| "Jeepster" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Cover of the original 7" single | ||||
| Single byT. Rex | ||||
| from the albumElectric Warrior | ||||
| B-side | "Life's a Gas" | |||
| Released | 5 November 1971 (1971-11-05) | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 4:12 | |||
| Label | Fly | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Marc Bolan | |||
| Producer(s) | Tony Visconti | |||
| T. Rex singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
"Jeepster" is a song by Englishglam rock bandT. Rex. It was released on 5 November 1971 by record labelFly as a single from the group's sixth studio album (and second as T. Rex)Electric Warrior. TheB-side, "Life's a Gas", is taken from the same album. Several artists have recordedcover versions of it. Both of the single's tracks were written byMarc Bolan[4] and produced byTony Visconti.[5]
The music (and first couple of lines) of "Jeepster" is based on a Howlin' Wolf blues song called "You'll Be Mine," which was written by Willie Dixon. In interviews, T. Rex leader Marc Bolan acknowledged that he "lifted it from aHowlin' Wolf song."[6]
Originally, "Jeepster" and "Life's a Gas" were pressed up together on 7-inch vinyl as a limited edition promotional disc forElectric Warrior. The disc was upgraded to a fully promoted single with "Jeepster" as the A side on 5 November 1971 by record labelFly. The single peaked at No. 2 in theUK Singles Chart,[7] and was controversial in that Fly Records promoted the song to hit status without singerMarc Bolan's prior permission, Bolan having just left Fly forEMI, which had given him control of his own label T. Rex Wax Co. Records.[8] The song reached No. 28 in Australia[9] and No. 73 in Canada.[10] It was beaten to No. 1 in theUK Singles Chart by "Coz I Luv You" bySlade for its first week at No. 2 before being blocked from the top place by "Ernie (The Fastest Milkman in the West)" byBenny Hill for the remaining four weeks.
"Jeepster" is widely regarded as one of the band's best songs.Billboard andPaste ranked the song number three and number one, respectively, on their lists of the top 10 T. Rex songs.[11][12]
Bolan was a guest on theBBC Television showCilla in January 1973. He andCilla Black sang an acoustic version of "Life's a Gas".[19][20][21]
