LONG TALL SALLY
“Long Tall Sally” is a rock and roll 12-bar blues song written by Robert “Bumps” Blackwell, Enotris Johnson, and Richard Penniman (known as “Little Richard”); recorded by Little Richard; and released in March 1956 on the Specialty Records label. The flip side was “Slippin’ and Slidin’”. Both songs were subsequently released in the LP Here’s Little Richard. 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. The song as sung by Little Richard is #55 on Rolling Stone’s list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. (More from Wikipedia)
Little Richard is another man who helped lay the foundations of rock and roll. His hit songs – “Tutti Frutti”, “Long Tall Sally”, “Slippin’ and Slidin’”, “Jenny, Jenny”, “Ready Teddy”, “Keep a Knockin’”, “Good Golly, Miss Molly”, etc. – are so primal and so ingrained in the rock and roll milieu that it seems like they have always been there. Little Richard (real name: Richard Penniman) is sometimes unfairly dismissed as a one-dimensional shouter, but he brought a passion to his music – and a flamboyant personality to match – that made even Elvis Presley seem tame by comparison. His short stature only exaggerated the vehemence of his performances.
(June 2013/1)
