Song:I Hear You Knockin'
Album:From Small Things: The Best Of Dave Edmunds
The one thing that never changed about Welsh rocker Dave Edmunds is his love for 50s Rock 'N' Roll. From his first and biggest hit I Hear You Knockin' to his later music, he has never changed. He is a true rocker at heart. He was born Apr. 15, 1944 in Cardiff, Wales. He had a band with his older brother Geoff and they joined The Stompers who were later called The Heartbeats. Edmunds played lead guitar. His first band as leader was Crick Feather's Hill-Bills in 1960 and then the rockabilly band The Raiders. And he was in The Image who recorded for Parlophone in the mid-60s. Then he had a band called The Human Beans who recorded one single. But they turned into Love Sculpture and they had a British top five hit with their 1968 rock version of Sabre Dance. It made Love Sculpture a cult band but they only recorded two albums and split up in 1969. At that point, Edmunds got into producing others. He was working on a Shakin' Stevens record when he decided to record a cover of the Smiley Lewis classic I Hear You Knockin'. Surprisingly, the song topped the British charts and reached #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1970. It doesn't appear that Edmunds planned an album at the time but he did record the album Rockpile in 1972 which included I Hear You Knockin'. By 1975 he recorded the album Subtle As A Flying Mallet and he started hanging around Nick Lowe of Brinsley Schwarz. They formed Rockpile and had success in the late 70s with songs like Teacher Teacher. Edmunds continued to record as a solo artist and produce other artists. This Sony Legacy budget comp includes the 1970 original version of I Hear You Knockin' as Edmunds had re-recorded it over the years. These days Dave Edmunds does surface occasionally but I would describe his status as semi-retired. But there's no question he is one of the greats of roots rock. Here's Dave Edmunds performing I Hear You Knockin' 1971. This video is not on Youtube.
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