Timeline

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
BIg Joe Turner`s original version of this basic uptempo blues number featured such overtly sexual lyrics and musical style that it could never cross over to pop radio stations. Bill Haley`s cover version sanitized the lyrics and rearranged the song, transforming it into a very danceable pop record. In the samples you can hear the original version`s heavy backbeat with hand claps, sensual piano ride, and Joe`s "blues shouter" vocal punctuated with an insistent honking sax. The cover`s arrangement is lighter and bouncier, propelled by a thumping acoustic bass, with lilting horns answering Bill`s jauntier vocal style.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
BIg Joe Turner`s original version of this basic uptempo blues number featured such overtly sexual lyrics and musical style that it could never cross over to pop radio stations. Bill Haley`s cover version sanitized the lyrics and rearranged the song, transforming it into a very danceable pop record. In the samples you can hear the original version`s heavy backbeat with hand claps, sensual piano ride, and Joe`s "blues shouter" vocal punctuated with an insistent honking sax. The cover`s arrangement is lighter and bouncier, propelled by a thumping acoustic bass, with lilting horns answering Bill`s jauntier vocal style.
 

 

 

 
Some songs are known only to doo-wop fans; "The Wind" is among the best of the slow ones. It features a dramatic tenor lead with back-up chanting ("wind, wind, blow") and a memorable mid-song recitation. The Jesters` fine cover version appears in many doo-wop compilations, but the Diablos` superb, over-the-top original version was impossible to find on CD until 2003, when Varese Saraband included it in this hits collection. Smokey Robinson has said that, along with Clyde McPhatter, Nolan Strong was an early inspiration of his. Once pointed out, the influence is evident in Strong`s falsetto vocal timbre and phrasing, which we can easily imagine the young Robinson emulating.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Many CD reissues of this song use a source tape where a splice can be heard about half way through. Besides "Blowing The Fuse," you can find a completely intact version on "The Golden Age of American R&R vol.6" Ace (UK) 650 (1997)
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
This song was written by Atlantic Records` president, Ahmet Ertegun (as Nugetre, Ertegun spelled backwards). Its melody and arrangement were "borrowed" by Hank Ballard, who added new lyrics and recorded it as "The Twist." According to Ertegun, Ballard once owned up to him directly, but Ertegun never pressed for credit to be acknowledged officially.
 

 

 

 

 

 
The Muddy Waters` song, "Mannish Boy," is his cover version of Bo Diddley`s "I`m A Man." The different name hardly disguised Muddy`s intent to stake his claim on it.
 

 
This song was first recorded by Haley in April 1954 and released the next month (as the B-side to "Thirteen Women"). It sold about 75,000 copies. When it was interpolated into the movie "Blackboard Jungle" in the spring of 1955, the record was re-released and immediately shot to #1 on the pop charts. Its guitar solo was taken directly from "Rock the Joint," a hit for Haley from 1952.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
The Muddy Waters` song, "Mannish Boy," is his cover version of Bo Diddley`s "I`m A Man." The different name hardly disguised Muddy`s intent to stake his claim on it.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Carl Perkins wrote and recorded "Blue Suede Shoes" before Elvis Presley did, but many people were confused about "whose song it was" because both artists had competing versions in record stores (and being played on the radio) at the same time. Carl`s version spent nine weeks in the national top 10 between mid-March and mid-May. Meanwhile, Elvis released his first LP and an extended-play 45, both of which featured his version of "Blue Suede Shoes" as the lead track, in mid-March. For the last four weeks that the Perkins version enjoyed national top 10 status, the Presley version - as an EP, not a single - was perched in the top 40. The EP peaked at #20 on the best-sellers chart the sixth week that Carl Perkins` single was in the top 10, still at #4.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Carl Perkins wrote and recorded "Blue Suede Shoes" before Elvis Presley did, but many people were confused about "whose song it was" because both artists had competing versions in record stores (and being played on the radio) at the same time. Carl`s version spent nine weeks in the national top 10 between mid-March and mid-May. Meanwhile, Elvis released his first LP and an extended-play 45, both of which featured his version of "Blue Suede Shoes" as the lead track, in mid-March. For the last four weeks that the Perkins version enjoyed national top 10 status, the Presley version - as an EP, not a single - was perched in the top 40. The EP peaked at #20 on the best-sellers chart the sixth week that Carl Perkins` single was in the top 10, still at #4.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Little Willie John`s great soul ballad was a huge hit on the R&B charts in late spring and summer 1956 but projected too much heat for pop radio at that time. Two years later Peggy Lee wrote more playful lyrics for the second half of "Fever" and transformed it into a pop masterpiece. For the samples I chose a verse common to both versions of the song to emphasize the musical differences between them. The original features a strong, insistent, horn-driven riff undergirding John`s impassioned gospel tenor vocal. The cover rearranges the riff into virtually a bass solo with finger snaps and drum accents, creating more of a supper-club feel for Lee`s seductive contralto voice. When Elvis Presley covered the song in 1960 he adopted the Peggy Lee arrangement, which became her signature song.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Hound Dog and Don`t Be Cruel were both huge #1 hits on the same 45, the undisputed king of all double-sided singles in the 20th century.