Long Tall Sally
| Long Tall Sally | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Little Richard | |
| publication | February / March 1956 |
| length | 2 min 7 s |
| Genre (s) | Rock and roll |
| Author (s) |
Richard Penniman Robert Blackwell Enotris Johnson |
| Publisher (s) | Venice Music |
| Label | Specialty Records (catalog number 572) |
| Award (s) | BMI Award Rolling Stone # 56 Cash Box Triple Crown Award |
| album | Here's Little Richard |
| Cover versions | |
| 1956 | Pat Boone |
| 1964 | The Beatles |
| 1964 | The Kinks |
Long Tall Sally is a song by the American rock 'n' roll singer Little Richard from 1956. It became one of his most famous songs and developed into a genre classic, which is expressed in numerous cover versions . Was composed Long Tall Sally by Robert Blackwell and Little Richard, the idea for the song contributed Enotris Johnson at.
Emergence
Little Richard hit Tutti Frutti on the label Specialty Records in October 1955 successfully by Pat Boone gecovert . So producer Robert Blackwell and Little Richard decided to compose a song so fast that Boone couldn't possibly cover.
According to a report by Blackwell, the radio presenter Honey Chile introduced him to the 16-year-old Enotris Johnson, who offered him a song that Little Richard should sing. Johnson wanted to use the expected income to pay for the treatment of a sick aunt. In the end, it turned out that the song only consisted of a few lines:
- “Saw Uncle John with Long Tall Sally
- They saw Aunt Mary comin '
- So they ducked back in the alley "
Blackwell, not wanting to upset the presenter, accepted the offer and introduced the text to Little Richard. After initial hesitation, the latter agreed after he liked the line “ducked back in the alley”, which is difficult to sing quickly. Little Richard now practiced singing the text as quickly as possible. Together with Blackwell, the song was completed with further stanzas and choruses. Especially the hookline We're Gonna Have Some Fun Tonight carries the composition.
According to another report, Enotris Johnson was the husband of Ann Johnson , a club owner from Little Richard's hometown Macon, who supported the singer in his early career.
The first recording took place on November 29, 1955 with Guitar Slims Band in the Radio Recorders studio in Hollywood . Lloyd Lambert and Clarence Ford played among others . The takes of the session, archived under the working title The Thing , did not appear until 1989 on a compilation of all Little Richard's specialty recordings. Only one of the versions was published in 1972 on the Bootleg Rare Recordings .
On February 10, 1956, Little Richard and Bumps Blackwell took on Long Tall Sally again at the J&M Studio in New Orleans . The studio's renowned session musicians played Little Richard on piano and vocals , Edgar Blanchard on guitar , Frank Fields on bass , Lee Allen on tenor saxophone , Alvin Tyler on baritone saxophone and Earl Palmer on drums . Long Tall Sally was released as a single as Specialty 572 in March 1956 .
Success and importance
The song reached number one on the R&B charts of Billboard magazine. Shortly thereafter, the crossover made it to the Popmarkt, where a sixth place was achieved. In 1957, Long Tall Sally appeared as the first song on the B-side of Little Richard 's debut album, Here's Little Richard . Thereupon the song placed in the British charts and penetrated to number three.
Pat Boone performed Long Tall Sally despite the speed. If he managed to outdo the original artist Little Richard in the charts with his cover of Tutti Frutti , he could not do so with the follow-up single. Little Richard had established himself as an Afro-American R&B performer in the genre-independent pop market and thus contributed to the transfer of the young genre of rock 'n' roll into the musical mainstream.
Version of the Beatles
Long Tall Sally was part of the Beatles' live repertoire . Paul McCartney emerged as a singer, where he was strongly influenced by Little Richard's style.
“I was able to copy Little Richard's voice, it's a crazy hoarse screeching - like an out of body experience. You have to give up your current tenderness and climb about a foot above your own head to be able to sing this. "
Already in 1957, in the days of the Quarrymen , the song was part of the group's program. The piece remained a part of most of their concerts until the last tour in 1966, where it was usually played as the last song. At the last official concert of the group on August 29, 1966 in Candlestick Park in San Francisco , it formed the end of the performance. Live recordings were made on the albums The Beatles Live! Released at the Star-Club in Hamburg, Germany, 1962 , The Beatles at the Hollywood Bowl , Live at the BBC and On Air - Live at the BBC Volume 2 . The studio recording was made on March 1, 1964 in London's Abbey Road Studios , where it was possible to achieve the perfect version in the first take , so no further attempts were necessary. During the recording, the Beatles played in their classic line-up with Paul McCartney on bass , George Harrison on lead guitar , John Lennon on rhythm guitar and Ringo Starr on drums. The piano was played by her producer George Martin . Long Tall Sally appeared on June 19, 1964 on an EP of the same name , which reached number one on the UK EP charts. The Beatles Long Tall Sally recorded a total of seven versions for the BBC between April 1963 and July 1964. While the title was only released on albums late in Europe - with the exception of Germany (in June 1976 on the compilation Rock 'n' Roll Music and in November 1978 on the compilation Rarities ), it was released in the USA in April 1964 the Capitol Records -LP the Beatles' Second album . In addition, Capitol had mixed a stereo version of the song, while the British version was only released as a mono version. The song was first released on CD in March 1988 on the Past Masters compilation . In Germany, Long Tall Sally was released as a single in 1964 and reached a top ten place, in 1965 the song was included on the compilation The Beatles' Greatest .
Version of the kinks
In January 1964, the studio recording of Long Tall Sally the Kinks was made in London's Pye Studios under the direction of producer Shel Talmy . The title suggested was Arthur Howe, then the agent of the band. The Kinks had Little Richard pieces in their live program, but Long Tall Sally was not one of them. The arrangement is much quieter than the original version or the Beatles version. Dave Davies later recalled that they had just got a record deal with Pye Records , but Pye wasn't ready to invest much in the unknown group. You would have had to record several pieces within three hours. In addition to Dave Davies (lead guitar and backing vocals ), Ray Davies (vocals and rhythm guitar), Pete Quaife (bass and backing vocal) and studio musician Bobby Graham (drums) were involved in the recording. The title was released on February 7, 1964 as the group's debut single . On the B-side was the Ray Davies composition I Took My Baby Home . The single reached number 42 on the Melody Maker UK Singles Chart .
More cover versions
Since the year of its publication, numerous cover versions of Long Tall Sally have appeared , including those by Pat Boone , Elvis Presley , Eddie Cochran , The Tornados , The Chambers Brothers , Jerry Lee Lewis , Puhdys and the Scorpions .
Individual evidence
- ^ Charles White: The Life And Times Of Little Richard. The Authorized Biography . Omnibus Press, London / New York / Paris / Sydney / Copenhagen / Berlin / Madrid / Tokyo 2003, ISBN 0-7119-9761-6 , Tutti Frutti (first edition: 1984).
- ^ Mike Clifford: The Harmony illustrated encyclopedia of rock. 4th ed. Harmony Books, 1983, p. 132.
- ↑ a b Valeri Orlov: Little Richard. All rock 'n' roll and blues rock studio recordings. In: Little Richard. The Quasar of Rock. Retrieved October 29, 2013 .
- ^ Charles Hamm: Putting Popular Music in it's Place . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1995, ISBN 0-521-47198-2 , Some Thoughts on the Measurement of Popularity in Music, pp. 116-130 (English).
- ^ Barry Miles : Paul McCartney: Many Years from Now. Rowohlt-Taschenbuch-Verlag, Reinbek 1999, ISBN 3-499-60892-8 , p. 241.
- ^ Ian MacDonald: Revolution in the Head: The Beatles' Records and the Sixties. Chicago Review Press, Chicago 2007, ISBN 978-1-55652-733-3 , p. 112.
- ^ Mark Lewisohn: The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions: The Official Story of the Abbey Road Years. Hamlyn, London 1988, ISBN 0-600-61207-4 , p. 41.
- ↑ Kevin Howlett: The Beatles: The BBC Archives 1962-1970. BBC Books, London 2013, ISBN 978-1-84990-688-3 , p. 323.
- ↑ Doug Hinman: The Kinks. All day and all of the night. Backbeat Books, London, 2004, ISBN 0-87930-765-X , pp. 19-20.
- ↑ Booklet for the Deluxe Edition of the Kinks album . Pp. 7-9.