Call Me Lightning (song)

{{short description|1968 song by The Who}}

{{Infobox song

| name = Call Me Lightning

| cover = Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde cover.jpg

| alt =

| type = single

| artist = the Who

| album = Magic Bus: The Who on Tour

| A-side = "Dogs" (UK)

| B-side = "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" (US)

| released = 16 March 1968 (US){{Harvnb|Atkins|2000|p=103}}
14 June 1968 (UK)

| recorded = January, 25/26 February 1968{{cite web |title=Call Me Lightning - The Who |url=https://www.thewho.com/music/call-me-lightning/ |website=Thewho.com |access-date=12 August 2019}}

| studio = IBC Recording Studios
(London, England)
Gold Star Studios
(Los Angeles, California)

| venue =

| genre = *Pop rock

• power pop

| length = 2:25

| label = Track (UK)
Decca (US)

| writer = Pete Townshend

| producer = Kit Lambert

| prev_title = I Can See For Miles

| prev_year = 1967

| next_title = Magic Bus

| next_year = 1968

}}

"Call Me Lightning" is a song written by Pete Townshend, guitarist of the English rock band the Who. Townshend first recorded a home demo of the song in 1964. The Who's recording was a single released in March 1968 and it later appeared on the Who's fourth American album Magic Bus: The Who on Tour.

In the United States "Call Me Lightning" was the follow-up single to the Top 10 hit "I Can See for Miles" and reached No. 40 on the Billboard Hot 100 on 4 May 1968,{{cite magazine |title=The Who Call Me Lightning Chart History |url=https://www.billboard.com/artist/the-who/chart-history/hsi/ |magazine=Billboard |access-date=12 August 2019}} their 16th most successful single on the Hot 100.{{cite magazine |title=The Who Chart History {{!}} Billboard |url=https://www.billboard.com/artist/the-who/chart-history/hsi/ |magazine=Billboard |access-date=12 August 2019}}

Billboard described the single as a "pulsating rocker with a happy beat."{{cite news|newspaper=Billboard|access-date=2021-02-23|date=March 16, 1968|page=78|title=Spotlight Singles|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/60s/1968/Billboard%201968-03-16.pdf}} Cash Box called it "an imaginative blend of rock-blues and rag" and praised "the potent group performance."{{cite magazine |title=CashBox Record Reviews |date=March 16, 1968 |page=16 |access-date=2022-01-12 |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/60s/1968/CB-1968-03-16.pdf |magazine=Cash Box}} Record World said it "should turn into sales lightning as The Who do it. Hard, driving beat at its best from the group."{{cite magazine|title=Single Picks of the Week|magazine=Record World|date=March 16, 1968|page=1|accessdate=2023-06-08|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Record-World/60s/68/RW-1968-03-16.pdf}}

The song features a prominent bass solo by John Entwistle. A promo film was made, and this later was included in the rockumentary film The Kids Are Alright (1979). "Call Me Lightning" was released in the United Kingdom as the B-side of the single "Dogs".

The US B-side, "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde", had been considered as a possible A-side single release, along with "Call Me Lightning," as the B-side. "Call Me Lightning" received a mediocre reception from Who fans, and biographer John Atkins feels that "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" was a better song, even though its horror film imagery was unsuitable for a single.{{Harvnb|Atkins|2000|p=104}} Cashbox called "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" a "psychedelified throbber on the lid that could attract added attention."

The song was behind the naming of the American indie rock band Call Me Lightning.