#RMF2020: Long Tall Sally

 

 

Day 1 of #RocktoberMusicFest2020

This year for RocktoberMusicFest, I thought I would take us on a journey through Rock Music. The idea was inspired by my ThrowBack Thursday theme.

Starting with the 50’s, each week will represent a decade in Rock. As there are only 7 days in a week and there are 10 years in a decade, there will be quite a few songs overlooked. Don’t fret - I’m sure I’ll get those covered at some point in a Throwback Thursday post.

The idea behind RocktoberMusicFest is to celebrate Rock and Roll. It’s my hope that between my posts and yours that we will get to enjoy many of the different subgenres of rock.

The concept of this bloghop is to have a lot of fun and enjoy a lot of music. As rock and roll is known for breaking rules, I’ve left the rules of this hop wide open and quite simply this:  Post when you can. You can post once, or join in every day. The only hard and fast rule is that your post contains rock music. Each day you will be invited to include your link in the comments of this blog. Please take a moment to visit those that have included their links in the comments. I’ll be doing my part to combat spam by removing links that are not part of the hop.

Sound fun?  Okay - let’s get this party started!

The Song choice for today: Long Tall Sally
Artist: Little Richard
Year Representing: 1956

Wikipedia tells us this about the song:
"Long Tall Sally" is a rock and roll song written by Robert "Bumps" Blackwell, Enotris Johnson, and Little Richard. Richard recorded it for Specialty Records, which released it as a single in March 1956, backed with "Slippin' and Slidin'".

The single reached number one on the Billboard rhythm and blues chart, staying at the top for six of 19 weeks, while peaking at number six on the pop chart. It received the Cash Box Triple Crown Award in 1956. The song as sung by Little Richard is #55 on Rolling Stone's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. It also ranked at number 45 on Billboard's year-end singles of 1956.

It became one of the singer's best-known hits and has become a rock and roll standard covered by hundreds of artists, including Elvis Presley and the Beatles.

"Tutti Frutti" had been a big hit for Little Richard and Specialty in early 1956, reaching number two in the R&B charts. Pat Boone's cover version of the song reached number 12 in the pop charts. Although this meant an unexpected cash income for the Specialty publishing firm, A&R man and producer "Bumps" Blackwell and a proud Richard decided to write a song that was so up-tempo and the lyrics so fast that Boone would not be able to handle it (Boone eventually did record his own version, however, which reached number 18).

According to Blackwell, he was introduced to a little girl by Honey Chile, a popular disc-jockey. Apparently, the girl had written a song for Little Richard to record so she could pay the treatment for her ailing aunt Mary. The song, actually a few lines on a piece of paper, went like this:

Saw Uncle John with Long Tall Sally
They saw Aunt Mary comin'
So they ducked back in the alley

Not wishing to upset an influential disc-jockey, Blackwell accepted the offer and took the idea to Richard, who was reluctant at first. Nevertheless, the line "ducked back in the alley" was exactly what they were looking for, and Richard kept practicing until he could sing it as fast as possible. They worked on the song, adding verses and a chorus, until they got the hit they wanted. The credit to Enotris Johnson, Richard's adoptive father, was added, probably as an act of benevolence. Featuring a tenor saxophone solo by Lee Allen (as did "Tutti Frutti"), "Long Tall Sally" was the best-selling 45 of the history of Specialty Records.






I’d love for you to join me in celebrating Rock Music this month. All you need to do is drop the link to your current Rock Music post in the comments. Be sure to code with html so the link is clickable.  (See the announcement post for instructions on that) And then visit everyone that has left their links.

Don't forget to come back tomorrow for more #RMF2020 fun!