| Rock Swings | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | May 31, 2005 | |||
| Recorded | November 2004 | |||
| Studio | Capitol Studios (Los Angeles, California) | |||
| Genre | Swing | |||
| Length | 58:18 | |||
| Label | Verve Music Group | |||
| Producer |
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| Paul Anka chronology | ||||
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| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |    link |
| Rolling Stone | link |
| BBC.co.uk | Negative link |
Rock Swings is an album by Paul Anka. Recorded in November 2004 and released on May 31, 2005 in Canada and June 7, 2005 in the United States, it contains swing jazz covers of popular rock and pop songs from the 1980s and 1990s.
The idea of an established vocalist giving rock hits a "standards" treatment was earlier realized by Anka's contemporary Pat Boone in the 1997 album, In a Metal Mood: No More Mr. Nice Guy, with Boone doing covers of songs by Alice Cooper, Van Halen and Judas Priest. That same year, Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gormé covered Soundgarden's "Black Hole Sun" in a lounge-jazz style on the 1997 compilation album release, Lounge-A-Palooza. Anka also covers "Black Hole Sun" on Rock Swings.
Reportedly, the Michael Jackson song "Billie Jean" was slated to be on the album in the recording stages, but Paul Anka could not get through a vocal take without bursting into laughter.[1] The album features "It's My Life" by Bon Jovi, a song which includes the line "Like Frankie said, 'I did it my way'", a tongue-in-cheek reference to the Sinatra classic "My Way", the lyrics to which were written by Anka.
After the release of this album, Anka was awarded a star on Canada's Walk of Fame in Toronto. A DVD release of the same name, including live performances of these songs by Anka, was released on December 6, 2005.
- ^ Gatehouse, Jonathan, Macleans.ca, 2005. Anka's Back, Baby!