Long Tall Sally (listen/vote)
Long Tall Sally, written by Robert “Bumps” Blackwell, Enotris Johnson, and Richard Penniman (aka Little Richard), meant to reverse Pat Boone’s momentum after having a bigger hit than Little Richard with Tutti Frutti. They decided to record a song too fast for Boone to perform.
Blackwell, an executive at Specialty Records, tells the story that an influential DJ said he knew a Ms. Johnson, who had a song for Little Richard. She hoped he would record it because her Aunt Mary needed an operation. The song was actually a piece of paper with the words “Saw Uncle John with Long Tall Sally / They saw Aunt Mary comin’ / So they ducked back in the alley” on it. Blackwell knew better than to upset a DJ who played his company’s records, so he handed the sheet to Little Richard, who was upset to receive this task. The idea grew on Little Richard, so he wrote the fastest 12-bar blues he could and practiced saying “ducked back in the alley” so fast that people couldn’t understand him. He thought he found a way to stop Pat Boone.
The song was released in March 1956 and reached #1 on the R&B charts and #6 on the Pop charts. It has become a standard thanks to the rockin’ energy and boogie rhythm provided by the Creator and Innovator of Rock & Roll. Also, Boone recorded it but didn’t have the bigger hit this time.
Little Richard (1956)
A couple of years later, the Queen of Rockabilly, Wanda Jackson gave this boogie woogie blues a distinct country twang and scratchy animated mouse vocals. I’ve always been a big fan of Wanda and find her work to be exemplary.
Wanda Jackson (1958)
On that fateful day Paul McCartney was introduced to John Lennon, Lennon handed McCartney a guitar then asked him to show what he could do. First, he tuned Lennon’s guitar, which probably would have been enough to join the band since Lennon had no clue how to do that. However, McCartney wasn’t done. He began to sing Long Tall Sally. The rest is history.
Before Beatlemania happened, the Mop-tops received the honor to tour with Little Richard. I’ve never been able to find a Beatles’ set list for this tour, but I’m confident Little Richard wouldn’t stand for someone else doing his songs before he hit the stage. Anyway, this version’s energy is different yet fun.
By the way, the drummer in this video is session man Jimmy Nicol, who took kit duties for the European tour while Ringo was in hospital with tonsillitis.
The Beatles (1964)
I never saw the connection before, but I bet that, had been born a white woman, Little Richard would have been Wanda Jackson!
Excellent point. However, some wags might say “redundant”?
Well, I did say “white woman,” you know. There is SOME cultural distinction to be reconciled between the two! I mean, you just can’t transpose ‘em!
Now I am also not saying that conversely, had Wanda Jackson been born a black man, she would have been Little Richard — I don’t think that’s necessarily an automatic assumption. She might also have been Chuck Berry. Would you agree?
I’m not saying early Rock & Roll is misogynist; however, it’s ridiculously macho. Too many Wanda Jackson biographies imply she’s a moon reflecting Elvis’ sunlight. I haven’t read a biography that doesn’t mention her relationship with Elvis, which happened after she became a successful recording artist.