The single's original B-side, "

", was released on its own as an A-side in December 1976. The shortest version of "Dreamboat Annie" directly precedes "Crazy on You" on the original album and with little gap between the songs first-time listeners often think they are one continual epic song. Mushroom Records re-released "Crazy on You" in late 1977 in both the US and Canada with the same catalog number and

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...

. In February 1978, the re-release reached number 62 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and number 68 on ''RPM''s Top Singles chart. In 2013, the original lineup of the band performed the song for their induction into the

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), also simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum and hall of fame located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States, on the shore of Lake Erie. The museum documents the history of rock music and the ...

, their first performance together in over 30 years. The current lineup of the band performed "

Barracuda A barracuda is a large, predatory, ray-finned, saltwater fish of the genus ''Sphyraena'', the only genus in the family Sphyraenidae, which was named by Constantine Samuel Rafinesque in 1815. It is found in tropical and subtropical oceans worldw ...

Personnel

Adapted from the liner notes of ''

''. *

– lead vocals, flute, backing vocals * Nancy Wilson – acoustic guitar, backing vocals * Roger Fisher – electric guitar *

Howard Leese Howard M. Leese (June 13, 1951) is an American guitarist, record producer, and musical director who played with Heart as guitarist and keyboardist for 23 years (1975 through 1998). He continues to record and tour as a solo artist, and as guitar ...

– electric guitar *

Steve Fossen Steve Fossen (born November 15, 1949) is an American bassist and a founding member of the band Heart (band), Heart.Mike Flicker Mike Flicker (born 1950) is an American Record producer, music producer in Los Angeles who has numerous credits on music and film projects. He is critically acclaimed for his work with Heart (band), Heart.1976 songs 1976 singles Heart (band) songs Mushroom Records singles Songs of the Vietnam War Songs written by Ann Wilson Songs written by Nancy Wilson (rock musician) Song recordings produced by Mike Flicker