"Little Bitty Pretty One" (1957, 1958 & 1972)

sondan — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 12:09:21 +0000

Bobby Day (b. 1932 Robert James Byrd Snr d. 1990)

Bobby Day – Little Bitty Pretty One (1957) #67 Pop

Born in Texas but working in the Los Angles do-wop arena, Robert Byrd composed and sang “Little Bitty Pretty One” backed with his group “The Satellites. ” It was released on Class Records in 1957.

Thurston Harris (1931-1990)

Thurston Harris – Little Bitty Pretty One (1957) #2 R&B, #6 Pop

Born in Indianapolis, but also working in the California music scene, some how Thurston Harris recorded and released his pretty much identical cover, on Aladdin Records, and beat out Day’s original! The cover, backed by “The Sharps,” went to the top of the charts becoming a classic oldie still played on the radio today!

Franklin Joseph Lymon (1942-1968)

Frankie Lymon – Itty Bitty Pretty One (1958)

Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers were topping the charts when his management decided that teen idol Lymon should go solo. Lymon’s cover of “LBPO” was on his 1958 solo debut album on Roulette Records entitled “Rock & Roll.” The album has just, finally, been re-released on the Collectors’ Choice Music label this year.

Jackson 5 – Little Bitty Pretty One (1972) #8 R&B

In 1969, The Jackson 5 were introduced to the world as another super teenage group on the wildly popular Motown label. Generally Motown artists would only cover songs from Jobete (Gordy’s publishing), but Motown management had the J5 doing pop covers on every lp and many of those covers were the same style and arrangements as Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers. This cover of “LBPO” was no exception.

It was a cut on on 1972′s “Lookin’ Through the Windows”, the J5′s seventh LP. The brothers share lead on this one. I love it!

In addition to these early versions presented above, before Motown put their spin on “LBPO”, both Dee Clark (1938-1990) and the great Clyde McPhatter (1932-1972) released great versions of the song — with McPhatter’s reaching #25 Pop in 1962.

I created a poll for this post but the polls are not showing up on WordPress.Com right now. Until the problem is fixed please leave a comment as to which of these four versions presented is your favorite. I want to hear what you think. (NOTE: Poll has been fixed as of 4/5/10: please vote!)

BTW: I guess you can tell that the new theme for my blog posts in November is “Motown Covers Pop!” Hope you enjoy it.

Let the Goodtimes Roll as Performed by Shirley & Lee (1956)

sondan — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 12:07:43 +0000

[audio http://www.hotlinkfiles.com/files/1258708_mjhli/rley_Lee-LetTheGoodTimesRoll.mp3] Shirley & Lee – Let the Good Times Roll (1956)

From 1952 to 1963, billed as “The Sweethearts of the Blues”, Shirley Goodman and Leonard Lee enjoyed much National success on the music charts as a New Orleans singing duo. Ironically they didn’t really sing conventional duets in harmony — but they each alternately sang lines and/or verses — Shirley in her high pitched, wavering way and Leonard in his deep smooth soulful sound.

Going #20 on the Pop Singles Charts and #1 on the R&B Singles Chart. “Let the Good Times Roll” was, to quote Bryan Thomas of All Music,

“the biggest hit in their careers. Goodman and Lee borrowed one of New Orleans’ most familiar refrains and built a rocking tune around it called “Let the Good Times Roll.” The recording was an instant smash and received substantial airplay, climbing up the charts in the process. It sold well-over one million copies and for more than 40 years has been a staple of oldies play lists. To date, there are over a hundred cover versions of the song, but most still prefer the original.” (Source)

The song became the first million-seller for Aladdin Records.

A concise career biography of the group can be found here.

Let the Good Times Roll Composed by Shirley Goodman and Leonard Lee

Come on baby let the good times roll
Come on baby let me thrill your soul..
Come on baby let the good times roll..
Roll all night long…

Come on baby yes this is this…
This is the something I just can’t miss..
Come on baby let the good times roll..
Roll all night long…

Come on baby while the thrill is on..
Come on baby lets have some fun..
Come on baby let the good times roll..
Roll all night long…

Come on baby just close the door..
Come on baby lets rock some more…
Come on baby let the good times roll..
Roll all night long…

Feels so good…
When your home..
Come on baby..
Rock me all night long..

Come on baby let the good times roll
Come on baby let me thrill your soul..
Come on baby let the good times roll..
Roll all night long…

Feels so good…
When your home..
Come on baby..
Rock me all night long..

Come on baby let the good times roll
Come on baby let me thrill your soul..
Come on baby let the good times roll..
Roll all night long.. .

Well I suppose I can see why some radio jocks refused to play the song insisting that the lyrics were “indecent” (LOL) and yet don’t they seem tame compared to the trash that is out today?

What do YOU think? I’d love to hear from you.

Thanks for stopping by.

Old School Music Lover » Aladdin

"Little Bitty Pretty One" (1957, 1958 & 1972)

Let the Goodtimes Roll as Performed by Shirley & Lee (1956)