Greased Lightnin' (song)

"Greased Lightnin'"
Single by John Travolta
from the album Grease: The Original Soundtrack from the Motion Picture
B-side	"Razzamatazz" "Sandy"
Released	1978
Recorded	1977
Genre	Rock and roll
Length	3:13
Label	RSO Records (United States), Mercury Records (Mexico and Canada), Polydor (South American, Caribbean, Central America, Europe, Africa, Asia and Oceania)
Songwriter(s)	Jim Jacobs, Warren Casey
Producer(s)	Louis St. Louis, John Farrar, Barry Gibb, Albhy Galuten

"Greased Lightnin'" is a song from the musical Grease. A soundtrack recording from the film version, with John Travolta on lead vocals, peaked at No. 47 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1978.

Synopsis

Kenickie, a member of the greaser gang at the center of the musical, has purchased a used car with the savings from his summer job, giving it the nickname "Greased Lightnin'." While the other greasers are skeptical of the car because it is in such poor shape, he is able to win them over with a rousing rock and roll number describing the modifications needed to transform it into a hot rod capable of arousing the ladies.

In the original recording, as was in the case with the stage musical on which it was based, several unairable profanities of a sexual nature are peppered throughout the lyrics, which deterred a number of stations from playing the song and possibly prevented it from reaching the top 40 in the United States. It was one of the few songs from the original Chicago-centric version of Grease to transition, uncut, from Chicago to Broadway and to film. Jim Jacobs later released a revised set of lyrics suitable for school performances that remove the sexual references, and most televised edits of the film cut the offending lyrics.

In the original musical, the song is Kenickie's featured number, with the other greasers serving as his backup singers. The film expands upon the car's purpose. Whereas the stage musical gives no particular reason for Kenickie's desire to build the car (which does not play a major factor in the play beyond that point), the film explains that the greasers' rivals, named the Scorpions in the film, had challenged them to a quarter-mile drag race, requiring them to have a competitive car for the duel. With Danny at the helm (and a reprise of "Greased Lightnin'" playing in the background), Greased Lightnin' wins the race. The film is also notable for having Danny (played by John Travolta, who had already had top-40 hits before Grease) sing lead on the song, while Kenickie (Jeff Conaway) contributed with a few call-and-response lines.

In keeping with the musical's tendency to use styles of music popular in the late 1950s, the song "Greased Lightnin'" is in a slightly modified twelve-bar blues form.

Charts

Critical reception

STL Today described the song as "a number saluting a hot rod and all the joy it promises".^[2]

Other recordings

In the film version of Grease, the song was recorded by John Travolta. An earlier version was recorded in 1972 by The Wild Angels. The song was covered by Lance Ellington in the animated film Planet 51.

References