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Tutti Frutti (song)
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"Tutti Frutti" is a song by Little Richard, which became his first hit record in 1955. With its opening cry of "Womp-bomp-a-loom-op-a-womp-bam-boom!" (supposedly intended to be a verbal parody of a drum intro) and its hard-driving sound and wild lyrics, it became not only a model for many future Little Richard songs, but also one of the models for rock and roll itself.
ough Little Richard Penniman had recorded for Peacock Records since 1951, his records had been relatively undistinguished and had sold poorly.
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"Tutti Frutti" is a song by Little Richard, which became his first hit record in 1955. With its opening cry of "Womp-bomp-a-loom-op-a-womp-bam-boom!" (supposedly intended to be a verbal parody of a drum intro) and its hard-driving sound and wild lyrics, it became not only a model for many future Little Richard songs, but also one of the models for rock and roll itself.
Original recording by Little Richard
Although Little Richard Penniman had recorded for Peacock Records since 1951, his records had been relatively undistinguished and had sold poorly. In February 1955, he sent a demo tape to Specialty Records, which was heard by producer Robert 'Bumps' Blackwell. Blackwell heard promise in the tapes and arranged a recording session for Little Richard at Cosimo Matassa's studio in New Orleans in September 1955, with Fats Domino's backing band. The band included Lee Allen and Alvin "Red" Tyler on saxophones, Frank Fields on guitar, and Earl Palmer on drums.
However, as the session wore on, Little Richard's anarchic performance style was not being fully captured on tape. In frustration during a lunch break, he started pounding a piano and singing a ribald song which he had been performing live for some time. The song that he sang was a piece of music that he “had polished in gay clubs across the South".
Although the song was essentially his own, it bears some similarities to an earlier song "Tutti Frutti", recorded by Slim and Slam in 1938. Little Richard sang :
- "A wop bop a loo mop, a good goddam!
- Tutti frutti, loose booty
- If it don’t fit, don’t force it
- You can grease it, make it easy."
After this lively performance, Blackwell knew the song was going to be a hit, but recognized that the song, with its “minstrel modes and homosexuality humor”, needed to be cleaned up.
Blackwell contacted local songwriter Dorothy LaBostrie to revise the lyrics, with Little Richard still playing in his characteristic style. According to Blackwell, Dorothy La Bostrie “didn’t understand melody”, but was definitely a “prolific writer". The original lyrics, “Tutti Frutti, good booty / If it don’t fit, don’t force it / You can grease it, make it easy", were replaced with “Tutti Frutti, all rooty! Tutti Frutti, all rooty”. (All rooty was hipster slang for "all right".) In addition to Penniman and LaBostrie, a third name—Lubin—is credited as co-writer. Some sources considered this to be a pseudonym used by Specialty label owner Art Rupe to claim royalties on some of his label's songs, but others refer to songwriter Joe Lubin.
Blackwell stated that time constraints didn't permit a new arrangement, so Little Richard recorded the revised song in three takes, taking about fifteen minutes, with the original piano part.
Recorded in September 1955, “Tutti Frutti” was seen as a very aggressive song that contained more features of African American vernacular music when compared to any other past recordings in this style.
The song was recorded on September 14, 1955. Released on Specialty 561, the record entered the Billboard Rhythm and Blues chart at the end of November 1955, and rose to # 2 early in 1956. It also reached # 17 on the Billboard pop chart. In the UK, it only scraped into the top 30 in 1957, as the B-side of "Long Tall Sally". The song, with its 12 bar blues chord progression, provided the foundation of Little Richard's career.
The song, as sung by Little Richard, is #43 in Rolling Stones list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
The song is #1 in Mojo Music Magazines list of .
"Tutti Frutti" provided the title for one of the earliest books about the development of rock and roll and pop music from the 1950s, Nik Cohn's "Awopbopaloobop Alopbamboom" (1969).
Racial connotations?
Recording cover versions of songs was standard industry practice during the 1940s and 1950s. A hit song could generate many different versions: pop and instrumental, polka, blues, hillbilly, and others by a variety of artists. Blue Suede Shoes, as an example, was recorded at least 30 times in the 1950s and 1960s.
Pat Boone’s version of the song lead at 12 ranking while Little Richard trailing behind in the 17th position. Pat Boone himself admitted that he did not wish to do a cover of “Tutti Frutti” because “it didn’t make sense” to him; however, the producers persuaded him into making a different version by claiming that the record would generate attention and money.
Little Richard says that though Pat Boone “took [his] music”, he admits, however, that Boone made it more popular due to his high status in the white music industry. Nevertheless, a Washington Post Staff Writer, Richard Harrington, quotes Richard in an article:
Richard's contract with Peacock had been purchased by Specialty Records owner Art Rupe, who also owned the publishing company that bought Richard's songs. Speciality's deal with Richard was typical of the company's dealings with their artists.
A more successful Chuck Berry used calculated showmanship to lure a wide audience. He sang the songs of Nat "King" Cole and Muddy Waters. "Listening to Nat Cole prompted me to sing sentimental songs with distinct diction," he said at Blueberry Hill. "The songs of Muddy Waters impelled me to deliver the down-home blues in the language they came from. When I played hillbilly songs, I stressed my diction so that it was harder and whiter. All in all, it was my intention to hold both the black and the white clientele by voicing the different kinds of songs in their customary tongues."
Other versions
The song has been covered by many musicians. After Pat Boone's success with "Ain't That a Shame", his next single was "Tutti Frutti", markedly toned down from the already reworked Blackwell version. Boone's version outdid Little Richard's on the US pop charts, reaching #12.
Elvis Presley recorded the song and it was included in his first RCA album Elvis Presley March 23, 1956.
Queen played it every gig during their live Magic Tour shows in 1986. It is also featured during the T. Rex jam session with Elton John during the 1972 rock film Born to Boogie. It is the first song on the MC5 album, Back in the USA. The song was covered by Fair Weather in 1970.
Sting recorded the tune for the original soundtrack of the 1982 film Party Party.
The Disney Channel ran a DTV music video of the song, set mostly to clips from the 1940 Donald Duck cartoon Mr. Duck Steps Out (Daisy Duck represents the character of the same name in the lyrics), but also the 1942 cartoon Mickey's Birthday Party (with Clara Cluck representing Sue in the lyrics).
This song is also featured in the 1987 movie The Brave Little Toaster.
The song is featured on the California Raisins soundtrack from their first special, Meet The Raisins.
The song is sung by Val Kilmer in Top Secret!
WWE's Mean Gene Okerlund covered it, and uses it as his entrance tune. It appears on 1985's The Wrestling Album
The song is regularly covered by UK Rock-a-billy band The Houndogs
He appeared on the 90's sitcom Martin as himself (as a eccentric exterminator) and performs the song on Martin and Gina's piano.
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