Be-Bop-A-Lula
| Be-Bop-A-Lula | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Gene Vincent | |
| publication | May 4th 1956 |
| Genre (s) | Rockabilly |
| Publisher (s) | Capitol Records |
Be-Bop-A-Lula is the title of a rockabilly song by Gene Vincent from 1956, which he recorded with his band , the Blue Caps .
History of origin
As authors, Gene Vincent and his manager "Sheriff" Tex Davis are registered by copyright . It is controversial whether Tex Davis was really a co-composer. Most likely, Vincent wrote the song with lyricist Donald Graves. Graves was Vincent's roommate at Portsmouth Naval Hospital after the latter had had a motorcycle accident on July 4, 1955 and was treated there. Here both read the comic book Little Lulu , which served as inspiration for the lyrics of a first joint composition. First, the preliminary title was Lulu Likes to Bop , then Boppin 'Lula ; The song was composed in just 30 minutes - now under the title Be-Bop-A-Lula . Vincent based himself on Elvis Presley's success with rhythm and blues- oriented hits, especially Heartbreak Hotel .
The radio station WCMS was looking for new talent for its radio show "Country Showtime" in November 1955 and received over 100 applications for a talent competition held in February 1956, including that of Gene Vincent. With his cover version of Elvis Presley's Heartbreak Hotel , he immediately convinced the jury, consisting of radio disc jockeys Joe Hoppel and “Sheriff” Tex Davis (real name: Wilfred A Douchette; * June 14, 1914, † August 29, 2007). Vincent made it to the final with nine other applicants, where he sang Be-Bop-A-Lula for the first time . He won and had Be-Bop-A-Lula make a demo recording on April 9, 1956 , which was sent to music producer Ken Nelson of Capitol Records . Capitol was then looking for a young musician who would be able to compete with Elvis Presley. At that point, Graves had already transferred his writing rights to Tex Davis for $ 25 after he became Gene Vincent's manager.
Be-Bop-A-Lula was written in Gene Vincent's first ever recording session on May 4, 1956 at Music City Recordings in Nashville as the second track after Race With The Devil . Producer Ken Nelson had hired a few studio musicians from the Nashville A-Team as a precaution , but Gene Vincent's hastily put together backing band Blue Caps convinced with the cast Cliff Gallup ( lead guitar ), "Wee" Willie Williams ( rhythm guitar ), Jack Neal ( double bass ) and Dickie Harrell ( Drums ). Gallup presented two striking guitar solos with his Gretsch Duo Jet, Harrell used the drum brush almost exclusively . As a result, the usual rhythm accents in rock & roll and also drum rolls by the drums were missing , but here the rhythm was ensured by the rhythm guitar and the double bass. The instrumentation was so dominant that Vincent could be recorded alone in an echo chamber and he could follow his band through headphones. Vocally, he passionately imitates the hiccup-like vocal phrases of Elvis Presley, underlaid with a lot of reverberation. Vincent's heavy breathing in and out is intensified by the high reverberation level.
For Be-Bop-A-Lula only the last 15 minutes of the booked studio time remained, so that one was satisfied with one take . The band members were so excited that Harrell yelled during the recording session - to the annoyance of sound engineer Mort Thomasson. A second take was recorded without these screams, but not used any further. In the same session, the later B-side Woman Love and two other titles were created.
Musically, the song has nothing to do with the jazz style of bebop , just like the tracks Blue-Jean Bop (single also by Vincent; published on October 8, 1956), Dance to the Bop (single also by Vincent; published on 18. November 1957) or Be-Bop Baby ( Ricky Nelson ; September 1957). The text does not contain a message , but statements about his girlfriend. It's about his relationship with her (she's his girlfriend, and not just maybe), her clothes (she wears red blue jeans), her social status (queen of all teens) and her talent for dancing (with "flying feet").
Publication and Success
Be-Bop-A-Lula / Woman Love (Capitol Records F 3450) was released on June 4, 1956 as Gene Vincent's first single. Be-Bop-A-Lula was initially planned as the B-side, but manager Davis asked the radio stations to listen to the back as well. That was easy for the stations, because Woman Love had a problematic text about lesbian love and enabled Be-Bop-A-Lula to airplay . The new A-side Be-Bop-A-Lula reached number 7 on the Billboard charts , number 5 on the country charts and number 8 on the country charts; in Great Britain it reached number 17. Be-Bop-A-Lula became the fastest-selling single on Capitol Records with 200,000 copies within 4 weeks of its release. In Germany, the title did not make it into the charts . Since the German license from Capitol Records switched from Teldec to EMI Electrola a short time later , there are different labels of the German first press. Capitol Records was so impressed with the hit's success that they offered Vincent a five-year record deal. By April 1957, a total of 2 million copies were sold, for which Vincent received the gold record from producer Ken Nelson on April 28, 1957 . The single remained Vincent's only million seller .
The song adapts the early hits of Elvis Presley, especially Heartbreak Hotel , via the vocals, the instrumentation and the sound . What is striking about this recording is the similarity of the voices of Elvis and Gene Vincent. So Presley's mother, Gladys Presley, congratulated her son on the new success of Be-Bop-A-Lula . “Mother, this is not me, this is Gene Vincent. Thank you very much. ”On September 26, 1956, the hit for the movie The Girl Can't Help it (German title: Schlagerpiraten , US premiere: December 1, 1956) was recorded, but no longer with the original line-up with lead guitarist Cliff Gallup.
The music magazine Rolling Stone leads Be-Bop-A-Lula at number 102 of its 2004 list drawn up of the 500 greatest songs of all time .
Cover versions
There are at least 53 cover versions of the rockabilly and rock & roll evergreen . These included the Everly Brothers (recorded on November 3, 1957), Buddy Holly (live at “The Club” in Carlsbad NM, December 1956 / January 1957) and Cliff Richard & the Drifters (later The Shadows ; February 9, 1959 in the Abbey Road Studios ). The Beatles recorded their first version live in the Hamburg Star Club on December 31, 1962; the Star Club co-founder Horst Fascher sang under the pseudonym "Horst Obber", the Beatles accompanied him. Jerry Lee Lewis offers 2 versions (June 14, 1962 on Sun Records 124 and January 11, 1973 Advision Studios, London). Be-Bop-A-Lula was one of the first songs John Lennon had ever heard and played when he first met Paul McCartney . Lennon recorded it at Record Plant East (New York) between October 21-25, 1974, and Paul McCartney released his version on May 20, 1991.
Other covers are by Suicide , David Cassidy , Foghat , Gene Summers , Carl Perkins , Raul Seixas , Demented Are Go , the Stray Cats , Queen , Sting , 77 and Eric Burdon . Gene Vincent recorded Be-Bop-A-Lula several times in addition to the original version, in 1962 in a twist version (recorded on July 3, 1962 at Abbey Road studios) and in a rock version in 1969 (released on 24 June 1962). October 1969 on the Dandelion -LP I'm Back and I'm Proud ).
Trivia
In The Who movie Quadrophenia , a rocker sings the song in a wash house, whereupon he is reprimanded by a mod who bathes in a neighboring cabin. The title appears as a quote in the Dire Straits hit Walk of Life (December 1985): "Here comes Johnny singing oldies goldies Be-Bop-A-Lula and What'd I Say ..."
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Krin Gabbard, Black Magic: White Hollywood and African American Culture , 2004, p. 94 >
- ↑ Britt Hagarty, The Day The World Turned Blue: A Biography of Gene Vincent , 1983, pp. 26 ff.
- ^ Britt Hagarty: The Day The World Turned Blue: A Biography of Gene Vincent . 1983, p. 29 .
- ^ A b Robert A. Rodriguez, The 1950's Most Wanted , 2006, p. 109
- ^ Britt Hagarty: The Day The World Turned Blue: A Biography of Gene Vincent . 1983, p. 31 .
- ↑ John Collis, Gene Vincent & Eddie Cochran , 2011, oS
- ^ Jon Washington, The Lost Heroes of Rock and Roll , 2004, p. 20
- ^ Joseph Murrells, Million Selling Records , 1985, p. 103
- ^ Derek Henderson, Gene Vincent: A Companion , 2005, p. 3
- ^ John Blaney, John Lennon: Listen to This Book , 2005, p. 159