"School Days" (also known as "School Day (Ring! Ring! Goes the Bell)") is a rock-and-roll song written and recorded by Chuck Berry and released by Chess Records as a single in March 1957 and on the LPAfter School Session two months later (see 1957 in music).[1] It is one of his best-known songs and is often considered a rock-and-roll anthem.
The last verse of the song contains the lyrics "Hail, hail rock and roll / Deliver me from the days of old." Hail! Hail! Rock and Roll became the title of a 1987concert film and documentary about Berry; the song itself is also commonly mistitled as Hail Hail Rock and Roll. Much of the song's musical arrangement was reused by Berry in 1964 in "No Particular Place to Go". A similar arrangement, though quite different, was also used for "Big Ben".[5]
The song was covered in 1957 by "The Bob Court Skiffle" as "School Day" and released on UK Decca F 10905
The song was covered by Jan & Dean on their 1964 album Dead Man's Curve – The New Girl In School, under the title "School Days". Their version was released on a single by Liberty Records in 1966.
The Knights, a studio project of Gary Usher, covered the song on their only album, Hot Rod High, in 1964.
The song was covered by Phil Ochs played at second concert at Carnegie Hall in 1970.
The song was covered by Australian rock band Daddy Cool on their debut album Daddy Who? Daddy Cool. The album was number 1 in Australia for seven weeks in 1971.
An unofficial version of "School Days" was played at the sound check for a Led Zeppelin concert at Chicago Stadium on July 6, 1973.
The Australian hard rock band AC/DC recorded a version of "School Days" for their second album, T.N.T. It was originally released only in Australia,[10] but in 1997 it was released internationally on Volts, a compilation of songs sung by Bon Scott, as part of the box set Bonfire.
The song was remade by the British rocker Gary Glitter, who recorded it under the title "School Day (Ring! Ring! Goes the Bell)" on his album Glitter in 1972.
The Australian rock-and-roll revival band Ol' 55 recorded a version of "School Days" as an "outro" track on their album Take It Greasy, released in 1976.
"School Days" was covered by the blues pianist and vocalist Ann Rabson on her album Struttin' My Stuff in 2000.
Lil Rob remade the song, retitled "Street Dayz", for his album The Album, adding a skit and replacing the school-related lyrics with references to gang life, drugs, and sex.
Elvis Presley's orchestra often played a version of "School Days" in concert in the last years of his life as an instrumental as Elvis introduced the members of his ensemble. Record releases of this performance were often mistitled "Hail Hail Rock and Roll."
