Other songs by Little Richard
-
Unreleased song
-
Officially appears on Concerts for the People of Kampuchea
-
Unreleased song
-
Officially appears on Long Tall Sally
-
Officially appears on Live At The BBC
-
Unreleased song
Related interview
-
July 1990 • From Guitar Player
From Wikipedia:
“Tutti Frutti” (Italian for “all fruits”) is a song written by Little Richard and Dorothy LaBostrie, recorded in 1955, which was Richard’s first major hit. With its energetic refrain, often transcribed as “A-wop-bop-a-loo-mop-a-lop-bam-boom!” (a verbal rendition of a drum pattern that Little Richard had imagined), and its hard-driving sound and wild lyrics, it became not only a model for many future Little Richard songs, but also for rock and roll itself. The song introduced several of rock music’s most characteristic musical features, including its loud volume, powerful vocal style, and distinctive beat and rhythm.
In 2007, an eclectic panel of renowned recording artists ranked “Tutti Frutti” at No. 1 on Mojo’s “The Top 100 Records That Changed The World” and hailed the recording as “the sound of the birth of rock and roll”. In 2009, the U.S. Library of Congress National Recording Registry added the recording to its registry, claiming the “unique vocalizing over the irresistible beat announced a new era in music”. In April 2012, Rolling Stone magazine declared the refrain “the most inspired rock lyric ever recorded”. It was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1998. […]
According to author Mark Lewisohn in The Complete Beatles Chronicles (p. 365) The Beatles performed “Tutti Frutti” live from at least 1960 through 1962 (in Hamburg, Liverpool and elsewhere). Reportedly the lead vocal was always by Paul McCartney, but it is unknown whether their version was actually based on the one by Elvis Presley or that of Little Richard. No recorded version is known to survive.
In the 1990s, Paul McCartney did a (professionally recorded) soundcheck singing “Tutti Frutti” but not like Elvis or Little Richard but instead like an extremely laid-back Pat Boone of 1956 (Boone’s real version was more lively). The McCartney version came out on an unauthorized release, Soundcheck Songs Vol. 1.
(page 651 of Beatles Tune-In)
