"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 blues and R&B influenced rock band formed in Birmingham in 1963 by Spencer Davis (guitar), brothers Steve Winwood (vocals, keyboards, and guitar) and Muff Winwood (bass guitar), and Pete York (drums). ...

; 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 Jamaica by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in 1959, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, another ...

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 ...

, 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 blues and R&B influenced rock band formed in Birmingham in 1963 by Spencer Davis (guitar), brothers Steve Winwood (vocals, keyboards, and guitar) and Muff Winwood (bass guitar), and Pete York (drums). ...

and released as a single in November 1965 on

Fontana Records Fontana Records is a record label that started in the 1950s as a subsidiary of the Dutch Philips Records. Fontana Distribution, an independent label distributor, takes its name from the label. History Fontana began in the 1950s as a subsidi ...

, 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 OJ (born 22 June 1937) is a Jamaican-British 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 Hall ...

, who produced the recording, was trying to establish his Island label in the UK and was managing the Spencer Davis Group. Scala Brown Associates loaned him money for the song in exchange for a substantial portion of his record label as collateral; thanks to the single's success, he was able to rapidly pay back 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 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 and songwriter whose genres include blue-eyed soul, rhythm and blues, blues rock, and pop rock. Though primarily a guitarist, keyboard player, and vocalist prominent for his dis ...

–

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 featur ...

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 the ...

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

–

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

, backing vocals *

Muff Winwood Mervyn "Muff" Winwood (born 15 June 1943, Erdington, Birmingham, England) is an English songwriter and record producer. The elder brother of Steve Winwood, both were members of The Spencer Davis Group in the 1960s, in which Muff played bass gui ...

–

bass guitar The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...

Pete York Peter York (born 15 August 1942 in Middlesbrough, Yorkshire, England) is an English rock drummer who has been performing since the 1960s. Biography Born in Middlesbrough but growing up in Redcar, York attended the Nottingham High School an ...

–

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...

* Adrian Kerridge – sound engineer 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 1963 Great Train Robbery. He had also been a boxer, and owned a nightclub and a flower shop. Ea ...

(

Phil Collins Philip David Charles Collins (born 30 January 1951) is an English musician, songwriter, record producer and actor. He was the drummer and later became the lead singer of the rock band Genesis (band), Genesis and had a successful solo career, ac ...

) steal a suit from a shop window for a friend's funeral. The song was also included in the 2007

romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a sub-genre of comedy and Romance novel, romance fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount all obstacles. Ro ...

'' Run Fatboy Run'' 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 Pri ...

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''. Patrick Samson and Les Phéniciens realized a cover in Italian titled "''Chi può dirmi"'' ("Who can tell me") (

Philips Koninklijke Philips N.V. (), simply branded Philips, is a Dutch multinational health technology company that was founded in Eindhoven in 1891. Since 1997, its world headquarters have been situated in Amsterdam, though the Benelux headquarter ...

, 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. Mercury Records released ...

, 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 music, rock guitarist. He was a member of the L.A. Express and Yellowjackets (band), Yellowjackets and has collaborated with Miles Davis, Joni Mitchell, George Harriso ...

(as the title track of his 2003 album),

The Romantics The Romantics are an American rock band formed in 1977 in Detroit, Michigan. The band's music is often categorized as power pop and new wave. They were influenced by 1950s American rock and roll, Detroit's MC5, the Stooges, early Bob Seger, Mo ...

(on ''Live on Stage''), and

Queen Queen most commonly refers to: * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a kingdom * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen (band), a British rock band Queen or QUEEN may also refer to: Monarchy * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Q ...

'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 (Queen drummer), Roger Taylor, released in 1984. This album includes two covers as well as a heavier sound than the previous album. Although Taylor again played most ...

'' 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