"Rock & Roll" (sometimes spelled Rock 'n' Roll) is a song by the Velvet Underground, originally appearing on their 1970 album Loaded. The song was written by the Velvets' leader Lou Reed, who continued to incorporate the song into his own live performances years later as a solo artist. The song has been recorded multiple times by other artists.

Velvet Underground version (Original) Background The song recounts the advent of rock and roll music, telling the story of a girl named Jenny whose "...life was saved by rock 'n' roll."

In the liner notes to the Velvet Underground's box set Peel Slowly and See, Lou Reed wrote, Rock and Roll' is about me. If I hadn't heard rock and roll on the radio, I would have had no idea there was life on this planet. Which would have been devastating - to think that everything, everywhere was like it was where I come from. That would have been profoundly discouraging. Movies didn't do it for me. TV didn't do it for me. It was the radio that did it." Personnel

Lou Reed - vocals, guitars Doug Yule - bass guitar, drums, keyboards, vocals Sterling Morrison - guitars

Other appearances The song also appears on the albums 1969: The Velvet Underground Live; Live MCMXCIII; Loaded: Fully Loaded Edition; American Poet; Another View; Rock 'n' Roll Animal; Live in Italy; Rock and Roll: an Introduction to The Velvet Underground.; Rock and Roll Diary: 1967–1980. Detroit version

Mitch Ryder's band Detroit, which featured Lou Reed's future guitarist Steve Hunter, performed one of the first cover versions of the song in 1971, changing the lyric "New York station" to "Detroit station".

Background The group recorded the song "Rock 'N' Roll". It was backed with "Box of Old Roses" and released on Paramount 0133.Cash Box, December 14, 1971 - Page 18 cashbox / singles reviews, Choice Programming, DETROIT featuring MITCH RYDER (Paramount 0133)

Reception For the week of 11 December 1971, the group's single "Rock 'n' Roll" was reviewed in the Cash Box Choice Programming section. The reviewer called the single potent stuff and said that it had Top 40 FM interest.Cash Box, December 14, 1971 - Page 18 cashbox / singles reviews, Choice Programming, DETROIT featuring MITCH RYDER (Paramount 0133)

Charts Cash Box With Detroit's self-titled album debuted having debuted at no. 150 on the Cash Box Top Albums chart, 101 - 150 section the previous week,.Cash Box, December 1l, 1971 - Page 32 Cash Box Top 100 Albums 101 - 150, 150 DETROIT their single, "Rock 'n' Roll" made its debut at no. 24 in the Cash Box Looking Ahead chart for the week of 18 December.Cash Box, December 14, 1971 - Page 12 LOOKING AHEADCash Box, December 18, 1971 - Page 12 LOOKING AHEAD, 24 ROCK 'N' ROLL By 25 December it was at no. 27. At the time, the songs were numbered from 1 - 30.Cash Box, December 25, 1971 - Page 92 LOOKING AHEAD, 27 ROCK 'N' ROLL For the week of 1 January 1972, the song was at no. 115 and the songs were listed from 101 - 120.Cash Box, January 1, 1972 - Page 19 LOOKING AHEAD, 115 ROCK 'N' ROLL The following week, with the songs listed from 101 - 126, "Rock 'n' Roll" was at no. 107.Cash Box, January 8, 1972 - Page 15 LOOKING AHEAD, 107 ROCK 'N' ROLL For the week of 15 January, the single reached no. 105 on the Looking Ahead chart.Cash Box, January 15, 1972 - Page 23 LOOKING AHEAD, 105 ROCK 'N' ROLLCash Box, January 22, 1972 - Page 14 LOOKING AHEAD It then debuted at no. 97 on the Cash Box Top 100 for the week of 22 January.Cash Box, January 22, 1972 - Page 4 Cash Box TOP 100, 97 ROCK 'N' ROLL _ _ The single peaked at no. 95 for the week of 29 January.Cash Box, January 28, 1972 - Page 4 95 ROCK 'N' ROLL 97 _Cash Box, February 5, 1972 - Page 4 Cash Box TOP 100

Billboard The single also made it no. 107 on the Billboard chart.MusicVF.com - Rock 'N' Roll By: Detroit (US band)

Other notable covers and pop culture uses Other artists to cover the song include The Runaways,Discogs - Secrets 1976 JapanDiscogs - You Drive Me Wild / Rock-N-Roll 1977 France changing the aforementioned lyric to "L.A. station". The band Jane's Addiction, though also from Los Angeles, uses Reed's original "New York station" in its cover version of the song.

"Rock & Roll" has appeared in a number of films, including A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints, Rock 'n' Roll High School and SLC Punk!

A clip of the Velvet Underground performing the song is played on completion of the Rock & Roll wonder in Civilization IV. In addition, the quote about researching the technology "Radio," read by Leonard Nimoy, is "...then one fine morning she puts on a New York station.... You know, her life was saved by rock & roll." The quote is credited to Lou Reed.

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