About The Song
King Creole is a song written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. The song was performed by Elvis Presley and recorded in 1958, and laid foundations to a musical drama film, King Creole. The song is based on King Creole, a singer/guitar player from New Orleans who is proficient in all different styles of rock and roll.
The song was released as a single in the UK in 1958. It reached No. 2 in the UK Singles Chart. In 2007 the single was re-released and spent one week in the chart at No. 15.
The song is about a man of Creole descent who is a freelancing street performer in New Orleans. The man in the song, who goes by the nickname of King Creole, is known for his style of solo guitar playing. It is said in the song that he “holds his guitar like a Tommy gun”, which gives the notion that “King Creole” used a grip on his guitar which involved keeping the body of the guitar close to his center of his chest, therefore holding the neck of the guitar in an extended arm, though no information is given which arm he used. It can be inferred from the song that King Creole used an electric guitar, since the song mentions string bending and rock-and-roll, a genre not usually played as lead on the acoustic guitar. The song also states that King Creole played from a well-rounded song repertoire, and would play light, dark, serious, and nonsense music.
Video
Lyric
King Creole
There’s a man in New Orleans
Who plays rock and roll
He’s a guitar man
With a great big soul
He lays down a beat
Like a ton of coal
He goes by the name of King CreoleYou know he’s gone, gone, gone
Jumpin’ like a catfish on a pole
You know he’s gone, gone, gone
Hip shaking King CreoleWhen the king starts to do it
It’s as good as done
He holds his guitar
Like a Tommy gun
He starts to growl
From way down his throat
He bends a string
And “that’s all she wrote”You know he’s gone, gone, gone
Jumpin’ like a catfish on a pole
You know he’s gone, gone, gone
Hip shaking King CreoleWell, he sings a song about a crawdad hole
He sings a song about a jelly roll
He sings a song about pork and greens
He sings some blues about New OrleansYou know he’s gone, gone, gone
Jumpin’ like a catfish on a pole
You know he’s gone, gone, gone
Hip shaking King CreoleWell, he plays something evil
Then he plays something sweet
No matter what he plays
You got to get up on your feetWhen he gets the rockin’ fever
Baby, heaven sakes
He don’t stop playin’
‘Till his guitar breaksYou know he’s gone, gone, gone
Jumpin’ like a catfish on a pole
You know he’s gone, gone, gone
Hip shaking King Creole