Fever (song)

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Fever is a song written by Eddie Cooley and John Davenport in 1956 and reported to BMI that has become a widely covered standard in rhythm & blues , jazz and pop music .

History of origin

Label of the single Fever by Little Willie John, the original version of the title from 1956

John Davenport was a pseudonym for the real writer Otis Blackwell , who had the song registered under the name of his stepfather. Otis Blackwell did not want to register as a co-author of the song under his name because he feared that he might get into trouble with his record label Jay-Dee Records , with which he was still under contract as an artist. The label owner Joe Davis (the label name consists of the first letters of the name of the founder) was said to have withheld the payments of due royalties from his performers . The label was founded in July 1953 and ended its activity in February 1956. Blackwell released his last song Oh, What A Wonderful Time / Let The Daddy Hold You there in December 1955 , with catalog Jay-Dee # 808 . From this it can be concluded that Fever must have originated at that time. The exact processes are controversial. Eddie Cooley, a New York band leader ("Eddie Cooley & The Dimples") and writer, had the initial idea for Fever , but failed to complete the composition. He met his friend Otis Blackwell, and they both completed the song.

Blackwell offered six of his compositions to the head of Shalimar Music Corp on Christmas Eve 1955. Music publisher, Aaron "Goldie" Goldmark for $ 25 per song. These included Don't Be Cruel and Fever , recorded as demos with Blackwell's vocals and their own piano accompaniment, the rhythm improvised by hitting a card box.

Original song

The R&B performer Little Willie John , signed by Henry Glover for King Records in June 1955 , had already placed three singles in the top 6 of the R&B charts when he was offered the composition Fever . On March 1, 1956, the 12-bar blues in minor , arranged with the tenor saxophones by Ray Felder and Rufus "Nose" Gore and the jazzy guitar by Bill Jennings and snapping fingers, which only marginally lifted the bluesy mood, was recorded. The recording took almost 6 hours to perfect. According to Blackwell, Little Willie John didn't want to record the piece at first because he didn't like the snap of his fingers. However, the song had a solid, gospel-like arrangement that was rewarded with the only # 1 R&B for artist Little Willie John, and when crossover hit # 24 Pop. Later the original also achieved million seller status .

Success as a "white" cover version

Label of the single Fever by Ray Peterson, German pressing, 1957/58
Label of the single Fever by Peggy Lee, German pressing, 1958
Label of the single Fever by Cindy Ellis, 1959

Although the title first by the white singer Ray Peterson on Oct. 14, 1957 gecovert was, the song was only through the jazz singer Peggy Lee a wide audience. In her version, Fever got its concise form when she recorded the cover on May 19, 1958. The original bluesy form has been replaced by a jazzy, erotic timbre with a slight change in the text. The brass section and choir of the original are replaced by simple instrumentation (bass by Max Bennett and drums), only supplemented by Peggy Lee's finger snap. The single reached # 8 on the pop charts on August 25, 1958, even # 5 R&B, and became her third million-seller and her signature song.

Captain Smith and Pocahontas / Had a very mad affair / When her daddy tried to kill him / She said, "Daddy, oh don't you dare / He gives me fever with his kisses / Fever when he holds me tight / Fever, I 'm his missus / Oh Daddy, won't you treat him right.

More cover versions

With Peggy Lee's version, the platform was now created for further cover versions in a wide variety of styles and languages. The French version 39 de Fièvre was sung by Caterina Valente (1959; Decca 455711 or Je chante - Caterina Valente en France with a text by Boris Vian). In Germany, Fieber was recorded on June 29, 1959 with the singer Cindy Ellis (Polydor NH 23 919, produced by Bert Kaempfert ). The German text came from Peter Moesser : "Nobody knows how I love you / I have a fever". The recording was only accompanied by a double bass, drums and the typical snap of fingers. The list of other cover versions ranges from the McCoys (November 1965; Rank 7 in the USA) to Helen Shapiro (January 1964; Rank 38 in Great Britain), Rita Coolidge (December 1972) to Madonna (March 1993, # 6 Great Britain). In total, numerous versions are counted depending on which source you want to follow. According to his own statements, the Swiss collector Christian Rintelen found “over 500 versions” and owns 390 of them; Jazz discographer Tom Lord records 218 versions in the field of jazz and R&B alone, including by Kenny Burrell , Little Brother Montgomery , Louis Prima , King Curtis , Milt Buckner and Herbie Mann .

statistics

Cash-Box honored the original recording with the award "R&B Record Of The Year". According to BMI, the song was performed 2 million times and received a BMI award.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ also: Jan Thomas (piano), Edwyn Conley (bass) and Edison Gore (drums)
  2. ^ Arnold Shaw, Honkers And Shouters: The Golden Years Of Rhythm And Blues , 1978, p. 287
  3. ^ Joseph Murrells, Million Selling Records , 1985, pp. 98 f.
  4. ↑ David J. Wishart (Ed.): Encyclopedia of the Great Plains . University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln, Neb. 2004, ISBN 0-8032-4787-7 , pp. 542 (English, limited preview in Google Book search).
  5. ↑ Version sung by Lee, based on Harvard Magazine, reviewed by David A. Price: Love and hate in Jamestown : John Smith, Pocahontas, and the heart of a new nation. Alfred A. Knopf, New York 2003, frequent new editions. in various publishers. Available in online bookshops
  6. ↑ Interview with Christian Rintelen, InnerWorld, 2007
  7. ↑ Tom Lord: The Jazz Discography (online, August 31, 2013
  8. ↑ Rick Kennedy and Randy McNutt, Little Labels - Big Sound, 1999 , p. 59
  9. ↑ BMI entry for Fever  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / repertoire.bmi.com  

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