"Rag Doll" is a song by the 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

Aerosmith Aerosmith is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Boston in 1970. The group consists of lead vocalist Steven Tyler, bassist Tom Hamilton (musician), Tom Hamilton, drummer Joey Kramer, and guitarists Joe Perry (musician), Joe Perry and B ...

. It is from their 1987 album '' Permanent Vacation''. It was released as the final single from the album in 1988. It was written by

Steven Tyler Steven Victor Tallarico (born March 26, 1948), known professionally as Steven Tyler, is an American singer and songwriter. Tyler is best known as the lead singer of the Boston-based rock band Aerosmith, in which he also plays the keyboards, h ...

, Joe Perry,

Jim Vallance James Douglas Vallance (born May 31, 1952) is a Canadian songwriter, arranger and producer. He is best known as the songwriting partner of Canadian musician Bryan Adams. Vallance began his professional career as the original drummer and main song ...

, and

Holly Knight Holly Knight (born 1956) is an American songwriter, musician, and singer. She was a member of the 1980s pop rock groups Spider and Device, and wrote or co-wrote several hit singles for other artists, such as " Rag Doll", " Obsession", " Love Is ...

. The song " iltersthe essence of Aerosmith's funkiest moments through the boom-thwack beat of the hair-metal '80s".

Song origin

The song's lyrics were primarily written by Tyler and Vallance, Perry originating the guitar riff, and Vallance writing the bass line. The song was originally titled "Rag Time"; however,

John Kalodner John David Kalodner is a retired American A&R (artists and repertoire) executive. History John David Kalodner was born in Philadelphia; he was a writer and photographer at ''Concert'' magazine. Then by 1972 he became a photographer for various re ...

did not like that, so Holly Knight was called in to help change that lyric. She suggested "Rag Doll", which was actually another title Tyler and Vallance had considered.

Song structure

The song is notable for drummer

Joey Kramer Joseph Michael Kramer (born June 21, 1950) is an American musician best known as the drummer of the hard rock band Aerosmith, which was inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001. Personal life Kramer was born in the Bronx, New York C ...

's 1-2-1-2 lead beat in the beginning of the song, Joe Perry's slide guitar, and a

horn section A horn section is a group of musicians playing horns. In an orchestra or concert band, it refers to the musicians who play the "French" horn, and in a British-style brass band it is the tenor horn players. In many popular music genres, the term ...

arranged by

Tom Keenlyside Thomas William Keenlyside (born 1950) is a Canadian saxophonist and flautist from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Biography Born and raised in Vancouver, Keenlyside grew up hearing many genres of music on the radio that his parents left tu ...

. The song is in

B minor B minor is a minor scale based on B, consisting of the pitches B, C, D, E, F, G, and A. Its key signature has two sharps. Its relative major is D major and its parallel major is B major. The B natural minor scale is: Changes need ...

. The melody and lyrics to the second verse are based on the vocal

countermelody In music, a counter-melody (often countermelody) is a sequence of notes, perceived as a melody, written to be played simultaneously with a more prominent lead melody. In other words, it is a secondary melody played in counterpoint with the pri ...

the Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...

' cover of

Hank Snow Clarence Eugene "Hank" Snow (May 9, 1914 – December 20, 1999) was a Canadian country music guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He recorded 140 albums and charted more than 85 singles on the ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' country charts betw ...

's " I'm Movin' On" that appears on '' Got Live If You Want It!'' in which

Keith Richards Keith Richards (born 18 December 1943) is an English musician, songwriter, singer and record producer who is an original member, guitarist, secondary vocalist, and co-principal songwriter of the Rolling Stones. His songwriting partnership wi ...

sings "Yes, I'm movin'" in response to

Mick Jagger Sir Michael Philip Jagger (born 26 July 1943) is an English musician. He is known as the lead singer and one of the founder members of The Rolling Stones. Jagger has co-written most of the band's songs with lead guitarist Keith Richards; Jagge ...

singing "I'm movin' on". The music on the radio single differed from the album version in having a more urgent, driving beat, fueled by Tom Hamilton's bass, and slightly different sax notes. This version had an earlier fadeout, omitting the classic clarinet and trumpet duet behind Tyler's

scat singing Originating in vocal jazz, scat singing or scatting is vocal Musical improvisation, improvisation with Non-lexical vocables in music, wordless vocables, Pseudoword#Nonsense syllables, nonsense syllables or without words at all. In scat singing, t ...

. The video is based on the album version of the song.

Reception

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', is an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' said that "there's a ''spicy'' drum effect at the very end of this rockin', hit single,"

Tracklist

(Including Any Other Editions)l # Rag Doll (4:24) # Rag Doll (Extended Vacation) (6:59) # Rag Doll (Rock Mix) (4:23) # Rag Doll (Rockappella Mix) (4:07) # Rag Doll (Dub Version) (5:33) # Rag Doll (Extended Vacation/LP Version) (7:15) # Rag Doll (The All Dayparts Edit) (3:05) # Rag Doll (Remix) (2:50) # Rag Doll (Edit) (3:05) # Rag Doll (Wals Version)

Charts

Notes

Cover versions

Ted Nugent Theodore Anthony Nugent (; born December 13, 1948) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, and political activist. He goes by several nicknames, including Uncle Ted, the Nuge, and Motor City Madman. Nugent initially gained fame as the le ...

* Tony Franklin *

Vinnie Colaiuta Vincent Peter Colaiuta (born February 5, 1956) is an American drummer known for his technical mastery who has worked as a session musician in many genres. He was inducted into the ''Modern Drummer'' Hall of Fame in 1996 and the ''Classic Drumme ...

Derek Sherinian Derek Sherinian (born August 25, 1966) is an American keyboardist who has toured and recorded for Alice Cooper, Billy Idol, and Joe Bonamassa, among others. He was also a member of Dream Theater from 1994 to 1999, is the founder of Planet X (ban ...

covered the song for the Aerosmith tribute album ''Not the Same Old Song and Dance'' (Eagle Records, 1999). Backing vocals were by

David Glen Eisley David Glen Eisley (born September 5, 1952) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and actor. Personal life Eisley was born in Los Angeles, California and is the son of actor Anthony Eisley and Judith Tubbs Eisley. While in high school, he ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rag Doll (Aerosmith Song) Aerosmith songs 1988 singles Music videos directed by Marty Callner Songs written by Holly Knight Songs written by Jim Vallance Songs written by Steven Tyler Songs written by Joe Perry (musician) Song recordings produced by Bruce Fairbairn Geffen Records singles 1987 songs Glam metal songs