31. Dezember 2008
Kid Rock – All Summer Long

Der unerwartet Durchbruch von Kid Rock “all Summer Long” und der Riff Mischung aus Werewolves of London von Warren Zevon und Sweet Home Alabama von Lynyrd Skynyrd.

Kid Rock All Summer Long Music Video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLKPACN9jzA&feature=player_embedded

“All Summer Long” is the title of a song recorded by Kid Rock. It was released in 2008 as the third single from his ninth studio album Rock N Roll Jesus. The song is based on Warren Zevon’s “Werewolves of London” and Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Sweet Home Alabama”. The idea for the mashup was suggested by Mike E. Clark. The song has become a Number One hit in several countries, and has even crossed over to country music radio, giving Kid Rock his first Top Ten country hit.

About the song

The song is an up-tempo Southern rocker in which Kid Rock reminisces on his teenage romance during the summer of 1989 in Northern Michigan, while listening to “Sweet Home Alabama”.

Anthony DeCurtis of Rolling Stone magazine compared its theme to Bob Seger’s “Night Moves”. Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Billy Powell plays the piano on the track. The song includes the instrumental part of “Werewolves of London” and various elements of “Sweet Home Alabama” alongside new lyrics by Kid Rock.

Critical reception

The song has been generally well received by the critics. Manchester Evening News rated the song three out of five stars, commenting that the song “incorporates the swampy riffs, the distinctive guitar solo and gospel choirs effortlessly.” Billboard praised the song’s style adding that its lyrics “will make listeners nod and smile knowingly as they recall their own glory days.” Rolling Stone named the song as a “story of sexual awakening” adding “It’s stirring stuff.”

Jim Malec, who writes for the country music review site The 9513, gave the song a “thumbs up” rating. Although he referred to the song as “highly derivative” for its use of sampling, and thought that some of the lyrics were poorly written, he also called it “essentially the perfect summer anthem”. Malec’s review goes on to call the song a positive change from the mostly “boring” mainstream country music, adding “Here’s an artist who is willing to show some personality.”

Lil Wayne

Popular rapper Lil Wayne has performed this song twice with Kid Rock. The first time, at the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards, he rapped an exclusive verse, and at the Country Music Awards later that year, he mimed playing the guitar along with Kid Rock’s band, and became the first rapper to ever perform at the award show. He stated on the Celebrity Replay of the VMAs, in which various celebrities comment on the award show, that he is a Kid Rock fan.

Music video

The music video for the song was shot in Nashville, Tennessee and features Kid Rock driving a small boat out on the Old Hickory Lake, while two teenagers are shown enacting the song’s lyrics. Kid Rock is also shown partying with girls on a different boat, and singing the song on a platform on the lake during night time. The platform, float & lights are an homage to the “Playboy girls” scene in the film Apocalypse Now. As the video ends, the small boat Kid Rock is driving can be seen with the word “cowboy” on the back.

Charts

“All Summer Long” is Kid Rock’s fourth song to chart on the Billboard Hot 100, and overall his biggest hit of his career. It reached as high as #23 on the Hot 100, based solely on airplay, since Kid Rock has not made his catalog available for legal digital download (therefore, the song has received no assistance from digital sales on the charts). It is his third top 40 hit on the Hot 100. The song has become Kid Rock’s second pop crossover hit (after “Picture”), reaching the top ten on Mainstream Top 40 radio. “All Summer Long” has also reached the top ten on Billboard’s Adult Top 40.

It marks Kid Rock’s third entry on the American Billboard Hot Country Songs charts, after “Picture” and “Single Father”, both in 2003, and has reached #4 on the country charts, his first top twenty and top ten on that chart. It was a moderate hit on U.S. rock, peaking at #17 on Mainstream Rock Tracks, and #38 on Modern Rock Tracks.

The song is Kid Rock’s first international hit as well. In Europe, where there are physical and digital releases of the single, it has topped the charts in the United Kingdom, The Netherlands, Ireland, Austria, Germany, and Switzerland. It has reached the top five in Norway, Sweden, Turkey and Poland. In Australia the song is his first top ten and number one single.

Hit Masters

A recording of the song was released digitally by “Hit Masters”, a karaoke company whose version was made available in the iTunes Store in North America. Due to Kid Rock’s decision to withhold his music from the iTunes market, sales from the karaoke version eventually caused it to overtake Kid Rock’s original on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States peaking at number 19. This version also in peaked at number 28 on the Canadian Hot 100 due to digital downloads. As Rock’s version remained in the top thirty based on radio airplay alone, Hit Masters jumped into the top twenty due to its sales strength. However, the radio success of “All Summer Long” propelled Rock N Roll Jesus back up to number two on the Billboard 200, nearly a year after its release.

The Rock Heroes

Another recording of the song by a karaoke band called “The Rock Heroes” has been released on iTunes for digital downloads in North America. In the U.S. it debuted at number 38 on the Billboard Hot 100 and then rose to number 29 the next week, and also in Canada it debuted at number 16 on the Canadian Hot 100 due to digital downloads in both countries. The Rock Heroes sing the same original lyrics and vocals on the same original beat and is also featured on an album entitled A Salute to Kid Rock.