Keep A-Knockin'

"Keep A-Knockin' (But You Can't Come In)" is a popular song that has been recorded by a variety of musicians over the years. The lyrics concern a lover at the door who will not be admitted; some versions because someone else is already there, but in most others because the knocking lover has behaved badly.

Early versions are sometimes credited to Perry Bradford and J. Mayo Williams. Variations were recorded by James "Boodle It" Wiggins in 1928,^[1] Lil Johnson in 1935, Milton Brown in 1936 and Louis Jordan in 1939. A similar lyrical theme appears in "Open the Door, Richard" from 1946, but from the viewpoint of the one knocking.

Wiggins' version was entitled "Keep Knockin' An You Can't Get In", which was recorded in Chicago, Illinois, in around February 1928 and released by Paramount Records (12662) that year.^[1][2]

In 1957, when Little Richard recorded it as an uptempo rock and roll song,^[3] "Keep A-Knockin'" reached number two on the U.S. R&B charts and number eight on the U.S. pop charts.^[4] This version is usually credited to Penniman (Little Richard's legal name), Williams, and Bert Mays. Little Richard re-recorded the song four times, on the albums Little Richard's Greatest Hits (1965), Little Richard Live (1976), Shake It All About (1992), and the soundtrack to the film Why Do Fools Fall in Love (1998). The Shake It All About recording features a much simpler arrangement (the only instruments are vocals and piano), and spoken interludes of Little Richard exchanging knock-knock jokes with a group of children.