School of Rock 'n Roll
1958 single
"School of Rock 'n Roll" is a song composed by James McClung in 1958 and published by Song Productions, BMI the same year. It was originally recorded by American rockabilly singer Gene Summers and his Rebels and was first released in February 1958 by Jan Records #11-100. It was flipped with "Straight Skirt" a teen novelty 45 which became the group's first big regional hit.
"School Of Rock 'n Roll" later became widely known as one of the top 100 rock 'n roll records. In the 1970s, at the beginning of the rockabilly revival in Europe, "School Of Rock 'n Roll" was re-discovered by a new legion of rockabilly fans and bands. Since then, it has become a classic dance floor-filler and has renewed Summers' career to the extent of worldwide concert appearances since 1980.
Acclaim
In 2005 "School of Rock 'n Roll" was selected by Bob Solly and Record Collector Magazine as one of the 100 Greatest Rock 'n' Roll Records. "School Of Rock 'n Roll" was also present in the British television series You've Been Framed and was included on the Rhino Records CD box sets Wild, Fast, And Out Of Control (1999) and Rockin' Bones (2006). The song has also been featured on "Bob Dylan's Theme Time Radio Hour" (2006) and also appears on the Bob Dylan 4-CD box set Radio Radio issued in 2011.
Cover versions
The song has been covered by many performers, including:
Savage Kalman & Explosion Rockets on their 1979 LP School Of Rock And Roll
Teen Kats on their 1981 LP After School Rock ‘n Roll
Red Hot Max And The Cats on their 1989 LP Cuckoo Clock Rock
The Rhythm Rockets on their 1989 single
Gary U.S. Bonds on his 1990 compilation CD School Of Rock ‘n Roll: The Best Of Gary U.S. Bonds
Johnny Reno on his 1990 LP Third Degree
The Alphabets on their 1991 LP Bowl You Over
The Lennerockers on their 1991 LP Rebels Of Nowadays
Mess of Booze on their 1993 CD Ungehobelt & Versoffen
The Polecats on the 1994 various artists CD Birth Of British Rockabilly Vol.2
The Vees on their 1995 CD Crash Boom Bang It Out
The Blue Moon Rockers on their 1996 CD School Of Rock & Roll
Lucky Strike Band on their 2003 CD If I Had Me A Woman
Alan Leatherwood on his 2004 CD Rock, Bop, Folk, And Pop
Rockin’ Ryan and The Real Goners on the 2003 CD Alive And Lowdown, in a live duet with Rory Justice
Thierry Lecoz on his 2003 album Tex-French Connection
Rory Justice on the 2004 CD The Rockabilly Kid
The Starlight Wranglers on the various artists 2004 CD Rough House R&R Vol.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “School of Rock 'n Roll” as 1958 single. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the general reference register because the source frames it as 1958 single. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Oct 22, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q7432557. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1958, 1980, 2005 and 1999.
Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “School of Rock 'n Roll”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow School of Rock 'n Roll primary sources, School of Rock 'n Roll archive and School research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “School of Rock 'n Roll”?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “School of Rock 'n Roll” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.