Songs That Were Covers: Long Tall Sally

Welcome to Rock and Roll Flashback!  I'm Bill Price, and in this Rock and Roll Flashback episode of Songs That Were Covers, I will review one of the songs that was originally recorded in the 1950's then covered by four artists in the early 1960's: “Long Tall Sally”. 

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Transcript

In this Rock and Roll Flashback episode of Songs That Were Covers, I will review one of the songs that was originally recorded in the 1950's then covered by four artists in the early 1960's: “Long Tall Sally”. 

In March 1956, the single titled “Long Tall Sally ‘ was released on the Specialty Records label. The song’s writers were Enotris Johnson, Robert Blackwell and Little Richard. On February 7th, “Long Tall Sally” with the B-side “Slippin’ and Slidin’”, was recorded by Little Richard at J&M Recording Studios in New Orleans, where others artists like Fats Domino also recorded.  The single reached the number one position on the Billboard Rhythm and Blues chart, where it remained for six weeks and peaked at number six on the pop chart. In 1956, it was awarded the Cashbox Triple Crown Award. Little Richard’s version is rated by the Rolling Stone list of The Greatest Songs of All Time, at number fifty five.

The music of  “Long Tall Sally” is a fast up-tempo song, which featured Richard’s hammering boogie piano, coupled with Earl Palmer’s fast drum shuffle. Eventually, “Long Tall Sally” became one of Richard’s best-known hits. In 1999, it was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.  The song also has the distinction of being covered by numerous artists, which includes Elvis Presley, The Rocky Fellers, The Kinks, and The Beatles.

Here is Little Richards’s hit from 1956,  “Long Tall Sally”.

Soon after Richard’s single was released, Elvis recorded the first cover version on September 2nd, 1956 at Radio Recorders Studio in Hollywood, California.   

 Here is an excerpt of Presley’s cover version.

In 1962, The Rocky Fellers recorded a cover version of “Long Tall Sally”. The following year they had a hit with  “Killer Joe”, which reached number sixteen on the Billboard Hot 100.  In episode 32, I reviewed the career of the Rocky Fellers and the story behind their hit “Killer Joe”.

Here is an excerpt of The Rocky Fellers’ cover version.

Toward the end of 1963, The Ravens had changed their name to The Kinks, and were looking for material to use in their debut album. Their tour manager had heard a Beatles live performance of “Long Tall Sally” and suggested that The Kinks should record the song.  On January 20th, 1964, they recorded the song at Pye Studios in London. Unlike the original, The Kink’s version omitted the piano part and featured a harmonica solo. The Kink’s version was released in the UK on February 7th, 1964 and in the US on April 1st.

Here is an excerpt of The Kink’s cover version of  “Long Tall Sally”.

Little Richard was admired by The Beatles, who regularly performed  “Long Tall Sally” in their live performances.  Interestingly, the song was performed during their early days as the Quarrymen in 1957 and up until their last concert in 1966. 

Here is an excerpt of the Beatles playing a live version of  “Long Tall Sally”.

The Beatles recorded  “Long Tall Sally” at the EMI Studios on March 1st, 1964 during the recording session for “A Hard Day’s Night”.  However, it was not included in that album.  The amazing thing about the recording is that the band was so familiar with the song that it was recorded in one take and no overdubs, with Paul singing the lead vocal, and the hammering boogie piano part played by producer George Martin.

“Long Tall Sally” was released on the UK Extended Play disc of the same name on June 19th, 1964.  It was included in the US album titled “The Beatles Second Album” and the in Canada the album titled “ The Beatles Long Tall Sally”.  The song was released as a single in Sweden where it reached the number two position and number one in Denmark.

In 1988 it was included in a Compact Disc compilation titled “Past Masters Volume One”.  In the liner notes Mark Lewisohn wrote, quote “A breathtaking one-take performance from The Beatles and Paul McCartney in particular, not merely copying but arguably bettering the original 1956 Little Richard recording” end quote. 

The Beatles also recorded the song on several occasions for the BBC between 1963 and 1964.  On August 29th, 1966, the Beatles performed in their final concert at San Francisco’s Candlestick Park, with the last song “Long Tall Sally”. The band had requested that the concert be recorded for posterity.  Unfortunately the tape ran out at the end of the second verse. 

Here is The Beatles 1964 cover version of ‘Long Tall Sally”.

In this episode of Songs That Were Covers, I reviewed Little Richard’s hit “Long Tall Sally” and the four initial cover versions. And until next time, I’m your host Bill Price.