T. Rex – Jeepster

T. Rex – Jeepster

‘Jeepster’ is a song by English glam rock act T. Rex. It was released on 5 November 1971 by record label Fly as a single from the group's sixth studio album (and second as T. Rex) Electric Warrior. The B-side, ‘Life's a Gas’, is taken from the same album. Several artists have recorded cover versions of it. Both of the single's tracks were written by Marc Bolan and produced by Tony Visconti.

This music to ‘Jeepster’ is based on a Howlin' Wolf blues song called ‘You'll Be Mine’. As is typical of many blues songs, there are many sexual references in the lyrics, which are made in the form of car metaphors. In interviews, T. Rex leader Marc Bolan acknowledged that he "lifted it from a Howlin' Wolf song." Marc Bolan explained: "I don't sing the old rock 'n' roll songs myself. I prefer to change the words and make new songs out of them. That's all 'Jeepster' is."

Tony Visconti produced this track. The American went on to do a lot of work with David Bowie. Visconti recalled to Uncut in 2016: "When I heard 'Jeepster' I thought, 'Wow, this is seriously different.' I know there's an old blues song he copied, but he threw in some dramatic melodic and chord changes. The song's in A but the chorus jumps to the key of C – no one in the '50s did that!" According to Tony Visconti, the stomping and rattling at the beginning of the song happened organically and was not overdubbed: a very enthusiastic Marc Bolan jumped up and down as he played guitar, shaking the microphone stands. These kind of noises are typically considered mistakes, but in this case they added to the feel of the song.”

The ‘Jeepster’ single peaked at No. 2 in the UK Singles Chart, and was controversial in that Fly Records promoted the song to hit status without singer Marc Bolan's prior permission, Bolan having just left Fly for EMI, which had given him control of his own label T. Rex Wax Co. Records. The song reached No. 28 in Australia and No. 73 in Canada. It was beaten to No. 1 in the UK Singles Chart by ‘Coz I Luv You’ by Slade for its first week at No.2 before being blocked from the top place by ‘Ernie (The Fastest Milkman in the West)’ by Benny Hill for the remaining four weeks.

‘Jeepster’ is widely regarded as one of the band's best songs. Billboard and Paste ranked the song number three and number one, respectively, on their lists of the top 10 T. Rex songs.

Label – Fly
Songwriter – Marc Bolan
Producer – Tony Visconti

SONG LYRICS

[Verse 1]
You're so sweet
You're so fine
I want you all and everything just to be mine
'Cause you're my baby
'Cause you're my love
Oh, girl, I'm just a Jeepster for your love
 
[Verse 2]
You slide so good
With bones so fair
You've got the universe reclining in your hair
'Cause you're my baby
Yes, you're my love
Oh, girl I'm just a Jeepster for your love
 
[Verse 3]
Just like a car
You're pleasing to behold
I'll call you Jaguar if I may be so bold
'Cause you're my baby
Yes, you're my love
Oh, girl I'm just a Jeepster for your love
 
[Verse 4]
The wild winds blow
Upon your frozen cheeks
The way you flip your hip it always makes me weak
'Cause you're my baby
Yes, you're my love
Oh, girl, I'm just a Jeepster for your love
All right
 
[Verse 5]
Your motivation
Is so sweet
Your vibrations are burning up my feet
'Cause you're my baby
Yes, you're my love
Oh, girl, I'm just a Jeepster for your love
 
[Outro]
I said, girl, I'm just a vampire for your love
And I'm going to suck you
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